Amazon updated the limitations placed on sellers in 2020 from being a restriction on ASIN levels to a focus on storage space. If you’re a seller on the marketplace, you’ve likely already realized this but you may not know exactly what determines these limits or how to handle them.

As such, we wanted to go over the quantity limits for FBA, where to find them, and how to improve or even eliminate them. 

What is the Amazon Quantity Limit for FBA?

To ensure they have the appropriate amount of storage space, Amazon only allows sellers a certain quantity of stock. The FBA relies on the product it holds rotating quickly and, when they have a backlog of items, it can cause a storage bottleneck.

As a result, Amazon has restock limits on every type of storage type. The basis of these is on size so, larger items are likely to have a lower limit than the smaller ones. 

According to Amazon, the limits are as follows:

• Individual selling accounts are limited to a storage space of 10 cubic feet. This remains true no matter the size of your account.
• Professional accounts are subject to storage limits but may not have them as well. The two exceptions are sellers with a satisfactory Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score or that are too new to have generated one.

For the professional accounts with storage limits, Amazon calculates the amount based on:

• Current and seasonal sales volume
• Historical IPI Scores
• Space available in the fulfillment center

As a result, the amount of storage space is variable for each business. Sellers with poor IPI scores are going to experience tighter restrictions than those who have better scores or higher sales volume. 

Where to Find Your Amazon FBA Quantity Limits

The process of finding your quantity limit is easy but you might miss it if you didn’t know what to look for. Log in to your Amazon account and follow the below steps to find out what your unique quantity limit is:

1. Hover over the “Inventory” section, bringing up the drop-down menu.
2. Select “Manage FBA Shipments.”
3. Look at the bottom of the page for two tabs entitled “Restock Limits” and “Storage Volume.”
4. Select “Restock Limits.”

Make sure to track this regularly as it could fluctuate as your scores improve or worsen.

How to Increase Your Amazon FBA Quantity Limits

As mentioned above, these limits are not set in stone! There are several ways to improve or eliminate your quantity limit and start storing more products. These include:

Third-Parties

If you can’t store all your products at Amazon’s fulfillment center, you could always use others as a temporary solution. Third-party fulfillment centers can store and fulfill your orders on your behalf until your score improves. 

While Amazon FBA is typically better, third parties are a great way to make sure you’re still able to make sales while you’re increasing your quantity limits.

Increase your IPI Score

Increasing your IPI score is the number one way to increase your storage space. While many factors determine your restock limits, your IPI score is the main one. Included in this score are excess inventory, stranded inventory, in-stock inventory, and sell-through rates. 

While updated weekly, Amazon calculates your IPI score quarterly and adjusts storage limits based on all the factors mentioned above. As such, it’s important to keep a close eye on your score and adjust your practices and inventory as needed.

Sellers can find their score in their Inventory Dashboard located within their Seller Central account.

Fulfillment Management Help

If you’re having trouble staying on top of everything on your own, other companies may be able to help. Companies like Anata exist to make the management of your inventory a smooth process. Through professional assistance on your fulfillment management, your IPI scores are sure to improve and so is your storage space.

In addition to that, Anata can help with whatever you need to take care of you and your business while getting that score up. 

Conclusion

There are ways around the quantity limits that are set by Amazon but none are better than improving your limits. Intentionally setting out to initiate better practices with your inventory and fulfillment processes will go a long way in improving your business overall.

That’s easier said than done, though. Business owners are facing a litany of problems and hurdles that they have to overcome. Keeping track of all of this can feel like a losing battle but it doesn’t have to!

Anata is here with dedicated professionals with a focus on making sure you get the most out of your Amazon business. We offer consulting, advertising, market analysis, evaluation, and even inventory management services.

What’s keeping you back from taking your business to the next level? Let us know in the comments or connect with us through our website and we’ll start the conversation on how to fix it!

Did you get the email a few weeks back about Amazon’s price hike, read it, and immediately forget until now? With the change coming upon us, it’s important to think through the additional price Amazon is asking for. For some, this price increase might make the platform no longer be worth the price for them.

Either way, paying less is always better than paying more. So, is there a way to avoid Amazon Prime’s fee hike? The answer is yes! Keep reading to find out how!

What is the Amazon Prime Increase?

The price hike is already in effect for new accounts that signed up after the 18th of February. For accounts that were open before this, the fee hike is taking place on the 25th of March. After this time, Amazon Prime monthly subscriptions will increase from $12.99 to $14.99 per month. 

Accordingly, the annual subscription rate will also increase from $119 to $139 per annum. According to CNBC, students can also expect to pay more, increasing from $59 – $69. With this, nobody is safe from the impending price rise.

It may not seem like much to some but every service has its limit on what people are willing to pay. Some may consider this small-seeming change to bump Amazon out of the realm of affordability. Before you go questioning in Amazon Prime is worth keeping, it might be worth seeing if you can avoid the hike altogether.

How to avoid Amazon Prime’s fee hike

While it isn’t always possible, many can find success in avoiding the new price for some time yet. Some of the common steps to avoid Amazon prime’s fee hike include 

Free Trial

New users can sign up for a free 30-day trial with Amazon Prime. This allows new users to try the platform out before committing to it. If you don’t believe that it is worth the price, simply do not sign up after your trial is over!

Purchase an Annual Subscription

The chance has already passed to purchase an annual subscription at the lower rate for Prime. Still, annual memberships save money which can offset the increase in cost. Paying the monthly rate of $14.99 for a year comes out to roughly $180.

With an annual subscription at just $139, users can save over $40 by paying upfront. If you already know that you will be using your service for the whole year, it only makes sense to take this step. 

