Amazon FBA inbound placement fees and capacity limits

Why placement and capacity matter more when you ship from abroad

A seller in the U.S. can send small shipments every week and adjust as sales move. A seller in Asia, Europe or the Middle East usually commits to an ocean shipment months ahead, with weeks of transit, customs clearance and prep before anything reaches Amazon. Three Amazon rules shape that plan:

• The inbound placement fee charges you per unit when you choose to send a shipment to fewer Amazon locations than Amazon would like.
• Capacity limits cap how much inventory you can send and store, measured in cubic feet, and they include shipments you have created but not yet delivered.
• The low-inventory-level fee adds a charge when your stock at Amazon is consistently low compared with your sales.

Together they push you in opposite directions: send too much and you hit your limit, send too little and you pay for running low. This guide focuses on those rules. For the full route from your factory to a fulfillment center, read how to send inventory to Amazon FBA from overseas.

How Send to Amazon splits a shipment

When you create an inbound shipment in Send to Amazon, you enter the SKUs, quantities and box contents. Amazon then offers one or more placement options. Each option is a set of destination fulfillment centers (Amazon calls them inbound locations), and your inventory is split into a separate shipment for each one.

You do not choose the fulfillment centers yourself. You choose between the options Amazon offers, and the options differ in how many locations you ship to and what placement fee applies. Amazon says the number of options you see depends on (Amazon staff reply in Seller Forums):

• Product mix: whether the shipment combines standard-size, non-standard-size or special handling items.
• Box contents: whether each box holds the same mix and quantities of SKUs.
• Quantities: the number of units per item and the number of boxes.
• Geography: where customer demand for your products is.

Amazon's own suggestions to get more options follow from that list: create separate shipments for standard-size items, non-standard-size items and each special handling category, keep the item mix and quantities equal across boxes, and send more boxes. In practice, this means your cartons need to be built for Amazon before the shipment is created, which is easier when the goods are already in the U.S. and can be repacked. Carton specs are covered in our guide to Amazon FBA box and pallet requirements.

The inbound placement fee and its options

Amazon introduced the inbound placement service fee on March 1, 2024. Its announcement said the fee applies to standard-size and Large Bulky products, that it would average $0.27 per unit for standard-size and $1.58 per unit for Large Bulky products at launch, and that it would be charged 45 days after the products are received (Amazon fee announcement for 2024). Amazon describes the fee as covering the cost of distributing inventory to fulfillment centers close to customers (Sell on Amazon, FBA costs).

The three placement options

The descriptions, the five-carton rule, the February 20, 2025 change for partial splits and the note about Western locations come from Amazon's FBA team (Amazon post on inbound placement options). In the same update Amazon said Large Bulky fees for minimal shipment splits were reduced by an average of $0.58 per unit from January 15, 2025.

What the fee depends on

Based on what Amazon has published, your placement fee per unit depends on:

• The option you choose: none for Amazon-optimized, a fee for partial or minimal splits.
• Your product's size tier: standard-size and Large Bulky items have separate rates.
• The destination region for minimal splits: Western locations can cost more.
• The current rate card: Amazon updates its U.S. FBA fees each year. Its 2026 update took effect on January 15, 2026, and Amazon said it added more granularity to its fee structure (Amazon's 2026 fee announcement).

As of October 2026, check per-unit rates for your own products on Amazon's inbound placement service fee page in Seller Central or in the Revenue Calculator. The averages above are Amazon's figures from launch and from the 2025 update, not today's rate for any given item.

Options change with demand

Placement options are not fixed. At one point Amazon said high seller demand to send inventory, including palletized freight, to its West Coast facilities was lengthening receive times there. It advised sellers to choose Central or East regions under the partial or minimal split options, and cut the fee range for minimal splits into the East region by $0.05 per unit (Amazon staff reply on West region receive times). For a seller landing goods in Los Angeles or Long Beach, the cheapest option on paper may send your freight across the country, so price the whole trip, not just Amazon's fee.

