Amazon Warehouse Capacity Limitations and Current Problems
As e-commerce sales continue to increase in 2025, Amazon FBA sellers are running into a critical challenge that can severely impact business growth: Amazon warehouse capacity limitations.
With increased competition, policy shifts, tightening storage policies, understanding how FBA capacity limits work and how to navigate them, has become essential.
While Amazon’s storage system has always played a vital role in fulfillment logistics, changes to the capacity limits system, new storage restrictions, and costly overage fees are forcing sellers to reconsider their long term fulfillment strategy.
How are these limits calculated, what challenges sellers are facing now, and why more businesses are turning to Forceget 3PL warehouses as a scalable alternative to Amazon FBA storage.
What is the Amazon Warehouse Capacity System?
The Amazon warehouse capacity system is a structured framework used to manage how much inventory third party sellers can store at Amazon FBA warehouse.
It was designed to help Amazon balance storage space efficiently across its huge network of fulfillment centers, especially during peak sales periods like Prime Day or Q4 holidays.
In 2023, Amazon transitioned from the weekly restock and storage limit model to a monthly capacity limit system for professional sellers. Under this model, each seller is granted a total storage volume (in cubic feet) they can use across standard, oversized, apparel, footwear, and other product types.
Amazon determines this allocation based on several predictive and historical variables.
How Is Amazon Warehouse Capacity Limits Determined?
Sellers often ask, “How does Amazon set my FBA limits.” While it may seem unclear, the system is influenced by multiple data driven factors:
Current IPI Score
Your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) remains a key factor. Sellers with an IPI below Amazon’s threshold may receive lower storage allocations or even capacity limits that disrupt inventory plans. Amazon uses the IPI to understand how efficiently you manage your stock.
Sales Forecasts for Your ASINs
Amazon evaluates sales velocity and forecast demand for each ASIN based on past trends and current momentum. Low movement SKUs or in place products often lead to tighter quantity limits Amazon imposes per item.
Shipment Lead Time
How long your inventory takes to arrive at Amazon FBA warehouse locations also matters. Sellers who take too long to replenish may face deductions in their upcoming Amazon warehouse capacity allotments.
Amazon Fulfillment Center Capacity
Real time Amazon FBA storage availability also plays a role. If certain fulfillment centers are or near full capacity, sellers may see their warehouse limits reduced.
Historical Sales Volume
Amazon rewards sellers with a proven track record of high inventory turnover. If your past sales data shows consistent movement, you’re more likely to be granted higher storage limits.
Seasonal and Peak Selling periods for Your Products
Amazon adjusts FBA capacity limits based on seasonality. For example, toy sellers may get more storage in Q4, while garden or outdoor furniture sellers may see an increase in spring and summer.
Deals Scheduled
If you’re running Lighting Deals or major promotional campaigns, Amazon may increase Amazon warehouse capacity, temporarily. To accommodate inventory buildup.
New Products Added to Your Selection
Launching new ASINs? Amazon often limits storage for unproven products until demand is verified. It’s a protective measure to avoid Amazon excess inventory issues.
Amazon Warehouse Capacity: Overage Fees
When sellers exceed their FBA capacity limits, they are subject to Amazon storage rates that can quickly erode profits. As of 2025, the overage fees are charged per cubic foot, and they can be quite steep, especially during Q4 or high volume periods.
Moreover, if you’re not adhering to Amazon FBA box size restrictions, shipments may be rejected or delayed, compounding capacity issues.
Exceeding Amazon Warehouse Capacity Limits
Exceeding your Amazon FBA storage limit doesn’t just lead to overage charges. It may also result in inventory check in delays, limited availability for new ASINs, and even removal order requirements.
Sellers need to constantly monitor the Amazon FBA shipping plan and ensure they don’t go over their allocation.
How to Request Additional Amazon Warehouse Capacity?
Amazon offers a Capacity Manager tool in Seller Central, where sellers can request additional capacity by submitting a bid. This system, known as the “reservation fee” model, allows sellers to essentially “bid” for more space and if their forecasted revenue justifies it, the fee is refunded.
However, this process doesn’t guarantee approval, especially during constrained periods. Sellers looking to ship directly to Amazon FBA often find themselves unable to scale when hit with unexpected limits.
Why Forceget 3PL Warehouse Is Better than Amazon Warehouses?
While Amazon FBA has long been the default for ecommerce sellers seeking fast fulfillment, its growing list of limitations, from FBA capacity limits to strict box size restrictions and rising storage rates, has left many sellers scrambling for better control and scalability.
Forceget offers no cubic foot limits, giving you full freedom to scale operations. Whether you’re launching new ASINs, preparing for Prime Day, or responding to seasonal struggles, Forceget ensures that your inventory can flex with demand, without triggering overage fees or costly delays.
From labeling, bundling, poly bagging, to palletization and Amazon-compliant packaging, Forceget ensures every unit is ready to go before you ship to Amazon FBA. Every shipment is fully aligned with Amazon shipping requirements FBA and optimized for lowest cost routing, ensuring compliance and reduced fees.
Forceget acts as your central fulfillment hub, whether you’re routing orders to Amazon, Shopify, Walmart, or international buyers. You can easily ship directly to Amazon FBA, or use Forceget to bypass Amazon FBA box size restrictions by storing slow-moving SKUs offsite, allowing fast restocking of Amazon warehouses when limits allow, keeping listings active and Buy Box-ready.