Bundle with Your Subscription

Amazon offers several options for bundles. These include phone subscriptions as well as Amazon Prime services. If you’re currently spending money on Spotify and Amazon, it would make sense to get Amazon Music, bundle the two, and get rid of Spotify, for example. 

In addition to being more cost-effective on its face, Amazon offers lucrative bundle promotions for things just like this. 

Consolidate

To that end, if you use Prime more than other streaming services, cancel your other ones. You can avoid feeling the additional price imposed by Amazon if you are replacing other services with it. Prime video, music, and audiobooks could all potentially knock some of your current platforms off their rotation. 

Cancel

Don’t want to pay the price hike and still not convinced by the other options? Maybe canceling is the best bet for you then. While it would be great for every service to mean the same to everyone, sometimes you just don’t get the return needed to justify the purchase. 

If this is the case, there is no penalty for canceling and coming back later on a monthly basis if you change your mind. Simply head to your account, click on your membership, select “Manage Prime Membership” and click  End Prime Membership.”

Conclusion

Since the beginning of time, prices have steadily risen upwards. It’s common sense that this would happen to services we use every day like Amazon Prime as well. While we’d all like to avoid the inevitable, sometimes all you can do is swallow the additional fee and move on.

In this instance, that isn’t necessarily the case – depending on how creative you’re willing to get! Still, for many, the sheer ease of use with Amazon makes the price worth it at almost every level. 

Amazon (and every other streaming service) has steadily risen in price since its inception. It doesn’t seem as though they’ve found a price the public isn’t willing to pay yet!

At Anata, we help businesses navigate the tricky world of online sales on the Amazon marketplace. If you want to see about offsetting your prime membership through a successful online business, reach out and we’d be thrilled to talk with you!

What do you think of the new price point for Amazon? Is it fair for them to continue raising prices and is there a price point that you think would be too much?

Amazon manages a large amount of inventory and a wide range of products every day. To keep track of it all, they require items to have a scannable code. Without this standardized code to track the many items sold throughout the world, nobody could ever keep track.

But what are these barcodes? And what if your item doesn’t have one? In this article, we’ll answer these questions and show you how to sign up for an exemption if you qualify.

Different Types of GTINs

GTIN is an acronym that means Global Trade Item Number. It is a unique code printed on an item so that merchants can sell and track them more easily. Typically represented as a number on a barcode, there are many forms that GTINs take.

• UPC – The Universal Product Code is on most retail products. It is a 12-digit ID and is one of the most common types in the world. 
• EAN – As the name suggests, the European Article Number only applies to products in the European market.
• JAN – Japanese Article Numbers are for products sold within the country of Japan. Like the EAN above, this is a strictly local use case.
• ISBN – International Standard Book Numbers are for any books on the market.
• GTIN-14 – These codes are specifically reserved for shipping containers.

Nearly every product on the shelves – Amazon or otherwise – includes one of these codes. Some merchants can apply for exceptions, however, and sell non-barcoded items.

GTIN Exceptions

Receiving a GTIN exception is the only way that merchants can sell products without a barcode on Amazon. Let’s dive into the reasons that may lead a business to apply and the process for doing so.

When to Apply

GTIN exceptions aren’t rare but the important thing to remember is that this is typically a short-term strategy. It will always be easier to get your GTIN approved than it will be to continually renew your exemption.

Many products require a GTIN without any exceptions but there are some for whom it’s beneficial. Handmade items, resellers/wholesalers, and importers are the biggest beneficiaries of an exemption. These are merchants who typically don’t have control over the production of the actual product or the barcode on it.

For these business owners, exceptions may be the only thing that allows them to still be operational. Before applying, spend time going through this list and making sure that your product is even eligible. 

In general, the items this exception is for are:

• A product for which the original manufacturer does not provide  a GTIN
• List items made by you without a barcode
• Product parts that do not have an ID number
• Bundled packs of multiple products
• Generic products without a brand name

If having gone through all this, you still believe that you should receive an exemption, the next step is to apply.

How to Apply

After meeting one or more of the requirements, Amazon merchants can expect to have to meet the following requirements as well:

1. 2-9 images of your item and packaging along with the product name. These must be real-world images where you are holding the product in your hand or placing it on a nearby table.
2. A brand name submitted that matches the brand name featured on the product and packaging.
3. Branding must be permanently affixed to the product and packaging.
4. No GS1 approved barcodes.

In addition to this, resellers can expect to have to provide a letter from the brand owner. Since they’re reselling someone else’s product, they will need a letter stating that this is okay for them to do so. 

In the letter, make sure the brand is including the following data:

1. The name and contact information of the one writing it.
2. The grounds by which you are requisition a GTIN exemption. 
3. Company contact information including phone number, website, and address.

From here, the following process will allow merchants to apply for this exemption:

• From seller central, go to the appropriate page to apply for the exemption
• Enter your product category and click “select”
• Write the brand name in the Brand/Publisher field
  • For bundles/unbranded items type “generic” in all lowercase letters
• Click the plus sign to add more brands or publishers under the same category. (You can apply for up to 10 exemptions.)
• Click “Check for eligibility.”

From here, Amazon will tell you if you have a case to make or not. If you do, you can continue to the “submit proof” section and provide all of the required information from above.

Call in the Reinforcements with Anata!

Sick of trying to keep up with everything on your own? Anata is here to support you in every way that we feel capable of. We offer brand consulting, advertising, inventory management, market analysis, and financial evaluation to make sure you never get stuck on Seller Central again.
What would you focus on if you could get all that time back? Let us know in the comments and we’ll tell you how we can get you there! Or you can connect with us on our website to start a conversation!