Overview

Amazon has recently reduced the quantity of stock third‑party sellers may send to its fulfillment centers, creating restocking bottlenecks even for fast‑moving products. At the same time, Wish filed for an IPO and the EU introduced stricter VAT thresholds, changes that directly affect Amazon sellers’ inventory planning, financing strategies, and compliance obligations.

Key Points

• Inbound caps on FBA shipments — Sellers report Amazon now limits daily inbound units to a fraction of their usual volume, forcing adjustments during peak periods.
• High sell‑through, limited receipt — A vendor of premium yoga mats sold 1,200 units in one week but could only ship 400 to Amazon because of the new caps, resulting in missed revenue.
• Wish’s public listing — The marketplace is pursuing a NYSE IPO with a target raise of roughly $1 billion, a move that could divert shopper traffic from Amazon.
• EU VAT threshold drop — The distance‑selling limit has been lowered to €10,000 across all member states, requiring sellers to register for VAT in each country once that level is exceeded.
• Tighter Buy Box standards — Amazon now demands an order‑defect rate (ODR) of no more than 0.5 % for U.S. sellers to remain eligible for the Buy Box.
• New Restock Limits dashboard — A real‑time interface in Seller Central shows per‑center caps, letting sellers see exactly how many units can be received each day.

How Amazon’s Inventory Limits Work

1. Capacity calculation — Amazon analyzes a seller’s recent sales velocity, current storage usage, and inbound performance to assign a daily receiving quota for each fulfillment center. For instance, a seller averaging 300 units per day last month may receive a quota of 150 units per day for the next two weeks.
2. Quota notification — The “Restock Inventory Limits” page flags any SKU that exceeds the assigned quota with a red warning icon. A silicone kitchen‑tool vendor sees warnings on 12 of 45 SKUs, indicating they can ship only half of the planned quantity.