Amazon Lightning Deals and Best Deals: Fees, Eligibility and Setup

The cordless hedge trimmer is supposed to go into a Lightning Deal for Prime Day. The team at the brand TRIMVALD still has €35 per deal in mind, no matter how much it sells. That fee is history. Since June 2025, TRIMVALD pays per day and based on sales. Big events have their own rates.

For shoppers, in short: you find Lightning Deals on the deals page of amazon.de (amazon.de/deals). If a deal is sold out, you can join the waitlist.

If you are a seller or vendor, this guide shows who may create Amazon Lightning Deals, which deal price Amazon allows, what a deal costs in 2026 and what to watch until it starts. This guide covers amazon.de and the rules Amazon states for Germany, in euros, as of October 2026, according to Amazon’s help pages. US fees and rules differ and are not covered here. Our article on Amazon marketing gives an overview of all promotion types.

What is an Amazon Lightning Deal?

A Lightning Deal offers a discount while the time runs and the deal quantity lasts. That is usually 4 to 12 hours, and Amazon sets the exact time. While it runs, the product carries a deal badge and appears on the deals page.

Amazon has two deal types:

• Lightning Deal: a few hours, Amazon schedules the time slot.
• Best Deal: 1 to 14 days, on any day of the week, and you pick the dates yourself. For big events such as Prime Day, Amazon sets fixed dates.

The former “7-Day Deal” no longer exists under that name. The Best Deal has taken over its role.

With Prime Exclusive Deals, only Prime members get the deal price. Everyone else pays the normal price. Amazon decides which ASINs qualify: in the list of recommended products, the column “Eligible audiences” then shows “Prime customers”. You cannot apply for it.

Deals can be combined with coupons. If TRIMVALD offers the hedge trimmer in a Lightning Deal at 20% off and adds a 5% coupon, the shopper gets 25% off. So add up both discounts before you plan a deal. Our article on Amazon coupons explains how coupons work.

Once the deal quantity is sold, shoppers can join a waitlist. Amazon counts them in the metric “Items Waitlisted”.

Eligibility: who can create Lightning Deals?

TRIMVALD’s hedge trimmer only gets into a deal if Amazon recommends it or shows it as eligible. Deals are an invite-only program, and you cannot submit other ASINs. The list changes every week. Seller Support cannot help here: it cannot unlock other products.

For sellers, these conditions apply:

• Account: a Professional selling plan.
• Rating and sales: at least 3 stars and a sales history.
• Condition: new items only.
• Shipping: generally FBA, or seller-fulfilled with free shipping. Prime shipping is not a strict requirement.
• Variations: a deal with fewer than 80% of a product’s variations is rejected. For clothing and shoes, Amazon states at least 60%.
• Excluded: among others, e-cigarettes, alcohol, adult products, medical devices, medicines and infant formula.

If a deal breaks Amazon’s rules on deal frequency, Amazon cancels it. Amazon does not say how many weeks must pass between two deals.

Lightning Deals for vendors

Vendors can also create Lightning Deals and Best Deals, plus price discounts. According to the Vendor Central help, they do this on the Promotion Central page, in the menu Merchandising › Promotions. You need promotions and marketing permissions for it. Vendors fund the discount per unit, in local currency and excluding tax. The Vendor Central help names no separate deal fee for vendors (as of October 2026).

Deal price: how Amazon calculates the maximum price

How far do you have to cut the price? Amazon does not publish a fixed minimum discount in percent. Instead, you see a maximum deal price for each ASIN, which you must not exceed. Several changing values go into the calculation:

1. the reference price (for example the list price or the Was Price) minus a minimum discount,
2. the lowest price of all sellers in the last 30 days minus a minimum discount,
3. the lowest offer for new items.

The reference price is often the “Was Price”. That is the median price customers paid in the last 90 days. Prices from promotions usually do not count. Since May 18, 2026, price discounts that are not shown to shoppers as a promotion count as normal prices. Our article on Amazon discounts explains how the reference price and the 30-day lowest price relate.

If the hedge trimmer already sold for less in recent weeks, the maximum deal price drops too. So TRIMVALD has to factor in the earlier price. For big events, Amazon may require a higher discount. Amazon gives no numbers for this.

How to create a Lightning Deal

In Seller Central, deals, coupons, price discounts and promotions now share one page: in the new menu, open Marketing › “Manage promotions and deals” (in the German interface “Aktionen und Angebote verwalten”, page title “Werbeaktionen verwalten”). There you open the create menu and choose to create a deal. In the classic menu, Advertising › Deals leads to a start page with a button to create a new deal.

1. Pick the product: choose an ASIN from the recommended or eligible products.
2. Set type and time frame: for a Lightning Deal, choose a calendar week or an event, and Amazon sets the exact slot. For a Best Deal, you choose 1 to 14 days yourself. Depending on the product, Amazon also offers a custom date.
3. Enter price and quantity: the deal price must not exceed the maximum deal price. The deal quantity must be at least the quantity Amazon suggests.
4. Review and submit: after you submit, the deal shows “Under review”. The review takes up to 15 minutes.

For several deals in several marketplaces, use a template and submit them in one step.

You see the exact date of a Lightning Deal at least one week before it starts. Big events have early-bird deadlines. In 2026, these were August 5 for Prime Big Deal Days and September 5 for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Our overview of Amazon events shows when each event takes place.

What does a Lightning Deal cost? Fees in 2026

After each Lightning Deal and Best Deal has run, Amazon charges a fixed fee plus a variable fee on deal sales:

Only the variable part is capped. The fixed fee always comes on top. For events, the fixed fee drops by €5 if you submit the deal by the early-bird deadline. And a day without sales still costs the daily fee.

