GUIDES
Amazon low-inventory-level fee: how it works in 2026 and how to avoid it
This guide covers how the fee is measured, what changed for 2026, what it costs, who is exempt and how to stay in the safe band. If you want a team to plan this every day, see our Amazon inventory management services.
Updated Oct 20, 2026 · Sources checked Oct 20, 2026
Quick answer
The Amazon low inventory fee, officially the low-inventory-level fee, is a per-unit FBA charge for products that run too lean. Amazon charges it only when both your 30-day and 90-day historical days of supply are below 28 days. New sellers, new products and slow sellers are among the exemptions. Plan stock so days of supply stay at 28 or more without drifting into aged inventory surcharges.
Key takeaways
- The fee needs both conditions: 30-day and 90-day historical days of supply below 28. If either is 28 or more, there is no fee.
- Days of supply is your average daily inventory divided by your average daily units shipped, so a sales spike can trigger it as easily as a stockout.
- Amazon said it would adjust the fee for 2026. Vendor summaries report it is now measured per seller-FNSKU, so each variation counts on its own, and that it covers bulky items; confirm in your Fee Preview report.
- Exemptions include new sellers, new parent products, items with fewer than 20 sales in the past seven days and SKUs supplied mostly by AWD auto-replenishment.
- The fix is a band, not a target: at least 28 days of supply, while keeping units well under the 181-day age when aged surcharges begin.
What is the Amazon low-inventory-level fee?
It is a fee Amazon adds to FBA units when your stock of a product is low relative to how fast it sells. Amazon announced it in Dec 2023 and began charging it on Apr 1, 2024, adding more exemptions in May 2024 (Red Stag, updated Aug 11, 2026).
Why charge for too little stock? Amazon's network runs on spreading inventory across fulfillment centers close to customers. When a seller keeps only a thin layer of stock, Amazon cannot place it well, ships farther and pays more per order. The fee pushes sellers to hold enough to let Amazon place it.
It sits on the opposite side of the aged inventory surcharge. One charges you for too little stock, the other for stock that sits too long. Good planning keeps you between the two.
How does Amazon measure days of supply?
Amazon uses historical days of supply: your average daily inventory divided by your average daily units shipped, over two windows, 30 days and 90 days (Red Stag, vendor summary). Amazon staff have confirmed the fee applies only when the metric is below 28 days on both the 30-day and the 90-day measure (Amazon Seller Forums). The metrics are recalculated weekly.
Vendor summaries say only sellable units already in Amazon's fulfillment network count. Inbound units do not help until they are received, so a shipment stuck at the dock does nothing for this week's number.
Illustrative · sample figures.
| SKU | Avg daily inventory, 30 days | Avg daily shipped, 30 days | 30-day days of supply | Avg daily inventory, 90 days | Avg daily shipped, 90 days | 90-day days of supply | Fee? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 500 | 25 | 20 | 900 | 25 | 36 | No: the 90-day measure is 28 or more |
| B | 400 | 25 | 16 | 550 | 25 | 22 | Yes: both below 28 |
| C | 900 | 30 | 30 | 600 | 30 | 20 | No: the 30-day measure is 28 or more |
SKU B is the classic case: a fast seller kept lean for months. SKU A shows why a recent dip alone does not trigger the fee. SKU C shows that restocking well lifts the 30-day number first.
What changed in 2026?
Amazon's 2026 fee announcement (Oct 15, 2025) said it would adjust low-inventory-level fees, with changes effective Jan 15, 2026. It also stated there would be "no new FBA fee types in 2026" (Amazon; quoted announcement on Sellers Ask Sellers).
The detail comes from vendors, not from a public Amazon page. Two vendor summaries of Amazon's rate announcement agree on two changes from Jan 15, 2026: the fee now applies per seller-FNSKU instead of at the parent-ASIN level, so each variation such as a size or color is measured on its own, and it now covers Small Bulky and Large Bulky items (Acadia, Oct 20, 2025; AMZ Prep, Sep 25, 2026). An Amazon staff reply on the Seller Forums, posted about a year ago and before the change took effect, described the metric as calculated at the parent-product level. Amazon's own fee pages sit inside Seller Central, so we could not read the 2026 wording on a public Amazon page today.
What to do with that: plan as if each variation can be charged on its own, and check your Seller Central Fee Preview report, which lists the fee by SKU. If one size or color of a healthy parent listing runs thin, check it directly. Planning per variation costs you nothing if the fee turns out to be measured at the parent level.
How much is the fee?
It is charged per unit shipped, and the rate depends on the product's size tier and on how far below 28 days of supply it has fallen: the leaner the stock, the higher the rate. Amazon publishes the rate card inside Seller Central, not on a public page. We do not print per-unit amounts here, because the only vendor table we found is labeled as the 2025 structure and vendor tables disagree with each other. Your Seller Central fee page and the Fee Preview report are the authority, and the Fee Preview report shows the charge per SKU.
How to find your own number in five minutes:
- Download the Fee Preview report from Seller Central.
