Overview

Amazon is introducing new automated removal settings that give FBA sellers more control over how unfulfillable inventory is handled in fulfilment centres. The feature, which is rolling out over the next four weeks, requires sellers to configure their preferences or risk having unsellable stock automatically disposed of at their expense.

Key Points

• New automated removal settings — Sellers can now configure what happens to inventory that becomes unfulfillable in Amazon's fulfilment centres, choosing between return shipment or automatic disposal.
• Mandatory configuration required — Once the settings become available in your account, you must customise them to ensure unfulfillable units are handled according to your preferences.
• 30-day action window — If you don't set up automated removal, Amazon will notify you when unfulfillable inventory needs attention, and you'll have 30 days to create a removal order before Amazon disposes of the stock on your behalf.
• Phased rollout — The new settings are being made available to sellers over a four-week period, so availability may vary by account.

How Unfulfillable Inventory Works

When inventory stored in an Amazon fulfilment centre is no longer in sellable condition — whether due to defects, damage, or expiration — its status is changed to "unfulfillable" and it is set aside for removal. Previously, managing this inventory required more manual intervention from sellers. The new automated settings aim to streamline this process by letting sellers define their preferred handling method in advance.

This is particularly relevant for sellers dealing with perishable goods, fragile products, or high-volume inventory where items may occasionally arrive damaged or degrade over time in storage. Having a standing policy in place eliminates the need to respond to each unfulfillable notification individually.

What Sellers Need to Do

Once the automated unfulfillable settings appear in your Seller Central account, you should configure them promptly. You have two primary options: have unfulfillable units returned to your designated return address, or have them automatically disposed of. Each option carries different cost implications, so it's worth considering which approach makes more financial sense for your product types.