Seller's HomeRecently, many Amazon sellers' backends must have been bombarded with a system email. Amazon's move this time is both fast and ruthless: it requires that all over-aged inventory stored in the operation centers for more than 270 days must be dealt with before April 30, 2026, otherwise it will face forced removal!
Suddenly, cleaning up over-aged inventory has become an urgent task for Amazon sellers, and many sellers are caught in the double anxiety of "racing against time and reducing losses".
01
Amazon FBA Over-aged Inventory Forced Removal Order
The first round of removal in the European station is on May 6th, and in the North American station on May 14th. There will be multiple rounds of clearance operations at the end of June, August and September subsequently.
According to the email content feedback from sellers, Amazon's requirements are clear and firm:
Starting from April 30, 2026, Amazon Logistics (FBA) inventory that has been stored for more than 270 days (over-aged), has no sales information for more than 60 days or is unsellable for more than 14 days will be removed from the operation centers to release Amazon's delivery network capacity. If the seller fails to complete any of the following operations before April 30, 2026, the inventory may be automatically abandoned, donated, cleared or returned to the seller.
For over-aged inventory (more than 270 days): Check the risky inventory in Amazon Logistics inventory, then go to the automatic setting of sellable inventory in the seller platform settings, and then select the removal option: disable, return (processing may take up to 90 days to complete) or abandon (eligible inventory can be cleared). If the seller selects "Disable", Amazon will not remove the over-aged inventory.
For unsellable inventory: Go to remove unsellable inventory and create a removal order.
For Amazon inventory with no sales information: Go to repair Amazon inventory with no sales information and create a removal order, or choose "Edit Automatic Operation Settings" to configure the seller's removal preferences.
In the past, many sellers did not pay enough attention to the management of over-aged inventory, thinking that the inventory in the warehouse was just a little more storage fee. But entering 2026, this cognition is completely outdated.
02
Over-aged Inventory Removal is Also an Opportunity
As soon as the notice came out, a large number of sellers fell into a passive dilemma, among which small and medium-sized sellers, seasonal product sellers and high-value low-turnover sellers were the most severely affected.
A seller in Shenzhen who operates household items revealed that there are nearly 500 items of inventory in his backend that have been stored for 280 days, most of which are unsold decorative paintings from last year's peak season. "Now no one wants them even at a low price for clearance, and the return shipping cost to China is higher than the value of the goods. It's a pity to destroy them. It's really difficult to choose." Some sellers said that they didn't pay attention to the inventory age data before and didn't find out until they received the email that some inventory had been stored for more than 300 days, which increased the pressure to deal with it before April 30.
Many sellers wonder why Amazon suddenly tightened the management of over-aged inventory and set a clear deadline for cleaning?
Every year, millions of sellers deliver goods to Amazon warehouses through FBA. In 2025, the number of active sellers globally will be about 2.5 million, with an FBA usage rate of 82%. Essentially, this deadline for cleaning is a measure for the platform to optimize the utilization of storage resources. By clearing inefficient inventory, more storage space can be released for storing high-turnover and high-demand goods, while reducing its own storage and management costs.
A senior analyst pointed out that what Amazon wants is "fast turnover of goods", not "sellers' long-term hoarding of goods". Punishing unsold inventory and encouraging fast turnover is essentially optimizing the overall GMV efficiency of the platform.
Faced with the imminent forced removal order, sellers have no time to wait and see and must act immediately.Amazon Global Selling Suggestions:
Step 1: Enter the Settings Page Seller Platform Top Left Corner [Menu] > [Inventory] > [Amazon Logistics Inventory]
Step 2: Find Removal Settings Top Right Corner [Settings] > Select [Removal Settings]
Step 3: Complete Configuration (One of Two Options)
Option A: [Enable] Automatic Removal and Configuration
Select [Enable]
Update settings, including inventory age range, return address, whether to use batch clearance
Click [Update] to complete configuration
Option B: [Disable] Automatic Removal
Select [Disable]
Click [Update] to complete configuration. Note: After disabling, you still need to manage over-aged inventory and manually remove it, otherwise over-aged surcharges will still be incurred
For Amazon sellers, this over-aged inventory cleanup is both a crisis and an opportunity to optimize operations.
Large sellers can take this opportunity to sort out the inventory structure, improve the inventory warning mechanism, monitor the inventory age distribution in real time through ERP tools, and trigger the clearance instructions in advance; small and medium-sized sellers need to change their business concepts, abandon the idea of "making quick money by spreading goods", focus on high-turnover and high-value-added categories, and at the same time layout third-party overseas warehouses as a "buffer zone" to realize the linkage of FBA warehouses and overseas warehouses, flexibly allocate inventory, and avoid falling into the over-aged dilemma again.
The relevant information in this article is for reference only and shall not be used as the basis for investment decisions