- Filter to SKUs with a low-inventory-level fee estimate.
- Note the per-unit amount and the size tier for each one.
- Multiply by the units you expect to ship while the SKU stays below 28 days.
Illustrative · sample figures. Say your Fee Preview report shows a low-inventory-level fee of $0.50 a unit on a SKU that ships 900 units a month. If the SKU stays lean for the whole month, the fee is $450, on top of the normal fulfillment fee and the 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge. The fee lands on every unit shipped while the condition holds, which is why a few lean weeks on a fast seller add up quickly.
Who is exempt?
Several groups are exempt. Amazon does not publish the list on a public page we could read today, so each line below carries its source. Confirm your own status in Seller Central.
| Exemption | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| New FBA sellers | For 365 days | Red Stag, vendor summary; AMZ Prep (new Professional sellers) |
| New parent products | For 180 days after FBA launch (FBA New Selection) | Red Stag; AMZ Prep, vendor summaries |
| Slow sellers | Products with fewer than 20 units sold in the previous seven days | Red Stag and AMZ Prep, vendor summaries (added May 2024) |
| AWD auto-replenishment | SKUs where AWD supplies at least 70% of inventory | Forum reply citing Amazon's "Applicability of FBA fees" help section |
| Grocery | Listed as exempt by two vendors | Acadia and AMZ Prep, vendor summaries |
The AWD route is worth a look for brands with steady volume and long lead times. It changes where your stock waits, so compare its storage and transport costs with the fee you would avoid.
How to avoid it without paying aged surcharges
Keep each SKU in the band between 28 days of supply and the 181-day age when aged inventory surcharges begin (Amazon, sell.amazon.com). In practice that means three habits.
Set a reorder point per SKU.
Reorder point = average daily sales × (supplier lead time + inbound time + safety days). Use real lead times, including the weeks a shipment takes to be received.
Illustrative · sample figures.
A SKU sells 30 units a day. The supplier needs 25 days and inbound takes 14, so 39 days. You add 10 safety days. Reorder point = 30 × 49 = 1,470 units. Order enough to cover roughly 45 to 75 days of sales, so stock stays above 28 days without sitting until day 181.
Ship smaller, more often.
One large shipment a quarter pushes days of supply high, then lets it fall below 28 before the next one lands. Smaller, regular inbounds keep the line flatter. Check inbound placement costs, because splitting shipments can change them.
Watch variations, not just parents.
A parent listing can look healthy while one size or color runs thin. Track days of supply for every variation you sell.
You can model your own numbers with our reorder point calculator. Brands selling on several channels can build one stock count across all of them with the Stock Flow module, and our guide to multichannel inventory without overselling explains why it matters.
Peak season: the low-inventory fee, peak fees and Q4 storage together
From Oct 15, 2026 to Jan 14, 2027, three costs pull in different directions. Peak fulfillment fees add about $0.32 a unit on average, with the 3.5% fuel surcharge on top (Supply Chain Dive, Jul 13, 2026). Monthly storage is higher in Oct to Dec than the rest of the year. And the low-inventory-level fee still applies if you run lean.
Amazon has warned of lower capacity limits in November and December and advises getting inventory in by October (Supply Chain Dive, Jul 13, 2026). So the peak plan is: bring stock for your fast sellers in early enough to hold 28 days or more through December, and move slow stock out before October storage rates apply. For storage cost estimates, use our Amazon storage fee calculator with your current rates from Seller Central.
Check your SKUs: a weekly days-of-supply review
Run this once a week, after Amazon refreshes the metric.
- Download your inventory and Fee Preview reports from Seller Central.
- For each SKU or variation, note the 30-day and 90-day historical days of supply.
- Flag any SKU where both are below 28, and any where one is below 28 and falling.
- For flagged SKUs, check inbound: when will received units lift the number?
- Check exemptions: new seller, new product, fewer than 20 sales in seven days, AWD.
- Decide: expedite an inbound, adjust the reorder point or accept the fee for a short gap.
- Log the decision with the date, so you can see patterns next quarter.
When paying the fee is the right call
Sometimes it is. If a product is being phased out, if cash is tight and a large order would tie up money for months, or if a short gap will close next week, a few weeks of fee can cost less than the alternative. The point is to choose it, with the numbers in front of you, rather than find it on a statement.
If you sell on Walmart too, WFS has no equivalent fee, but it does charge long-term storage after 365 days. See our Amazon FBA fees 2026 guide for the full Amazon fee stack. For a guided walkthrough, our free learning module on inventory and the low-inventory fee covers the basics step by step.
See which fees are hitting your margin
Our free Profit Leak Scan includes an inventory section: stockout and overstock risk, aged and low-inventory fee exposure and a fix list ranked by dollar impact. Written report within 48 hours of working access (read-only). No sales call required.
Want a person to look at your SKUs first? Talk to an ops lead (free). Start from the Profit Leak Scan if you sell $1M or more a year. Every dated fee change is logged on our seller rule tracker.
