If you buy wholesale in case packs or full pallets, you plan for freight costs and storage fees – but a newer Amazon charge catches a lot of bulk buyers off guard: the low-inventory-level fee. It’s easy to confuse with IPI score or restock limits, but it’s a separate charge with its own trigger, and it penalizes running FBA stock too thin rather than too heavy.
What the low-inventory-level fee actually is
Amazon charges this fee per seller-FNSKU (so each individual product variation is evaluated on its own, not averaged across a parent listing) when your inventory falls below a specific threshold relative to how fast it’s selling. The metric behind it is “days of supply,” calculated as average daily on-hand units divided by average daily units shipped. Amazon checks this two ways – a 30-day window and a 90-day window – and the fee only applies when both windows show fewer than 28 days of supply. If either period stays at or above 28 days, you avoid the charge entirely.
How much it costs
Rates scale with both product size and how far below the threshold you are – the closer to zero days of supply, the higher the per-unit charge. Reported 2025-2026 rates run roughly from $0.32 per unit (small standard items closer to the 21-28 day band) up to $1.11 or more per unit for larger standard items with very little supply left, with bulky/oversized items carrying their own higher tier that Amazon extended this fee to starting January 15, 2026. Exact rates are set by Amazon and can change, so treat these as a general range rather than a locked-in number – always check your own Seller Central fee schedule for current figures.
How this is different from IPI score and restock limits
It’s easy to lump every FBA inventory penalty together, but the low-inventory-level fee is mechanically distinct from your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score and the restock limits tied to it. IPI is an account-wide health score that affects your overall storage capacity, and it’s influenced by excess inventory, stranded inventory, and sell-through rate in aggregate. The low-inventory-level fee, by contrast, is evaluated per FNSKU and triggers specifically when a single product variation runs low – a strong IPI score doesn’t protect you from paying this fee on individual SKUs you’ve let run thin.
Why this matters more for wholesale and bulk buyers
Retail arbitrage sellers restocking a few units at a time rarely run into this fee, because they’re reordering constantly in small batches. Wholesale buyers work differently – you’re often placing larger, less frequent orders because of case-pack minimums, pallet pricing breaks, or supplier lead times, which means your days-of-supply number naturally swings lower as you approach a reorder point. If your reorder timing is built around your supplier’s lead time rather than Amazon’s 28-day threshold, it’s easy to dip below the line for a week or two right before new stock arrives.
How to avoid it without over-ordering
- Build your reorder point around a buffer above 28 days, not right at it. If your supplier’s lead time plus processing time is two weeks, don’t wait until you’re down to two weeks of stock to place the order – that guarantees a stretch below threshold.
- Check both the 30-day and 90-day windows, not just current stock. A recent sales spike can drag your 30-day average down even if your on-hand quantity looks fine.
- Weigh the fee against the cost of holding more inventory. For low-margin, slow-moving SKUs, occasionally paying the fee can be cheaper than tying up cash in extra stock – this is the same math involved in avoiding dead stock from the opposite direction.
- Treat this as one more input into your reorder-point calculation alongside supplier lead times, not a separate problem to solve in isolation.
If you’re not sure your current reorder cadence accounts for this, our guide on setting reorder points around supplier lead times walks through the calculation in more detail – the low-inventory-level fee is simply one more reason to get that number right.
Wholesale Distributors US ships authentic inventory with the documentation to support consistent restocking – apply for a wholesale account to see current terms.
FAQ
What triggers Amazon’s low-inventory-level fee?
The fee applies when a product’s days of supply – on-hand units divided by average daily units shipped – falls below 28 days in both the 30-day and 90-day measurement windows. If either window is at or above 28 days, the fee doesn’t apply.
Is the low-inventory-level fee the same as a low IPI score penalty?
No. IPI score is an account-wide metric affecting overall storage capacity, based on factors like excess and stranded inventory. The low-inventory-level fee is evaluated separately, per individual FNSKU, and triggers specifically when that product’s own stock runs low – a good IPI score doesn’t exempt you from it.
How much does the low-inventory-level fee cost?
Reported rates range from roughly $0.32 to $1.11 or more per unit depending on product size and how far below the 28-day threshold your supply has fallen, with bulky items on their own higher tier since January 2026. Exact current rates should be confirmed in your Seller Central fee schedule.
Related reading: Amazon IPI Score and FBA Capacity Limits | Wholesale Supplier Lead Times and Reorder Points | How to Avoid Dead Stock in Wholesale Buying | Amazon’s Aged Inventory Surcharge in 2026 | Amazon Ends Commingled Inventory: FNSKU Labeling Now Required for Wholesale Resellers
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