BFCM 2026: What to Check 6 Weeks Before Black Friday
Key takeaways
Black Friday 2026 is November 27 and Cyber Monday is November 30, but most brand deadlines fall in October. As of October 2026, Amazon deal submissions close October 20, FBA inbound closes October 21 or 28, and peak fees already apply. Plan as if stock not yet in the US misses Amazon's Black Friday.
Amazon deals, FBA inbound and carrier cutoffs: when is each deadline?
Brands we work with ask the same two questions every October:
"Can we plan our Black Friday promotion in November?"
"If we ship stock from Korea now, will it make Black Friday?"
The short answer: Black Friday 2026 is November 27, but most of the deadlines that matter for BFCM close in October. As of today, October 15, Black Friday is 43 days away. Amazon deal submissions close on October 20 and FBA inbound closes on October 28, so on Amazon you have less than two weeks.
Below is what to check now, date by date.
1. When is Black Friday 2026? November 26 to 30
The 2026 Black Friday period runs five days, from Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, to Cyber Monday on Monday, November 30. The UPS 2026 year-end holiday schedule lists Thanksgiving as a UPS holiday and normal pickup and delivery on Black Friday, November 27.
Adobe calls these five days Cyber Week. According to Adobe's 2025 figures, US online sales over Cyber Week 2025 reached $44.2 billion, up 7.7%.
- Cyber Monday: $14.25 billion (+7.1%), still the biggest online shopping day
- Black Friday: $11.8 billion (+9.1%), growing faster than Cyber Monday
NRF's forecast of October 15, 2026 says US retail sales in November and December (excluding autos, gas stations and restaurants) will grow 4.2% to $1.013 trillion, from $972 billion in 2025.
In practice, the selling window is longer than five days. Amazon runs its deal event as Black Friday Week, and the TikTok Shop campaign starts on November 11. Black Friday is not a one-day sale. Online, it is a season that runs from mid-November to Cyber Monday.
2. Amazon Black Friday deal submissions close October 20
Amazon's Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deal submissions close on October 20, 2026. According to Amazon's Seller Central announcement, the window ran from July 8 to October 20, and the $50 discount for submitting by September 5 has ended.
The fees are the same for Best Deals, Lightning Deals and Prime Exclusive Price Discounts:
- Upfront fee: $100 per promotion
- Variable fee: 1.5% of promotional sales, capped at $5,000
For example, if a deal brings in $2,000 in sales, you pay the $100 upfront fee + a $30 variable fee = $130, or 6.5% of deal sales. At $20,000 in deal sales, you pay the $100 upfront fee + a $300 variable fee = $400, or 2%. The smaller your deal sales, the more the $100 upfront fee costs you.
Set the discount inside your MSRP and MAP policy. A deep Black Friday price tends to stay in shoppers' minds as the real price. And in our experience, a product with almost no reviews rarely wins on discount alone. For a new listing, build reviews first and run deals later.
3. FBA inbound closes October 21 or 28, so your stock must already be in the US
FBA stock for Black Friday must arrive at Amazon by October 21 or October 28, depending on the shipment option you pick. The 2026 inbound dates in Amazon's announcement:
- AWD (Amazon Warehousing and Distribution, Amazon's bulk storage service): October 14. This date has passed
- FBA with "minimal shipment splits" (you send to fewer Amazon warehouses): October 21
- FBA with "Amazon-optimized shipment splits": October 28. Amazon says most sellers choose this option
Amazon also warns that capacity limits may be lower in this period, without giving numbers.
Cargizon's industry data puts Busan to Los Angeles or Long Beach at about 11 to 16 days, port to port. A ship that leaves today reaches the port around October 26 to 31. Customs clearance, trucking from the port to a warehouse (drayage) and an FBA inbound appointment come after that.
Stock for Amazon's Black Friday is stock that is already in the US, not stock that leaves Korea now.
If you miss October 28, put the stock in a US 3PL and use it for your own store, TikTok Shop or Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) orders, or plan it for December sales.
4. Amazon peak fees and Q4 storage rates start October 15
Amazon's holiday peak fulfillment fee applies from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027. Under Amazon's announcement, FBA, Remote FBA, Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) and Buy with Prime units pay an average of $0.32 more per unit, and the 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies on top. Supply Chain Dive, quoting Amazon, reports that the fee depends on when a unit leaves the fulfillment center. Every Black Friday order shipped on or after October 15 pays it.
On Amazon's monthly storage fee table, standard-size items (non-dangerous goods) cost $2.40 per cubic foot a month from October to December, against $0.78 from January to September. That is about 3.1 times the base rate. Some sellers also pay a storage utilization surcharge.
For example, stock that takes up 20 cubic feet costs $15.60 a month in September (20 × $0.78) and $48 in October (20 × $2.40). Stock that does not sell keeps paying $2.40 through December.
Do not send as much as you can to FBA. Send what will sell by the end of December.
Before you set a deal price, check what is left after the discount, the peak fee, the deal fee and ads, using our Amazon fees per unit example.
5. The TikTok Shop Black Friday campaign runs November 11 to 30
TikTok Shop's 2026 Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign runs from November 11 to November 30. TikTok reports that TikTok Shop sales over the four days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 topped $500 million.
The entry rules are in TikTok Shop's Campaign FAQs:
- Shop Performance Score (SPS): 3.5 or higher to enroll. If it falls below 3.0, campaign benefits may be revoked
- Account Health Rating (AHR): ideally above 150
- Late Dispatch Rate (LDR, the share of orders shipped late): 20% or lower over the last 30 days
- New shops with no SPS yet: fewer than 3 serious violations in the last 30 days
- Where to register: Seller Center > Marketing > Campaigns
LDR covers the last 30 days, so how fast you ship from now on decides whether you qualify. On TikTok Shop, shipping speed decides eligibility before content does. If you want creator videos live by November 11, send creator samples now.
6. Your own store: carrier peak surcharges and holiday cutoffs
If a US 3PL ships your Shopify or TikTok Shop orders, add carrier demand surcharges to your shipping costs. A demand surcharge is a per-package fee that carriers add on top of the base rate in peak weeks. The 2026 residential surcharges:
- UPS Ground Residential and Ground Saver: $0.50 (October 25 to November 21), $0.75 (November 22 to December 26), $0.50 (December 27 to January 16, 2027)
- FedEx Ground Residential and Home Delivery: $0.50 (October 26 to November 22), $0.80 (November 23 to December 27), $0.50 (December 28 to January 17, 2027)
For example, 200 FedEx residential orders a day cost $160 a day in surcharges alone from November 23 (200 orders × $0.80). Build that into your free-shipping threshold.
The holiday cutoffs:
- UPS, for delivery by December 24: 3 Day Select December 21, 2nd Day Air December 22, Next Day Air December 23. UPS Ground has no fixed date, so check by lane
- FedEx Ground and Home Delivery, for delivery by December 24: December 17 for a 5-day lane through December 23 for a 1-day lane
- USPS, for delivery by December 25: Ground Advantage December 17, Priority Mail December 18, Priority Mail Express December 19
Ground orders from a California warehouse to East Coast customers tend to fall in the longer lanes. Set your holiday shipping message by your farthest customer, not by the latest date on the chart.
7. Black Friday sales are final only after the return window closes
Black Friday sales are final in late January, not in November. Under Amazon's 2025 holiday return policy, most items bought from November 1 to December 31, 2025 could be returned until January 31, 2026. As of October 15, we could not find Amazon's 2026 holiday return window, so check Seller Central for it. Decide now who inspects returns and what gets resold or disposed of.
