{"id":49332,"date":"2025-09-22T16:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=49332"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T23:03:58","slug":"amazon-to-end-inventory-commingling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/22\/amazon-to-end-inventory-commingling\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon to End Inventory Commingling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/amazon-to-end-commingling-program-after-years-of-complaints-from-brands-and-sellers\/\">Allison Smith<\/a> (via <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=45319463\">Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/amazon-to-end-commingling-program-after-years-of-complaints-from-brands-and-sellers\/\"><p>Amazon revealed at its annual Accelerate seller conference in Seattle that it is shutting down its long-running &ldquo;commingling&rdquo; program &mdash; a move that drew louder applause from sellers than any other update of the morning.<\/p><p>The decision marks the end of a controversial practice in which Amazon pooled identical items from different sellers under one barcode. The system, intended to speed deliveries and save warehouse space, had also allowed counterfeit or expired goods to be mixed in with authentic ones, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/on-amazon-pooled-merchandise-opens-door-to-knockoffs-1399852852?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAiZbYLm-LvlaASayqYTmvMWfb-qdRGHHKlm3_5BIn7U53VG944J9C3Qyus3G6I%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68caf984&amp;gaa_sig=t6Otz2sjG7ZW-9cLpvqEPESE3o13I9rccCZaqNEWHVdMhpBVKHC-i7qpYOuZ4Plp-8EB8f5VMm-xmMbY_tE7-g%3D%3D\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a>. For years, brands complained that commingling made it difficult to trace problems back to specific sellers and left their reputations vulnerable when customers received knockoffs.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><p>With the company&rsquo;s logistics network now capable of storing products closer to customers, the speed advantage of pooled inventory has diminished. At the same time, Amazon estimated brand owners spent $600 million in the past year alone through re-stickering products, the process of placing new labels or barcodes over existing ones on products.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Finally.<\/p>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/23\/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site\/\">Amazon Has Ceded Control of Its Site<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/18\/what-does-amazons-choice-mean\/\">What Does &ldquo;Amazon&rsquo;s Choice&rdquo; Mean?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/05\/amazon-to-give-power-to-brands-to-remove-fakes\/\">Amazon to Give Power to Brands to Remove Fakes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/06\/amazon-and-fake-books-and-filtered-reviews\/\">Amazon and Fake Books and Filtered Reviews<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/12\/amazon-kicks-off-unauthorized-apple-refurbishers\/\">Amazon Kicks Off Unauthorized Apple Refurbishers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/02\/amazon-is-complicit-with-counterfeiting\/\">Amazon Is Complicit With Counterfeiting<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/22\/sellers-printing-counterfeit-books-and-selling-under-amazons-brand\/\">Sellers Printing Counterfeit Books and Selling Under Amazon&rsquo;s Brand<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/amazon-selling-fake-apple-chargers-and-cables\/\">Amazon Selling Fake Apple Chargers and Cables<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/12\/amazons-chinese-counterfeit-problem-is-getting-worse\/\">Amazon&rsquo;s Chinese Counterfeit Problem Is Getting Worse<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"amazon-to-end-inventory-commingling-update-2025-10-04\">Update (<a href=\"#amazon-to-end-inventory-commingling-update-2025-10-04\">2025-10-04<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/amazon-inventory-commingling\/\">Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/linklog\/amazon-inventory-commingling\/\">\n<p>I had no idea Amazon did this until I <a href=\"https:\/\/c.im\/@nickheer\/115221553499670444\">complained<\/a> on Mastodon about how terrible its shopping experience is, and <a href=\"https:\/\/m.ai6yr.org\/@ai6yr\/115233236338869872\">Ben replied<\/a> referencing this practice, nor did I know it has been doing so for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/business\/jj-pulled-products-from-amazoncom-over-third-party-dispute-wsj-idUSBRE9AA01S\/\">at least twelve years<\/a>. I am certain I have received counterfeit products more than once from Amazon, and I think this is how it happened.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p id=\"amazon-to-end-inventory-commingling-update-2026-01-20\">Update (<a href=\"#amazon-to-end-inventory-commingling-update-2026-01-20\">2026-01-20<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ghhughes\/status\/2012824754319753456\">Gerard Hughes<\/a> (via <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=46678205\">Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ghhughes\/status\/2012824754319753456\">\n<p>Amazon is <a href=\"https:\/\/sellercentral.amazon.com\/seller-forums\/discussions\/t\/106d0747-e5c6-44d8-86f3-7669f11238fe\">ending all inventory commingling as of March 31, 2026<\/a>. This will reduce your chance of getting counterfeits from Amazon when buying from a reliable seller.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rosyna\/status\/2013440855953285469\">Rosyna Keller<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rosyna\/status\/2013440855953285469\">\n<p>The only way to prevent SKU commingling (and thus, customers getting counterfeits) by Amazon in the past was for a seller to enter into an exclusive deal with Amazon, like Apple was forced to.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/26\/lawsuit-over-restricting-apple-products-in-amazon-marketplace\/\">Lawsuit Over Restricting Apple Products in Amazon Marketplace<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Allison Smith (via Hacker News): Amazon revealed at its annual Accelerate seller conference in Seattle that it is shutting down its long-running &ldquo;commingling&rdquo; program &mdash; a move that drew louder applause from sellers than any other update of the morning.The decision marks the end of a controversial practice in which Amazon pooled identical items from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-09-22T20:25:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"0579ff90-b765-422e-b176-1b598f6ddc1a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-01-20T23:04:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ABXn_kLdlQi6xdhtZj23cGg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19,101,509,96],"class_list":["post-49332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-amazon","tag-business","tag-shopping","tag-web"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49332"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50753,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49332\/revisions\/50753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}