FLEX. Fulfillment
We provide logistics services to online retailers in Europe: Amazon FBA prep, processing FBA removal orders, forwarding to Fulfillment Centers - both FBA and Vendor shipments.
This guide covers Amazon FBA removal orders and customer returns in Europe for non-EU sellers. It explains what removal orders are, when to use them, how to set up a EU return address, what happens when units arrive at a prep centre, and how FLEX. processes removals and returns in Germany, France and Poland. Written for sellers in the UK, US, Hong Kong and Australia managing EU FBA inventory.
What Are Removal Orders
A removal order is a seller-initiated request to Amazon to return inventory from Amazon fulfilment centres to a specified address. Amazon packs the units and ships them to your registered return address — typically a prep centre. Removal orders can be triggered manually per ASIN in Seller Central, or automatically through Amazon's FBA Automated Removals setting (which initiates removals when inventory approaches long-term storage fee thresholds). Types: standard removal (units returned to you) and disposal order (Amazon destroys units at the FC). Removal orders are the mechanism for recovering inventory that you want to re-sell, re-prep, or redirect to another channel.
A removal order returns units to your specified EU address — typically your prep centre — where you can inspect, re-prep and re-sell them. A disposal order instructs Amazon to destroy units at the FC. Disposal is cheaper (lower per-unit fee) and faster, but irreversible. Use removal orders when units have commercial value and can be salvaged — damaged packaging that can be reboxed, units that need relabelling, or products you want to sell through a different channel. Use disposal orders only when units have no recoverable value and the removal cost would exceed any possible return. For most non-EU sellers, defaulting to removal rather than disposal preserves options.
Unfulfillable inventory is stock that Amazon has marked as damaged, defective, expired, or subject to recall — units that cannot be fulfilled to customers and must be removed or disposed of. Stranded inventory is stock that is in an FC but not connected to an active listing — typically because the listing was deleted or suppressed. Stranded inventory can still be fulfilled once the listing is restored; unfulfillable inventory cannot be sold from FBA regardless. Both appear in Seller Central's Inventory Health dashboard. Non-EU sellers should review both regularly: stranded inventory generates storage fees without generating sales, and unfulfillable inventory will accumulate disposal fees if not actioned.
When to Initiate a Removal Order
Five situations that typically justify a removal order: (1) FBA storage fees are accumulating on slow-moving inventory and the total fee cost will exceed the product's recoverable value if held further; (2) units are approaching expiry (food, cosmetics, supplements) and will be flagged unfulfillable by Amazon before they sell; (3) products have a quality defect that can be fixed at a prep centre — repackaging, relabelling, or minor repair — and then re-sent to FBA; (4) Amazon has flagged units as unfulfillable and you want to recover value rather than pay disposal fees; (5) you are discontinuing a product or closing your EU FBA operation and need to retrieve stock.
Check Seller Central: Inventory → Manage FBA Inventory → filter by 'Unfulfillable'. The FBA Returns Report and Inventory Health Report also show unfulfillable unit counts per ASIN. Amazon sends automated email notifications when units are flagged unfulfillable, but these notifications are easy to miss — setting a weekly calendar reminder to check the Unfulfillable filter directly is more reliable. Unfulfillable units that are not actioned within Amazon's holding period will be auto-disposed with a disposal fee charged to your account.
Amazon charges a per-unit removal fee when the order is initiated, regardless of unit condition. As of 2026, fees for EU FCs are approximately EUR 0.25 to EUR 0.60 per unit for standard-size products and EUR 0.60 to EUR 1.00 per unit for oversize. These fees apply to the Amazon side of the removal — separately, your prep centre charges receiving and inspection fees when the units arrive. The combined cost of a removal order (Amazon fee + prep centre receiving + any re-prep work) should be weighed against the recoverable value of the units before initiating. For low-value products, disposal may be cheaper than removal; for products with meaningful resale value, removal almost always makes financial sense.
