You’re halfway through updating a client’s Amazon listing with coffee in hand, when—bam—Amazon sends a huge changelog to your inbox. If you aren’t paying attention, your “perfect” product feeds could turn into a total mess starting September 28, 2025.
Now your heart is racing. Q4 is coming fast and clients want answers, but Amazon just rewrote the playbook behind your back. Great. Here comes new docs, new attribute rules, and a clear warning—"Keep up, or get left behind."
It sounds dramatic, but it’s not. If your money depends on working listings, this is make-or-break time. Sellers and devs, if you miss the latest changes, your SKUs might stall, get flagged, or just vanish from Amazon search without warning.
But there’s a bright side: These changes aren't pointless. Amazon wants you to improve your listings, add better details, and hopefully win more buyers. The trick? You gotta change how you use attributes and enums—especially inside JSON feeds.
Let’s break down what’s really changing, who it affects, and how you can dodge the chaos and stay on top.
TL;DR:
- Amazon SP-API updates hit listing attribute rules and enums in September 2024 (big effects September 2025)
- Private and public devs using JSONLISTINGSFEED need to pay attention
- Optional attributes might be required now; new enum values are here
- Goal is better product data for buyers
- If you don’t update, expect errors or, yikes, hidden products
- If you stay proactive, your listings (and sales) are safer
The Amazon Attribute Overhaul
Shaking Up Product Feeds
Amazon’s September update messes with which listing attributes you need and which enum values are allowed when listing or editing products with offers. Imagine getting hit with a whole new set of multiple-choice questions—except picking wrong could hide your SKU, cut you from searches, or make you look clueless next to the competition.
Say your top Bluetooth speaker now needs a “Battery Type” field. Amazon only takes values like “Lithium-Ion” or “AA.” Skip it or pick an outdated option and your listing could get flagged or dropped until you fix it. This is NOT just a “maybe” problem—these changes WILL catch out slow sellers.
Which Products Get Hit?
It’s not just one category. The new rules affect all kinds of products. Maybe you always left those ‘optional’ fields blank? Now some are mandatory. Amazon’s also changing or expanding which enums are allowed, so sellers are forced to give better, more consistent answers. Think of it like Amazon setting stricter standards so buyers can find what they want without junk filters.
The change is global, but the details matter. Electronics, clothing, home goods—these are hit hardest at first, but nearly every type of product feels it. Plus, some quirks pop up region by region (we’ll get to that).
Expert Insight:
“The goal is simple: standardized data means buyers find the right stuff, sellers avoid wrong search results. Some pain now, but it pays off later.” — Maria Blanco, Marketplace Integration Lead at Helium 10
How Bad Is the Impact?
If you’re using the Listings API, especially with JSONLISTINGSFEED, you’re in the crosshairs. Agencies, SaaS dashboards, your in-house tools—it doesn’t matter. Private labels, product aggregators, you’re getting hit, too.
One sneaky thing: listings with just products (no offers) or XML uploads are fine for now. If you do flat files the old-school way, Amazon’s not after you—yet. But that could change soon, so don’t sleep on this.
Looking for a tool to automate attribute updates and stay safe with changelogs? Requery keeps your Amazon product data fresh with real-time sync and compliance checks. No more manual scrapes or panicky rollbacks.
Why Should You Care
Compliance Is Forced
Mess this up and it’s not just an annoying error. Your listings might get stuck with validation errors, flagged for wrong info, or just disappear from Amazon. Agencies juggling tons of clients—one missed update can spiral into hundreds or thousands of broken ASINs.
There’s also “graylisting.” That’s when your listing isn’t blocked, but gets shoved down in search with no warning. For high-volume sellers, this could wreck Q4 or Prime Day sales over a dumb mistake you never saw coming.
Better Data = More Buyers
Here’s why you should care: Amazon wants strong, clear product data. Their A9 search engine uses this to match shoppers with items that fit—fast. More info means smarter search, better filters, and buyers don’t get lost scrolling duds.
If you follow the new rules, your stuff shows up more and sells better. If you don’t, you’ll see lower conversions and lose buy-box spots while others keep winning.
Real Business Win
In 2023, one electronics seller tried splitting product types and using the new enum values (as required in a pilot update). They saw 14% fewer listing blocks and a 9% buy-box boost. Not a fluke—other big sellers are getting the same results when they make metadata a priority.
About Your Bottom Line
For dev teams, ignore this update and you’ll have sellers lining up with support tickets, urgent rollbacks, or even suspended accounts. Any smart Amazon ops person now treats metadata checks like insurance—don’t want a surprise bill.
What’s New: Enums and Rules
Refresh: Attributes and Enums
Attributes are facts about your product—color, size, brand, what it’s made of. Enums (short for enumeration values) are the allowed choices for an attribute, like "Red," "Blue," or "Green" for color, or "USB-C" for port types.
September’s update brings two things: First, some attributes switch from optional to mandatory. So you must fill out new stuff or your listings get rejected. Second, some enums are added or changed, so answers that worked last year might not pass now. Using old dropdown options or outdated lists? Hello, errors.
Getting enums right is a hidden edge. People who use Amazon’s latest enum lists win the buy box and stay visible in filters—no guesses, no half-wrong answers.
Dev Tips: Handling Enums
- Always connect UI dropdowns to Amazon’s live enum list from the SP-API. Never hardcode options—they can get old quick.
- Prepare for old or new enums: Validations should warn users on mismatches and use fallback logic when Amazon adds stuff.
- Sync your attribute model often with Amazon’s docs and feeds. Set reminders to check for updates at least every quarter, more often during key months (April, September, November).
- Test changes in staging first: Don’t let new rules blow up your main listings.
Pro Quote:
“Anyone not pulling enums straight from Amazon’s latest metadata is asking for trouble in September.” — Paul Kim, CTO, Amazon automation platform
Timelines: When Does This Hit?
Key Dates
- April & November 2024: First waves of changes drop—Amazon starts warning devs and sellers to get ready.
- September 2024: Main update launches for most Amazon marketplaces (Belgium and South Africa wait…for now).
- September 28, 2025: Full enforcement. Miss this date, expect errors, flagged products, and angry calls.
If you ignore Amazon’s updates, you’ll be scrambling to fix stuff right when Black Friday or Christmas sales kick in. Not fun.
Amazon's Update Strategy
Amazon doesn’t want a system meltdown, so they roll out updates in phases—not all at once. That way, things don’t break for everyone at the same time, plus sellers have to keep up. The end game: a cleaner, more reliable marketplace, better filtering, smarter search, and less chaos for everyone.
Changelogs Help
This isn’t the last time Amazon will change things. Smart sellers (and SaaS teams) check Amazon’s metadata changelog like their morning coffee. That’s where new and out-of-date attributes get called out, sometimes with very little warning. Don’t skip it—follow what’s new so you don’t get left behind.
Bulletproof Your Listings
Every time Amazon updates, these same errors pop up—and they can tank your sales for weeks before anyone catches them.
Migration Mistakes
- Hardcoded enums or static dropdowns that ignore new values; ends up blocking new buyer requests.
- Thinking product-only or XML feeds need updating now (they don’t, at least for this update).
- Missing newly required fields: Suddenly, feeds that used to work now just error out.
- Skipping regional rules: Belgium and South Africa aren’t affected by this wave, but others are.
- Forgetting connected tools: Things like custom dashboards or listing syncers sometimes break if attributes or enums change and you don’t update them too.
Proactive Moves
- Pull Amazon’s attribute/enum list often and automatically for every marketplace you use.
- Update your docs and onboarding: Make sure your team, clients, and partners all know what changed and what’s now required.
- Test new combos in a safe space (staging!) before rolling anything out for real. Try both common and weird listing types to catch odd bugs.
- Watch dashboards during the rollout to catch weird drops in visibility.
Insider’s Take:
“We treat every Amazon metadata update like a product launch—everything needs to be double-checked or sellers freak out.” — Natalie Fuentes, Head of Integrations at Seller Labs
Stay Compliant Now
Here’s a simple checklist to not get caught:
- Review all scripts that build your JSONLISTINGSFEED files for old attribute or enum use.
- Double-check the required attributes and enum values for every product you sell—write down cheatsheets by main category.
- Alert your partners, devs, and clients right now. Don’t wait ‘til the last second.
- Try a few real listings in Amazon’s sandbox before mass-updating, so you catch sneaky errors before they’re live.
- Subscribe to Amazon’s changelogs and flag important changes in your project tracker.
Little test for devs: If a listing fails after September, is it your code, your data, or your guesses? (Secret—it’s often all three.)
Quick Recap
- New attribute and enum rules start September 2024 (hard rules September 2025).
- Affects everyone using JSONLISTINGSFEED—private and public devs.
- Check the changelog: both which fields are required and the allowed values are changing.
- Getting ahead by updating and using dynamic enums = less panic, more sales.
- Best time to prep? Yesterday. Next best? Right now.
FAQ
Q1: Who’s affected by SP-API attribute changes?
A: Anyone using Listings API with JSONLISTINGSFEED to create or edit listings with offers. Pure product listings and XML uploads don’t have to worry (for now).
Q2: What if I don’t update my attributes or enums?
A: Your feeds could fail, listings might get flagged, hidden, or blocked until you fix the issues.
Q3: Where do I find the latest required attributes and enums?
A: Check the Amazon SP-API docs and watch the changelog for your region and product type.
Q4: My setup works in many countries. Are there exceptions?
A: Yes. Belgium and South Africa aren’t part of this round. Double check docs for up-to-date rules by country.
Q5: How often does Amazon update listing attributes and enums?
A: Every few months. Especially April, September, and November. Mark your calendar.
Q6: Does this hit my custom upload tools or dashboard?
A: If you use JSONLISTINGSFEED in the SP-API, yes. If you use XML or hand-upload, you dodge it—at least for now.
5 Simple Moves Ahead
- Audit your listing tools for hardcoded attributes or enums; switch them to pull live values from SP-API.
- Run test listings in Amazon’s sandbox to see how new rules hit your usual SKUs.
- Warn your sellers or clients now: Write short, clear emails or docs about what’s changing and when.
- Add version tracking and quick-fix tools so you can bounce back fast if Amazon tweaks enums or fields overnight.
- Make changelog and metadata reviews a monthly habit: Assign someone on your team so nothing gets missed during Q4, Black Friday, or after a surprise update.
If you follow these steps, you won’t just survive—you’ll get a leg up while others scramble.
Want to keep your listings selling and your anxiety down? Watch the details. When Amazon signals an update, don’t just groan—treat it like free gold.
Want to level up your Amazon compliance and workflows? AMC Cloud can help you handle catalog updates, automate product data, and stay ready for the next big change.
Want more Amazon optimization tips? See our guide on automating your product data and the top SP-API integration moves to make your next update smoother than ever.