FBA capacity limits and Capacity Manager

Since March 1, 2023, Amazon sets a single monthly capacity limit per storage type instead of the earlier weekly restock limits and separate storage limits (Amazon capacity announcement). Key points from Amazon's description:

• Measured in cubic feet: limits and usage are measured in cubic feet rather than units, with unit estimates shown for reference.
• Counts what is on the way: the limit includes inventory on hand plus shipments you have created that have not yet arrived.
• Announced monthly: next month's limit appears in the third full week of each month in the Capacity Monitor and by email, with estimates for the following two months.
• Based on performance and forecasts: estimated limits can move up or down based on how efficiently you use your capacity, measured by the Inventory Performance Index (IPI), plus sales forecasts, shipment lead times and fulfillment center capacity.

Requesting more with Capacity Manager

If your limit is too low, you can request more capacity in Capacity Manager by naming a reservation fee. Amazon grants requests starting with the highest reservation fee per cubic foot until the available capacity is allocated. If extra capacity is granted, you earn performance credits from sales made using that space, and the credits are designed to offset up to 100% of the reservation fee. In other words, the fee is mainly a cost when the extra inventory does not sell through.

Amazon also notes that exceeding your restock limit may increase your storage costs (Sell on Amazon, FBA costs). For a seller abroad, the practical rule is simple: the size of your ocean shipment and the size of your Amazon capacity are two different numbers, and the difference needs a place to wait.

The low-inventory-level fee

The low-inventory-level fee took effect on April 1, 2024. In Amazon's explanation of the fee, it is based on historical days of supply, meaning your inventory compared with your actual sales, and it applies only when both the short-term (last 30 days) and long-term (last 90 days) figures are below 28 days (Amazon explanation of the fee). At launch Amazon calculated it at the parent-product level for standard-size products and listed these exemptions:

• New professional sellers, for 365 days after their first inventory was received.
• New-to-FBA parent products enrolled in FBA New Selection, for 180 days after the first inventory was received.
• Products auto-replenished by Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD).

From May 15, 2024, Amazon added that the fee does not apply to products that sold fewer than 20 units in the past 7 days, and that fees caused by excessive inbound processing times on Amazon's side are credited back by the 15th day of the following month (Amazon update to the fee).

Amazon's 2026 U.S. fee update took effect on January 15, 2026. Before you plan around the 28-day threshold, confirm the current rules, the level at which the fee is assessed and the exemptions on Amazon's low-inventory-level fee page in Seller Central.

The simple way to stay clear of it is the one Amazon gave when it announced the fee: keep more than four weeks of inventory at Amazon relative to your sales. That is hard when your next delivery is an ocean voyage away, and it is the main reason sellers abroad keep a buffer in the U.S.

Worked example: one container, many shipments

The numbers below are hypothetical and chosen only to show the method. They are not market data or Amazon rates.

Assume a brand abroad sells one standard-size SKU at about 30 units a day in the U.S. It ships 9,000 units in one ocean container, roughly 300 days of sales. Its monthly FBA capacity for that storage type is equivalent to about 2,400 units.

1. Sending everything to Amazon is not possible. The container holds almost four times the capacity limit, and any shipment you create counts against the limit even before it arrives.
2. Sending only 2,400 units straight from the factory is risky. If the next delivery is several months away, stock falls below four weeks of supply long before it arrives, which risks the low-inventory-level fee and then stockouts.
3. Staging works. The container goes to a U.S. warehouse. A first replenishment of about 1,800 units (60 days of sales) goes to Amazon, then about 900 units (30 days) every month, each sized to stay within capacity and above roughly four weeks of supply.
4. Each replenishment is built to qualify for Amazon-optimized splits. With 900 units at 30 units per carton, that is 30 identical cartons of one SKU, well above Amazon's minimum of five identical cartons per item. If Amazon offers optimized splits, the shipment carries no placement fee, and the cost is spreading cartons across several destinations.

Now compare. Assume a minimal split would cost $0.30 per unit in placement fees: on 900 units that is $270 per replenishment. If small-parcel delivery to three or four locations costs less extra than that, the optimized option wins. If you ship pallets by LTL and each extra destination adds a full freight charge, the minimal split may be cheaper overall. Run this comparison per shipment with real quotes, because the answer changes with your product and the options Amazon offers that day.

