Hello Sellers!

Are aging inventory fees eating into your profits? Managing your inventory effectively is essential for maintaining healthy margins and maximizing your FBA storage capacity. Today, let's discuss aging inventory—what it is, why it matters, and how you can prevent costly storage fees.

What is Aging Inventory?

Aging inventory refers to products that have been stored in Amazon fulfillment centers for extended periods. Starting January 16, 2026, Amazon charges aged inventory surcharges based on how long items remain in storage:

Updated Fee Structure (Effective January 16, 2026):

* 181-210 days: $0.50 per cubic foot*

* 211-240 days: $1.00 per cubic foot*

* 241-270 days: $1.50 per cubic foot*

* 271-300 days: $5.45 per cubic foot

* 301-330 days: $5.70 per cubic foot

* 331-365 days: $5.90 per cubic foot

* 366-455 days: $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.30 per unit (whichever is greater)

* 456+ days: $7.90 per cubic foot or $0.35 per unit (whichever is greater)

*Excludes items listed under: clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry, and watches

These surcharges are assessed monthly on the 15th of each month and charged between the 18th-22nd, in addition to your regular monthly storage fees.

Why Should You Care?

Cost Impact: Aged inventory surcharges can significantly erode your profits, especially for slow-moving inventory.

IPI Score: Your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score directly affects your storage limits. Excess aging inventory negatively impacts this score, potentially restricting your ability to send more products to FBA.

Storage Capacity: Better inventory management frees up space for your best-selling products.

How to Identify At-Risk Inventory

Use the FBA Inventory tool to identify which ASINs are currently subject to or will be subject to the aged inventory surcharge within 60 days. You can filter your inventory by the amount of time it has been in the fulfillment center to estimate which items will reach 181+ days by the next inventory cleanup date.

Prevention & Management Strategies

Option 1: Sell Through Aging Inventory

Amazon Outlet Deals: Create promotional offers with a minimum 20% discount to help move older inventory quickly. Outlet deals can help you boost sales, improve cash flow, and reduce storage fees—with no additional fees to participate.

Option 2: Remove Inventory Before Fees Apply

Manual Removal Orders: Submit a removal or disposal order before the cleanup date (deadline: 11:59 PM PT on the 14th of each month). Once submitted, you won't incur aged inventory surcharges on those units, even if they aren't physically removed before the cleanup date.

Important: Removal orders may take up to 14 business days to process, and removal fees apply.

Option 3: Automate Your Removals

Set up Automated Fulfillable Inventory Settings to automatically remove:

• Fulfillable inventory stored for more than 365 days
• Units of ASINs that haven't sold in 6+ consecutive months and have been in fulfillment centers for more than 180 days

To enable automated removals:

1. Go to Settings > Fulfillment by Amazon

2. Locate "Automated fulfillable settings" and click Edit

3. Select Enable and choose either Return or Dispose

4. Provide your email address and (if returning) your delivery address

5. Click Update

Note: Once a removal order is created, storage fees stop during the processing period until completion.

Take Action Today

1. Check your FBA Inventory tool to identify aging inventory

2. Review the Aged Inventory Surcharge report for recent charges

3. Create a plan: discount through Outlet, submit removal orders, or enable automated removals

4. Set a calendar reminder for the 14th of each month (removal order deadline)

Remember: Proactive inventory management protects your bottom line and ensures you have the storage capacity you need for your best-performing products.

What strategies have worked best for you in managing aging inventory? Share your experiences below!

— Angie