BFCM 2026 timeline: key dates and what to do
Here are the deadlines around Black Friday in date order.
| Date | What happens | What to do | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14 | Amazon AWD inbound deadline (passed) | Plan direct FBA inbound | Amazon |
| Oct 15 | Amazon peak fulfillment fee starts | Recheck deal-price margin | Amazon |
| Oct 20 | Amazon Black Friday deal submissions close | Lock deal price and quantity | Amazon |
| Oct 21 | FBA inbound deadline (minimal shipment splits) | Ship stock already in the US | Amazon |
| Oct 25 to 26 | UPS and FedEx residential surcharges start at $0.50 | Review free-shipping threshold | UPS, FedEx |
| Oct 28 | FBA inbound deadline (Amazon-optimized splits) | Move late stock to a 3PL | Amazon |
| Nov 11 | TikTok Shop Black Friday campaign starts | Confirm SPS 3.5 or higher and LDR 20% or lower | TikTok Shop |
| Nov 22 to 23 | UPS $0.75 and FedEx $0.80 surcharges start | Price shipping costs in | UPS, FedEx |
| Nov 26 to 30 | Thanksgiving, Black Friday (Nov 27), Cyber Monday (Nov 30) | Check stock and dispatch daily | UPS, Adobe |
| Dec 17 | USPS Ground Advantage cutoff (Dec 25 delivery), FedEx Ground 5-day lane cutoff | Post your holiday shipping dates | USPS, FedEx |
| Dec 21 to 23 | UPS cutoffs: 3 Day Select (21), 2nd Day Air (22), Next Day Air (23) | Offer express shipping options | UPS |
Black Friday checklist: 5 questions to answer now
1. After the peak fee and the deal fee, does your deal price still leave a profit?
2. Can your Black Friday stock reach FBA by October 28?
3. Are you sending FBA stock that will not sell by the end of December?
4. Can your 3PL ship fast enough to keep your TikTok Shop LDR at 20% or lower?
5. Do you know where January returns will go and how they will be handled?
Wrap-up
Seen as a discount event, Black Friday looks like a November job. Count back from the dates and most of it is decided earlier: Amazon deals and FBA inbound in October, TikTok Shop eligibility by your shipping record, and your store margin by carrier surcharges.
LinkONE runs a 3PL in Fullerton, California that handles Black Friday inventory storage, FBA inbound prep, order fulfillment for your own store and TikTok Shop, and returns.
In the end, your BFCM results depend less on your November discount than on the stock in a US warehouse and the deadlines you meet in October.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does BFCM mean?
BFCM stands for Black Friday Cyber Monday, the US shopping period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, which in 2026 runs from November 26 to November 30. Adobe counts these five days as Cyber Week. In 2025, Cyber Week brought in $44.2 billion in US online sales, up 7.7% (Adobe).
What day is Black Friday Cyber Monday in 2026?
Black Friday is Friday, November 27, 2026, and Cyber Monday is Monday, November 30, 2026. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, and it is a UPS holiday (UPS 2026 holiday schedule).
What is BFCM on TikTok Shop?
BFCM on TikTok Shop is the Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign, which runs from November 11 to November 30, 2026 (TikTok). To enroll, a shop needs a Shop Performance Score of 3.5 or higher and a Late Dispatch Rate of 20% or lower over the last 30 days, and its Account Health Rating should ideally be above 150 (TikTok Shop Campaign FAQs). Sellers register in Seller Center under Marketing > Campaigns.
When is the Amazon BFCM deal deadline in 2026?
The 2026 deadline for Amazon Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deals is October 20, 2026. The fee is $100 per promotion plus 1.5% of promotional sales, capped at $5,000 (Amazon Seller Central). FBA stock for the event must arrive by October 21 or October 28, depending on the shipment split option. Peak fulfillment fees, averaging $0.32 more per unit, apply from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027.
What are the last shipping dates for Christmas 2026?
For delivery by December 24, 2026, the UPS cutoffs are December 21 for 3 Day Select, December 22 for 2nd Day Air and December 23 for Next Day Air (UPS). FedEx Ground cutoffs run from December 17 to December 23, depending on transit days (FedEx). For delivery by December 25, the USPS Ground Advantage cutoff is December 17 (USPS).
Sources
- Amazon Seller Central: Holiday 2026, Same fees, same eligibility, earlier deadlines
- Amazon Seller Central: Monthly inventory storage fees
- UPS 2026 Year-End Holiday Schedule
- TikTok Shop Seller University: Campaign FAQs
Fees and rules in this post are as of October 2026.
-LinkONE-