Strategies for sellers shipping from abroad

1. Ship one consolidated load to a U.S. partner, not straight to Amazon

One larger ocean shipment usually costs less per unit than many small ones, and it means one customs entry instead of several. Delivered to a U.S. warehouse, it can be received, counted and inspected, then released to Amazon in shipments that fit your capacity. Abanro handles this from its warehouse near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach: receiving, storage (from $49 per pallet per month), Amazon FBA prep (standard prep from $1.20 per unit) and forwarding to fulfillment centers (from $5 per carton). All rates are starting prices on our pricing page.

2. Create FBA shipments only when the goods are in the U.S.

Because created shipments count against capacity, creating them while the container is still at sea ties up capacity for weeks. Create each shipment when the cartons are ready to leave the U.S. warehouse, so the placement options match what is actually there.

3. Build cartons that qualify for more options

Single-SKU cartons with identical quantities, at least five cartons per item, and separate shipments for standard-size and oversize items give Amazon what it says it needs to offer more options. If your factory packs mixed cartons, a U.S. partner can repack them into Amazon-ready cartons before the shipment is created. Units must also be labeled correctly; see FNSKU labels vs manufacturer barcodes and Amazon FBA prep requirements in 2026.

4. Compare the whole cost per shipment

Put the placement fee for each option next to the freight cost to the destinations it implies. A minimal split to one Western location may be cheaper overall for pallets from Southern California than an optimized split across the country, or the reverse. Decide shipment by shipment.

5. Replenish on a schedule that protects days of supply

With stock in the U.S., your lead time to Amazon becomes days or a few weeks of domestic transit and receiving instead of months. That makes it practical to keep more than four weeks of supply at Amazon without exceeding capacity. Watch your Capacity Monitor each month and adjust the next replenishment before the limit changes.

6. Keep an exit for inventory that doesn't sell

Capacity is tied to IPI, and slow stock at Amazon pulls IPI down. Keeping excess in a U.S. warehouse rather than at Amazon protects your limit, and units you pull out of Amazon need a U.S. address. Our guide to Amazon FBA removals and returns covers that side.

Common mistakes

• Creating the FBA shipment from the factory. It reserves capacity for weeks and locks in a placement before you know whether the cartons will arrive as planned.
• Mixed cartons. Different SKUs or quantities in each box usually means fewer placement options and a higher chance of paying a fee.
• Treating the placement fee as the only cost. Choosing optimized splits to save the fee and then paying several LTL charges can cost more.
• Sizing the ocean shipment to Amazon's limit. A shipment sized to this month's capacity can be too small by the time it lands, or too large if the limit drops.
• Letting stock run low between containers. Long gaps between deliveries are what trigger the low-inventory-level fee and lost sales.
• Relying on old fee figures. Amazon updates its fees every year. Use the current rate card, not a blog post or an average from launch.

For how containers move from the ports to Amazon, see from the Port of Los Angeles to Amazon FBA.

Sources and further reading

1. FBA inbound placement service fee (help page, sign-in required), Amazon Seller Central
2. Inbound placement options: 2025 update (FBA team post), Amazon Seller Forums
3. Factors that affect the number of inbound placement options (Amazon staff reply), Amazon Seller Forums
4. West region receive times and placement options (Amazon staff reply), Amazon Seller Forums
5. Update to US referral and Fulfillment by Amazon fees (2024 changes), Amazon Seller Forums, News and Announcements
6. 2026 Updates to US Referral and Fulfillment by Amazon Fees, Amazon Seller Forums, News and Announcements
7. Amazon announces new streamlined FBA capacity management system, Sell on Amazon
8. Low-inventory-level fee further explained, Amazon Seller Forums, News and Announcements
9. Update to low-inventory-level fee, Amazon Seller Forums, News and Announcements
10. Fulfillment by Amazon: costs and fee pages, Sell on Amazon

Sources checked on October 20, 2026