Lightning Deals are promotional offers that are available on Amazon for a limited time, usually 4 to 6 hours, within the Amazon Deals page. By including a product in a Lightning Deal, you have the opportunity to increase sales and it also offers a quick way to reduce inventory.

LIghtning Deals are visible to customers within Amazon’s Goldbox Deals:

How to Make Your Products Eligible for a Lightning Deals

If you are a seller with a Professional Selling Plan then you are eligible for Lightning Deals. You can determine whether or not your specific products qualify by visiting the Lightning Deals Dashboard, where you will see all of your current eligible products displayed. Amazon looks at a variety of criteria when determining product eligibility, including:

Product Reviews

Amazon only wants high-quality items featured in their Lightning Deals, so in order for a product to qualify it must have at least a 3-star rating. Amazon may change this standard based on the time of year as well as the marketplace.

An important note on product reviews: the more product reviews you have, the less impact a single negative review will have to your overall star rating. If you aren’t already using Salesbacker to grow the number of product reviews for your listings, be sure to sign up today for your free 30-day trial. Salesbacker automates the process of emailing each customer who purchases your products to ask them to leave a review, so it is a quick way to grow the number of reviews for each of your products.

Fulfillment Method

In order for a product to be eligible for a Lightning Deal it must be Prime eligible, either via enrollment in Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or via Merchant-Fulfilled Prime.

Category

Products that could be seen as inappropriate or offensive are not eligible for Lightning Deals. This includes products such as adult products, alcohol, e-cigarettes, medicines and medical devices, and baby formula.

Variations

If your product has multiple variations such as size, color, or style, Amazon may specify that a certain percentage of your product variations must be included when you create a deal in order to be eligible.

Amazon refreshes the list of eligible product recommendations for Lightning Deals once a week, so keep in mind that a product that is currently eligible may or may not be eligible in the future, and vice versa.

Lightning Deal Fees

If you decide you’d like to submit a product for a Lightning Deal, be aware that there is a fee associated with Lightning Deal participation. The fee amount is listed next to the Submit button when you submit your product for a Lightning Deal. Be sure to pay attention to the fee amount and only submit your deal if you are prepared to pay the fee. The fee is typically $150, however the fee amount can vary based on marketplace as well as the timing of when your deal runs (certain timeframes are more expensive due to greater customer traffic). The fee amount is not affected by the price, quantity, or variations included in your deal.

Changes to the Fee

If Amazon schedules your product for a Lightning Deal, they will update the associated fee amount based on the date and time of day that the deal is scheduled to run. If your deal is selected to run during a time or day that has higher customer traffic, the associated fee will be higher than if the deal runs at a time when traffic is slower (say, the middle of the night). If your product is chosen for a Lightning Deal during an event (such as Prime Day, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday) the associated deal fee will be even higher — but again, customer traffic is also highest on these days. You can review the deal fee amount within the Lightning Deal Dashboard.

Lightning Deal charges are incurred only after the deal runs. Once Amazon process the deal fee it can be found in your Seller Central statement as a Lighting Deal Fee (Seller Central > Reports > Payments > Transaction View > Lightning Deal Fee). The fee is automatically deducted from your account. The deal fee is not based on the performance of the deal, so be aware that if your deal doesn’t perform well you are still required to pay the full fee, and there is no opportunity for a refund.

How to Set Up a Lightning Deal

If you have a product that is listed in the Lightning Deals Dashboard as deal eligible and you would like to submit the product for a Lightning Deal, you can do so within the Deal Dashboard via one of two methods. The first method is to simply click on the Create tab within the Dashboard and select the item you’d like to submit. After selecting the product, click on Edit or Advanced Edit to set the price, quantity, schedule, and any product variations that apply.

Another way to submit a product for a Lightning Deal is by clicking on See all recommendations. This method will walk you through the deal creation process, offering you prompts along the way. If you choose this method of deal creation, be sure to pay close attention to these factors:

Price

Amazon looks for deals that offer an appealing discount to customers. They typically look for a discount of at least 20% off.

