Introduction
The classic Amazon seller debate: Deals or Coupons? For a long time, the answer was "it depends." But with Amazon's recent overhaul of its promotional fee structure and new data on post-promotion performance, the landscape has fundamentally changed. One of these tools now offers a clear path to not just immediate sales, but sustained, long-term growth. The surprising part? The best choice is now less about the discount and more about the lasting impact on your organic rank. Let's break down the new reality of Amazon deals vs coupons and what it means for your bottom line.
Key Takeaways
Deals Outperform Coupons: Post-Prime Day data shows Deals lead to sustained sales velocity and improved organic rank, while coupon-driven sales often drop off after the event.
New Fee Structure is Key: Amazon's 2025 fee changes ($70/day + 1% for Deals vs. $5 + 2.5% for Coupons) make Deals more cost-effective for many products and require careful margin calculations for coupons.
Visual Impact Matters: The red "Deal" badge is a stronger psychological trigger for urgency and conversion compared to the more subtle green or orange coupon tag, leading to higher click-through rates.
More Flexibility with Deals: Best Deals can now run for up to 14 days (previously 7), offering sellers a powerful tool for maintaining sales momentum and improving BSR over a longer period.
Coupons Are Now a Tactical Tool: While no longer a go-to for general discounts, coupons remain effective for specific, targeted goals like new product launches or liquidating inventory.
Deals Deliver a Lasting Sales Lift
For years, the choice between running a Deal or a Coupon on Amazon felt like a matter of preference. Both seemed to offer a nice, temporary sales bump. But recent data, especially from major events like Prime Day, paints a much clearer picture. It turns out, the impact of a Deal extends far beyond the promotion window.
According to a detailed analysis by Momentum Commerce, products that utilized Deals during Prime Day didn't just see a bigger immediate revenue spike; they maintained a higher sales velocity even after the event ended. This is the Amazon flywheel in action. The initial sales surge from a Deal improves your product's Best Seller Rank (BSR), which in turn boosts its organic visibility in search results. More organic visibility leads to more sales, creating a self-sustaining cycle of growth.
Products using coupons, on the other hand, often experienced a drop-off in sales once the promotion concluded. They got the short-term boost but missed out on the lasting momentum. For brands focused on long-term, sustainable growth, this is a critical distinction. It suggests that Deals are a more powerful lever for improving your product's fundamental position within Amazon's algorithm.
Understanding Amazon's New Fee Structure
The strategic landscape for Amazon promotions changed dramatically on June 2, 2025. Amazon rolled out a completely new performance-based fee structure for its most popular promotional tools. This isn't just a minor tweak; it's a fundamental shift in how sellers need to calculate their ROI. Ignoring these changes is a surefire way to wreck your profit margins.
Previously, coupons had a straightforward $0.60 redemption fee. Simple, but it could add up. The new model is more complex. As MyAmazonGuy reported, “Coupon fees will change from $0.60 per coupon redeemed to a $5 fixed fee plus 2.5% of coupon-attributed sales.” This makes coupons potentially much more expensive, especially for lower-priced items where a $5 upfront fee is significant.
Deals also got an overhaul. Here’s a clear breakdown of the new costs:
Promotion Type | Old Fee Structure | New Fee Structure (Effective June 2, 2025) |
|---|---|---|
Coupons | $0.60 per redemption | $5 upfront fee + 2.5% of coupon-driven sales |
Lightning & Best Deals | Flat fee (varied) | $70 per day + 1% of deal-driven sales (capped at $2,000) |
Prime Exclusive Discounts (Prime Day) | Varies by event | $100 per campaign for Prime Day 2025 |
This performance-based model means Amazon is incentivizing sellers to run promotions that actually convert. For deals, the cost is directly tied to success, which feels fairer. For coupons, the new structure requires a much more careful calculation before you hit "submit."
Related Reads:
The True Cost: How Fees Impact Your Bottom Line
Let's get practical. How do these new fees affect products at different price points? This is where many sellers get tripped up. The sticker price of a promotion isn't the real story; the impact on your net profit per unit is what matters.
