Getting stock into Amazon, keeping it there and what it costs when you hold too much or run out.
14 answers
Topic 07
Getting stock into Amazon, keeping it there and what it costs when you hold too much or run out.
FBA stands for Fulfilment by Amazon, where you send your stock into Amazon's warehouses and, when an order comes in, Amazon picks it, packs it, delivers it and deals with any return. You pay a fee for every unit it ships plus monthly storage, and in return your offer normally qualifies for the Prime badge. The UK and EU have run as separate networks since 1 January 2021, so selling in both usually means holding stock on both sides of the Channel.
You can, and Amazon calls it FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant), where you or your own warehouse send each order and handle returns. You skip Amazon's fulfilment and storage fees but still pay its referral fee on each sale, and the Prime badge only shows if you qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime. Amazon holds you to targets on dispatch, cancellations and tracking, so missing them hurts your account health. Plenty of brands mix the two, keeping bulky or slow sellers on FBM and fast sellers in FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon).
Every unit has to arrive ready to shelve and ship, which Amazon calls prep. Each one needs a single barcode that scans, either the one on the pack if you're the brand representative in Brand Registry or Amazon's FNSKU (fulfilment network stock keeping unit) label covering any other barcode. Loose or fragile items need protective prep such as a poly bag, bubble wrap or sealing, and the outer box has to stand up to transport and storage. Stock that arrives wrong can be rejected, reworked or charged extra.
Not in the UK for stock sent in since 31 March 2026, when Amazon ended commingling, which pooled identical units so a customer could get another seller's unit. Each of those units stays tied to the seller who sent it, so a reseller's stock on your page is kept apart from yours. Brand owners can use the barcode on the pack, but only with the brand representative role in Brand Registry, while everyone else has to stick Amazon's FNSKU (fulfilment network stock keeping unit) label on each unit.
A safety data sheet request means Amazon thinks your product might be a dangerous good, something flammable, pressurised, corrosive or otherwise harmful, like perfume, aerosols or lithium batteries. Until Amazon has reviewed it, the product can be blocked from FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon), so you send the manufacturer's safety data sheet or, if it isn't hazardous, Amazon's exemption sheet. Confirmed dangerous goods are stored separately at their own rates, count towards your capacity limits and pay an extra £0.10 fulfilment fee per unit on amazon.co.uk (€0.10 in the euro stores).
Amazon caps how much you can send in and store each month through capacity limits, set for each storage type, such as standard-size and oversize. They're measured by volume and based on your sales forecast, how much room Amazon has and your Inventory Performance Index, a score for how well you manage your stock. Capacity Manager in Seller Central lets you bid a reservation fee for extra space, and credits from selling that stock can cover the fee, so it mostly costs you when the stock sits.
Storage is billed monthly for the space your stock takes up, and in the UK, standard-size products outside clothing, eyewear, shoes and bags pay £0.76 per cubic foot, about a 30 cm cube, from January to September. That roughly doubles to £1.51 from October to December. Warehouses in Germany, France, Italy and Spain charge €27.54 per cubic metre, rising to €52.20 over those three months. In the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Ireland, most stock held 241 days or more also picks up an aged inventory surcharge.
If you've read US guides: US guides quote aged-stock surcharges from 181 days and a roughly threefold Q4 storage rate, which are US figures.
Both can in the EU. The UK only charges for too much. In the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, more than 22 weeks of stock, judged against 13 weeks of sales, adds a storage utilisation surcharge, though not in your first 52 weeks of sending stock in or while you store under 25 cubic feet. Standard-size products in Pan-European Fulfilment by Amazon also pay a low-inventory fee in Germany, France, Italy and Spain once stock falls below 28 days of sales over both the last 30 and 90 days.
If you've read US guides: US guides describe a low-inventory-level fee that amazon.co.uk doesn't charge, and the EU version only hits Pan-European products.
Your sales stop, and so do your Sponsored Products ads, Amazon's pay-per-click product ads, because they only show while the product is in stock and holding the Buy Box. Amazon's search ranking leans on sales and availability, so the longer you're out the further the listing can slip, and climbing back can take extra ad spend or a discount once stock lands. If a reseller still has stock on your page, they can win the Buy Box and the sales until yours is back.
Amazon's UK and EU warehouses take expiry-dated stock, but it has to arrive with plenty of shelf life left, and Amazon sets the minimum in its expiry-dated product rules in Seller Central. Units close to their date are treated as unsellable, and Amazon can remove them at shorter notice than other stock. Unless you've told it to send unsellable units back, or you ask for them in time, they're disposed of, so slow-selling stock can end up a straight loss.
Amazon pays you for units it loses or damages in its warehouses, and units missing from a shipment you sent in can be claimed too. Warehouse losses are paid automatically, and since 31 March 2025 the payment has been what the unit cost you to make or buy, not counting freight or duty, rather than its selling price. Amazon estimates that cost itself unless you enter yours in Seller Central, and if a warehouse payment doesn't arrive you have 60 days from the loss being reported to claim.
Yes, you place a removal order in Seller Central, your account's back office, and Amazon sends the stock to an address you choose or disposes of it. At July 2026 UK rates, sending back a standard-size item of 200g or less costs £0.49 but disposal costs £0.74, and UK stock can currently only go to UK addresses. Stock can take weeks, sometimes months, to leave the warehouse. If you haven't chosen what happens to unsellable stock, a customer return Amazon can't resell is disposed of straight away, with no warning.
Amazon will pack and post your website orders through Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF), using the stock you've sent in for Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). It runs in the UK and EU countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, though since Brexit it won't ship between the two. Eligible UK orders go out in unbranded boxes, but the per-unit fee is usually higher than FBA charges on an Amazon order. Your website and Amazon listing share the same stock, so a busy week online can leave the listing out of stock.
Well before October, because Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon's autumn sale for Prime members, runs on 6 and 7 October 2026 on amazon.co.uk and Black Friday follows on 27 November. Storage fees for most standard-size products roughly double from October to December, and from 15 October 2026 to 14 January 2027 the fee to pick, pack and send an amazon.co.uk or amazon.de order rises slightly for most parcel-sized products. For anything made overseas that usually means ordering Christmas stock in the summer.
General information about how Amazon works, not legal, tax or regulatory advice. Amazon changes its fees and rules often, so check anything with a fee or date in it before you act on it.
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