Amazon When Can I Order Something That Is Quantity Limited Again

Through the finish of the year, Amazon is most likely putting inventory quantity limits on many ASINs. Who was striking the hardest with this proclamation?

July 29, 2020 — Updated August 17, 2020

A couple weeks agone we reported one of the most impactful Amazon announcements in recent retentivity. Through the end of the twelvemonth, Amazon is most likely putting inventory quantity limits on many ASINs.

Some of you volition non feel the consequence as the limit can total three months (or more) of inventory. But for others, the inventory limits are less, and for new products (or those that have been fallow for a time), the limit is just 200.

Let'due south talk well-nigh how this has been affecting sellers, and more importantly discuss ways that yous might accept action to weather condition the potential tempest.

Commencement question: Who was striking the hardest with this announcement?

Amazon'southward answer is that anyone who was planning on launching a product in the next v months volition be affected. That's a meaning number of sellers.

You will be express initially to sending in a total of 200 units. In add-on, all those who transport their inventory direct to the Amazon warehouse from their factory, and whose minimum social club quantities (MOQs) are more than than their new limitations, volition besides demand to make other arrangements.

I have been analyzing these limitations over the last couple of weeks to try to decipher how Amazon calculates the limits. I'grand sure that if I really dove into the numbers I could come upwards with a formula for how they calculate it, simply at confront value it doesn't make much sense.

For instance, on their restock report where they prove the new limitations, the simply sales information that's visible is for the previous 30 days. From that, one could surmise that the inventory limitation would exist based on this figure. Nonetheless it's not a direct formula.

In one of my example study accounts, three products seemed to take ratios very close to each other. The limitation on inventory was equal to 3.one – 3.3 months worth of inventory, still, 3 weeks later, it was only two.8 months worth of inventory.

Other instance report accounts had products allowing them to send in up to iv months worth of inventory based on the previous 30 days inventory. At first, it seemed that a higher Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score allowed y'all to send more products in. However, one account was immune to transport in over 3 months worth of inventory despite having a dismal score of under 400.

Some have speculated that instead of xxx days sales velocity, Amazon is calculating 90 days sales velocity. I plant many products where that formula was non even close to what Amazon put every bit the limitation.

Action ITEM one: When You Run Out Of Stock

What if you have a good selling particular, but you run out of stock and could perchance exist out of stock for a few weeks? First of all, it sounds like you are a candidate for Helium 10's Inventory Direction tool that is coming soon. Only secondly, I suggest that y'all create an FBA replenishment shipment (for the allowable amount) equally of the mean solar day you lot are fully out.

Here's why: Information technology does not seem that Amazon consistently looks at historical numbers to set your max inventory quantity on items that are out of stock. For example, with the Project X Coffin Shelf, it was out of stock for weeks leading up to July 13. As of July 29, our max inventory level is 1228, and this is despite the previous 30 days sales history being only 38 units due to it just coming dorsum into stock!

In this case, it seems to exist referring back to our May sales velocity.

At offset I thought that the coffin shelf had possibly maintained a high inventory limit due to us endmost the listing. However, we have another instance study product which had only ran out of stock a few weeks agone and likewise had the listing airtight. On July xiii, when this limitation was just announced, it had a previous 30 twenty-four hour period sales of 298. The inventory limitation as of that twenty-four hours was 987, or about three.3 months worth of inventory as of that 24-hour interval.

I checked it over again on July 22, afterward information technology had been out of stock another 9 days and the new 30 twenty-four hours sales total was 239. The max inventory limitation had dropped to 804 units. A week later on July 29, the sales showed only 166 units later another week had passed with cypher sales, and the replenishment had now dipped to 462 units. HALF of what it was but 2 weeks ago!

Because of that, and as I am writing this, I take gone ahead and created a shipment of 400 units, merely in case it dipped farther before my club arrives from China to my warehouse in a couple of weeks.

Activeness ITEM ii: Don't Endeavour To Cheat The System!

As before long as the announcement was made, many Facebook groups were inundated with freelancers who said they could get around the inventory restrictions. What many were doing was creating multiple shipments in multiple tabs in Chrome, then trying to click all of the create shipment buttons at nearly the same time to be able to get over the limit.

I never recommend short term hacks like this, especially when it'southward patently opposite to what Amazon is trying to achieve.

I heard that some who did this concluded upward getting their listings suspended for it. Fifty-fifty if there is only a x% chance that you get your listing suspended, it's something that I practise not think is worth the risk. Others accept tried doing lots of artificial orders to an FBM offering on an ASIN, thinking it would increase their FBA offering limitations. I take not heard of this working since Amazon is but supposedly considering the sales velocity of the actual FBA list. Those who tried that technique have lost hundreds of dollars without any benefit.