The Removal Process
In Seller Central: Settings → Fulfillment by Amazon → FBA Return Settings. Add your EU prep centre address (for example, FLEX.'s German warehouse address) as your return address for each EU marketplace. Amazon will ship removal order units to this address. The critical point: if you do not set an EU return address, Amazon defaults to disposing of your inventory rather than returning it — many non-EU sellers lose stock this way simply by not completing this setting. Set the return address before your first EU shipment goes into FBA, not after you have inventory to remove. Amazon removals and returns in Europe at FLEX. covers the full service across all EU locations.
On arrival, FLEX. performs a receiving check and condition inspection for every unit: units are graded as sellable (no damage, packaging intact), damaged (packaging or product damage), or expired/unsalvageable. A photo report is generated and sent to you within 24 to 48 hours showing the condition breakdown. You then decide how to proceed for each grade: sellable units can be re-prepped and sent back to FBA, damaged units can be reboxed or scrapped, and expired units disposed of. FLEX. logs all units into the WMS — you have full visibility of what was received and the condition breakdown. Amazon removals and returns in Germany covers the Germany-specific workflow.
Amazon ships removal orders via standard parcel carriers (DHL, UPS, DPD in the EU). Transit from FC to FLEX.: 1 to 3 business days for same-country removals (Amazon Germany FC to FLEX. Germany), 2 to 5 business days for cross-country (Amazon France FC to FLEX. Germany, or vice versa). Amazon's own processing of the removal order — picking and packing at the FC — takes a further 7 to 14 business days from the time you submit the removal order in Seller Central. Total timeline from removal order submission to units arriving at FLEX.: typically 10 to 20 business days.
Yes — this is a core FLEX. service. On receipt of removal order units: FLEX. inspects and assesses sellability, applies fresh FNSKU labels (the original FNSKU may be damaged or covered), repackages units where needed (new retail box, poly-bag, or overwrap), builds a new inbound shipment plan in Seller Central, and forwards to the assigned FC. Units that return to FBA via this process are treated as new inbound by Amazon — they re-enter the fulfilment queue and become available for sale. Amazon removals and returns in Germany at FLEX. handles the full re-prep and re-send workflow.
What FLEX. Does With Removal Units
Five options for units received from removal orders, which can be applied per unit based on condition: (1) re-prep and restock to FBA — relabel, rebox if needed, create new inbound shipment plan; (2) store at FLEX. for a later decision — units held in pre-Amazon storage while you assess options; (3) forward to a different fulfilment channel — B2C direct from FLEX. warehouse or B2B wholesale; (4) palletise and return to your origin address — useful for product issues requiring manufacturer attention; (5) liquidation — FLEX. can connect sellers with EU liquidation buyers for bulk clearance of unsalvageable stock. The condition grading report FLEX. provides on receiving forms the basis for these decisions.
Yes. When a consumer returns a product purchased on Amazon EU, Amazon sends the return to the seller's registered EU return address. If FLEX.'s address is registered, FLEX. receives the return, inspects it, grades it (Grade A: sellable as new; Grade B: minor cosmetic issues; Grade C: significant damage), photographs it, and processes it according to your standing instructions — re-list as new, relist as used, rebox, or dispose. Returns processing service for ecommerce brands at FLEX. covers both FBA removal orders and direct consumer returns from a single workflow.
Costs and Return Address Setup
FLEX.'s removal order processing fees cover: a receiving and inspection fee per unit (or per shipment for large batches), a re-prep fee if relabelling or reboxing is required (charged per unit per service), storage fees if units are held at FLEX. after processing, and an outbound fee for forwarding back to FBA or returning to origin. Specific pricing depends on product size, prep complexity, and volume. Amazon removals and returns processing at FLEX. provides indicative pricing — contact FLEX. for a quote specific to your product type and expected removal volume.
