Amazon FBA · removal, disposal and liquidation · read November 13, 2026
Amazon removal, disposal and liquidation fee calculator
Three ways to empty a shelf, priced in three different shapes. Having a unit returned to you and having it thrown away cost exactly the same — Amazon publishes one column for both — so disposal never saves a fee. Liquidating is the odd one: 15% of whatever Amazon recovers, plus a handling fee of a few cents. Work out all three for the item in front of you.
Per unit, at 8 oz
$0.84
$0.84 per unit to have it returned. Disposing of it costs exactly the same. Liquidation is charged differently again: a percentage plus a much smaller handling fee.
| Returned to you | $0.84 | You keep the unit |
|---|---|---|
| Disposed of | $0.84 | You lose the unit — same charge |
| Liquidated | $3.25 in fees | $16.75 back to you |
Liquidation on a $20.00 gross recovery: $3.00 referral (15%) + $0.25 processing = $3.25.
Disposal is not the cheaper option
It reads like it should be. Sending a unit back to you involves a courier and a parcel; destroying it involves nothing but a skip. Amazon charges the same for both — the table has one column, headed "Removal or disposal fee per unit" — so $0.84 at the lightest standard-size band buys you either outcome.
That means disposal is dominated twice over. It costs what a removal costs, and liquidation's handling fee is lower than the removal fee in every band Amazon publishes: $0.25 against $0.84 at the light end, $1.90 against $14.32 above 10 lb. Disposing of something therefore only makes sense when the unit has no value to you at all — and even then, liquidation pays 85% of whatever Amazon recovers rather than nothing, provided it recovers anything.
Liquidation is a percentage, not a price
Amazon describes liquidation as two separate fees: a 15% liquidations referral fee on the item's gross recovery value, and a liquidations processing fee by size and weight. Only the second one is in a table. The first depends on a number Amazon decides, which is why "should I liquidate?" cannot be answered from a fee schedule alone — it depends on what the recovery value turns out to be.
The arithmetic is: you receive the recovery value, less 15%, less the processing fee. At the default above — $20.00 recovered on a 0.5 lb standard-size unit — that is $3.00 + $0.25, leaving $16.75. Note what is not in that sentence: the removal fee. Amazon's own list of what it charges for a liquidation has two items in it, and the per-unit removal fee is not one of them — but if your settlement shows otherwise, that is worth knowing about.
The 0.5 lb line, and the only fee that went down
Half a pound is the most expensive ounce in this table. At 0.5 lb a standard-size unit is $0.84; one ounce heavier it is $1.53 — $0.69 more for a single ounce, 82% up. If a unit is within an ounce of that line, knowing it is worth more than a moment's thought, because the fee is per unit and gets multiplied by however many you are clearing out.
It is also the only band that changed in 2026, and it went down: 1 change in the whole table, from $1.04 to $0.84, a $0.20 cut effective January 15, 2026. Every other band is unchanged, which means a table you remember from last year is right about everything except the one you are most likely to check.
Placed, not shipped. Amazon's article says the fees are "calculated when a removal or disposal order is placed, and charged when the shipment leaves Amazon's fulfillment centers", and that an order placed before January 15, 2026 keeps the old fee "even if the shipment is completed on or after" that date. The order date is the one that decides.
| Shipping weight | Before 2026-01-15 | From 2026-01-15 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 0.5 lb | $1.04 | $0.84 | changed |
| 0.5+ to 1.0 lb | $1.53 | $1.53 | unchanged |
| 1.0+ to 2.0 lb | $2.27 | $2.27 | unchanged |
| More than 2 lb | $2.89 + $1.06/lb | $2.89 + $1.06/lb | unchanged |
The rate cards, in full
Two classes, one rate for removal and one for liquidation processing. Bulky is charged more at every weight, and the gap widens as weight rises — removal starts $2.28 higher and the per-pound rate above the open band is the same $1.06/lb on a base that is $11.43 higher.
| Shipping weight | Removal or disposal | Liquidation processing |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 0.5 lb | $0.84 | $0.25 |
| 0.5+ to 1.0 lb | $1.53 | $0.30 |
| 1.0+ to 2.0 lb | $2.27 | $0.35 |
| More than 2 lb | $2.89 + $1.06/lb | $0.40 + $0.20/lb |
| Shipping weight | Removal or disposal | Liquidation processing |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1.0 lb | $3.12 | $0.60 |
| 1+ to 2.0 lb | $4.30 | $0.70 |
| 2.0+ to 4.0 lb | $6.36 | $0.90 |
| 4.0+ to 10.0 lb | $10.04 | $1.45 |
| More than 10.0 lb | $14.32 + $1.06/lb | $1.90 + $0.20/lb |
Weights are shipping weight and the upper bound of each band is inclusive. Above the last band the charge is a base plus an amount per pound: Amazon's article states the per-pound rate but not whether it is pro-rated by the ounce or charged for each pound started. We pro-rate and round up to the cent, and the calculator says so when the two readings disagree — at 2.5 lb for example, pro-rating gives $3.42 and charging each started pound gives $3.95. They agree whenever the weight over the line is a whole number of pounds.
