Amazon Restock Limits

E-commerce is a rich field with many opportunities for success and growth. When one thinks about E-commerce, the name Amazon immediately comes to mind. Amazon is not only the most valuable retailer in the present economy, but it is also the king of online shopping. Sellers who sell their products on Amazon are especially aware of this fact. 

However, doing business on Amazon does not come without its own challenges. For example, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping restrictions were increased ten-fold. As a response, Amazon introduced ASIN level quantity limits for the FBA products stored in their fulfillment centers. 

The number of units per ASIN eligible to send to Amazon was significantly reduced. Even though Amazon assured the sellers that this measure was to ensure that all products make their way into the fulfillment center, their decision was met with much criticism. 

To appease sellers, Amazon discontinued the previous ASIN level quantity limit and instead introduced a restock limit that will be calculated at the account level and the storage type. This new storage limit was set in motion on April 22, 2021. Sellers are anxious about this new system. 

How Do Amazon Restock Limits Work?

As noted above, the Amazon restock limit means that your limits are now at the account level, not the ASIN level. These products are categorized by storage type. According to Amazon, there are four main storage type categories. Each of these is discussed below: 

• Standard-size: This category applies to any product that has a weight of 20 pounds or less. Additionally, the product cannot exceed these dimensions of 18” (longest side)x 14” (median side) x 8” (shortest side).
• Oversize: This category applies to any product that exceeds the weight and dimensions listed for the standard size. 
• Apparel: All kinds of wearable clothing and accessories are included in this storage type. 
• Footwear: As the name suggests, this includes all the products such as boots, shoes, and slippers. 

These restock limits are based on units. Therefore, the number of units will determine how many products you can send to an FBA fulfillment center regardless of your IPI score and storage capacity. 

How To Check Your Restock Limits? 

You can easily find your restock limits in seller central. There is a restock limit monitor, which you can access through the inventory performance, or your shipping queue pages. When you are on either of these pages, scroll to the bottom to find the restock limit tab.

Click on the menu to check your restock limits by storage type. The utilization of your inventory determines your maximum shipment quantity on Amazon. This utilization of your inventory includes current products in FBA as well as your incoming shipments.

Should Amazon Sellers Be Worried About the Restock Limits?

Whether this new Amazon policy is favorable to sellers or not has been a subject of debate among Amazon sellers. While some sellers are satisfied with the new restock limits, other sellers are skeptical about the new policy and its effects on their sales and inventory. 

For new sellers, Amazon allows a total of 1000 units for each storage type. Amazon also has a storage limit of 200 cubic feet. In contrast, experienced sellers that routinely move vast storage volumes on Amazon have been granted unlimited storage in theory. We say in theory because the restock limits per unit do not allow the storage to be unlimited in practice. 

Many sellers have reported a drop in their storage capacity overnight, as much as 50%. Most sellers on amazon say that the reduction in limits was sudden and they did not anticipate it. In addition, many sellers received news from Amazon regarding the cancellation of the shipments they were working on. 

Sellers who previously enjoyed the privileges of unlimited storage for years lost that with the implementation of these restock limits by Amazon. High volume sellers are affected the most by these restock limits. Keeping product in stock and meeting demand has been challenging for many sellers as they can only send a fraction of what they could in the past. Launching new products has also become difficult due to the limit on the number of units. 

To summarize, the new restock limits by Amazon have been the subject of much controversy amongst sellers. Many are not content with the new restock limit and do not consider the new policies to be better than the previous ASIN limits.