📬 Handmade Sellers: 3 Updates You Don't Want to Miss
Your Q1 2026 Handmade Newsletter is here, and it covers three important updates that directly impact how your listings appear, how you navigate Seller Central, and how customers discover your products. If you missed the email or want a quick recap, here's what you need to know and what to do next.
🔄 Handmade Catalog Reclassification: Action Required
Handmade listings worldwide are being reclassified into standard Amazon product categories. This is a big deal for discoverability. Your handcrafted products will now appear when customers search and browse in standard categories, not just within the Handmade store. More eyes on your work means more potential sales.
Here's what you need to do:
✓ Validate your newly assigned product types and item type keywords by downloading your Category Listings Report
✓ Review the reclassification guide and assign a Handmade classification attribute to your listings. This is how you maintain your Handmade designation
✓ Ensure all required attributes for your ASINs with newly assigned product types are complete. Update through Seller Central
You'll receive an email notification when reclassification of all Handmade products is complete globally. Don't wait. Start validating your listings now to avoid any disruption.
🖥️ Next Gen Selling Is Live
A refreshed selling experience called Next Gen Selling is now available, designed to make managing your business easier and more intuitive. Instead of navigating through multiple menus, your essential tools are organized into dedicated workspaces, everything grouped in one place.
Key benefits include simplified navigation, quick access to your most-used tools, and a customizable dashboard you can tailor to your workflow. You can toggle between Seller Central and Next Gen Selling anytime using the switch in the top right corner of your home page, so there's no pressure to commit. Try it out and see if it works for you.
📸 Main Image Best Practices: Boost Your Discoverability
High-quality product images are one of the biggest drivers of clicks and conversions. The newsletter reinforces these main image requirements to help your listings stand out:
✓ Pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255)
✓ Product fills at least 85% of the frame
✓ Show the actual product only (no graphics, illustrations, or mockups)
✓ No text, logos, watermarks, or props
If your main images don't meet these standards, your listings may not perform as well in search results. Take a few minutes to audit your top-selling ASINs and update any images that fall short.
ℹ️ Resource: Amazon Handmade Image Requirements Best Practices
📅 Don't Forget: Marketing Events Calendar
Seasonal events offer marketing opportunities for eligible listings. Check the Marketing Events Calendar in Seller Central to review upcoming key dates and plan ahead. Note that the calendar is an overview and marketing placement is not guaranteed, but being prepared gives you the best shot.
💬 Share Your Experience
We covered a lot of ground here, from reclassification to a new Seller Central experience to image tips.
What's the update that caught your attention most, and how are you planning to tackle it? Whether you've already started making changes or you're still figuring things out, we'd love to hear what's on your mind.
Drop a comment below and share your thoughts. If this post was helpful, give it an upvote so other Handmade sellers can find it too! 👇
📬 Handmade Sellers: 3 Updates You Don't Want to Miss
Your Q1 2026 Handmade Newsletter is here, and it covers three important updates that directly impact how your listings appear, how you navigate Seller Central, and how customers discover your products. If you missed the email or want a quick recap, here's what you need to know and what to do next.
🔄 Handmade Catalog Reclassification: Action Required
Handmade listings worldwide are being reclassified into standard Amazon product categories. This is a big deal for discoverability. Your handcrafted products will now appear when customers search and browse in standard categories, not just within the Handmade store. More eyes on your work means more potential sales.
Here's what you need to do:
✓ Validate your newly assigned product types and item type keywords by downloading your Category Listings Report
✓ Review the reclassification guide and assign a Handmade classification attribute to your listings. This is how you maintain your Handmade designation
✓ Ensure all required attributes for your ASINs with newly assigned product types are complete. Update through Seller Central
You'll receive an email notification when reclassification of all Handmade products is complete globally. Don't wait. Start validating your listings now to avoid any disruption.
🖥️ Next Gen Selling Is Live
A refreshed selling experience called Next Gen Selling is now available, designed to make managing your business easier and more intuitive. Instead of navigating through multiple menus, your essential tools are organized into dedicated workspaces, everything grouped in one place.
Key benefits include simplified navigation, quick access to your most-used tools, and a customizable dashboard you can tailor to your workflow. You can toggle between Seller Central and Next Gen Selling anytime using the switch in the top right corner of your home page, so there's no pressure to commit. Try it out and see if it works for you.
📸 Main Image Best Practices: Boost Your Discoverability
High-quality product images are one of the biggest drivers of clicks and conversions. The newsletter reinforces these main image requirements to help your listings stand out:
✓ Pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255)
✓ Product fills at least 85% of the frame
✓ Show the actual product only (no graphics, illustrations, or mockups)
✓ No text, logos, watermarks, or props
If your main images don't meet these standards, your listings may not perform as well in search results. Take a few minutes to audit your top-selling ASINs and update any images that fall short.
ℹ️ Resource: Amazon Handmade Image Requirements Best Practices
📅 Don't Forget: Marketing Events Calendar
Seasonal events offer marketing opportunities for eligible listings. Check the Marketing Events Calendar in Seller Central to review upcoming key dates and plan ahead. Note that the calendar is an overview and marketing placement is not guaranteed, but being prepared gives you the best shot.
💬 Share Your Experience
We covered a lot of ground here, from reclassification to a new Seller Central experience to image tips.
What's the update that caught your attention most, and how are you planning to tackle it? Whether you've already started making changes or you're still figuring things out, we'd love to hear what's on your mind.
Drop a comment below and share your thoughts. If this post was helpful, give it an upvote so other Handmade sellers can find it too! 👇
3 replies
Seller_hfmMmH8f6bDeQ
We have something here at Amazon Handmade called Handmade Hub that you can find under the settings tab. Is this what you put on the forum last night considered a newsletter? The last time a newletter appeared it was in the Handmade Hub in Q1 of 2025. Point 1 was covered then, over a year and a half ago. Q1 is not this time of the year. I have suggested several times that the Handmade hub, Facebook page and other social media regarding Amazon Handmade needed to be updated.
Most of us know about points 1 and 3 and have figured out what we need to do for our categories and pictures long ago, but thank you for the reminder. For Point 2, I personally don't like the constant changes that Amazon forces on the sellers and find that my current dashboard is just fine for what I need to do. Sorry but you are a little bit too late for me. Maybe somebody that just started selling in Handmade might find this helpful.
Seller_gwzuNYC3ogYNo
I can't say that any of that is NEWS, but thank you for the effort.
Here is some ACTUAL NEW INFO that some may have missed if not receiving Amazon emails. You need to update your titles, every listing, one by one, or the bots will do it for you.
The "view enhancements" feature for titles and bullet points isn't terrible, but you definitely want to review all the changes before adding them.
Here is an email I received on June 10:
Hello,
Your product titles are one of the first things customers see, and for customers shopping on mobile, every character counts. To ensure your product titles appeal to customers everywhere, we’re making some changes that will help you show your product name and your product highlights seamlessly.
Starting July 27, 2026, titles in all categories except for media will need to be 75 characters or less including spaces. This ensures that your title will fully display in mobile and is consistent with the title length used by other online stores.
Item Highlights provides an additional 125 characters for sharing materials or recommended use cases that help customers compare options. This content is searchable and visible below titles in search results and on product detail pages.
We’re providing you with AI-powered tools to ensure that your new titles and Item Highlights are optimal. You can start reviewing, modifying, and using AI-recommended titles and Item Highlights today by taking the following steps:
Go to Manage All Inventory and find the listing that you’d like to update.
Select Edit from the drop-down menu.
Click View enhancements on the left of the page to see titles and Item Highlights that follow our product title requirements and best practices. These recommendations keep your key product information in the title and move additional details to Item Highlights.
After July 27, any titles still over 75 characters will be updated to the AI recommendation gradually. Your listings stay active throughout this process, and you can make changes to your titles and Item Highlights at any time.
When changes are made to your listings, brand owners will have 14 days before implementation to review, modify, and approve AI-generated recommendations for titles and Item Highlights in Review Listings Changes.
To update your listings at any time, go to Manage all Inventory.
For more information about titles, Item Highlights, and examples of the new title format, go to Product title requirements and guidelines.
The Amazon Services team