Yes — this is a standard arrangement for non-EU sellers without a European office or warehouse. You register FLEX.'s warehouse address in Seller Central as your permanent EU return address. All removal orders and customer returns across your EU Amazon marketplaces are then directed to FLEX. automatically. FLEX. processes each shipment on arrival and notifies you of the condition report. You do not need to arrange anything per shipment — the return address is set once and all future removals and returns flow to FLEX. by default. Amazon removals and returns in France covers FLEX.'s French return address service for Amazon.fr.
FLEX. warehouse addresses in Germany, Poland and France can each be registered as EU return addresses in Amazon Seller Central. For sellers on multiple EU marketplaces, you can either use a single German address (covering all EU removals — Amazon ships cross-country) or set country-specific return addresses to reduce return transit times (French address for Amazon.fr removals, German for Amazon.de, Polish for Amazon.pl). FLEX. processes removals from any EU FC at any of its three locations. Amazon removals and returns in France covers the French location specifically.
Common Issues
Five issues that recur regularly: (1) no EU return address set in Seller Central — Amazon defaults to disposal, and the seller loses stock they did not intend to dispose of; (2) units arrive at the prep centre with damage that was not reflected in Amazon's removal report — always photograph and document on receipt; (3) ignoring unfulfillable notifications until Amazon auto-disposes — set up a weekly Seller Central review to catch these early; (4) using a personal or non-operational address as the EU return address — returns go to an address with no receiving capability; (5) underestimating the timeline — removal orders take 10 to 20 business days from submission to prep centre arrival, so plan accordingly for inventory you need to re-sell quickly.
Amazon continues charging storage fees on unfulfillable units indefinitely. After a holding period — which varies by product category and FC — Amazon may initiate an automatic disposal and charge a disposal fee. The seller loses both the product value and pays fees. For products with any recoverable value, initiating a removal order promptly is always preferable to inaction. The cost of a removal order (Amazon fee plus FLEX. processing) is almost always lower than the accumulated storage fees plus disposal fee on inventory that Amazon eventually auto-disposes.
Yes. After FLEX. re-preps units with fresh FNSKU labels and a new condition assessment, a new inbound shipment plan is created in Seller Central. Amazon's placement algorithm assigns the shipment to whichever FC is appropriate for the product and current inventory distribution — this may be the same FC the units came from or a different one. From Amazon's perspective, re-prepped removal units entering FBA via a new shipment plan are treated identically to new inventory from any other source.
France and Poland Locations
Yes. FLEX. France can be registered as the return address for your Amazon.fr seller account. Units from Amazon.fr FCs (CDG3, LYS8 and others) are shipped to FLEX.'s French address and processed through the same receive-inspect-grade-report workflow used in Germany. Re-prep and re-send to Amazon.fr FCs is available from the French location, along with B2C fulfilment and returns processing for non-Amazon French channels. Amazon removals and returns in Europe at FLEX. covers the full multi-country removal and returns service.
Yes. FLEX.'s Polish location is near WRO1 and WRO5 — Amazon's major Polish FCs — making transit for Amazon.pl removal orders particularly fast (typically same-day or next-day delivery from WRO1 to FLEX. Poland). FLEX. Poland also receives removal orders from Czech Republic FCs (PRG1, PRG2), which are within 2 to 3 hours by road. For sellers using Pan-EU FBA, FLEX. Poland is the recommended return address for Amazon.pl and Czech Republic removals, with FLEX. Germany covering German, Austrian and Benelux FC removals. Amazon removals and returns in Germany covers the Germany and Poland removal workflows.
Related Services
Amazon removal order and returns processing across the FLEX. network:
- Amazon removals and returns in Europe — multi-country removal processing overview
- Amazon removals and returns in Germany — FLEX.'s German removal and re-prep service
- Amazon removals and returns in France — FLEX.'s French return address and processing service
- Returns processing service for ecommerce brands — customer returns processing alongside FBA removal orders
Located in the center of Europe, FLEX. Fulfillment provides Amazon removal order processing, customer returns handling and re-prep for FBA re-send in Germany, Poland and France.
Get in touch for a free quote and returns assessment tailored to your EU FBA removal and returns volume.