Amazon have announced that from September, stock placed in US FBA that you opt to dump via Amazon FBA disposal will be offered to charity rather than go straight to destruction.
In truth, Amazon already dispose of goods which merchants request be disposed of. Whilst you may think that everything goes in the crusher, we’ve heard of instances where Amazon FBA disposal stock has been auctioned off and merchants have spotted their unique inventory being sold online on other marketplaces.
Obviously with the concern for the environment, in this day and age simply sending disposal stock to landfill isn’t a viable option. That’s why Amazon has to seek alternatives and why they are intending to offer Amazon FBA disposal stock to charities.
It looks like offering your Amazon FBA disposal stock to charities will be automatic, unless you actively opt out. If you want surety that you stock will be disposed of and won’t ever find it’s way back onto the open market, the two best routes available to you are either to pay Amazon to return it or to lower the price point until it simply sells. Selling stock won’t always be a viable option, so if you opt for disposal it’ll either go to charity or to whatever disposal company Amazon can get to take it.
“Starting September 1, 2019, sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) will have the option to donate excess inventory in the US to select US charities.
Amazon will automatically make eligible inventory available to charitable organizations when you choose to dispose of overstock, returns, and other unwanted items. The donation option will apply to inventory you select for disposal manually and through automatic disposal settings.
You can opt-out of this donation program at any time by disabling FBA Donations in your FBA Settings”
– Amazon Announcement