Amazon Shifts FBA Storage Limits from Item to Type Level

Amazon today (4/22) made the long anticipated changed to its FBA ASIN restrictions. Amazon rolled out some sweeping restrictions in 2020 including the July rule that automatically capped all FBA quantities based upon Amazon’s forecasted usage. This was one of the biggest complaints sellers had in 2002; literally leaving millions on the table because of weak Amazon forecasting.

That’s changed as of today. Effective April 22, 2021, all FBA products will no longer be subject to ASIN-level quantity limits. Instead, restock limits will be set at the storage-type level, offering you more flexibility in managing your shipments.

What does that mean for a brand?

All accounts will now see a ‘restock limit’ by type of item. Amazon has 4 items types
1. Standard size
2. Oversized
3. Apparel
4. Footwear
Each type has a total cap of units that can be sent in
In addition, accounts with an Inventory performance index below 450 will be subject to a total quantity limit based upon volume
Dangerous Goods will continue to have its own limits

This is great news for organizations that have struggled with Amazon’s forecast vs their own. Is it perfect? No. We’re already seeing some brands with issues; especially those with a limited number of SKUs that had been slowly building up Amazon’s item level forecasting tool to let it send in more only to see the ‘item type’ cap be less than their prior level.

That shouldn’t be a surprise given Amazon’s speed in which it implemented the change. Your forecasting team needs to do a deep dive now to understand your situation.

A few notes

Amazon still controls the total available quantity based on their formula
There is no option at this time to request increase
There is no ability to swap between types
Calculation includes all FBA stock and inbound or open shipments
This is a unit based limit – size of items aren’t factored in
- However, if your IPI is below 450 your account has size limits as well

What’s next? Brands should immediately reset their forecasts based upon what they believe will sell. Key resources: