Fulfillment fees hit every unit you sell. Storage fees hit every unit you have not sold yet, and they climb the longer those units sit. For 2026 Amazon added a new top tier to the aged inventory surcharge, so the slow movers at the back of your catalog are now the most expensive real estate you rent. Here is the full schedule, what a stale shipment really costs, and where the traps are.
This is part of our complete guide to Amazon seller fees in 2026. For per-category referral rates, keep the 2026 fee cheat sheet open in another tab.
The 2026 base storage rates
Amazon bills monthly storage per cubic foot of your packaged product. Standard-size inventory runs $0.78 per cubic foot from January through September, then triples to $2.40 from October through December. Oversize is cheaper per cubic foot at $0.56 off-peak and $1.40 in Q4, but oversize products eat so many cubic feet that the bill is rarely small.
The Q4 jump is the part sellers forget when planning holiday sends in August. Stock that lands in October and sells in November barely feels it. Stock still sitting in January paid triple rent for three months on its way to a bigger problem.
The aged inventory surcharge: the real money
On the 15th of every month Amazon takes a snapshot of how long each unit has been in the network, then charges the surcharge between the 18th and the 22nd. It stacks on top of the base storage fee. Here is the 2026 schedule per cubic foot:
| Days in fulfillment centers | Monthly surcharge |
|---|---|
| 181 to 210 | $0.50 |
| 211 to 240 | $1.00 |
| 241 to 270 | $1.50 |
| 271 to 300 | $5.45 |
| 301 to 330 | $5.70 |
| 331 to 365 | $5.90 |
| 366 to 455 | $6.90, or $0.30 per unit if greater |
| 456 and up | $7.90, or $0.35 per unit if greater |
Two things matter in that table. First, the cliff at day 271, where the rate more than triples from $1.50 to $5.45. Second, the 456-day tier is new for 2026, so inventory you have been quietly ignoring for over a year just got a raise. Apparel, shoes, bags, jewelry, and watches skip the 181 to 270 tiers but pay the big ones like everyone else. Rates move, so confirm the current card in Seller Central before making removal decisions.
What 181+ days really costs: one worked example
Say you have 100 leftover units of a product that takes half a cubic foot packaged, so 50 cubic feet, and they cross day 280 in November. Base storage is 50 times $2.40, which is $120. The surcharge is 50 times $5.45, which is $272.50. That is $392.50 for one month, on inventory that maybe cost $800 to land, and it repeats every month until the units sell or leave. Two more months and Amazon has collected more in rent than you paid for the goods.
How to keep inventory out of the expensive bands
Pull the FBA aged inventory report weekly. It shows days in network per ASIN and estimates the next surcharge, which makes the decision mechanical instead of emotional. Discount hard around day 220, because a markdown that clears units at day 240 dodges the cliff entirely. When a product will not sell at any sane price, a removal order or Amazon's liquidation program usually costs less than one month in the $5.45 band. Set up automated removals so strays never hit day 365 without a decision. On a professional account, carrying more than about 22 weeks of supply can also trigger a separate storage utilization surcharge on everything. This is why we track ending inventory in sellerboard every month.
The Canadian wrinkle
Amazon.ca runs the same structure with its own rate card in Canadian dollars, so sellers in both marketplaces watch two aged inventory reports, and the .ca numbers differ from the ones above. The bigger catch is removals: US removal orders only ship to US addresses, so a Canadian seller clearing aged stock from American warehouses needs a US prep center or 3PL to receive it, or has to take the liquidation payout instead. Whatever you scrap or write down at year end has bookkeeping and tax consequences, and our accounting firm, Jones & Cosman, handles that side for cross-border Amazon sellers.
Frequently asked questions
What are Amazon storage fees from October to December?
Standard-size inventory jumps from $0.78 to $2.40 per cubic foot per month, and oversize goes from $0.56 to $1.40. Aged surcharges still apply on top, so old stock in Q4 pays peak rent plus its penalty.
Is there a long-term storage fee calculator?
Amazon does not offer one, and you do not need it: multiply packaged cubic feet per unit by the tier your inventory is about to enter. The FBA aged inventory report estimates the upcoming charge per ASIN, and tools like sellerboard roll it into your profit numbers.
How do I avoid the aged inventory surcharge?
Sell through inventory inside 180 days, and act by day 240 on anything that will not make it. Markdowns, removal orders, and liquidation all cost less than the 271-day cliff. The sellers who get burned are the ones who wait for a stale product to fix itself.
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