Hello Sellers,

We've seen this here in the forums before, a seller saying, "Help! I hit my capacity limit! What can I do ASAP to fix this?"

If you've ever tried to send inventory to Amazon only to see that dreaded "shipment creation blocked" message, you're not alone. FBA capacity limits can feel like a roadblock — especially during peak season or when you're scaling your business. The good news? You have options. Let's walk through what's happening and how to keep your business moving forward. 😄

Why Am I Hitting Capacity Limits?

FBA capacity limits are set monthly and measured in cubic feet. They're based on several factors:

• Your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score
• Historical and forecasted sales volume
• Shipment lead time
• Available fulfillment center capacity

Your on-hand inventory plus open shipments count toward your total usage. If that exceeds your limit, you won't be able to create new inbound shipments — and if on-hand alone exceeds it, you'll incur overage fees.

Strategy 1: Optimize Within FBA

Before looking outside FBA, make sure you're maximizing what you already have:

• Cancel unused open shipments — They count against your capacity even if you never send them
• Remove slow-moving inventory — Create removal orders to free up space for faster sellers
• Improve your IPI score — Reduce excess inventory, fix stranded listings, and boost sell-through rates
• Follow restock recommendations — Don't over-send; align with Amazon's suggested quantities

Strategy 2: Use Capacity Manager

Capacity Manager lets you request additional space by setting a reservation fee:

• Requests are granted starting with the highest fee per cubic foot
• You earn $0.15 in performance credits for every $1 of sales generated using the extra capacity
• With strong sales, you can offset up to 100% of the fee — making the extra space essentially free
• Download the reservation fee history in Seller Central to see competitive bid amounts

Pro tip: Submit requests early. Amazon evaluates bids twice per week, and you can always edit or cancel before they're granted.

Strategy 3: Amazon Warehousing & Distribution (AWD)

AWD is a bulk storage solution with automatic replenishment into FBA:

• No storage limits — Inbound as much inventory as you need
• Auto-replenishment — Amazon monitors your FBA levels and restocks for you
• Bypasses capacity limits — Inventory replenished from AWD isn't blocked by your FBA capacity
• Pay-as-you-go pricing — No contracts, just storage ($0.48/cu ft/month), processing ($2.50/box), and transportation ($1.00/cu ft)

👉 Enroll through Seller Central: Inventory → Store and Distribute.

Strategy 4: Seller Fulfilled (FBM/SFP)

When FBA space is tight, fulfilling orders yourself keeps sales flowing:

• Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) — Ship directly from your own warehouse with no FBA capacity constraints
• Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) — Earn the Prime badge while shipping from your own facilities (must meet performance requirements including 93.5%+ on-time delivery and 99%+ valid tracking)

This is especially useful for oversized items, seasonal products, or slow-movers that eat up FBA space.

Strategy 5: Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF)

Already have inventory in Amazon's network? Use MCF to fulfill orders from your own website or other sales channels. This helps improve sell-through rates — which in turn can boost your IPI score and increase future capacity limits.

Quick Action Checklist

✅ Check your Capacity Monitor: Inventory → FBA Dashboard (expand at bottom) ✅ Review your IPI score and address any yellow/red indicators ✅ Cancel open shipments you don't plan to send ✅ Consider AWD for bulk storage needs ✅ Explore Capacity Manager for short-term space increases ✅ Set up FBM listings as a backup fulfillment channel

Helpful Resources

• FBA Capacity Limits — How limits work
• Capacity Manager — Request additional space
• Amazon Warehousing & Distribution — Bulk storage solution
• Inventory Performance Index — Improve your IPI
• Seller Fulfilled Prime — Earn Prime badge with your own fulfillment

💬 OK, now it's YOUR turn: Have you hit your capacity limit and found a way out? Did AWD save the day? Did you go FBM and never look back? Drop your story below — what worked, what didn't, and what you wish you'd known sooner. Your experience could be the lifeline another seller needs right now! 👇

Hey FBA sellers 👋

Quick question — have you ever paid more to ship a return back than the item was actually worth? If so, FBA Returnless Resolutions might be worth a look.

📊 The Numbers Tell the Story

Sellers enrolled in FBA Returnless Resolutions have saved an estimated $30.5 million across more than 20.6 million returnless units — that's 20.6 million items that didn't need to be shipped back. Average savings? $1.48 per unit. For categories like Furniture and Shoes, it's nearly $2–$3 per unit. *

✅ Here's when it makes sense:

• The return costs more than the item — Paying $8–$12 to ship back a $5 product? A returnless resolution eliminates that cost entirely.
• The item can't be resold anyway — Think perishable goods, hygiene-sensitive products, or anything that loses value once opened.
• You want to stay in control — You choose which ASINs to enroll. Enable it for all your inventory, or upload a CSV to select up to 10,000 specific ASINs.

💡Why sellers like it:

• Cuts return shipping, inspection, and restocking costs
• Customers get faster resolutions — which can mean better reviews
• You stay in full control — enable or disable anytime, changes take effect immediately
• The high return rate fee is not charged for returns successfully processed through FBA Returnless Resolutions
• Amazon uses the same guardrails to detect and prevent misuse that it uses for its own orders
• No program fees — there's no cost to enroll

🔒Built-in protections for sellers

Not every return qualifies for a returnless resolution. Amazon maintains eligibility criteria for both sellers and customers — only eligible customers are offered returnless resolutions on your behalf. Products with an average sales price (ASP) greater than $75 are excluded, along with hazmat, recalled products, heavy/bulky items, and gift cards.

Amazon continuously monitors to prevent fraud, abuse, and misuse of the FBA Returnless Resolutions program. The guardrails protecting this program are the same ones Amazon has used for years on its own products and you benefit from those same protections.

⚙️How to set it up:

1. Go to Settings → Fulfillment by Amazon
2. Scroll to FBA Returns Evaluations & Ownership Settings
3. Click Edit next to Returnless Resolutions
4. Choose to enable for all ASINs or upload a CSV with specific ASINs
5. Click Update — changes take effect immediately

📚Helpful Resources

• FBA Returnless Resolutions— Full program details, eligibility, and FAQ
• FBA Returnless Resolutions Settings — Go directly to your enrollment settings
• Returnless Resolutions for Seller-Fulfilled Returns — Separate program for MFN orders

💬Have You Tried It?

Has anyone here enrolled in FBA Returnless Resolutions? We'd love to hear:

• 💰 How much are you saving on low-value returns?
• 📦 Which product categories have you found it works best for?
• ⚙️ Did you enable for all ASINs or select specific ones?

Try it and let us know how it's working for you! 👇

* Data based on historical performance of inventory enrolled in the program. Performance may vary based on eligibility criteria, pricing thresholds, inventory volume, and other factors.