Which line your item is on
The high class is not just "big things". Amazon's footnote to that table reads: Special handling items may include apparel, shoes, watches, jewelry, and dangerous goods. So a t-shirt is standard-size for the purposes of fulfilment — it has its own apparel table, and it is nowhere near the size limit — but for removal it is charged with the bulky items: $3.12 rather than $0.84 at the light end. The apparel page covers the fulfilment and referral side of that, which is where the money usually is.
Standard-size tops out at 20 lb, which is the size-tier limit we carry elsewhere on this site. A standard-size unit above that weight is a contradiction rather than a fee, and the calculator says so instead of returning a number.
What this does not tell you
Whether to clear the shelf out at all. Removal, disposal and liquidation all fix a loss; none of them recover the fulfillment fee you already paid when the unit was sold and returned, or the storage you have paid while it sat. If the question is whether a unit is still worth holding, the storage calculator and the aged-inventory calculator answer the other half: what it costs per month to keep it. Removal is what you pay to stop paying that.
Figures read on from
Amazon's public FBA fees page,
which links to the Seller Central article we read: "2026 FBA removal, disposal and liquidation order fee changes"
Seller Central. That article needs a Seller Central login; ours is saved at sources/raw/amazon_removal-disposal_Nov_13_2026.pdf.
Questions
Is it cheaper to have Amazon dispose of my inventory than to return it?
No. The published table has a single column headed "Removal or disposal fee per unit", so the two cost exactly the same: at the lightest standard-size band that is $0.84 per unit for either one. Disposing saves no fee money at all — it only saves you the unit. The one thing that is genuinely cheaper is liquidating, whose handling fee is $0.25 in that band, below the $0.84 removal fee, though liquidation also takes 15% of whatever Amazon recovers.
Why does one extra ounce cost so much?
Because the rate steps at 0.5 lb, and it steps from $0.84 to $1.53 — a jump of $0.69 for a single ounce. Shipping weight bands are upper-bound inclusive, so 0.5 lb is charged the lower rate and 0.5 lb plus an ounce is charged the higher one.
Does the fee depend on when the order is placed or when it ships?
When it is placed. The article says the fees "are calculated when a removal or disposal order is placed, and charged when the shipment leaves Amazon's fulfillment centers", and that an order placed before January 15, 2026 keeps the old fee "even if the shipment is completed on or after" that date.
What exactly does the 15% liquidation fee apply to?
The gross recovery value — what Amazon recovers for the unit, which is not the same as what you were selling it for, and which Amazon sets. Liquidation therefore has a fee you cannot calculate from your own numbers alone. The processing fee is the part you can: it is $0.25 at 0.5 lb and rises with weight class.
My item is apparel. Which line is it on?
The higher one. Amazon's footnote to the bulky table reads "Special handling items may include apparel, shoes, watches, jewelry, and dangerous goods" — so a piece of clothing is standard-size for fulfilment but is charged the large bulky removal rate, $3.12 rather than $0.84 at the light end — 3.7 times the cheapest removal rate for the same physical item.
What is not included in this fee?
Storage, the aged-inventory surcharge, inbound placement, returns processing and the sale itself. This is only the charge for getting the unit out of a fulfillment center, or for Amazon selling it off on your behalf. Removal orders also do not refund the fulfillment fee you already paid.
When were these figures read?
On November 13, 2026, from Amazon's article "2026 FBA removal, disposal and liquidation order fee changes", saved while logged in to Seller Central. That article is headed 2026 and its newest dated rule is January 15, 2026. Amazon's later article "2027 US FBA fulfillment fee changes" is in the same navigation, and we hold that article (read 2026-11-08) and it carries no removal, disposal or liquidation table, so it neither updates nor contradicts the rates above — which means we cannot tell you these rates survive past January 15, 2026, only that nothing we have read has changed them.
Removal and disposal fees read on ; the article is headed 2026 and its newest dated rule is January 15, 2026. Amazon's later article "2027 US FBA fulfillment fee changes" sits in the same navigation and we hold that article (read 2026-11-08) and it carries no removal, disposal or liquidation table, so it neither updates nor contradicts the rates above — so these rates are current as far as anything we have read, and no further. Fees only — this page does not know your product cost, your storage or your returns; the profit calculator does.