An Amazon FBA donation is what happens when you instruct Amazon to get rid of unfulfillable FBA inventory and Amazon, rather than destroying the units, makes the eligible ones available to a charity. Two facts answer most of the questions sellers ask about it. Donating is not free — Amazon’s FBA Donations program page states, in the words of an Amazon staff post, “Our usual disposal fees apply.” And participation is mandatory for US sellers: since September 30, 2025, Amazon no longer lets US or Canada sellers opt out. Both points are sourced below; the fee wording was data checked 2026-09-11 and the enrollment change 2026-09-14.
This guide covers the donation mechanism only: what triggers it, what it costs, who decides eligibility, and whether you can still turn it off.
What Actually Triggers an FBA Donation
A donation is not something you file separately. It is a routing decision Amazon makes inside a removal or disposal request. The FBA Donations program page puts it this way: “When you request disposal of eligible overstock, returned, or other unwanted FBA inventory,” Amazon “makes it available to select US charities” (quoted by Amazon staff account Topher_Amazon, Seller Forums, read 2026-09-11).
So the trigger is the disposal path, not a donation form. For how disposal requests themselves are created, priced, and scheduled, see our FBA removal orders guide — that page covers the order mechanics; this one covers only what happens to a unit once donation is in the picture.
There is a second path that surprises sellers, and it needs no action from you at all. Because enrollment is automatic, “any product that is returned and is ineligible for resale may automatically be donated” (Amazon, seller announcement on donation certificates, read 2026-09-11). A customer return that fails grading can end up with a charity without you ever opening the removals page.
Amazon’s own advice is that the passive path under-uses the program. That same announcement tells sellers they “have to manually elect to donate additional product” to get the most out of it, and points to setting “a standard cadence for donating your products, such as twice a month” on the Removals page.
In the US the receiving partner is Good360, which distributes donated FBA inventory “across its diverse network of US nonprofits”; the program has run since 2019 (both from Amazon sources, read 2026-09-11).
Is There a Donation Fee?
There is no separate donation fee, and there is no fee waiver either. The disposal fee you would have paid to have the unit destroyed still applies when the unit is donated instead.
The program page sentence is short and unambiguous: “Our usual disposal fees apply.” (quoted verbatim by Topher_Amazon on the Seller Forums, read 2026-09-11). Amazon’s donation-certificate announcement frames donation as a value-recovery channel without ever describing it as free (read 2026-09-11).
Three consequences worth holding onto:
Donating changes the destination, not the bill. A donated unit and a destroyed unit are charged on the same disposal side of your account. Choosing donation over disposal is not a cost decision — it is a destination decision.
The amount is unit-specific. Disposal fees are per unit and keyed to size tier and shipping weight, so a single “how much does a donation cost” number does not exist. The rate card lives inside Seller Central; pull your own figure from the Fee Preview report. Our removal orders guide documents how those charges are billed and why a single large order lands as many transaction lines.
The inventory has to be unwanted first. A donation rides on a disposal decision you were already making. If the units are still sellable this is the wrong frame — see the aged inventory surcharge and the stranded inventory guide.
Can You Still Opt Out of FBA Donations?
Not in the US or Canada. On the Seller Forums, Amazon’s News_Amazon account announced (posted 2025-08-22): “The FBA Donations program, which allows your eligible products to be donated instead of recycled, will become mandatory. As of September 30, 2025, you won’t be able to opt out. If you’ve previously opted out, you will be re-enrolled.” The same text was posted for both marketplaces (US announcement, Canada announcement, read 2026-09-14).
Opting out used to be a setting change. A March 2024 Amazon staff post (Topher_Amazon, Seller Forums) described the state before that date: “While you’re enrolled in FBA Donations by default, sellers have the option of opting out of the program.” The path it gave was Settings → Fulfillment by Amazon → FBA Donations program → Edit → Disable. That description predates September 30, 2025, and accounts that had disabled the program were re-enrolled on that change.
Two things the change did not touch:
The fee. The announcement is explicit: “There are no changes to the fees for either program.” Donated units still sit on the disposal fee line described above.
Liquidations. The same announcement made FBA Liquidations the default for unsold inventory if you haven’t configured your automated fulfillable and unfulfillable settings, but kept it optional: “You can still opt out of the Liquidations program at any time.” Amazon’s recommendation was to “review these changes and adjust your inventory management strategy, including your FBA settings, before September 30, 2025”.
If you would rather have the units back than see them donated, the comparison you actually want is donation versus return, not donation versus disposal. The return path is covered in our FBA returns guide.
