Inventory Forecasting That Prevents Storage Fee Surprises with Chelsea Cohen
Firing The Man · with Chelsea Cohen · June 16, 2026 · 48 min
Summary
For Amazon sellers, mastering inventory forecasting is critical to profitability. Chelsea Cohen from SoStocked explains how proactive inventory management, focusing on storage and aged inventory fees, can prevent costly surprises. The episode emphasizes leveraging tools to identify slow-moving products and implement strategies to optimize inventory flow and capacity.
Key takeaways
Implement a robust inventory forecasting system like SoStocked to project inventory needs and potential storage fees up to a year in advance, accounting for sales trends and marketing plans.
Regularly audit and monitor Amazon fees, not just fulfillment and referral fees, but especially storage and aged inventory fees, as these can drastically impact profitability.
Utilize inventory management tools to identify overstock (e.g., products with >90 days of stock) and create a proactive plan to move this inventory, improving capacity limits and overall velocity.
For slow-moving or aged inventory, strategically use discounts, email list sales, external traffic, or bundle deals rather than immediately resorting to costly disposal or removal.
Analyze profitability at an ASIN level using 'contribution margins' to identify specific products that are no longer profitable due to changing costs (tariffs, fees, etc.) rather than just looking at overall catalog performance.
Amazon can take a shocking cut of your revenue before you even count product cost, shipping, and overhead, and that reality is forcing sellers to get far more disciplined about inventory and profit. We sit down with returning guest Chelsea Cohen to talk about what she’s learned as SoStocked moves through acquisitions and into a larger corporate ecosystem, and why that shift makes real-time visibility into fees, forecasting, and unit economics even more important for day-to-day decisions. We ...
What does this episode say about amazon & marketplaces?
Implement a robust inventory forecasting system like SoStocked to project inventory needs and potential storage fees up to a year in advance, accounting for sales trends and marketing plans.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Regularly audit and monitor Amazon fees, not just fulfillment and referral fees, but especially storage and aged inventory fees, as these can drastically impact profitability.
What does this episode say about finance & fundraising?
Utilize inventory management tools to identify overstock (e.g., products with >90 days of stock) and create a proactive plan to move this inventory, improving capacity limits and overall velocity.
What does this episode say about ai & automation?
For slow-moving or aged inventory, strategically use discounts, email list sales, external traffic, or bundle deals rather than immediately resorting to costly disposal or removal.
What does this episode say about amazon & marketplaces?
Analyze profitability at an ASIN level using 'contribution margins' to identify specific products that are no longer profitable due to changing costs (tariffs, fees, etc.) rather than just looking at overall catalog performance.
