How one hidden setting destroyed a seller’s business overnight

Have you ever been blindsided by a hidden Amazon FBA setting? 

One seller shared their nightmare of a “kill switch” they didn’t even know existed—leading them to the brink of bankruptcy. The worst part? They had no idea it had been triggered until it was too late.

• One hidden setting wiped out a business overnight ⚠️
• Up to $75K in incentives for new sellers 💰
• Thought of the Day 🍴

SELLERBITES INBOX

An Amazon seller (OP) asked: One hidden setting caused my business to mark over $60,000 worth of inventory for disposal. How do we avoid bankruptcy?

It started like any normal week. Orders were moving, inventory looked stable, and there were no red flags—until there were.

Buried in their FBA preferences was a forgotten switch: “Dispose after 12 months.” It had been sitting there for a year, untouched. Then—without warning—the system activated it. 🚨

• No alert. Suddenly, over 3,000 units of perfectly good inventory were marked for destruction. 
• No reversal. Support confirmed the worst: once the process begins, it can’t be stopped. At $20 per unit, the loss hit hard—$60,000 gone overnight.

Years of work wiped out, not from bad products or poor customer service—but from one overlooked toggle.

🔎 If you use FBA, double-check this now

This isn’t a one-off story. Multiple sellers in the thread confirmed similar experiences. 

• Check your removal settings. Go to FBA Settings → Automated Fulfillable Inventory Settings. Make sure “Dispose” isn’t the default.
• Set reminders. Put alerts 10–11 months out from stock arrival dates so you can act before the 12-month mark.
• Use removal orders proactively. Ship unsold stock to your location before the system does it for you.
• Escalate early. If something goes wrong, open a case and escalate it to an FBA supervisor. Ask for a manual intervention immediately.
• Know your rights. If you’ve experienced similar losses, speak to an Amazon-specific attorney. Arbitration might be your only option.

⌛ Before it’s too late

This wasn’t just a loss of inventory. It was a business, a dream, a family’s livelihood—undone by automation with no human pause.

So here’s the takeaway: double-check your FBA settings. Especially removal options. That tiny toggle could be the difference between growth and collapse.

For this seller, it may be too late (hopefully not). But for you, there’s still time to prevent the same silent disaster.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

One hidden setting. One missed checkbox. That’s all it takes.

In a system this big, you can’t assume anything is “just working.” Check everything—twice.

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