Not under that name. The long-term storage fee was replaced by the aged-inventory surcharge, which penalizes the same thing, inventory that has sat too long, but charges it monthly rather than on the old twice-yearly February 15 and August 15 dates. The concept survived; the billing got more frequent.
What was the FBA long-term storage fee?
It was a fee Amazon charged on inventory that had been in fulfillment centers beyond a long-storage threshold, assessed twice a year on the 15th of February and August. It penalized slow-moving stock to encourage sellers to keep inventory turning, and it has since been restructured into the monthly aged-inventory surcharge.
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.
Is the aged-inventory surcharge cheaper or more expensive than the old LTSF?
For the same slow inventory it tends to be more expensive over time, because it is charged every month instead of twice a year. The same aging stock that took two biannual hits under the LTSF now accrues a surcharge monthly, so the cost compounds faster the longer you hold it.
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The FBA long-term storage fee (LTSF) was Amazon's old penalty for aged inventory, and in 2026 it no longer exists under that name: it was replaced by the monthly aged-inventory surcharge. The short version: the LTSF used to be assessed twice a year, on the 15th of February and the 15th of August, while the surcharge that replaced it charges the same kind of penalty every month. Below is what the LTSF was, what changed, and why the switch made slow inventory more expensive.
The long-term storage fee was a charge Amazon applied to inventory that had been sitting in fulfillment centers past a long-storage threshold. It was assessed on two fixed dates each year, the 15th of February and the 15th of August, so any qualifying aged stock you held on those snapshot dates got hit.1 Its purpose was to push sellers to keep inventory turning and to free up warehouse space, the same goal Amazon's storage policies have today. See the long-term storage fee definition for the short form.
The practical rhythm under the LTSF was that sellers watched the February and August dates and tried to clear or remove aged stock just before each one. Miss the date and you paid for another six months; clear it just in time and you avoided that round entirely.
Amazon restructured the long-term storage fee into the aged-inventory surcharge, a change it made in 2023. The penalty is conceptually the same, a monthly charge on units that have sat too long (past 181 days), stacked on top of regular monthly storage. The important change is the frequency: instead of two big assessments a year, the surcharge is charged every month, escalating as the stock ages further.
That shift matters more than it sounds. Under the old LTSF, a unit that just missed the February cutoff had until August before the next hit. Under the surcharge, that same unit accrues a charge every single month it stays, so the cost of indecision is much higher. The window to "wait and see if it sells" got a lot more expensive.
The math is simple: a fee charged twelve times a year compounds faster than one charged twice. The same dead stock that cost you two LTSF hits a year now costs a monthly surcharge that grows with age, all while it still pays regular storage and ties up the cash you spent to buy it. Aged inventory was always a drag on margin; the move to monthly assessment just made the drag continuous instead of periodic.
It also removed the old gaming strategy. Sellers used to time removals around the two LTSF dates. With a monthly assessment there is no single date to beat, so the only real defense is to not let inventory age in the first place.
The fee structure changed, but the way to stay out of it did not. It is the same discipline as good restock planning:
Do not over-order. Aged-inventory charges are almost always a symptom of buying more than you sell. Forecast and reorder per SKU.
Watch your inventory age. The FBA inventory age report shows how close each SKU is to the threshold. Review it monthly.
Clear slow movers early. A promotion, bundle, liquidation, or removal before the threshold is cheaper than paying an escalating monthly surcharge and removing it later anyway. Model the hold-versus-remove decision in the FBA storage fee calculator.
The FBA long-term storage fee was the old twice-yearly penalty on aged inventory, assessed on February 15 and August 15, and it has been replaced by the monthly aged-inventory surcharge. The penalty is the same idea but compounds faster now that it is charged every month, so the only reliable defense is to keep inventory moving. For the full fee picture, see Amazon FBA fees 2026.
Amazon FBA long-term storage fee history and its restructuring into the aged-inventory surcharge, Amazon Seller Central, effective 2026. https://sell.amazon.com/pricing. ↩