Eight deadlines decide Black Friday 2026 — the first is 9 September, the last 18 November. A schedule for Amazon, Allegro and Kaufland, plus peak numbers from our portfolio: +451% sales at Christmas for a reseller, over €130,000 from a single Black Friday for an own brand.
+451% in sales at Christmas for one client. €130,000 from a single Black Friday for another. 237% year-on-year growth for a third. Those are numbers from our portfolio from the last peak — and one thing connects them: they were not decided in November, but in September and October.
Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday 27 November. It is decided across eight dates and the first of them was 9 September: stock for Prime Big Deal Days had to be in Amazon's European warehouses by then, in Britain a week later. The last of the eight is 18 November, when deal submissions for Black Friday Week close.
One deadline has already passed. 5 September was the early bird — anyone who submitted a Black Friday Week deal by then pays a 30% lower upfront fee. From 6 September it is full price: on Amazon DE €16 instead of €11.20, in France, Italy and Spain €10 instead of €7, and in Britain £12 instead of £8.40. You can still submit, only at a higher price.
This article is one schedule for three platforms — Amazon, Allegro and Kaufland — plus the numbers we see in peak for own brands and for resellers. No theory.
| Date | Platform | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep (UK 16 Sep) | Amazon | Stock for Prime Big Deal Days had to be in European warehouses |
| 23 Sep | Amazon | Deal submissions for Prime Big Deal Days closed |
| 15 Oct | Amazon | Peak fulfilment fees start in Germany and Britain, running until 14 Jan 2027 |
| 20–31 Oct | Allegro | Offers are submitted into the campaign (last year's dates) |
| 21 Oct (UK 28 Oct) | Amazon | Stock for Black Friday Week must be in European warehouses |
| during October | Kaufland | Schedule and submissions published |
| 18 Nov | Amazon | Deal submissions for Black Friday Week close |
| 27 and 30 Nov | All | Black Friday and Cyber Monday |
Amazon dates from its Peak season 2026 announcement on the seller forum in UK Seller Central, read on 9 September 2026. Allegro dates are last year's, from its seller help pages.
Four notes on the table. Stock intake has two deadlines, not one: European warehouses 9 September and 21 October, Britain a week later, so 16 September and 28 October. Anyone shipping to both plans against the earlier one.
Peak fulfilment fees apply only to Germany and Britain. From 15 October to 14 January 2027 Amazon adds an average of €0.27 per unit in Germany and £0.12 per standard parcel item in Britain, or £0.07 per large and oversized letter item. On top of that comes a 1.5% fuel and logistics surcharge. In France, Italy and Spain no peak fee has been introduced.
The peak fee does not hit everything, though. Amazon does not charge it on oversized goods, on low-price FBA or on shipments delivered to buyers in other EU countries. In practice that means a Czech seller on Amazon DE pays it on orders from German customers, not on those leaving the German warehouse for elsewhere in Europe.
Prime Big Deal Days are the dress rehearsal — the first real demand data you can use to fine-tune stock for November. Amazon says in its announcement that the event comes at the same time as last year — last year that was 7 and 8 October. The announcement gives no specific dates, so confirm them in Seller Central before you plan.
Two things on Amazon's calendar deserve attention. Deal submissions for Black Friday Week stay open until 18 November, a week before the event — but the early bird, which cuts 30% off the upfront fee, ended on 5 September. And the second: stock intake has one deadline for European warehouses and another for Britain, so a single inbound plan does not fit both.
And one thing that is not in the calendar as a date, yet changes planning the most. Amazon warns that inbound appointment slots will be limited in September and October — fulfilment centres switch to processing orders in November and December. Anyone who does not book a slot in time may miss their own deadline, even with stock ready. For extra warehouse space there is Capacity Manager.
One condition has changed this year. Prime Exclusive Discounts require a minimum product rating of 3.5. For the other mechanics the conditions and fees are the same as on Prime Day.
Allegro publishes its dates only during October. Last year offers were submitted from 20 to 31 October and the campaign ran from 31 October to 1 December, in Poland under the name Black Weeks and in Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary as Black Friday — you can sign up on all markets. Kaufland publishes its schedule in the same period and this year covers Spain and the Netherlands for the first time, so nine markets.
You do not get into the campaign. A discount without campaign placement is only a lower price — it lacks the badge, the placement and the traffic the event brings.
With FBA you lose the Prime badge on products that do not arrive on time. Amazon states it directly: the impact lands on offer position and therefore on conversion. In peak week that is the difference between sold out and invisible.
