What most people don’t know: If retailer A and retailer B had exactly the same items, such as a popular charger, over in the Amazon warehouse, Amazon will simply group them together as common stock. When you order the item, Amazon would access the closest available stock, regardless of which seller it originally came from. This saves time and warehouse logistics resources, but also means customers will not receive the item they ordered.
More Transparency Requires More Effort
From March 31, 2026 onward, this will be a thing of the past. Each item will once again be clearly assigned to a single seller, and Amazon will track this inventory separately. For brand owners in Amazon’s Brand Registry, this means that their products will no longer require an additional Amazon barcode. Provided, of course, that the original manufacturer’s barcode is available. Resellers, on the other hand, will always have to apply the special Amazon barcode, even if there is a regular barcode on the product.
According to Amazon, the key driver behind this surprising turnaround is the issue of trust. If identical items from different sellers are listed under one barcode, it will be almost impossible to trace who is responsible in the event of complaints, defects, quality issues, or counterfeits. This can pose serious risks, especially for sensitive product groups such as electronics or cosmetics, for buyers and reputable retailers alike.
This is precisely where the end of so-called co-mingling should come in. The aim is to enable clearer allocation, better traceability, and fewer opportunities for counterfeiting or incorrect deliveries. At the same time, it is a further step towards tightening control over the marketplace ecosystem and giving direct brand owners an advantage over pure resellers.
However, there is also a downside: retailers will have to adapt their logistics processes, print and affix more of their own barcodes, and fine-tune their warehouse management. This can mean additional work and costs for smaller sellers.
Effects for Buyers and Retailers
Many buyers welcome the change because it promises potentially fewer counterfeits and higher product quality. This is a good argument, especially for items such as food supplements, skincare, or high-quality electronic parts. In the past, genuine orders occasionally end up with goods from dubious sources in the parcel. But there are also skeptical voices: Some customers fear delivery times could become longer and prices slightly higher because the benefits of the shared warehouse system would be lost.
Meanwhile, brand owners with their own registration on Amazon will view this as an opportunity. This is because they regain control over their products. Resellers, on the other hand, have to be prepared for more bureaucracy and prep work. For many, this can mean additional costs that squeeze margins.
More Control Comes at a Cost
For shoppers, this could mean more confidence in online shopping in the long term if Amazon manages the transition smoothly. Retailers, on the other hand, will have to remain creative and realign their processes. And for everyone else, at least one thing remains certain: from March, there will be significantly less “invisible mixing” on Amazon than before.
