Amazon FBA Batch Tracking & Expiry Management for Veeqo Sellers

The Challenge: Amazon FBA Doesn't Track Lot Numbers

If you're selling expiring products (food, supplements, cosmetics, pet food) through Amazon FBA, you're facing a critical traceability gap: Amazon tracks expiry dates but NOT manufacturer lot numbers.

Amazon's system knows your FNSKU (Fulfillment Network SKU) and expiration date, but they don't maintain records of which specific manufacturing lot is in their warehouses. When a supplier recalls lot ABC-123, Amazon can't tell you which FBA inventory came from that lot. You're forced to recall ALL FBA inventory of that product, even if only 20% came from the affected lot.

Understanding Amazon's Expiry Date Requirements

Amazon has strict requirements for expiring products in FBA:

• 90-day minimum at receipt - Products must have at least 90 days until expiration when Amazon receives them at the warehouse. Products with less are rejected.
• 50-day auto-removal - Amazon automatically removes inventory 50 days before expiry and charges removal/disposal fees ($0.50-$6.90 per unit depending on size).
• Expiry date required for categories - Food, supplements, beauty, baby products, pet food, and health items MUST have expiration dates provided when creating FBA shipments.
• FEFO fulfillment - Amazon ships earliest-expiring inventory first within the same SKU to minimize waste.
• Removal order windows - You can create proactive removal orders before the 50-day deadline to avoid auto-removal fees.

These requirements create challenges for sellers who don't track batch-level expiry dates before sending inventory to FBA. TraceLot helps manage FBA expiry compliance by alerting you when batches approach the 50-day deadline, giving time to run promotions or create removal orders.

How to Track Batches Sent to Amazon FBA

While Amazon doesn't track lot numbers internally, you can maintain external batch tracking that maps lot numbers to FBA shipment IDs:

1. Receive inventory with batch tracking - When receiving inventory from suppliers, create batches with lot numbers and expiry dates in your system (before sending to FBA)
2. Decide FBA allocation per batch - Split batches: some units go to FBA, some stay in Veeqo warehouses for DTC fulfillment. Track this split.
3. Send single-batch FBA shipments - When creating FBA shipments, send only one batch per SKU in each shipment (avoid mixing batches). This maintains clean traceability.
4. Record FBA shipment details - Log which batch and lot number was included in each FBA shipment ID (e.g., Lot ABC-123 → FBA Shipment FBA15Q7P9K)
5. Track FBA warehouse assignments - Amazon tells you which warehouse(s) received your shipment. Record this: Lot ABC-123 → PHX7, MCE1 warehouses
6. Maintain FBA inventory by batch - As FBA units sell, track which batches are depleting in Amazon warehouses vs your Veeqo warehouses

The 50-Day Removal Deadline: Avoiding FBA Fees

Amazon's 50-day auto-removal policy catches many sellers by surprise. You send fresh inventory to FBA, it sells slowly, and suddenly you're hit with hundreds of dollars in removal fees when batches hit the deadline.

Example scenario: You send 500 units of supplements (expires Dec 2025) to FBA in June 2025. Sales are slower than expected. By mid-October 2025, 200 units remain in FBA inventory. October 11 = 50 days before expiry. Amazon auto-removes all 200 units and charges $0.60/unit = $120 in removal fees, plus you lose the product value ($2,000-$4,000 depending on wholesale cost).

How to prevent this:

• Only send fresh inventory to FBA - Ship batches with 150+ days shelf life (gives 100-day buffer before hitting 50-day removal threshold)
• Set up 90-day expiry alerts - Get notified when FBA batches have 90 days until expiry, giving time to run Amazon Lightning Deals or promotions
• Monitor FBA age reports weekly - Amazon provides inventory age reports showing which ASINs are approaching expiry
• Create proactive removal orders - Remove slow-moving batches at 70-80 days before expiry (before Amazon auto-removes), saving disposal fees
• Rebalance to DTC channels - Remove near-expiry inventory from FBA and fulfill it through Veeqo where you control FEFO allocation

Commingled Inventory vs Stickered Inventory

Amazon offers two FBA inventory handling methods, each with different traceability implications:

For expiring products, always use FNSKU stickered inventory to maintain quality control and lot traceability. The small labeling cost is worth avoiding customer complaints about receiving near-expired products.

Managing Product Recalls for FBA Inventory

Product recalls are complicated when inventory is in Amazon FBA warehouses. Amazon won't manually sort through inventory by lot number — you must work within their system constraints:

1. Identify affected lot number - Supplier notifies you that lot XYZ-789 is being recalled
2. Check your batch records - Determine which FBA shipment IDs contained lot XYZ-789 (this requires external batch tracking)
3. Estimate FBA quantity remaining - Calculate how many units from that lot are still in FBA (original sent minus units sold)
4. Create FBA removal order - Request removal of estimated quantity from Amazon warehouses. Amazon will remove units based on FNSKU and expiry date (they can't filter by lot).
5. Receive returned inventory - Amazon ships recalled units back to you for destruction or return to supplier
6. Notify customers if units already shipped - Use Amazon's buyer-seller messaging to contact customers who received FBA orders during the affected timeframe

Multi-Channel Inventory: FBA + Veeqo DTC

Many sellers use both Amazon FBA for marketplace sales and Veeqo warehouses for DTC (direct-to-consumer) fulfillment through Shopify, WooCommerce, or other channels. Batch tracking becomes more complex in multi-channel scenarios:

When receiving new inventory:

• Create batch with lot number and expiry date: Lot ABC-123, 1,000 units, expires Dec 2025
• Decide channel allocation: 600 units → Amazon FBA, 400 units → Veeqo warehouse for DTC
• Create FBA shipment with 600 units from Lot ABC-123
• Keep 400 units in Veeqo warehouse as separate batch inventory
• Both channels tracked independently but from same source lot

TraceLot maintains visibility across both channels: you can see that Lot ABC-123 has 450 units remaining in FBA and 280 units in Veeqo warehouse, with complete sales history for both. This is critical for recalls (know which channel has affected lot) and expiry management (run promotions on the right channel).

Best Practices for FBA Expiry Management

Successful FBA sellers with expiring products follow these practices:

• Send only fresh inventory - Minimum 150 days shelf life when shipping to FBA, preferably 180+ days
• Monitor FBA sell-through rates - Track how fast each batch sells in FBA vs DTC. Send fast movers to FBA, keep slow movers in Veeqo where you control allocation.
• Run Amazon promotions at 90 days - When batches hit 90 days to expiry in FBA, create Lightning Deals or coupons to accelerate sales before hitting 50-day removal
• Use FBA inventory age reports - Review weekly to identify slow-moving batches approaching expiry
• Rebalance inventory quarterly - Remove slow movers from FBA before they hit 50-day deadline, sell through DTC with FEFO allocation
• Track batch performance by channel - Some products sell better on Amazon, others through DTC. Send batches to channels with faster velocity.
• Maintain 30% buffer for returns - When sending 1,000 units to FBA, keep 300 units in Veeqo as buffer for customer returns (FBA returns often can't go back to FBA)