Amazon's new storage capacity policy: no restrictions on new accounts! Will there be bidding? Opinions vary

As a big player in the cross-border e-commerce circle, Amazon's every move attracts attention, and the heart rate fluctuations of sellers are often related to it. Whether it is the increase in FBA fees or the limitation of storage capacity, it makes the majority of sellers feel miserable.

Not long ago, Amazon's new storage capacity policy, which was widely circulated in the cross-border circle, finally came to fruition! Although everyone has been prepared for this and knows that this is just Amazon cutting the leeks of sellers, it still attracted many sellers to complain...

Four major changes to Amazon’s new storage capacity policy!

A new information point worth sellers' attention

Recently, rumors about "major changes to Amazon's FBA policy" have been circulating, causing a stir in the entire cross-border circle. Article review >> Will Amazon's replenishment restrictions become history? FBA's new policy rumors are flooding the cross-border circle! Early this morning, Amazon Global Store released relevant content about its new inventory management policy.

According to Amazon's new warehouse capacity management policy, Amazon stated that starting from March 1, 2023, the original replenishment limit and quarterly storage limit will be replaced by a unified Amazon logistics storage capacity , canceling the previous policy of using both weekly replenishment limit and quarterly storage limit. The new policy applies to the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Image source: Amazon

Among them, Amazon mentioned four major changes in this new policy , including:

>>Remove additional restocking restrictions

Simplify the experience by combining replenishment limits and storage limits with a single FBA storage quota. A single limit for each storage type will determine how much inventory sellers can send and store in an Amazon fulfillment center.

>>IPI assessment becomes monthly

IPI assessment is changed to once a month, and the corresponding restrictions are also changed to be updated once a month, and each quota is valid for one month.

>>Three-month storage limit forecast

In addition to the confirmed storage capacity for the next month, Amazon will also provide estimated storage capacity for the next two months. In addition, sellers can subdivide storage capacity types by inventory status and storage capacity source (initial capacity or additional capacity requested).

>> Additional storage capacity can be applied for

When storage capacity is insufficient, sellers can apply for additional storage capacity through the Storage Limit Manager. Sellers can submit up to 5 applications per month.

Regarding how to view the Amazon Logistics storage capacity, sellers can view the capacity limit and capacity usage and updates in the storage dashboard at the bottom of the [Inventory Performance Dashboard] and [Send to Amazon (STA)] pages, and will also receive an email notification.

There is a new information point in the whole policy, that is, for each storage type, sellers will receive a capacity limit every month. However, new accounts within 10 months will not be subject to Amazon logistics storage capacity restrictions , so this policy is also quite friendly to new accounts.

Image source: Amazon

In this regard, some sellers suggest: Sellers who newly register Amazon stores in 2023 are advised to choose to register new stores after April, so that they can participate in Member Day, Autumn Member Day, Black Friday, and Cyber ​​Monday activities without being restricted by inventory capacity.

Overall, the content of the new policy is basically consistent with the information that has been circulated before. Compared with the past, the new Amazon logistics warehouse capacity management policy has changed significantly. You can also go to Amazon Global Store or the seller's backend to view the specific content.

Is there a bidding mechanism for the new reservoir capacity policy?

Sellers have different opinions

In Amazon’s new warehousing policy, one thing that deserves sellers’ attention is, of course, whether this adjustment involves the “stock space bidding fee” policy that was previously rumored to be the most controversial.

According to an announcement released by Amazon Global Selling, if sellers want to increase storage capacity, they can apply for additional storage space through Amazon's Storage Limit Manager function . When the storage capacity is insufficient, sellers can apply for more FBA storage space for products with good sales, and earn performance points through the sales brought by this space, which can offset the storage space costs .

One seller analyzed: The essence of this is not a direct payment system, but a deposit to mortgage the storage capacity. As long as the sales volume is completed within the specified time and the performance points are reached, there will be no deduction of money, and vice versa.

Image source: Amazon

It is reported that Amazon's warehouse limit manager function was actually launched as early as the end of October last year. Now it has been reiterated. Some sellers believe that this is just another promotion by Amazon to cut sellers' leeks.

Having said that, one thing sellers need to note is that Amazon mentioned that sellers need to increase the reservation fee for the increased storage capacity. For the reservation fee, Amazon has a minimum reservation fee guarantee: for other sellers whose applications are approved in the same week, Amazon will charge the same reservation fee per cubic foot .

Image source: Amazon Global Store

In summary, in the past, Amazon reduced the shipping restrictions for sellers with poor sales performance by limiting storage capacity, because it is possible that many sellers hoarded goods and affected Amazon's warehousing interests. Now, these sellers are required to share this risk with Amazon. Some sellers said that this will only form a further spiral for Amazon:

At the same time, in the seller backend, some sellers found that the capacity manager instructions provided by Amazon mentioned that Amazon would regularly evaluate the capacity of the operation center (usually twice a week), and would first approve the request with the highest bid per cubic foot for reservation fee, and then proceed in order from high to low until all capacity was allocated.

Image source: Amazon

"Today's Amazon FBA seems to have become an advertising-like program. Whoever pays the most will have their products enter the warehouse. Do you have to bid to buy storage space? Amazon's greed is getting uglier and uglier... " said a seller.

The warmth of my brother-in-law's charity,

The storage capacity will be open by the end of the year, but not much!

However, in response to Amazon's updated inventory capacity policy, Amazon Global Selling also launched a questionnaire on whether sellers are satisfied with the adjustment of this inventory policy. Nearly 80% of sellers said they were not satisfied, and some sellers were even quite angry.

In fact, long before the new warehouse policy came out, Amazon also opened up a wave of warehouse capacity for sellers, which is also Amazon's inertial operation. However, it still attracted a lot of complaints from sellers.

Image source: Weibo

More importantly, when Amazon opened up its warehouse capacity, many sellers found that the adjustment was not significant. Many sellers said that it was not enough. Some sellers even joked: " It increased by 50, and I felt the warmth of my brother-in-law's charity ."

The Year of the Rabbit is coming, and Amazon's new policies have also made many adjustments. However, no matter how you look at it, it is a series of measures taken by Amazon to reduce costs and increase efficiency for sellers. Whether it is the implementation of a new round of FBA storage fees, or the current need for "paid capacity expansion" and "bidding for storage capacity", it all implies that if you want to do Amazon, you can't do it without sufficient funds. In 2023, Amazon's heavy asset characteristics are becoming more and more obvious. Will you continue?