From 15 October fulfilment is more expensive, whenever stock arrives. The peak fee runs until 14 January 2027 and in Germany means an average of €0.27 per unit plus a 1.5% fuel and logistics surcharge. On ten thousand units fulfilled to German buyers that is around €2,700 extra — a cost that belongs in the discount calculation, not in a January surprise.
Late deal submission costs money. The early bird ended on 5 September, so the upfront fee has been full since then: €16 per deal in Germany instead of €11.20. Submit a hundred deals and you pay €1,600 instead of €1,120.
On Allegro a missed submission is the most expensive. The campaign runs anyway, the competition is visible in it and your offer sits next to it without a badge.
None of this can be made up with budget. In peak week the price of visibility rises for everyone at once, so you cannot buy position — you only pay more for what you could have had from the deadline.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Items per second on Amazon on the peak day of 2025 | 158 | Amazon press release |
| Growth of Allegro's Polish GMV in Q4 2025 | +8.6% | Allegro results |
| Black Friday and Cyber Monday turnover in Germany 2025 | €5.8bn | HDE and IFH Köln |
| Marketplace growth in Germany in 2025 | +4.9% | bevh |
The four numbers above say the volume is at a record — Amazon called last year's Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday the strongest period yet for independent sellers in its store. More useful than volume, though, is how it spreads over time.
The most useful sentence of the whole season was not in a press release but on Allegro's results call: the first half of November went slowly, and strength came only in the second part of Black Week and then in Christmas demand. So peak is not a month. It is ten days — and you get into those ten days only through what you do in September and October.
The second thing: in Germany the discount days have stopped growing. According to HDE, Black Friday and Cyber Monday turnover there fell for the first time since 2016, by two percent — while marketplaces grew 4.9% in the same year and hold 56% of all German e-commerce. The event on its own no longer brings growth. The platform brings it, and how well you are prepared for it.
The numbers below come from our own accounts. No names — client peak numbers do not have to be in press releases for something to be learned from them. What matters is that an own brand and a reseller have peak completely differently, and therefore have to prepare for it differently.
| Seller type | Segment | What we saw in peak | Where it was decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own brand | Cosmetics, Amazon EU and USA | Over €130,000 in revenue from Black Friday alone | Availability of hero SKUs |
| Own brand | Home accessories, Amazon DE | From zero to more than 12,000 orders with a single product in three months | One properly built listing and the stock behind it |
| Own brand | Glassware, Czechia on Amazon DE | +171% orders and +180% revenue within a few weeks | Packaging and demand forecasting solved before launch |
| Own brand | Outdoor, 22 countries | +30% total sales | Expansion into more markets, not a bigger discount |
| Reseller | Toys | +451% sales at Christmas and +15% margin | Choosing what goes into the campaign and what does not |
| Reseller | Heating and controls | 237% year-on-year growth on three marketplaces | Seasonality management and pricing logic |
| Reseller | Car accessories | +46% GMV without a single new campaign | Optimising shipping, prices and weight bands |
| Reseller | Home and garden | Over 90% of company revenue from one platform | Seven years of catalogue management, not one launch |
Anonymised accounts managed by EXPANDO · Amazon, Allegro and Kaufland · previous peak seasons · values rounded.
The difference between the two halves of that table is the whole point of the article. For an own brand, peak rests on the availability of the two or three strongest SKUs — when the hero sells out on Thursday, you will not catch Friday up, and the listing's ranking remembers the outage for weeks. The critical date is therefore stock intake: 21 October into European warehouses, 28 October into Britain.
For a reseller, peak is not made by one product but by the number of offers that are priced correctly in the campaign. Data work decides it, not a hero of the range. The critical points are deal submissions by 18 November and the decision about what not to put into the campaign — the most common reseller mistake is to submit the whole catalogue and let the campaign eat the margin on volume that would have sold anyway.
Confuse those two and you will prepare diligently for the wrong thing.
01 Peak growth is not automatic. In Germany the volume of Black Friday and Cyber Monday fell for the first time since 2016, by two percent. You have to take growth; it does not come on its own.
02 The difference between platforms is bigger than the difference between years. Discount days in Germany fell by two percent, marketplaces grew 4.9% in the same year. Deadlines are the first place that difference gets made.
03 Peak is ten days, not a month. The first half of November is weak according to Allegro. Stock and deals have to be ready for the second half.
04 An own brand and a reseller have opposite critical deadlines. The brand has stock intake on 21 October, the reseller has deal submissions by 18 November and prices. Confuse them and you prepare for the wrong thing.
05 A late decision costs twice with Amazon. Once on the upfront deal fee, because the early bird ended on 5 September, and again on fulfilment, because the peak fee applies from 15 October.
Three platforms, three different campaign mechanics, one warehouse. We do not run each of them separately — one team and one stock plan.
