How to Remove Unfulfillable Inventory from Amazon FBA

Unpopular inventory is bad, but unfulfillable inventory is the worst. If your FBA inventory is damaged, prohibited, or otherwise unsuitable for Amazon's standards, it could be deemed "unfulfillable inventory," preventing it from being sold on Amazon. For FBA sellers, this could mean losing the item, along with the expenses for acquiring it and any Amazon fees it accrued getting to the fulfillment center.

In this guide, we discuss how to remove unfulfillable inventory from an Amazon warehouse. We explain all your options, including some value-recovery services for cutting your losses. But first, let's talk a little about what Amazon unfulfillable inventory is and how to find out if your products are considered "unfulfillable."

What Does "Amazon Inventory: Unfulfillable" Mean?

Amazon unfulfillable inventory is any item deemed unfit for sale after a quality inspection at an FBA warehouse. Typically, Amazon unfulfillable inventory is products that arrive damaged at fulfillment centers, but it also includes expired or non-compliant products. Amazon will take responsibility and reimburse the loss if unfulfillable inventory is damaged at the warehouse, according to the FBA inventory reimbursement policy.

You can check the status of your FBA inventory in Seller Central. If a product becomes unfulfillable, you will receive a notification from Amazon explaining your options. If the issue is not addressed in 30 days, Amazon will dispose of the item. In the Seller Central inventory status, you can see the reason why an item was marked "unfulfillable" by clicking on the number in the "Unfulfillable Qty" column.

Amazon unfulfillable inventory can be a big deal if it's not taken care of before the deadline. You're essentially out the cost of the item, shipment, and storage with no gains. That's why it's best to handle unfulfillable inventory as quickly as possible to mitigate the losses.

How to Remove Unfulfillable Inventory from an Amazon Warehouse

There are a few ways to remove unfulfillable inventory from an Amazon fulfillment center.

First and most common, you can request an FBA removal order to return the inventory to you. This allows you to address the problem yourself and either return it fixed to the fulfillment center or sell it on another platform. Keep in mind that you still have to pay Amazon removal order fees.

If the problem is the packaging and the product itself is still usable, Amazon offers a service for repackaging or refurbishment. These options fix the product packaging, such as retaping or re-stapling boxes. You can enable refurbishments in the Automated Unfulfillable Settings in Seller Central.

For additional fees, Amazon also offers a service for FBA liquidations, which sells damaged inventory to a liquidator for 5-10% of the average selling price. Another similar value-recovery service is to enroll the products in Amazon Outlet, selling them at discount on the Amazon Outlet page (if approved).

Some sellers also have the choice of selling it Amazon as a Used Good through the FBA Grade and Resell program. Amazon will evaluate the product's quality and assign a Used condition, such as "Used - Like New" or "Used - Acceptable." However, the FBA Grade and Resell program is invitation-only, so it's not available to every Amazon seller.

Finally, for unfulfillable inventory stored in the US, you can choose the FBA Donation program to have the goods donated to charity (with disposal fees). This is the default option if you don't address the issues yourself in the 30 day time limit.

Related Reading: How to Reduce Amazon Excess Inventory

How to Submit an FBA Removal Order

The most popular option to remove unfulfillable inventory is to submit an FBA removal order, which returns the items to the seller or ships them to another location. However, there are some restrictions on where Amazon ships removals: it does not ship to US territories, other fulfillment centers, or PO/APO/FPO/DPO boxes.

You can submit an FBA removal order from the Manage Inventory, Fix Stranded Inventory, or Remove Unfulfillable Inventory pages on Seller Central. Choose the items for removal and then click Action on selected from the dropdown menu. Then select Create Removal Order.

Having inventory shipped out of a fulfillment center is still subject to Amazon removal order fees. These one-time charges are calculated based on the product's size tier and shipping weight, per unit removed. Fees for items of standard size and weight are usually under $5, but heavy or oversized products can rack up fees over $25.

Related reading: How to Use Amazon's SKU Economics Report

Quickly Identify Amazon Unfulfillable Inventory

Keep tabs on your FBA inventory with SellerPulse by eComEngine. The Plan Inventory dashboard offers a high-level view of your recent sales and inbound, fulfillable, and unfulfillable quantities. See how many units and SKUs are unfulfillable. The graph shows your SKUs by days of supply. That's one all-inclusive dashboard for all your time-sensitive Amazon concerns.

Check out the Inventory Planning dashboard to see an FBA inventory summary, current low-inventory-level and aged inventory fees, a sales summary, recent stockouts, and other details. Get the information you need in one place to make decisions about upcoming promotions, restocking, and more with SellerPulse. Try it free!