Aged FBA Inventory at Catalog Scale: Liquidate, Outlet or Remove, Decided ASIN by ASIN

By Bernardo Campelo, Forbes Business Council E-Commerce Leader, Amazon SPN Certified provider, Amazon SP-API authorized partner, and Founder of PrepVia.

As of October 29, 2026, Amazon says contracted liquidators buy excess and customer-returned FBA inventory for a gross recovery value of about 5% to 10% of its average selling price, before fees, under its value-recovery services. Its FBA Liquidations page lists a 15% referral fee on that gross and a processing fee for each item, and warns that the net recovery value "might be negative but may still help recover more value than disposal." For a catalog with thousands of SKUs, that number is a baseline to beat, not a price to accept.

Liquidation is one of several exits for sellable units that sit too long. An Amazon Outlet deal, a removal order and disposal each come with their own cost and lead time, and if nobody picks one, Amazon's automated removal settings eventually pick for you.

This guide puts Amazon's numbers for each exit side by side, then shows how to triage an aged list ASIN by ASIN, starting with one question: is the low price you are reacting to real? The quarter-by-quarter storage math is in our breakdown of peak storage fees.

Every date and name below was checked on October 29, 2026 against Amazon's Seller Central help pages, Seller Forums announcements, the Selling Partner API documentation and its models on GitHub, and aboutamazon.com, linked where they first appear. A few Amazon pages disagree with each other, as noted below, so open the live page before you act on a number.

What an Aged Unit Costs While You Decide

Amazon's aged inventory surcharge "is charged on inventory units stored in our fulfillment network for 181 days or longer." It is "assessed using an inventory snapshot on the fifteenth day of each month," comes on top of monthly storage, and is charged "typically between the 18th and 22nd day of the month."

Since January 16, 2026, the rate starts at $0.50 per cubic foot at 181 days and rises to $1.50 by day 241 (clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry and watches are excluded until day 271), then jumps to $5.45 at day 271, is $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.30 a unit from day 366, and $7.90 per cubic foot or $0.35 a unit from day 456, whichever is greater in each of those two bands. The full band table, and how first-in, first-out aging works, is in our post on aged inventory at a brand sale.

Base monthly storage for standard-size, non-dangerous goods is $0.78 per cubic foot in January through September and $2.40 in October through December, billed the following month, so December's storage arrives on the January bill. Large accounts can also owe a storage utilization surcharge on inventory aged above 30 days, which applies only to Professional sellers whose first US shipment was more than 365 days ago, whose storage utilization ratio for the size tier is above 22 weeks and whose average daily volume is at or above 25 cubic feet. Amazon lists a liquidation order or a removal order as ways to bring that ratio down.

Selling through during the season costs more too. Holiday peak fulfillment fees apply from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, and Amazon's July 7 announcement put the increase at an average of $0.32 a unit, with the 3.5% fuel and logistics-related surcharge on top.

The date that matters most is the 14th. Amazon says a removal or disposal order submitted before the cleanup date keeps those units out of the surcharge "even if it isn’t physically removed before the cleanup date," and adds: "The deadline for submitting a removal order is 11:59 p.m. (PT) on the 14th of the month." Liquidation orders stop the meter the same way: Amazon lists Day 0, the day you submit, as the day monthly storage fees and aged-inventory surcharges stop accruing.

"In e-commerce more than anywhere, time is currency."

Bernardo Campelo, in a Forbes Business Council article, March 16, 2026

FBA Liquidations: The Gross, the Fees and the Net

Under the program's terms and conditions, Amazon "is only facilitating the liquidation" and is "neither the seller nor the buyer of record for these transactions." In a May 18, 2026 announcement, it described the 5% to 10% this way: "Recovery rates are estimates for the US market based on contracted liquidator rates and represent gross recovery percentages before applicable fees."

