Remove inventory (overview)

You can remove inventory from a fulfilment centre by submitting a removal order. Use one or more of the following options to remove your inventory:

Request the return or disposal of any amount of inventory at any time. See Remove inventory from fulfilment centres.
Manage unsellable and slow-moving inventory automatically. See Remove inventory automatically.
Use spreadsheets to submit bulk removal orders. See Remove inventory in bulk.

A per-item fee applies. See FBA removal order fees.

Removal order process

Removal orders may take 90 days or more to process and leave the fulfillment center. Allow an additional two weeks for the carrier to deliver, after the shipment has left the fulfillment center. If there are problems with delivery, the carrier will attempt to contact you to resolve the problem. This process cannot be expedited. The fulfillment centers process each kind of removal in the order that they are created. We cannot expedite or prioritize any removal over the others. Large scale events like natural disasters and pandemics could also cause the removals process to take longer than expected.

Note: Once our carrier has picked up your removed inventory, it will contact your designated recipient to arrange delivery. If it cannot arrange delivery, an Amazon team member will contact you to help resolve the issue.

Fulfillable inventory is available for purchase until we remove it. If you don't want it available for sale, close your listing. See "Close a listing" in List products for Fulfilment by Amazon.

Inventory cannot be removed in the following cases:

It is already scheduled for removal.
It is being processed for a pending customer order.
It is being shipped to another fulfilment centre.
It is an unclassified Hazmat unit (the inventory must have correct hazmat documentation on file before it can be removed. Please submit the classification documents per the dangerous goods process) and Inventory classified as non-transportable dangerous goods can only be destroyed.
If the units are quarantined or being researched by a policy team.

Note: When creating a removal order, you may notice that certain items cannot be removed. We will notify you with suggested action to take in order to successfully remove your inventory. If you receive an error saying that the inventory is at a location that cannot process removals, you will need to contact Seller Support to ask them to request the units be transshipped to a regular FC. Transshipment usually takes less than a week, but during peak periods it can take longer. While units are being transshipped, any removal orders created for those units will fail.

Note: Once a removal order is created, the address provided on the removal order cannot be altered.

Removal order restrictions

We ship returns only to you, your warehouse, your supplier, or your distributor. It is a policy violation to do the following:

Ship inventory to PO, APO, FPO, or DPO boxes. To ship to an address outside of the country in which it’s stored , see International return providers.
Note: This also applies if you have a Unified Account.
Ship inventory to another fulfillment center.
Send inventory as customer orders, gifts, or promotional items. This includes replacement units, samples for potential customers, or shipping accessories that were not included in the original order.

Note: Violating this restriction may result in your account being blocked from creating removals or more serious account actions.

Lending Policy Restrictions

If your account has been blocked due to action from the Lending Policy team, you will have to address that block before you will be able to remove your inventory. Instructions on how to resolve that block can be found in the performance notification you received about the issue.

Removal order packing and shipping

Removed inventory is packed and shipped to ensure safe transport of the units while minimizing packaging and transportation costs. Packing and shipping methods will depend on quantity, size and weight, and the current location of the inventory you wish to remove:

Small quantity removals originating from the same fulfilment centre will ship in the smallest box, envelope or polybag possible. This packaging may be identical to Amazon customer order packaging.
Large quantity removals originating from the same fulfilment centre will be boxed and consolidated on pallets and shipped by freight carrier.
Small quantity removals of Ships in Own Container (SIOC) inventory will ship in their own containers without additional packaging.
Large quantity removals of SIOC inventory or oversized units that do not fit into a standard box will be shrink-wrapped to a pallet.

Removal orders can be shipped using small parcel carriers (e.g. Canada Post, FedEx, UPS, Amazon) or freight carriers (e.g. ABF, YRC/Roadway, Estes Express).

If a freight carrier ships your removal order, the following restrictions will apply:

Pallets can only be delivered to a shipping dock or similar facility.
Carriers will only deliver to the address provided on the removal order.
Freight deliveries require a signature at the time of delivery.
Carriers will charge you directly for any extra services beyond the basic delivery, including delivering the freight inside your facility.

Note: If your inventory is located in different fulfilment centres, your order may arrive in multiple shipments from different carriers.

We return case-packed inventory as individual items.

Tracking removal orders

A tracking ID will be assigned during the processing in the FC and will be visible in Seller Central. Once a tracking ID has been assigned to your shipment, you can use it to search on the carrier’s website to check for updates on the progress of your shipment. If it shows as an “invalid tracking ID” please wait for two weeks after your removal shows as “completed” in Seller Central, to allow time for the carrier to process the shipment through their systems. If it still shows as “invalid” after two weeks, please contact Seller Support to request an investigation into a lost shipment.

Cancelled removal orders

We may cancel a removal order once it is submitted, if the inventory isn't available for removal. For example, it may be part of a pending customer order.

Note: Cancelled units are not removed from your inventory, so no units would be added back. If you feel that the units are missing, please reconcile your inventory using fulfillment reports.

If we cancel a removal order, submit another request. If we cancel the second request, contact Seller Support.

If you want to cancel a removal order that you submitted, see Remove inventory from a fulfilment centre. You should only request cancellation in emergency situations. Removals can only be cancelled successfully within a few hours of creation. Late cancellation requests will cause your inventory to become stuck due to errors which can take several weeks to resolve. Canceling a removal will not make the inventory immediately available for customer orders, nor will it allow a new removal order to process more quickly than the existing removal order. You should not cancel removals that were created by an Amazon team or process. If you feel that a unit was destroyed in error, contact Seller Support.

Remove inventory (overview)

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