Activity Detail three: Using a 3PL Warehouse, or Your Own Home / Part

Regardless of whether yous accept an established list where you demand to social club more than than your inventory limitation, or if you have a new product launch and take the limitation of 200 units, the answer to this effect might be using a 3PL Warehouse. Many did exactly this when similar inventory limitations were imposed during the COVID FBA warehouse slowdown.

How would that work?

You have two options. I option is to set upward a shipment of 200 items and accept it shipped directly to Amazon. So, (if for example) your MOQ was 1000 units, you would send the other 800 units to a warehouse in the U.s.a., or your own home or role. Y'all would then trickle your inventory into Amazon with smaller replenishment orders.

You would not have to look until the entire first 200 sell out. How that limitation works is that you lot can have a max 200 in the pipeline. This includes inventory on the way to Amazon, and on the way to customers, and in process in Amazon'south system. Permit's say yous sell 100 items, and they are all shipped out and delivered….you would now be able to send in a replenishment club of 100 units so that you accept a full of 200 in the pipeline. (100 already in FBA, and 100 on the way).

This is where things might get tricky in finding a 3PL warehouse if you are a smaller seller. Refael Ebaz, from Unicargo said, "3PL has costs, for entering (receiving your cargo), storage (storing the cargo), and outbound (getting the cargo set to be shipped out of the warehouse). Doing so many deportment (and incurring the costs) on a total of x-xx cartons is also much of a hassle."

He continues, "Call up most it: the warehouse will go an email maxim, "How-do-you-do, I need to transport 2 boxes to Amazon," that will ultimately crave taking the boxes off of the pallet, UPS labeling them, sending them out, sending an email back to client with tracking labels, answering questions, and so getting yelled at for the filibuster. All for an invoice of $ten for the 2 cartons that were sent out."

This is a existent issue if y'all only have i product you lot're launching and do non have a history with a 3PL warehouse. The warehouse that we used in Project X was Kreassive. They helped us out with our order of 500 units, and were ok with sending shipments almost 100-200 at a time to Amazon. Will companies like that want to be sending in replenishment orders for sellers though, 50 units at a time? It'south doubtful since they would lose coin on such small transactions. You could always try to get quotes from companies like them only to be 100% sure. Let united states of america know in your comments below, what they say.

If the 3PL warehouses you observe do non desire to deal with smaller orders, what are your options?

You could take the inventory sent to your business firm equally long as yous have the ways to store it in your garage or living room! Keep in listen that there are surcharges for residential deliveries, and you will have to comport the boxes into your house yourself since most delivery trucks will merely drop the product off in pallets.

This inventory limitation is non slowing down Project Ten, nor any of the other case studies I am working on, since I have a large warehouse behind my house. Fifty-fifty under normal FBA circumstances I ever have the inventory come to my warehouse first so that I can go along better control over the inventory in Amazon and not pay storage charges.

Just last week, I received a delivery of 2000 of the coffin shelves.

If you don't alive in the USA, this is obviously not an pick. You would need to go the 3PL road.  Another advantage of 3PL or home storage is that you at present would be able to accept the choice to dual-list your product with an accompanying FBM offering. This way, fifty-fifty if your replenishment shipments go delayed, and you run out of your FBA offering, your listing will stay active with your FBM offer.

ACTION Item four: Don't Panic!

Is this new inventory restriction….restrictive?

Of course information technology is. But information technology'south not the finish of the globe. As outlined to a higher place, at that place are a number of ways that you lot can manage this situation. You practise need to exist conscientious though and count the costs. Adding storage at a 3PL volition swallow into your profit margins. Make sure that it still makes sense to launch the product that you planned to. Use the Profitability Calculator to make certain that y'all would yet be profitable.

Now that you might be using a 3PL, it could be time to wait into opening up to other marketplaces likewise such as Shopify, Walmart, Wayfair or others. Await out for time to come articles on getting Projection X set in other marketplaces!

Nosotros are standing to monitor the state of affairs to encounter what kind of thresholds will increase the limits, and we desire to know what other insights you sellers have to share.

How are you managing this situation? Do y'all have any tips that nosotros didn't mention? Have you cracked the formula on how Amazon determines the limits?

Permit the states know in the comments beneath your wins and losses during this time!

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Manager Of Preparation & Master Evangelist at Helium 10

Bradley is the Managing director of Preparation and Chief Evangelist at Helium x.He is also the host of the about listened to podcast in the world for Amazon Sellers, the Serious Sellers Podcast.

He has been involved in eastward-commerce for over 20 years, and before joining Helium 10, launched over 400 products as a consultant for Amazon Sellers. In order to keep his cognition fresh and relevant, he launched his own brands on Amazon, and in the terminal 2 years has launched over thirty products that gross over one million dollars a year.

He believes in the motto of "your net worth is your network" and so you will see him at many Amazon seller events worldwide. Make sure to say hi!

martinezscarlilluded.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.helium10.com/blog/managing-amazons-limit-on-new-products/

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