Operator glossary
Removal orders (return, disposal, liquidation)
The exits from FBA: ship stock back to you, destroy it, or wholesale it through liquidation for cents on the dollar — each with per-unit fees, and each cheaper than storing dead inventory forever.
A removal order takes inventory out of FBA three ways: return to an address you choose (per-unit removal fees by size/weight, slow in peak season), disposal (Amazon destroys or donates), or liquidation — selling to wholesale liquidators for a small fraction of retail, netting something instead of nothing.
The discipline is running the math the day a SKU turns terminal: projected storage plus aged surcharge versus removal cost versus liquidation recovery versus discounting it out on-platform. The expensive answer is the default one — stock nobody decided about, renting Q4 shelf space at triple rates while aging into the 365-day surcharge band.
The numbers
- Three paths: return-to-address, disposal, liquidation — all with per-unit fees by size/weight.
- Removal processing slows dramatically in Q4; plan exits before peak, not during.
Primary sources: Amazon selling fees (official)
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