Three examples:

• Lightning Deal, 1 day, €1,200 deal sales: €4 + €9 = €13.
• Best Deal, 5 days, €6,000 deal sales: €20 + €45 = €65.
• Prime Day 2026, €500,000 deal sales: €16 + €1,000 = €1,016. Without the cap, the variable fee would be €3,750. Amazon’s help page gives this example too.

After the start, these rules apply:

• Amazon charges the fee after the deal ends.
• If you cancel a running deal, you pay the full fee.
• There is no refund for returns.
• If a deal and a coupon run at the same time, both fees are charged separately.

The old flat fee TRIMVALD still has in mind applied until June 1, 2025: €35 for a Lightning Deal and €70 for a Best Deal. From June 2, 2025, the fee was €4 per day plus 0.75%, with a cap of €500 on the variable part. Since January 5, 2026, that cap is €300.

In your settlement, the costs appear in two lines, DealParticipationFee and DealPerformanceFee. Our article on Amazon seller fees explains what these lines mean.

Status, canceling and suppressed deals

Submitted does not mean confirmed. The status shows where your deal stands. On the promotions page you can filter by status (in the German interface, for example “Bevorstehend” for upcoming, “Läuft” for running and “Storniert” for canceled). Amazon’s help pages describe the steps in more detail:

• Draft: not submitted yet.
• Under review: Amazon is reviewing the deal, up to 15 minutes.
• Needs edits: you have to correct something.
• Pending: the deal is eligible, but Amazon has not set the date and time yet.
• Upcoming: the date is set.
• Suppressed: Amazon does not show the deal as it is, and you have to fix it.
• ASIN greyed out: the ASIN does not meet the conditions. You cannot edit it, and it must be removed from the deal.
• Running: the deal is live.
• Canceled: the deal was stopped.

Canceling: until 25 hours before the start, you can cancel without penalty. After that, you risk fees or a block on future deals. If the deal is already running, you pay the full fee.

Suppressed deals: if all ASINs in a deal are suppressed before the start, you pay nothing. For the deal to still start, you must fix the cause at least 25 hours before. Otherwise Amazon cancels it. Even a changed reference price can be the cause. Amazon does not announce such changes.

Inventory: the deal quantity must be in stock at least 7 days before the start. For TRIMVALD, that means: bringing the hedge trimmers into the warehouse the day before is too late. They must be there a week ahead. Check the “Needs Attention” section two weeks before and during the deal.

How did the deal go? Up to two hours after it ends, the dashboard shows Units Sold, Items Waitlisted and Deal Revenue.

Tracking Lightning Deals with AMALYTIX

Checking the hedge trimmer in the dashboard: done quickly. But when your team plans many deals across several marketplaces, a status change can slip through. A moment ago it said “Upcoming”, now it says “Suppressed”. Or Amazon canceled the deal, and nobody notices in time.

In the Promotions module (Marketing area), you see all deals in one list. You filter by active, upcoming and recently ended deals and see whether Amazon confirmed or canceled a deal. For running and past deals, AMALYTIX shows views, units sold and revenue. When the status of a deal changes, the alert “Promotion Status Changed” tells you. This works for sellers and vendors.

AMALYTIX shows the deals and reports status changes. You still create, change and cancel them in Seller Central or Vendor Central. The page on AMALYTIX Advertising has more on the module.

Conclusion: is a Lightning Deal worth it?

A Lightning Deal on a normal day now costs €4 plus 0.75% of sales. Up to about €4,100 in deal sales, that is cheaper than the €35 before June 2025, and more expensive above it. At big events, you pay €16 per deal plus the sales share, and Amazon may require a higher discount.

For TRIMVALD’s hedge trimmer, three points decide: the ASIN on the list of recommended products, a deal price below the maximum deal price, and the stock in the warehouse a week ahead. Before you submit, add up the deal discount and the coupon. After that, check the status until the start, so a suppressed deal does not drop out unnoticed.

FAQ about Amazon Lightning Deals

How much does a Lightning Deal cost on Amazon?

On normal days, €4 per day plus 0.75% of deal sales on amazon.de. The variable part is capped at €300. On Prime Day, Prime Big Deal Days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026, it is €16 per deal plus 0.75%. There, the variable part is capped at €1,000. Amazon charges the fee after the deal ends.

How long does a Lightning Deal run?

A Lightning Deal usually runs 4 to 12 hours. Amazon sets the exact time and shows it at least one week before the start. A Best Deal runs 1 to 14 days instead, and you choose the dates yourself.

What is the difference between a Lightning Deal and a Best Deal?

A Lightning Deal runs a few hours at a time Amazon picks. A Best Deal runs several days, and you choose the start and end yourself. For big events, Amazon sets fixed dates for both. On normal days, the fees are the same: €4 per day plus 0.75%.

What does “waitlist” mean for a Lightning Deal?

Once the deal quantity is sold, shoppers can join a waitlist. As a seller, you see the number in the dashboard after the deal as “Items Waitlisted”. A long waitlist can be a sign that the deal quantity was too small.

Are Lightning Deals only for Prime members?

No, normal deals apply to all customers. But there are Prime Exclusive Deals: there, only Prime members get the deal price. Amazon decides which products qualify. You can tell by “Prime customers” in the column “Eligible audiences”.

Can I cancel a Lightning Deal?

Yes, at any time. Until 25 hours before the start, you can do so without penalty. After that, you risk fees or a block on future deals. If you cancel a running deal, you pay the full fee.