Sources
- Amazon Seller Forums, "Low Inventory Fees - Removal," reply from KJ_Amazon.
- Amazon, "Update to U.S. Referral and Fulfillment by Amazon fees for 2026," Oct 15, 2025.
- Sellers Ask Sellers, Amazon's 2026 fee announcement quoted in full.
- Red Stag Fulfillment, Amazon low-inventory-level fee explained, updated Aug 11, 2026 (vendor).
- AMZ Prep, Amazon low inventory level fee, Sep 25, 2026 (vendor).
- Acadia, Amazon hikes US fees in 2026, Oct 20, 2025 (vendor).
- Amazon Seller Forums, AWD auto-replenishment 70% benefits.
- Amazon, Sell on Amazon, Fulfillment by Amazon costs.
- Supply Chain Dive, Amazon announces 2026 holiday fulfillment fees, Jul 13, 2026.
All checked Oct 20, 2026. Amazon is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Ecom Relays is not affiliated with Amazon.
What is the Amazon low-inventory-level fee?
A per-unit fee Amazon adds to FBA units when a product's stock is low compared with how fast it sells. It applies only when both the 30-day and the 90-day historical days of supply are below 28 days. Amazon introduced it on Apr 1, 2024, to encourage sellers to hold enough stock for Amazon to place it across its network.
How do I avoid the Amazon low inventory fee?
Keep historical days of supply at 28 or more on at least one of the two windows. Set a reorder point per SKU from real lead times, ship smaller and more often and watch every variation, not just the parent. Check the exemptions too: new sellers, new products, slow sellers and AWD auto-replenishment may not be charged.
Is the low-inventory fee charged per FNSKU or per ASIN?
Per seller-FNSKU, according to two vendor summaries of Amazon's 2026 changes: from Jan 15, 2026 each variation is measured on its own rather than at the parent-ASIN level. An Amazon staff reply from before the change described the parent-product level. Amazon's 2026 wording sits inside Seller Central, so check your Fee Preview report and plan per variation.
How is days of supply calculated?
Historical days of supply is your average daily sellable inventory divided by your average daily units shipped, measured over the past 30 days and the past 90 days. Inbound units do not count until Amazon receives them. The metric is recalculated weekly, so a shipment received on Friday may not show until the next update.
Who is exempt from the low-inventory-level fee?
Vendor summaries list new FBA sellers for their first 365 days, new parent products for 180 days after their FBA launch and products with fewer than 20 sales in the previous seven days. SKUs supplied mostly through AWD auto-replenishment can also be waived. Confirm your own status in Seller Central, because Amazon can change exemptions.
How much is the Amazon low-inventory fee per unit?
It depends on the size tier and on how far below 28 days of supply the SKU sits: the leaner the stock, the higher the per-unit rate. Amazon publishes the rates inside Seller Central rather than on a public page, and vendor tables disagree, so read your own figure from the Fee Preview report, which shows the estimated fee for each SKU.
Does inbound inventory count toward days of supply?
No. Only sellable units already in Amazon's fulfillment network count. Units in transit or waiting to be received do not lift the number until they are checked in, which is why inbound timing matters as much as order size.
Does the low-inventory fee apply during peak season?
Yes. Between Oct 15, 2026 and Jan 14, 2027 it runs alongside the holiday peak fulfillment fee and higher Q4 storage rates. Amazon advises getting inventory in by October because capacity limits tighten in November and December, so plan peak stock for fast sellers early.
Sources9 sourcesLast checked Oct 20, 2026
- 01sellercentral.amazon.comAmazon staff reply KJ_Amazon: fee only when historical days of supply are below 28 days on both the 30-day and 90-day measures; calculated at the parent-product level at the time of the reply; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 02sellingpartners.aboutamazon.comAmazon, Oct 15, 2025: 2026 changes effective Jan 15, 2026; no new FBA fee types; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 03sellersasksellers.comAmazon's announcement as quoted: low-inventory-level fees to be adjusted; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 04redstagfulfillment.comRed Stag, published Apr 24, 2025, updated Aug 11, 2026, vendor summary: formula, exemptions, Apr 1, 2024 start; checked Oct 20, 2026Vendor
- 05amzprep.comAMZ Prep, Sep 25, 2026, vendor summary: per seller-FNSKU from Jan 15, 2026; bulky items included; exemptions; its rate table is labeled as the 2025 structure, so no amounts are used here; checked Oct 20, 2026Vendor
- 06acadia.ioAcadia, Oct 20, 2025, vendor summary of Amazon's 2026 changes: FNSKU level instead of parent-ASIN level; Small and Large Bulky included; grocery and slower-moving items exempt; checked Oct 20, 2026Vendor
- 07sellercentral.amazon.comforum reply citing Amazon help on the 70% AWD auto-replenishment waiver; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 08sell.amazon.comAmazon: aged inventory charged for items stored more than 181 days; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 09supplychaindive.comSupply Chain Dive, Jul 13, 2026; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
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