What are the key dates on the Amazon seller calendar?

The demand peaks are Prime Day (typically mid-July), the fall Prime deal event (around October), and Black Friday and Cyber Monday into the December holidays. The operational dates that matter for inventory are the deal submission deadlines and the Q4 storage and capacity changes, which fall weeks before the demand peaks themselves.

When should I order for each Amazon event?

Subtract your full lead time from the event. If Prime Day is mid-July and your lead time is 80 days, order in spring. The calendar that matters for inventory is the set of order-by dates, not the event dates, because ordering on the event date means the stock arrives months too late.

Why does Q4 need earlier planning than the rest of the year?

Because the peak is the largest of the year and Amazon raises storage rates and tightens capacity limits during it, the cost of being early or late is amplified. You commit cash months ahead, check-in slows during peak, and unsold stock pays the higher Q4 storage rate, so Q4 deserves the earliest and most careful build.

March 7, 20265 min readForecasting

2026 Amazon Seller Calendar: Inventory Order Dates

A 2026 Amazon seller calendar built for inventory planning: the events that move demand and the lead-time-back dates to order for each.

Andrew Erickson

Founder, Inventory Hero

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key dates on the Amazon seller calendar?: The demand peaks are Prime Day (typically mid-July), the fall Prime deal event (around October), and Black Friday and Cyber Monday into the December holidays. The operational dates that matter for inventory are the deal submission deadlines and the Q4 storage and capacity changes, which fall weeks before the demand peaks themselves.
When should I order for each Amazon event?: Subtract your full lead time from the event. If Prime Day is mid-July and your lead time is 80 days, order in spring. The calendar that matters for inventory is the set of order-by dates, not the event dates, because ordering on the event date means the stock arrives months too late.

Written by

Andrew Erickson

Founder, Inventory Hero

Andrew Erickson is the founder of Inventory Hero. He has spent years working with Amazon FBA sellers on demand forecasting, restock planning, and the cash flow side of running a private-label brand. Inventory Hero exists because every spreadsheet-based inventory system he tried eventually broke — usually right before Q4.

Related reading

← Back to all articles

The 2026 demand calendar

Some dates are fixed by the calendar; Amazon confirms the deal events later, usually in June for Prime Day, so plan those around the window:

Event	2026 date or window	Inventory effect
Prime Day	Mid-July (2025 ran July 8 to 9; Amazon confirms around June)	Sharp deal spike on featured SKUs
Q4 storage rate increase	Begins October 1	Higher monthly storage, October to December
Fall Prime deal event	Early to mid October	Second deal spike, kicks off Q4
Black Friday	November 27, 2026	Start of the year's largest peak
Cyber Monday	November 30, 2026	Peak continues
December holidays	December	Sustained elevated demand
Post-holiday drawdown	January	Demand falls, the Q1 storage rate returns, aging risk rises

Event

2026 date or window

Inventory effect

Prime Day

Mid-July (2025 ran July 8 to 9; Amazon confirms around June)

Sharp deal spike on featured SKUs

Q4 storage rate increase

Begins October 1

Higher monthly storage, October to December

Fall Prime deal event

Early to mid October

Second deal spike, kicks off Q4

Black Friday

November 27, 2026

Start of the year's largest peak

Cyber Monday

November 30, 2026

Peak continues

December holidays

December

Sustained elevated demand

Post-holiday drawdown

January

Demand falls, the Q1 storage rate returns, aging risk rises

The deal events also carry submission deadlines and inventory checks that land weeks ahead of the event, which is its own date to track.

Turn the demand calendar into your order calendar

For each event, the order-by date is the event minus your full lead time. Work it per SKU, because lead times differ:

Event (2026)	Approx. date	Order by (60-day lead time)	Order by (90-day lead time)
Prime Day	~July 14	~May 15	~April 15
Fall deal event	~October 7	~August 8	~July 9
Black Friday	November 27	September 28	August 29

Event (2026)

Approx. date

Order by (60-day lead time)

Order by (90-day lead time)

Prime Day

~July 14

~May 15

~April 15

Fall deal event

~October 7

~August 8

~July 9

Black Friday

November 27

September 28

August 29

Back each one out in the reorder point calculator, and remember that Q4 check-in slows down, so add buffer to the arrival side for late-year events. For the deal events specifically, see Prime Day inventory planning; for the holiday peak, see how to forecast Q4 inventory.

The November crunch, and managing many SKUs at once

The hardest part of the Q4 calendar is that everything collides. Your Prime Day tail stock, your Black Friday build, and the tightening of capacity and restock limits all land in the same few weeks, while peak-season check-in slows down.¹ Two calendar habits handle it: confirm your restock limit has room before you commit a big seasonal build, and stagger the order-by dates across your SKUs so they do not all demand cash and inbound space the same week. The deeper Q4 build-and-drawdown mechanics, including why you still exit January near zero even though the storage rate drops back to standard, live in how to forecast Q4 inventory and apply per seasonal SKU.

The bottom line

The 2026 Amazon seller calendar that matters for inventory is the order-by calendar: each demand event (Prime Day, the fall deal event, Black Friday, the holidays) minus your full lead time, per SKU, with extra lead time and a drawdown plan for Q4. Track the deal deadlines too, since they land weeks before the events. For the wider system, see Amazon inventory forecasting and restock planning.

Amazon FBA monthly inventory storage fees (including higher Q4 rates) and capacity/restock limit policies, Amazon Seller Central, effective 2026. sell.amazon.com/pricing. ↩

2026 Amazon Seller Calendar: Inventory Order Dates

Frequently Asked Questions

Andrew Erickson

Related reading

How to Model Amazon Sales Seasonality for FBA Sellers

Prime Day Inventory Planning for Amazon FBA Sellers

How to Forecast Q4 Inventory for Amazon FBA Sellers

The 2026 demand calendar

Turn the demand calendar into your order calendar

The November crunch, and managing many SKUs at once

The bottom line

Frequently Asked Questions

Andrew Erickson

Related reading

How to Model Amazon Sales Seasonality for FBA Sellers

Prime Day Inventory Planning for Amazon FBA Sellers

How to Forecast Q4 Inventory for Amazon FBA Sellers

The 2026 demand calendar

Turn the demand calendar into your order calendar

The November crunch, and managing many SKUs at once

The bottom line

Footnotes