Coupons: A Game of Margins
The new coupon fee is a double-edged sword. For a high-ticket item, say $200, a $5 upfront fee plus 2.5% ($5) amounts to a $10 fee. That might be perfectly acceptable. But for a $15 item, that same $5 upfront fee plus 2.5% ($0.38) results in a $5.38 fee. That's a huge chunk of your margin, potentially making the promotion unprofitable before you even factor in the discount itself.
This change disproportionately affects sellers of low-priced goods, forcing them to reconsider if coupons are a viable strategy. In fact, data from Forest Shipping showed a sharp decline in coupon usage right after the new fees took effect, dropping from 13.6% of products to just 9.1% in June 2025. Sellers are clearly reacting to the new math.
Deals: Predictability and Performance
The Deal fee of $70/day + 1% of sales offers more predictability. You know your maximum daily base cost, and the variable portion is a small percentage. This model incentivizes running deals on products that you are confident will perform well. If a deal generates $5,000 in sales in a day, your fee is $70 + $50 = $120. This is often far more palatable than the unpredictable and potentially high costs of coupon redemptions under the new system, especially at scale.
Brands must now meticulously model their promotional campaigns. It's no longer enough to just offer a discount. You need to forecast sales velocity and calculate the final net margin. This is an area where having a dedicated Amazon account management partner can make a huge difference, turning complex calculations into a clear, profitable strategy.
Deal Badges vs. Coupon Badges: What Shoppers See
Beyond the fees, we have to consider the customer experience. On a crowded search results page, how a promotion is displayed matters. A lot.
The Power of the Red Badge
Amazon Deals get a bold, red "Deal" badge. This simple visual cue is incredibly powerful. It triggers a sense of urgency and scarcity. Shoppers have been conditioned to associate that red badge with a limited-time opportunity, prompting quicker clicks and higher conversion rates. Products with active deals are often featured on Amazon’s dedicated Deals page, giving them a massive visibility boost that coupons just don’t get.
The Subtlety of the Green Tag
Coupons, on the other hand, typically display a small green or orange tag showing the discount amount (e.g., "Save $5.00"). While this is certainly appealing, it lacks the same psychological punch as the Deal badge. It feels less like a special event and more like a standard, everyday offer. While studies show coupons do increase click-through rates, they don't command the same level of attention as a Lightning Deal or Best Deal. When a customer is scrolling quickly, the red Deal badge simply stands out more, making it a more effective tool for capturing immediate interest.
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More Flexibility with Extended Best Deals
Another significant update that tilts the scales in favor of Deals is the change to duration. As noted by Brandwoven, “Starting June 2, 2025, sellers can run Best Deals for anywhere from 1 to 14 days.” This is up from the previous maximum of 7 days.
This added flexibility is a huge strategic advantage. Why?
Sustained Ranking Momentum: A 14-day deal allows you to maintain increased sales velocity for a longer period, giving you a much better chance of cementing a higher organic search rank. A one-week deal might give you a bump, but a two-week deal can help you solidify that new position.
Aligning with Pay Cycles: You can run a deal that covers two weekends and multiple paydays, capturing a wider range of shoppers who budget their spending.
Inventory Management: It's a perfect tool for clearing out seasonal inventory or avoiding long-term storage fees without resorting to a massive, margin-killing liquidation.
This extended duration makes Best Deals a more versatile tool for everything from new product launches to managing the entire lifecycle of your inventory. It's another reason why Deals are becoming the go-to for savvy sellers looking for more than just a quick sales spike.
So, Are Coupons Dead? Not Exactly.
Despite the fee changes and the clear advantages of Deals, coupons aren't completely obsolete. They’ve just shifted from a broad, everyday tool to a more specialized, tactical one. There are still specific scenarios where a coupon makes perfect sense.
