Amazon FBA is waiving long-term storage fees for inventory for which it has received removal orders, it announced Tuesday, another sign its fulfillment centers are stressed from coronavirus demand.
Amazon explained it was waiving the fees because it had “temporarily paused removal operations in some of our fulfillment centers.”
Amazon charges sellers who participate in its fulfillment program a “long-term storage fee” to discourage sellers from “parking” slow-moving inventory in its warehouses (read more about the fee on this Amazon help page).
Sellers who want their inventory back due to its current priority on high-demand goods must issue what are called removal orders, for which Amazon also charges a fee.
In today’s announcement, Amazon wrote, “We are working around the clock to increase capacity and appreciate your understanding as we temporarily prioritize household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products for customers.”
One frustrated seller wrote, “Now you can’t sell our inventory, nor give it back to us?”
Another questioned why Amazon wasn’t waiving short-term storage fees, given the fact sellers’ inventory may not be moving due to Amazon’s policies.
Amazon’s announcement to FBA sellers follows:
To ensure the capacity to receive, restock, and ship high-priority products like household staples and medical supplies, we have temporarily paused removal operations in some of our fulfillment centers.
You can continue to create removal orders, but there will be delays in completing the requests. Similarly, auto-removals will be delayed.
As a result, we are waiving the April 15 long-term storage fees for inventory stored in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
You can review the status of your removal orders here and find more information on this Help page. Please note Selling Partner Support does not have further guidance.
We know this is a change to your business and we did not make this decision lightly. We are working around the clock to increase capacity and appreciate your understanding as we temporarily prioritize household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products for customers.
See the announcement on Amazon Seller Central.
