Companion to the lesson "Running the Loop: Reorders, Stockouts, and Storage Fees."
1. Loop position (weekly fifteen minutes)
Date
Units in Amazon
Units on the water
Total cover (days)
Vs reorder point
Reorder point = average daily units x replenishment days + safety stock (worked example from the lesson: 8 x 80 + 112, roughly 750 units; pipeline 60-90 days door to shelf). Your reorder point: units. Alert line: total cover within 10 days of the reorder point = place the reorder.
2. Weekly loop checklist
☐ Sell-through checked against the reorder point.
☐ Account health checked.
☐ Storage fee dashboard scanned for anything aging.
☐ Supplier thread kept warm (the existing factory is the cheapest, fastest reorder).
3. Storage-fee watchlist
Fee
Trigger / rate
Your exposure
Monthly storage
~$0.80-2.40 per cubic foot by month and size tier; October-December priced near the top
Low-inventory fee
Both 30-day and 90-day supply averages under 28 days of stock; ~$0.32-2.09 per unit. Exemptions: new Professional sellers first 365 days after first inventory received; new-to-FBA parent products first 180 days with FBA New Selection
Aged inventory surcharge
Units aged 181 days and older, stacking on monthly storage
4. Aged-stock watchlist
ASIN / product
Units
Oldest age (days)
Over 181 days?
Action
☐
☐
☐
5. Q4 rate flag
October through December: storage rates peak, ad costs rise, and holiday demand can rocket a new product or strand it depending on category. If sellable stock or a reorder lands in Q4, the reserve stays untouched until January. Product's own season (from BSR history):
Storage fees are the physical form of the cash lesson: money that stops moving gets charged rent. Buy inventory that turns, reorder on the formula, clear losers quickly at cost rather than paying Amazon to warehouse your mistakes.