Product Variation

As mentioned earlier, Amazon may specify that a certain percentage of your variations be included in the deal in order for it to be eligible. Amazon recommends that sellers include as many variations as possible in their deals in order to decrease the odds of a deal being rejected. So, be sure to carefully consider which variations to include in your deal.

Product Quantity

You can specify a quantity of units to include in your deal. Seven days before your deal is scheduled to run, Amazon will check to ensure that your inventory levels are greater than or equal to your specified deal quantity. If your inventory levels are lower than your proposed deal quantity 7 or fewer days before the deal, Amazon may cancel your deal.

Schedule

While you can’t choose the exact day or time that your deal runs, you can specify the week. If your deal is chosen by Amazon they will provide you with the scheduled day and time for your deal a week before the deal is scheduled to run.

Frequency

Because Amazon wants to keep their deal selection varied and fresh for customers, you cannot run a deal on the same ASIN more than once within a 7 day period.

Fee

Before you submit the deal, review the applicable fee. Remember, if your deal is approved and scheduled the fee amount may change.

Checking the Status of a Lightning Deal

Once you submit a product for a Lightning Deal you can use the Lightning Deal Dashboard to monitor the status of your deal. Here is a quick overview of the different statuses you might see within the Dashboard:

Status = Draft

This status means you’ve made at least one error in the setup of your Lightning Deal. Go back and edit the values you entered as necessary to resolve the issue(s), and then resubmit your deal for approval.

Status = Under Review

This simply means your deal is awaiting approval from Amazon. Some deals are immediately approved or rejected, but it can also take up to 15 minutes for a deal to be reviewed. So if you see a status of Under Review,  just check back in a few minutes to see if your deal was approved or rejected.

Status = Needs Edits

If you see this status, you’ll also find highlighted areas of your deal that require edits. Make the necessary changes and then resubmit for approval.

Status = Pending

This means your deal has passed eligibility requirements but has not yet been scheduled. You will receive notification of the day and time of your deal within a week of the scheduled run date.

Status = Upcoming, or Approved

This means your deal has been scheduled for the date and time listed.

Status = Suppressed

This means your deal doesn’t meet the requirements for eligibility. You need to be sure that the discount you’ve offered is compelling, that you’ve included a high percentage of product variations, and that your star rating has not fallen below 3-stars. If any of these variables doesn’t meet Amazon’s requirements, your Lightning Deal may be suppressed. You can click the info button next to the ASIN in question to get details that explain exactly why the deal was suppressed. You’ll need to make the necessary changes to price, quantity, or inventory at least 25 hours prior to the scheduled deal date in order for the deal to be unsuppressed and to avoid cancellation of your deal.

How to Cancel a Lightning Deal

You can cancel a Lightning Deal at any time, whether it has started or not. However, if you cancel with less than 25 hours notice before the deal begins, you will be charged a fee. Last minute cancellations also increase the likelihood that you could be blacklisted from creating Lightning Deals in the future. So make sure to regularly check on the status of your deal after you submit it for consideration, to give yourself plenty of lead time to cancel if necessary. Remember, Amazon will always give you at least a week’s notice before your deal runs, so if you regularly check on the deal status you should easily be able to prevent most situations where you would need to cancel a deal at the last minute.

Another important consideration related to Lightning Deal cancellations; if you regularly cancel your deals, even with greater than 25 hours notice, Amazon might blacklist you from creating deals in the future. So, be careful when creating Lightning Deal submissions so that you can keep cancellations to a minimum.

If you do need to cancel a deal you can do so within the Lighting Deals Dashboard. Go to the All tab and select the deal you want to cancel by clicking on View, and then select Cancel Deal.

Lightning Deal Resources

If you have additional questions about Lightning Deals, be sure to visit these helpful resources in Seller Central (login required):