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Operator reference

Amazon FBA Expiration Date Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the terms Amazon FBA sellers actually use when managing expiration-dated inventory. No marketing fluff. No definitions that read like Amazon docs.

Last reviewed·2026-05-29

Short version

Most of the friction in Amazon FBA expiration date management comes from the gap between what Amazon calls a thing and what a working seller calls a thing. This glossary defines the terms in plain language and links each definition to the workflow page that uses it. Use this as a desk reference; the hub at Amazon FBA expiration date managementis the operator's starting point.

Product identifiers

ASIN
Amazon Standard Identification Number. One ASIN per product. Buyers see ASINs in product-page URLs (e.g. amazon.com/dp/B0XYZ123). Sellers don't manage expiration at the ASIN level because a single ASIN can have multiple batches of inventory in FBA at the same time, each with a different expiration date. See FNSKU and MSKU expiration date tracking.
MSKU
Merchant SKU. The seller's identifier for an inventory line. The operator-credible practice is one MSKU per expiration batch — that way each batch in FBA has its own expiration date, its own scheduled Disposal Request, and its own audit trail. ASIN-level tracking loses batch identity at the unit-of-work layer.
FNSKU
Fulfillment Network SKU. The Amazon-issued barcode that gets physically printed on every unit going to FBA. The FNSKU is tied one-to-one with the MSKU. When the warehouse scans a unit at receiving, the FNSKU is what tells Amazon which MSKU the unit belongs to.

Dates

Expiration Date
The manufacturer-printed date on the unit. The date the product becomes unfit for use according to the manufacturer. Amazon records the expiration date in the inbound plan and uses it to calculate the Unsellable by Date.
Unsellable by Date
The date Amazon stops fulfilling the unit from FBA. Derived from the expiration date minus a category-specific safety buffer (commonly around 50 days for consumables and beauty; varies by category). Once a unit passes its Unsellable by Date, Amazon FEFO-blocks it and the seller pays storage until the unit is either physically disposed by Amazon's automatic cycle or removed by a seller-filed Disposal Request. See Amazon FBA Unsellable by Date.
FEFO
First-Expiry-First-Out. The principle of fulfilling the soonest-expiring batch before later batches. On a warehouse floor, FEFO is enforced by sequencing; on Amazon FBA, the seller doesn't control fulfillment, so FEFO is enforced indirectly through per-MSKU pricing. See Amazon FBA FEFO pricing.

Workflows

Disposal Request
A seller-filed instruction to Amazon to physically destroy specific units in FBA. Submitted through the Selling Partner API (or manually in Seller Central). Once submitted, Amazon controls acceptance, processing time, and the physical disposal — the seller controls only the timing of submission. See Amazon FBA Removal Order expiration.
Removal Order
The broader Amazon term for any seller instruction to remove units from FBA. Includes Disposal Requests (Amazon destroys the units) and Return Orders (Amazon ships the units to a seller-supplied address). For expiration-dated inventory, Disposal Requests are the dominant path because residual margin on past-Unsellable-by units is rarely positive net of return fees.
Subscribe & Save
Amazon's recurring-subscription program. Subscribers commit to monthly (or every-N-weeks) shipments of a specific product. Subscriptions are tied to a specific MSKU at sign-up, not to the ASIN — so when the active MSKU runs out, Amazon doesn't pick a different MSKU on the same ASIN. The seller has to transfer subscribers to the next MSKU inside the Subscribe & Save dashboard in Seller Central. See Subscribe & Save expiration risk.
Bin Check
The weekly operator ritual of reconciling the seller's authoritative per-MSKU record against Amazon's reports. Catches date discrepancies, quantity drift, and at-risk batches before they cost sales. Most operators run bin checks every Friday morning. See FBA inventory bin check.
expiration-date batch
A group of units that share the same expiration date and were received by Amazon as part of the same inbound shipment. In the per-MSKU model each batch gets its own MSKU. In ASIN-level tracking, batches lose their identity once received and are treated as interchangeable inventory.

Inventory states

Stranded Inventory
FBA stock Amazon can't fulfill for a non-quantity reason. Categories include: listing suppressed, offer removed, FEFO-blocked (past Unsellable by Date), pricing-rule conflict, missing image. Each category has its own remedy; the most common expiration-related path is FEFO-blocked → Disposal Request. See Amazon FBA stranded inventory + expiration.
FEFO block
The state Amazon puts a unit in once it passes its Unsellable by Date. The unit is still physically in the warehouse but Amazon will not fulfill it. The seller continues to pay storage on the unit until it is disposed.
Monitoring
The Shelfdoc dashboard state for an MSKU that is mapped, in FBA, and being actively tracked for expiration. The default state for healthy mapped inventory.
Archived
A Shelfdoc dashboard state for an MSKU that's no longer in active rotation — typically after the inventory has been fully disposed or sold through. Archived MSKUs remain in the audit log for reimbursement-case evidence but don't appear in active inventory views.

Shelfdoc-specific terms

Override price
A Shelfdoc lever that lets the seller temporarily inflate a specific MSKU's price through SP-API so the MSKU effectively stops selling. Used when the seller is in the middle of a transfer, a quality investigation, or a Subscribe & Save rotation and wants to ensure that no unintended order ships before the operator action completes. Amazon controls listing acceptance; Shelfdoc submits the price.
Mapped
A Shelfdoc state for inventory the seller has linked to an expiration date and an Unsellable by Date. Once mapped, the MSKU appears on the Mapped Inventory page and is eligible for scheduled Disposal Requests, FEFO pricing rotation, and Subscribe & Save monitoring.
Audit Trail
Shelfdoc's timestamped record of every action — Disposal Request submission, Amazon status transition, FEFO pricing change, Subscribe & Save transfer note, bin-check completion. Exportable to PDF or Excel. The audit trail is the evidence Seller Support reimbursement cases usually need.

Operate against the right vocabulary

Shelfdoc uses these terms consistently across the dashboard so the operator's mental model matches what the software is doing. Per-MSKU date mapping, scheduled Disposal Requests, FEFO pricing rotation, and a timestamped audit trail — all on the same vocabulary.

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