Two fees come out of the gross on every item, charged when the shipment leaves the fulfillment center. The liquidations referral fee "is 15% and calculated on the gross recovery value," and the processing fee depends on size and item weight:

Amazon's worked example is a $20 phone case liquidated at a 7.5% contracted rate: $1.50 gross, minus a $0.23 referral fee and a $0.25 processing fee, leaves $1.02. The table below applies the same fee cards, as of October 29, 2026, to illustrative items, rounding the referral fee to the cent the way Amazon's example does.

The first row is the case Amazon warns about: at 5%, liquidation pays minus 10 cents a unit, while disposal would cost $2.27 a unit. Liquidation fees use item weight and disposal fees use shipping weight, which can be dimensional, so check both on your own SKUs; here they are assumed equal.

Three things leave your control once you choose this exit. Amazon answers "No" to whether you can preview the gross and net recovery value before creating the order, says it "may have different contracted liquidation rates by fulfillment center," and its terms say it "doesn't guarantee" that the units will be purchased or what you will receive. The order is also final: "Once you confirm your liquidation order, it cannot be canceled."

Amazon says "Liquidators are contractually restricted from reselling FBA liquidated products directly on Amazon" and that they resell "through other ecommerce or brick-and-mortar channels." Amazon says it will "attempt to fulfill your order within 30 days"; if no buyer turns up, the units go back to your inventory and storage fees resume. Amazon says "The net recovery value should appear in your account within 90 days of submitting your order," while the same page shows payments from about day 60 and its FAQ allows up to 90 days from order completion, so plan cash on at least 60 to 90 days.

Some ASINs do not qualify: Amazon excludes dangerous goods (hazmat), recalled inventory and "Any product with a shelf life, or that loses effectiveness with time," and can mark categories ineligible when it cannot find buyers, naming face masks and jewelry as current examples. The rest is filed as a removal order with Liquidations as the method, from pages such as Inventory Age, and pending removals do not hurt your IPI score.

Amazon Outlet: A Two-Week Markdown Under a Price Ceiling

An Amazon Outlet deal keeps the unit in FBA and sells it at a markdown. You need a Professional selling plan and an overall customer rating of at least 4 stars, and the ASIN must meet criteria Amazon says "are subject to change": at least 90 days in Amazon fulfillment centers, new condition, a product rating of at least 4 stars or no reviews, no other deal such as a Lightning Deal, and no Outlet deal in the past 60 days.

Amazon processes submissions twice per week, approved deals run "for a fixed period of two weeks," and a submission is not guaranteed to become a deal.

The ceiling is what makes Outlet an ASIN-level decision. Amazon says "The maximum deal price takes into consideration the lowest price from any seller with an offer on the product in new condition," and that it may cancel a running deal without advance notice if the sale price rises above the deal price. Automated pricing rules can trigger that cancellation, so Amazon tells sellers to remove them before submitting.

You also cannot cap the quantity: "You must not submit an ASIN for an Outlet deal if you do not want to possibly sell through all of your inventory at the Outlet deal price." There are no extra deal fees, but "Standard fulfillment and referral fees still apply for participating ASINs," which through January 14, 2027 means the holiday peak fulfillment rate.

The Outlet page does not state a minimum markdown, but Amazon's aged inventory surcharge page says "An Outlet deal is a promotional offer with a minimum discount of 20%," and its automated removal page says the same. Put that next to the ceiling and the risk is plain: if one seller sits far below everyone else, that seller can pull the ceiling down, and an Outlet deal can put your whole position on sale below a price that may not last.

Removal and Disposal: One Rate Card, Weeks of Lead Time

A removal order can return units "to your possession or a designated recipient, such as the manufacturer, a third party storage provider or a re-shipper," or have Amazon recycle or dispose of them at the fulfillment center. It will not ship removals to another fulfillment center.

Removal and disposal use the same card, by shipping weight, for each unit. Since March 1, 2026, Amazon charges as each unit is removed or disposed of; its announcement called it "a charge timeline change only," with rates unchanged.

On the first tier, Amazon's removal fee and disposal fee tables print "$1.04 ($0.84 from January 15, 2026 onwards)," and an example on the removal page still uses $1.04, so confirm the charge in your Payments transaction view.