01 Deal submissions on all three platforms on the right dates. Prime Big Deal Days by 23 September, Black Friday Week by 18 November, Allegro by the dates published in October.
02 An inbound plan against intake deadlines and against the peak fee. How many units, into which warehouse, how far ahead — and what to send so that fulfilment in Germany and Britain does not lose money on it.
03 Pricing and discount logic per SKU. So the campaign brings volume and not only a lower margin. For some SKUs the right answer is to stay out of it.
04 Peak week campaigns built on the fact that it is expensive for everyone at once.
05 Reporting during the event, not after it. When something sells out faster than it should, you want to know on Friday afternoon.
We are an Amazon Marketplace EU Agency Platinum Partner, Amazon Ads Verified Partner, Allegro Official Partner and Kaufland Global Marketplace Partner Agency Expert. And we have 60 specialists in-house for it.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 23 September | Deadline for Prime Big Deal Days deal submissions |
| 7 and 8 October | Prime Big Deal Days — Amazon states the same timing as last year, no specific dates in the announcement |
| 15 October | Peak fulfilment fees start in Germany and Britain |
| 21 October | Stock intake for Black Friday Week into European warehouses, into Britain 28 October |
| 18 November | Deadline for Black Friday Week deal submissions |
| 27 November | Black Friday, Friday |
| 30 November | Cyber Monday |
On Friday 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on Monday 30 November. Marketplace campaigns start earlier and end later, though — Allegro ran from 31 October to 1 December last year.
For Prime Big Deal Days the cut-off was 23 September, for Black Friday Week it is 18 November. The early bird, which cuts 30% off the upfront fee, ended for Black Friday Week on 5 September — since then the full price applies, €16 per deal in Germany instead of €11.20.
Into European warehouses it was 9 September for Prime Big Deal Days and it is 21 October for Black Friday Week. For Britain it is a week later, so 16 September and 28 October. Later intake risks the product not having the Prime badge during the campaign.
In Germany an average of €0.27 per unit, in Britain £0.12 per standard parcel item and £0.07 per large and oversized letter item, plus a 1.5% fuel and logistics surcharge. It applies from 15 October 2026 to 14 January 2027 and only in Germany and Britain. It does not cover oversized goods, low-price FBA or shipments delivered to buyers in other EU countries.
You do not get into the campaign and you lose the badge and the placement the event gives. With FBA you also lose the Prime badge, which affects offer position and conversion. And from 15 October fulfilment in Germany and Britain is more expensive because of the peak fee.
Allegro publishes its 2026 dates during October. Last year offers were submitted from 20 to 31 October. In Poland the campaign is called Black Weeks, in Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary Black Friday, and you can sign up on all markets.
Yes, and the difference is fundamental. For an own brand peak is decided by the availability of the two or three strongest SKUs, so stock intake on 21 October, or 28 October for Britain, is critical. For a reseller the breadth of the offer and prices decide, so the critical points are deal submissions by 18 November and the decision about which SKUs to keep out of the campaign. Our own data shows it in the results too: for brands we saw over €130,000 from Black Friday alone, for resellers +451% sales at Christmas.
Sometimes not — and that is a legitimate answer. On thin-margin SKUs the campaign only discounts volume you would have sold anyway. That is why we calculate discount logic per SKU and for part of the range we recommend skipping the campaign.
Amazon's dates and fees come from its announcement “Peak season 2026: Inventory dates, peak fees, deal cutoffs and promotions” on the seller forum in UK Seller Central, published by the News_Amazon account and read on 9 September 2026. Allegro's dates are last year's, from its seller help pages; this year's Allegro publishes during October. Market figures: Amazon's press release on the results of Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday 2025, Allegro's Q4 2025 results and presentation including the results call, Handelsverband Deutschland and IFH Köln on Black Friday and Cyber Monday turnover in Germany in 2025, and bevh on German e-commerce in 2025. The eight results in the table come from our own accounts managed by EXPANDO, anonymised, from previous peak seasons, with values rounded. Partner statuses from the About EXPANDO 2025 presentation.
Anyone entering peak on Amazon for the first time will find the entry conditions in the article on how Amazon opens its window for new sellers on 1 October. Kaufland is covering nine markets in its schedule for the first time this year — what that means is in the article on how Kaufland opened Spain and the Netherlands. And what hero SKU availability looks like in numbers across a full year is shown by the case study on selling on Amazon UK for €750,000 in the first year.
Which deadlines apply to you?
Tell us which platforms you sell on and what your five strongest SKUs are. We will come back with what needs to be ready when — and whether it makes sense to enter the campaign at all for some SKUs.
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