In July 2020 all sellers were shocked by Amazon’s breaking news about ASIN Level Quantity Limits. Just a quick reminder: according to this, all new products had to be limited by 200 units for new products. It complicated life for many sellers forcing them to look for new 3PL warehouses.
On April 22, 2021 Amazon announced a new update to FBA Storage limits being a result of “seller feedback” to the last-year policy changes.
So from now on “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.”
Let’s cut through the chase and see what it means.
Restock limits are set per storage type, based on units, determining how much inventory you can send to fulfillment centers. While storage limits are based on volume in cubic feet, determining the fulfillment center capacity you can use.
Both storage and restock limits can apply to one account.
To see your restock limits and maximum shipment quantity, visit Inventory performance or Shipping Queue. At the very bottom of the ‘Shipping Queue” you will see two unremarkable tabs:
The one that’s called ‘Restock Limits’ will show your limitations.
It appears that the restock level limit allows for more items to be shipped to FBA rather than the previously-permitted 200 ASINs. However, there’s always a showstopper with Amazon.
The greatest minus of this new policy is that the limitations include your inbound shipments as well. The sellers with good (like, really good) selling results will be completely cut off from launching new products. So there still be cases when using 3PL warehouse is the only way out.
How do I calculate the maximum shipment quantity allowed?
The maximum shipment quantity is comprised of the maximum inventory level allowed minus utilization.
How do I calculate utilization?
Utilization embraces current inventory at Amazon and all incoming shipments, including shipments in Working, In transit, and Receiving status. The utilization doesn’t count your inventory pending removals and any reserved inventory.
Will my restock limits change?
Yes. Amazon claims they will be reviewing their network capacity to adjust restock limits. So it’s worth monitoring your restock limits from time to time to get a better understanding of how frequently they are going to be updated.
Why can’t I create a shipment for some storage types?
There can be several reasons why you can’t create a shipment for a certain storage type:
- The units in your shipping exceed your storage type’s maximum shipment quantity
- Your sort-type utilization has exceeded your restock limit as shown in the restock monitor
- You have exceeded your storage volume limit for that storage type
- There’s a policy restriction for a ASIN, such as for dangerous goods
Can a storage type of a product be changed?
Nope. Product’s characteristics is what determines a storage type.
Can I allocate restock limits for one storage type to limits for another storage type?
You wish you could. Unfortunately, restock limits cannot be traded between storage types.
What should I do next?
First and foremost, keep an eye on further updates. Amazon never creates policies for good. So they will likely introduce more changes and/or updates.