Lead time is the hidden cost. Amazon's removal overview says "We typically process removal orders within 10-14 business days. However, during the holiday season, processing may take 30 days or more," and its removal page warns that "removal times may increase to 90 days or more during peak removal periods." Orders run in the order they were submitted.

Once the order exists, storage stops on those units while it processes, the address can no longer be changed, and you can cancel only while it is in Planning status, usually a few hours. "By submitting a removal order, you agree to receive each and every unit in that order, all at once, upon delivery to your designated ship-to address," and if the recipient does not, Amazon may have the carrier dispose of the units at your cost.

At catalog scale, the bulk removal upload takes up to 1,000 list items per file. Under the FBA Donations program, which sellers are enrolled in by default, Amazon evaluates disposals for donation to select US nonprofits; the usual disposal fees still apply, and donated inventory is not reimbursable. Amazon does not give tax advice on donations, so ask your accountant before counting on a deduction.

If Nobody Decides, Amazon's Settings Do

Amazon's automated fulfillable inventory removal is on by default. When it is enabled, Amazon returns, liquidates or disposes of fulfillable units that have been in a fulfillment center for more than 365 days, and it removes units of ASINs that "have not sold for six or more consecutive months and that have been in fulfillment centers for more than 180 days." Sellers can set their own removal timeframe, between 1 and 12 months.

Turning it off does not stop the clock. The same page says: "If you have not configured your automated fulfillable settings or have disabled this feature, Amazon implements a mandatory removal policy for sellable units that exceed 270 days in storage."

With a return address on file, Amazon returns those units by default; without liquidation configured and without a return address, "your inventory will be donated, recycled, or disposed of." Units between 181 and 365 days still pay the surcharge unless you create a removal order yourself. Before the next snapshot, check whether automated removal is on, which method it uses and which return address it will ship to, because those settings act on every eligible unit, reviewed or not.

Not Exits for Sellable Stock: Sell as Used, Restore to New and the NSP Window

Two of Amazon's value-recovery programs sound like exits for aged stock, and neither applies to sellable units. Sell as Used, formerly FBA Grade and Resell, relists graded customer returns in a used condition, and Amazon is precise: "Sell as Used is only for unfulfillable inventory already deemed unsellable as New." It adds that "Units can only enter through automated settings, not restocking or manual removal orders." Restore to New is also a returns service, for items whose packaging is damaged but which are otherwise sellable.

The New Selection Program (2026) does include free liquidation, but only on a launch window: it covers the "First 200 units of an eligible new-to-FBA parent ASIN, within 120 days of your first FBA inbound date," for branded new-to-FBA parent ASINs only. Amazon extended the enrollment window on October 28, 2026, to March 31, 2027.

The surcharge starts at 181 days, so that window closes before a unit counts as aged, even with the 45-day extension Amazon gives ASINs in its Vine pre-launch service. For brands launching many ASINs, the useful rule comes earlier: decide on a launch that has not sold before day 120, while liquidation is still free on its first 200 units. The program's dates are in our Amazon seller calendar for 2027.

The ASIN-by-ASIN Triage: Read the Price Before You Liquidate

The data for a catalog-wide decision already sits in one Amazon file. The FBA Manage Inventory Health report, GET_FBA_INVENTORY_PLANNING_DATA in the Selling Partner API, gives a row per SKU with age bands, recent units shipped, your price, the lowest new price plus shipping, the featured offer price, Amazon's recommended action, a no-sale-last-6-months field and the estimated aged inventory surcharge by band.

Amazon's definitions frame the first cut. It treats an item as excess when it has "over 90 days of supply based on the forecasted demand," and it defines excess units as "the number of units for which it costs you more to do nothing and pay the storage fees instead of taking an action such as marking down the price or removing inventory."

The second cut is the price. For the Featured Offer, Amazon says "Total price (item price plus shipping fee) plays an important role in determining the Featured Offer," and that "a $40 offer with free shipping is preferable to a $35 offer with $5 shipping." Its pricing API model adds: "There can be up to two Buy Box winners at any time per ASIN, one that is eligible for Prime and one that is not eligible for Prime."

So compare like with like before you call an ASIN dead. An FBA offer competes with Prime-eligible offers, a merchant-fulfilled price only means something with its shipping added, and the lowest-price-new-plus-shipping field can be one seller far below everyone else, who also pulls down your Outlet ceiling for as long as that stock lasts.

"One seller far below everyone else is not the price. When that seller sells out, the price can come back. Check every aged ASIN against the real market before you liquidate it."

Bernardo Campelo, Founder of PrepVia

The table below is a working order for your team's review, built from the Amazon rules above; it is not an Amazon policy.

For the last row, Amazon said on September 24, 2026 that its multichannel selling tools let sellers "connect eBay, Shopify, TikTok, and Walmart accounts to Seller Central," rolling out gradually to US sellers. Multi-Channel Fulfillment pays peak fulfillment fees in the same window, and units that stay in FBA keep aging until they sell.

Where a Prep Center Fits

Aged inventory starts upstream: it is the part of a shipment that did not sell before the clock turned. A prep center works on that side, receiving freight, prepping and labeling units, and building the inbound shipments you choose to send, in the quantities you choose. It does not run liquidations, Outlet deals or Amazon's removal settings; those decisions stay in your Seller Central account.

At PrepVia, that inbound work runs from 8507 NW 72nd St, Miami, FL 33166. Receiving and inspection are included, and discrepancies are reported within 24 hours of arrival, with photos. We handle labeling, kitting and case packs, receive imported freight and route it into Amazon FBA on Amazon partnered LTL and FTL.

When you choose removal, PrepVia offers removal order receiving. Pricing is quoted per account on a free 15-minute call.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Amazon FBA liquidation pay?

Amazon says contracted liquidators pay a gross recovery value of about 5% to 10% of the average selling price, before fees. Amazon then deducts a 15% referral fee on the gross and a processing fee for each item, and the net can be negative.

When does Amazon pay for liquidated inventory?

Amazon's FBA Liquidations page says the net recovery value should appear within 90 days of submitting the order, and its timeline shows payments from about day 60. Its FAQ also allows up to 90 days from order completion, so plan on at least 60 to 90 days.

Can I cancel a liquidation order?

No. Amazon says that once you confirm a liquidation order, it cannot be canceled. If Amazon cannot find a buyer within 30 days, the units return to your inventory and storage fees resume.

What does an Amazon Outlet deal require?

A Professional selling plan, an overall customer rating of at least 4 stars, and an ASIN with at least 90 days in Amazon fulfillment centers, a product rating of at least 4 stars or no reviews, and no Outlet deal in the past 60 days. Deals run for two weeks under a ceiling based on the lowest new offer.

When is the aged inventory surcharge charged, and how do I avoid the next one?

Amazon assesses it using an inventory snapshot on the fifteenth day of each month, on units stored 181 days or longer. A removal or disposal order submitted by 11:59 p.m. (PT) on the 14th of the month keeps those units out of that month's surcharge. A liquidation order submitted by the same deadline does too, since Amazon stops storage fees and surcharges on the day you submit it.

What happens if I never decide?

Amazon's automated fulfillable inventory removal is on by default and acts on units past 365 days and on ASINs with no sale in six months that have been in fulfillment centers for more than 180 days. If it is not configured or is disabled, a mandatory removal policy applies to sellable units past 270 days.

Final Take

Amazon publishes the numbers that frame this decision: a gross recovery of about 5% to 10% before fees, the fee cards, the Outlet rules and the surcharge bands. What it does not publish is your answer for each ASIN.

Start with the price question: Outlet's ceiling takes the lowest new offer into account, and liquidation is final, so a low price that will not last can cost you either way. Then work the list before the 14th, and set Amazon's automated removal on purpose, so the default does not decide for you.