Amazon Aged Inventory Surcharge: How to Dodge It

1. What the Aged Inventory Surcharge Is

Amazon charges an aged inventory surcharge on FBA units that have sat in its warehouses longer than 180 days. It comes on top of your normal monthly storage fee.

The surcharge starts at 181 days and climbs with age. The rates below come from Amazon's aged inventory surcharge help page, with the rate card that took effect January 16, 2026.

For an arbitrage seller, every unit that hits this fee is a buy that went wrong. Aim to pay it zero times, and that starts with how deep you buy.

2. The 2026 Rate Card

Rates per cubic foot, per month:

• 181 to 210 days: $0.50
• 211 to 240 days: $1.00
• 241 to 270 days: $1.50
• 271 to 300 days: $5.45
• 301 to 330 days: $5.70
• 331 to 365 days: $5.90
• 366 to 455 days: $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.30 per unit, whichever is greater
• 456 days and up: $7.90 per cubic foot or $0.35 per unit, whichever is greater

Clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry and watches skip the first three bands. Two changes landed January 16, 2026: the per-unit minimum for 366 to 455 days went from $0.15 to $0.30, and Amazon added the 456-plus band.

3. How the Snapshot Works

Amazon takes an inventory snapshot on the 15th of each month and charges the surcharge around the 18th to the 22nd. Your unit's age on the 15th sets the band for that month.

That gives you a hard deadline. Submit a removal or disposal order by 11:59 pm PT on the 14th and those units skip that month's surcharge.

Put a reminder on the 10th of every month to check what's about to cross a band. Four days is enough to decide and submit.

4. The Per-Unit Math

The cliff at 271 days is the one to fear. A unit at 0.05 cubic feet:

• At 241 to 270 days: 0.05 x $1.50 = about 8 cents a month
• At 271 to 300 days: 0.05 x $5.45 = about 27 cents a month
• At 366 to 455 days: 0.05 x $6.90 = about 35 cents, which beats the $0.30 minimum

A tiny unit at 0.02 cubic feet would owe 14 cents at 366 days by volume, so the $0.30 per-unit minimum applies instead. Past 455 days it pays at least $0.35. Small, cheap items get hit hardest by the per-unit floors.

5. Removal Costs Less Than You Think

Amazon's removal and disposal fees share one rate card. For a standard-size unit up to 0.5 lb, it's $0.84 per unit since January 15, 2026. From 0.5 to 1 lb it's $1.53, and from 1 to 2 lb it's $2.27. Amazon has charged these per unit as it processes them since March 1, 2026.

Compare that against the surcharge. A small unit paying the $0.30 floor every month costs more than its $0.84 removal within three months, plus storage the whole time.

Removed units can still earn money. Sell them through FBM or on another marketplace:

"Start moving your returns over there and then if you see products that sell faster that are more profitable when you sell them on eBay then just sell them on eBay, right? And like shift or like split your split the load in between Amazon and eBay or like shift it completely to eBay for those specific products."

eBay Domination: Maximize Profits by Selling Faster

6. Reprice Before You Remove

Most aged units are priced above the buy box. Check the Keepa graph. If the price dropped after you bought, match the current buy box and see if the unit moves within two weeks.

A break-even sale gets your cash back to buy something that turns. A unit that sits at your old price burns storage and surcharges while you wait. The repricer guide for OA shows how to set floors that still move stale stock.

If the price can't cover fees at any realistic level, removal wins.

7. The Real Fix Is How Deep You Buy

Sellers end up in aged bands because they bought six months of stock on a deal that felt too good to pass up.

"Here's the tweet. I just hit 100% return on investment on a six months hold right so meaning that he hold on this as for 6 months. Everyone else was too scared to go deep. Sometimes the best deal are the ones that take time and I'm going to answer that absolutely not."

Are You Making This Amazon FBA Mistake?

Buy the units your share of the listing can sell in 30 to 60 days. If the deal is still live after that, buy again. The how many units to buy guide walks through the formula.

8. Track Inventory Age Every Week

Pull inventory age from Seller Central's FBA inventory reports once a week and sort by the units closest to 181 days.

"So, if you haven't been doing it in the past, make sure to track your inventory [...] your inventory turnover, right? Understand your numbers."

The Biggest Q1 Mistakes Amazon Sellers Make

Set your own trigger at 120 days: reprice. At 150 days: remove or liquidate on another channel. That keeps you clear of every band. Your sell-through rate tells you which SKUs will get there before they do.

9. Q4 Makes Aged Stock Worse

From October through December, standard-size storage runs $2.40 per cubic foot instead of $0.78. An aged unit pays that rate plus its surcharge band.

Clear old stock before October 1. Use the September 14 removal deadline for anything near 181 days. The Q4 storage fees guide breaks down the full peak-season bill.

Want to see how I size buys so they sell before 181 days? Save your seat at the free Thursday training.

10. The Monthly Aged Inventory Routine

Run this on the 10th of each month:

• Export units aged 120 days and up
• Reprice anything above the current buy box
• Mark units within 30 days of the next band for removal
• Submit removals by 11:59 pm PT on the 14th
• Note which sources and categories produced the aged units, and buy shallower there

That last step matters most. The surcharge is a symptom. Your buying habits cause it. For the bigger growth picture, read the scaling pillar.

11. Next Steps

Keep inventory moving with these five posts:

• Amazon FBA Storage Fees in Q4 - the peak storage rate and what stacks on it
• How Many Units to Buy in OA - size buys so they sell before they age
• Amazon Sell-Through Rate - spot slow SKUs early
• Amazon Repricer for OA - move stale units without giving away margin
• Amazon FBA Fees Explained - every 2026 fee in one place