Removal Orders

Key concept

A removal order is an Amazon FBA request to have inventory shipped back to you or disposed of at the fulfillment center. Amazon charges $0.97 to $13.05 per unit depending on size and weight. Removals take 10 to 30 business days to process and are the primary tool for clearing excess, unfulfillable, or aged inventory from FBA.

What are removal orders and how do they work?

A removal order tells Amazon to pull inventory out of FBA warehouses. You have two options: return (ship units back to an address you specify) or disposal (Amazon destroys or liquidates the units). You create removal orders in Seller Central under Inventory > Manage FBA Inventory, or via the Removal Order API.

Amazon charges per-unit removal fees based on size tier: $0.97 per unit for standard-size items and $1.49 to $13.05 for oversize items. Disposal is slightly cheaper at $0.32 to $1.08 per unit. Processing time ranges from 10 to 30 business days, and during peak season (October through December) it can stretch to 45+ days as Amazon prioritizes inbound and outbound customer shipments.

Removal orders are distinct from unfulfillable inventory returns. Unfulfillable units (damaged or expired) are automatically flagged by Amazon, but you still need to create a removal order to get them out of the warehouse. If you do not act within 30 days, Amazon may auto-remove or dispose of unfulfillable units and charge you the removal fee anyway. Meanwhile, those units continue to incur storage fees.

Removal order fees and the break-even math

Remove vs. hold break-even:

  Monthly storage cost per unit = cubic feet x storage rate
  Removal fee per unit = $0.97 (standard size)

  Break-even months = removal fee / monthly storage cost

  Example: 0.15 cu ft unit at $0.78/cu ft (Jan-Sep rate)
  Monthly storage = $0.117/unit
  Break-even = $0.97 / $0.117 = 8.3 months

  If the unit will sell within 8 months, hold it.
  If not, remove it now.

Example: removal decision for a $1.8M seller

A seller doing $1.8M annually has 420 units of a discontinued SKU (ASP $28, 0.22 cubic feet per unit) sitting in FBA. Current sell-through: 1.2 units/day. At this rate, clearing the remaining stock takes 350 days. Monthly storage on 420 units at $0.78/cu ft (Jan-Sep): 420 x 0.22 x $0.78 = $72/month. Over 12 months that is $864 in storage, plus the units that cross 181+ days will hit aged inventory surcharges of $1.50/cu ft, adding another $139. Total cost to hold: roughly $1,003.

Removal cost: 420 x $0.97 = $407. After removal, the seller can liquidate on a secondary channel (eBay, pallet liquidator) at roughly 40% of the $28 ASP = $11.20/unit, recovering $4,704 in revenue. Net outcome: $4,704 revenue minus $407 removal fee = $4,297 recovered, versus losing $1,003 in storage fees waiting for FBA sales. The removal order saves $5,300 (recovered revenue plus avoided storage) compared to holding and hoping.

Where this shows up in Profit Hawk

Profit Hawk flags SKUs approaching the 181-day aged inventory threshold and calculates whether removal or continued storage costs less. The recommendation includes the exact break-even point and estimated liquidation recovery value. Start a free trial.

Common mistakes

Waiting too long to create removal orders. Processing takes 10 to 30 days, and during Q4 it stretches to 45+ days. If you wait until aged inventory surcharges hit at 181 days, you have already paid several months of escalating fees. Set a 120-day trigger to evaluate removal.
Choosing disposal over return without running the math. Disposal is cheaper ($0.32 vs. $0.97 per unit), but you forfeit the inventory entirely. If the product has any resale value on secondary channels, returning and liquidating almost always recovers more than the $0.65 per-unit fee difference.
Not accounting for IPI impact. Excess inventory drags your IPI score down. Removing 200 units of aged stock can boost your IPI by 15 to 30 points, which may be the difference between maintaining and losing your storage capacity.

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

How much does a removal order cost?

Standard-size items cost $0.97 per unit for return and $0.32 per unit for disposal. Oversize items range from $1.49 to $13.05 for return and $0.55 to $1.08 for disposal. These fees are per unit regardless of whether Amazon ships multiple units in the same box.

How long do removal orders take to process?

Typically 10 to 30 business days. During peak season (October through December), processing can stretch to 45+ days. Amazon prioritizes customer orders over removal shipments, so plan ahead if you need inventory cleared before a specific date.

Should I return or dispose of inventory?

Return if the product has any resale value on secondary channels like eBay, Amazon Warehouse, or pallet liquidators. Dispose only if the product is expired, recalled, or has zero resale value. Disposal saves $0.65 per unit in removal fees but forfeits all recovery value.

Can I cancel a removal order?

Only if it has not started processing. Once Amazon begins pulling units in the warehouse, the order cannot be canceled. Check the removal order status in Seller Central. Orders in 'Pending' status can still be canceled.

Do removal orders affect my IPI score?

Yes, positively. Removing excess or aged inventory reduces your excess inventory percentage and improves your sell-through rate, both of which increase your IPI score. A well-timed removal of 200+ aged units can boost IPI by 15 to 30 points within one weekly update cycle.

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