Aged Inventory Surcharge

Effective May 15, 2022, we introduced an aged inventory surcharge for units that have been stored in a fulfillment center for 271 to 365 days. We’ll continue to charge the aged inventory surcharge for units that have been in a fulfillment center for more than 365 days. Previously, the fee for this period was called the long-term storage fee.

Aged inventory surcharges are assessed using an inventory snapshot on the 15th day of each month and is in addition to the monthly inventory storage fee.

We calculate inventory age on a first-in, first-out basis across the entire fulfillment network. Items that are sold or removed are deducted from the inventory that has been in the fulfillment network the longest, regardless of which unit was actually shipped or removed. For example, if an associate picks and ships a unit that arrived in the fulfillment center only recently, we will still deduct that unit from the oldest inventory in stock.

The surcharge is charged monthly, typically between the 18^th and 22^nd day of the month.

Use Manage Inventory Health to identify which ASINs are subject to the aged inventory surcharge, including ASINs that would be subject to the fee within 60 days. On Manage Inventory Health, you can locate and filter your inventory by the amount of time it has been in the fulfillment center. This information can help you estimate the number of items that will have been in a fulfillment center for more than 271 days by the next inventory cleanup date.

The Recommended Removal report can also help you identify items that are subject to the aged inventory surcharge. This report automatically calculates, on an ASIN-by-ASIN basis, the number of items that you would have to remove to avoid the aged inventory surcharge, assuming no further sales. This report identifies items that are subject to the surcharge up to 30 days before each charge date.

How can I avoid the aged inventory surcharge?

Active management of older inventory can help you avoid the aged inventory surcharge. To remove older inventory before the next inventory cleanup date, consider one of the options below.

Mark down and sell through Amazon Outlet: Setting up a deal through Amazon Outlet can help you sell through older inventory. An Outlet deal is a promotional offer with a minimum discount of 20%. To learn more, go to About Amazon Outlet.

Submit a removal or disposal order: If you submit a removal or disposal order for inventory before the cleanup date, that inventory won’t incur an aged inventory surcharge, even if it isn’t physically removed before the cleanup date. The deadline for submitting a removal order is 11:59 p.m. (PT) on the 14th of the month.

Set up automated removals: If you set up automated removals by the 15th day of each month for inventory that is subject to the aged inventory surcharge, the surcharge won’t be charged for that inventory. To set up automated removals, go to the Settings menu in Seller Central and select Fulfillment by Amazon.

You can enable removal of all inventory that is subject to the aged inventory surcharge or you can select a price range to specify which items to be removed. You can also keep inventory that is priced above a certain amount in the fulfillment center, pay the aged inventory surcharge for those items only, and have the remaining items returned to you, disposed, or liquidated. Standard removal fees apply.

When can you replenish your inventory?

If you remove units of an ASIN that would be subject to the aged inventory surcharge at the next inventory cleanup date, you won’t be able to send us more units of that ASIN for three months after that date. There is an exception to this policy if your inventory levels for the removed ASIN fall below our running eight-week sales projections.

Three months after the inventory cleanup date: Restrictions based on removals are lifted at this point. For example, if you remove inventory before the February 15 inventory cleanup between January 16 and 11:59 p.m. (PT) on February 14, you’ll be able to send more units of that ASIN to fulfillment centers starting on May 15, unless your ability to send units of that ASIN has been restricted for another reason.

Inventory level falls below sales projection: We base our projection of your sales of an ASIN for the next eight weeks on your average sales rate for that ASIN during the preceding 90 days. At any point that your inventory level for that ASIN falls below eight weeks of cover, the removal-based restriction is lifted and you can send more units to fulfillment centers.

Your inventory utilization for that ASIN may not exceed the preceding 90 days of sales, or about 13 weeks of cover. Inventory utilization consists of your in-stock inventory plus any inventory on its way to a fulfillment center, from creation of a shipment order to receiving at the fulfillment center.

How much new inventory can you send?

For example, if the ASIN you removed sold 180 units in the preceding 90 days, we would project your sales for the next eight weeks as 112 units based on this calculation: 180/90 (units sold/day) x 7 (days/week) x 8 (weeks).

If your inventory utilization fell below projected sales (112), you could send more units of that ASIN to an Amazon fulfillment center, up to the number sold in the previous 90 days (180). So if your inventory utilization fell to 111 units, you could send up to 69 more units to the fulfillment center (180 – 111 = 69).

The table below provides more examples of how much new inventory you can send to fulfillment centers after you’ve removed items that are subject to the aged inventory surcharge.