Many sellers overlook the inventory-age metric until a long-term storage fee charge appears in their statement, by which point the cost has already been incurred. Seller Central's Inventory Health report provides aging distribution data that makes the approaching 271-day threshold visible well in advance — tracking this proactively is the single most effective way to avoid surprise fees.
Managing inventory aging to avoid fees
Review the Inventory Health report monthly and flag any SKU approaching 250+ days of age — at that point, you have roughly three weeks to take action before the next monthly assessment. Actions that reduce aging exposure include: running promotional campaigns to accelerate sell-through on at-risk ASINs; creating a removal order to ship the inventory back to a domestic warehouse or to an alternative sales channel; or, if the product is being phased out, filing a disposal order to stop the ongoing storage cost accrual entirely. For product categories with structurally slow turnover, limit individual batch sizes at the inbound stage — sending smaller, more frequent replenishment shipments keeps average inventory age lower than sending one large quarterly batch.
Risk mitigation / operational guidance
Set a recurring monthly calendar reminder aligned to your Inventory Health report refresh cycle, so aging review becomes a standard operating procedure rather than an afterthought. Compare the cost of running a clearance promotion or filing a removal order against the projected long-term storage fee for letting the inventory sit another month — for low-value, slow-moving items, a disposal order is often cheaper than paying the elevated per-cubic-foot rate month after month. For sellers using third-party logistics providers alongside FBA, consider whether inventory approaching the 271-day mark can be withdrawn to a 3PL warehouse at lower storage cost while still available for multi-channel fulfillment.