Amazon News Insight

Published July 3, 2026 / EC Designer Editorial

If you have FBA inventory that's been sitting in an Amazon warehouse for close to a year, it's time to pay close attention. Amazon is rolling out a new minimum long-term storage fee that will add a per-unit monthly charge on top of whatever standard long-term storage fees you're already paying — and it kicks in sooner than many sellers realize.

What the New FBA Minimum Long-Term Storage Fee Actually Means for Your Business

Starting April 15, 2026, Amazon will apply a minimum additional long-term storage fee of roughly $0.15 per unit per month (the policy is anchored at ¥20 on the Japan marketplace, with equivalent minimums expected across other Amazon stores) to any non-media product that has been in fulfillment center storage for 365 days or more. This is a floor charge — meaning even if your standard long-term storage fee would otherwise calculate out to less than the minimum, Amazon will charge you the minimum instead.

Why does this matter? Because many sellers with slow-moving SKUs, seasonal products, or large safety-stock buffers have historically relied on the existing fee structure to estimate holding costs. This new minimum disrupts that math. Any unit sitting past the one-year mark now has a guaranteed cost attached to it, regardless of its size, weight, or category. The practical effect is that long-tail inventory and forgotten ASINs just got more expensive to hold.

• Affected inventory: Non-media products stored 365+ days in FBA warehouses
• New charge: A per-unit monthly minimum on top of existing long-term storage fees
• Effective date: April 15, 2026
• Who feels it most: Sellers with deep, slow-moving inventory or products with long replenishment cycles

How to Audit Your FBA Inventory and Avoid Unnecessary Long-Term Storage Charges

The good news is that April 2026 is far enough out that proactive sellers have a real window to act. Here's how to approach it:

Pull an aged-inventory report now. In Seller Central, the Inventory Age report shows you how long each ASIN has been in the fulfillment network. Sort by units aged 270 days or more — those are your at-risk products. Anything approaching the 365-day mark before April 2026 is your immediate priority.

Run the numbers on each at-risk ASIN. For each slow mover, compare three options: (1) running a promotion or price cut to liquidate stock before the fee applies, (2) creating a removal order to get inventory back and either sell it through alternative channels or return it to your supplier, or (3) enrolling in Amazon's own liquidation program if margin recovery is more important than speed. In many cases, the cost of a removal order will be lower than months of compounding minimum fees on dead stock.

Tighten your replenishment model going forward. This new fee is a signal that Amazon is continuing to push sellers toward leaner, faster-turning inventory. If you've been sending in 12-month supply quantities to avoid running out of stock, it may be worth recalculating your send-in quantities to land closer to 6-9 months of cover — especially for products that don't have a strong, predictable sell-through rate.

Flag your bundles and multipacks. These often accumulate slower than their component single-unit versions and can quietly age past the 365-day threshold. Make sure your reporting captures bundled ASINs specifically.

The broader takeaway here is that Amazon's fee structure continues to evolve in ways that reward high-velocity inventory management and penalize passive warehouse use. Sellers who treat FBA storage as a long-term warehouse rather than a fulfillment buffer will increasingly feel that pressure in their margins. Getting ahead of your aged inventory now — not in March 2026 — is the move that protects your bottom line.

FAQ

Which products are affected by the new Amazon FBA minimum long-term storage fee?

The new minimum fee applies to non-media products that have been stored in an Amazon fulfillment center for 365 days or more. Media products such as books, music, and DVDs are excluded from this specific charge.

How can I find out which of my FBA listings are at risk before the April 2026 deadline?

Run the Inventory Age report in Seller Central and filter for units that have been in the fulfillment network for 270 days or longer. That gives you a clear picture of what will cross the 365-day threshold before April 15, 2026, so you can decide whether to liquidate, remove, or discount before the fee applies.