Donation vs Disposal, Liquidation, and Return
All four outcomes start from the same place — inventory you have decided not to sell — and differ in where the units go and what comes back.
| Outcome | Where the units go | What you receive | Fee side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donate | Eligible units to US charities via Good360 | Nothing | “Our usual disposal fees apply” |
| Dispose | Destroyed | Nothing | Standard per-unit disposal fee |
| Liquidate | Sold in bulk to a contracted liquidator | Net recovery value in cash | Processing and referral fees |
| Return | Shipped to an address you provide | The physical units | Per-unit removal fee |
Sources: donation fee line and Good360 routing from Topher_Amazon, Seller Forums, read 2026-09-11; liquidation and return mechanics are documented on their own pages — see the FBA liquidations guide and the removal orders guide. Fee framing for 2026 sits in our 2026 fee changes write-up.
The practical read: donation and disposal are the same cost with different destinations — neither returns value to you, but one puts the unit in front of a charity instead of a shredder. Liquidation is the only one of the four that pays cash, and it pays a small share of the original value.
What Amazon Won’t Donate, and Who Decides
Eligibility is Amazon’s call, not yours, and filing a disposal request does not guarantee a donation.
Items that fail the check are not held for you — they are destroyed. Per Topher_Amazon, “If a product is not eligible for donation,” Amazon “will dispose of it in accordance with relevant regulations and safety guidelines” (Seller Forums, read 2026-09-11).
So a disposal request that you filed hoping for a donation can still end in destruction, and you are charged the disposal fee either way. The nonprofit side has its own constraint too: “As part of their agreement with Good360, the nonprofits may not sell, trade, or barter donated goods” (same post) — donated inventory does not re-enter the market as competing listings.
We could not verify a public, itemised list of ineligible categories: Amazon’s FBA Donations help page returns a sign-in wall to a logged-out reader, checked 2026-09-11. Treat any specific list of excluded product types you find elsewhere as unverified until you read it inside your own account.
Donation Certificates and the Tax Question
Donated units generate a paper trail you can use at filing time. Amazon’s announcement states that a donation certificate is “generated on a yearly basis and can be found on the Donations page in Seller Central,” and that it reports “the quantity and description of your inventory that was donated through the program in the previous year” (read 2026-09-11). Certificates are generated from your Seller Central business information, so keep that information current.
Amazon is direct about the limits of what it will tell you: “Amazon cannot provide tax advice to sellers who are enrolled,” and the guidance is to “contact your tax adviser to determine whether a charitable deduction is an option for you” (Topher_Amazon, read 2026-09-11).
This guide is a mechanism description, not tax advice — the deduction question is jurisdiction-specific and depends on your entity.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming donation is free. It shares the disposal fee line. Budget it exactly as you would a disposal.
- Expecting a donation to happen just because you filed disposal. Eligibility is discretionary and decided per unit; ineligible units are destroyed.
- Never checking the enrollment setting. US accounts start enrolled, so donated units may appear without a deliberate decision — check Settings → Fulfillment by Amazon.
- Planning to opt out to avoid the fee. US and Canada sellers can no longer opt out, and Amazon’s announcement of that change says “There are no changes to the fees for either program.” If cost is the problem, the decision to make is remove-vs-keep, not donate-vs-dispose.
- Treating the certificate as a deduction. It is a record of what was donated, not a tax determination.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon charge a fee to donate my FBA inventory?
Yes — the standard disposal fee applies to donated units. The program page states “Our usual disposal fees apply” (quoted by Amazon staff account Topher_Amazon, Seller Forums, read 2026-09-11). Donation changes where the unit goes, not what you pay.
Can I still opt out of the FBA Donations program?
Not in the US or Canada. Amazon’s Seller Forums announcement states: “As of September 30, 2025, you won’t be able to opt out. If you’ve previously opted out, you will be re-enrolled.” (News_Amazon, read 2026-09-14). The Edit → Disable setting that Amazon staff described in 2024 predates that change. FBA Liquidations stays optional: “You can still opt out of the Liquidations program at any time.”
What happens to inventory that isn’t eligible for donation?
It is disposed of rather than returned to you: “If a product is not eligible for donation,” Amazon “will dispose of it in accordance with relevant regulations and safety guidelines” (Topher_Amazon, read 2026-09-11).
How do I find out how much inventory Amazon donated for me?
Look on the Donations page in Seller Central. Amazon generates a donation certificate yearly that reports “the quantity and description of your inventory that was donated through the program in the previous year” (Amazon announcement, read 2026-09-11).
Conclusion
FBA Donations is a routing rule attached to the disposal path, and the three things worth remembering are short. It triggers when you request disposal of eligible inventory — and, for returns ineligible for resale, sometimes without any action from you. It is not free, because “our usual disposal fees apply.” And since September 30, 2025, it is mandatory for US and Canada sellers: the opt-out is gone, accounts that had opted out were re-enrolled, and the fees did not change.
Data checked 2026-09-11. Amazon’s FBA Donations help page and program terms are published per marketplace and sit behind a seller login; the quotes above are taken from Amazon’s public announcement and from Amazon staff posts on the public Seller Forums that reproduce the program page wording. Check the FBA Donations program page in your own Seller Central for your marketplace’s current terms.