Amazon has given Seller-Fulfilled Prime (read: non-Fulfilled by Amazon) sellers another reprieve on Amazon's strict delivery and fulfillment standards.

It's COVID, they say.

Ultimately, this is only a temporary reprieve. Actually I think it could help Amazon line up some other timing. Previously, sellers were not responsible for buyer-related fulfillment concerns if they used FBA. At some point this year, Amazon will almost assuredly rollout Amazon Logistics (AMZL) solution.

This will immediately create a captive market for everyone wanting to find a stable Seller-Fulfilled Prime solution (since hardly anyone is doing that good a job right now).

Boom. COVID ramps down in second half of the year. Seller-Fulfilled Prime standards go back up. Simultaneously, using AMZL will offer relief from these standards.

I'll leave it to others to determine if it's ethical or not, but ultimately none of this would work if buyers didn't still love Amazon. If that were the case, demand would be shrinking at Amazon and no one would care about this.