Think of it this way:
Scenario | Best Tool | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
Major Sales Event (e.g., Prime Day) | Deal | Maximizes visibility and captures high-intent traffic. The lasting rank boost is key. |
New Product Launch | Coupon | A high-value coupon can drive crucial initial sales and reviews without the high upfront cost or strict scheduling of a Deal. |
Boosting Organic Rank | Deal | The sustained sales velocity from a 7-14 day Best Deal provides a stronger signal to the A10 algorithm. |
Liquidating Specific Inventory | Coupon | Offers precise control over the discount for a targeted batch of units without affecting your main pricing strategy. |
The key is to run the numbers. Before launching a coupon, you absolutely must model the cost based on the new fee structure. If you have a healthy margin and a specific, strategic goal in mind, a coupon can still be a sharp tool in your arsenal. For everything else, a Deal is likely the more powerful and profitable choice.
How Should You Adapt Your Amazon Promotion Strategy?
Given these changes, sticking to your old promotional playbook is a recipe for falling behind. It's time to re-evaluate and adapt. The first step is to shift your mindset from "offering discounts" to "investing in visibility and rank."
1. Prioritize Deals for Key Moments
Your promotional calendar should be built around Deals, especially during high-traffic periods like Q4, Prime Day, or other holidays. Use the new 14-day Best Deal option to build sustained momentum for your hero products. This should be your primary strategy for driving growth.
2. Use Coupons as a Surgical Tool
Reserve coupons for very specific, targeted objectives. Are you launching a new product variation? A targeted coupon can get those first few crucial sales. Need to clear out 200 units of an aging product? A coupon is perfect for that. Don't use them as an always-on "discount" feature anymore; the new fees make that too costly.
3. Master Your Metrics
You need to be tracking more than just sales. Monitor your session data, conversion rates, and, most importantly, your Total Advertising Cost of Sale (TACoS). A successful promotion should lower your TACoS, indicating that your organic sales are growing relative to your ad spend. This is the ultimate measure of a healthy flywheel. Proper marketplace advertising and analytics are no longer optional.
For many brands, managing this level of strategic analysis can be overwhelming. This is where partnering with an ecommerce accelerator can be a game-changer. At Fifth Shelf, we handle the complex modeling and execution, ensuring your promotional spend is an investment in profitable growth, not just a short-term sales gimmick.
Stacking Promotions and the Bigger Picture
A common question we hear is, "Should I stack a Deal with a Coupon?" Intuitively, it seems like offering a deeper discount would lead to even more sales. However, recent data suggests this may not be the case. The analysis from Momentum Commerce found that stacking promotions did not yield a significant additional benefit. It often just cannibalizes your margin without providing a meaningful lift in sales velocity compared to running a strong Deal on its own.
Your best bet is to focus on making one promotional tool work as hard as possible. Choose the right one for the job—usually a Deal—and support it with a solid Amazon PPC campaign to maximize visibility during the event.
Finally, remember that your Amazon strategy doesn't exist in a vacuum. The principles of using powerful, event-based promotions (like Deals) versus targeted, tactical offers (like Coupons) apply across other platforms, whether you're selling on Walmart, Shopify, or TikTok. Understanding the true cost and long-term benefit of each promotional type is a critical skill for any modern ecommerce brand.
Conclusion
The debate between Amazon Deals and Coupons has a much clearer winner now. With Amazon's shift to a performance-based fee structure, Deals have emerged as the more powerful, cost-effective, and strategic tool for driving long-term growth. They offer better visibility, create a stronger psychological pull for shoppers, and, most importantly, contribute to a lasting improvement in organic rank.
Coupons still have a role, but it's been refined to that of a specialist's tool for tactical situations like product launches or targeted liquidations. For brands looking to scale, the focus must shift to mastering the new Deal mechanics and building a promotional calendar that supports sustained momentum. We recommend you take a hard look at your current strategy, run the numbers on the new fee structures, and consider if your current approach is truly set up for success. To see how your brand's promotional strategy stacks up, consider getting a free brand audit to identify areas for profitable improvement.