This article is for sellers who want to stop selling on Amazon but aren't sure how to wrap up their remaining orders and returns, the inventory in FBA warehouses, and sales proceeds that haven't been paid out yet. We lay out the conditions for closing a seller account (labeled "Close account" (アカウントを閉じる) on screen), the order in which to wrap things up, and how to submit the request. The content is based on Seller Central Help and the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement (the contract between sellers and Amazon, referred to below as the "BSA") as of September 2026. Screens and fees may change.
Before you close: the process can't be undone, and there are other options
Closure can't be reversed, and you'll no longer be able to log in
Help clearly states that Amazon cannot reactivate a closed account and that you will need to register a new account to sell again. New registrations go through a review and identity verification, so don't assume you can come back any time you like.
After closure, you can't log in, which means you can no longer view your order history, process returns and refunds, respond to A-to-z Guarantee claims (Amazonマーケットプレイス保証申請, the program through which buyers bring problems to Amazon; referred to below as "claims"), or contact buyers. In addition, the BSA provides that while a seller may stop using the services at any time, the seller's obligations and liabilities for transactions made before termination survive termination. In other words, closing your account doesn't make your outstanding obligations go away; it only takes away your means of dealing with them.
Compare closing with vacation settings, closing listings, and switching to Individual
Help itself advises considering a temporary pause, closing your listings, or switching to the Individual selling plan before closing your account.
| Option | Main effect | Monthly subscription fee (Professional plan) | Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacation settings | Listings are hidden within an hour. FBA listings remain active | Still charged while on vacation | Kept |
| Close listings | The listings become "Inactive," and your sales history is retained | Some official pages say it isn't charged if you have no buyable products as of the billing date, but the official wording is inconsistent, so it may not stop | Kept (you can relist) |
| Switch to Individual | Listings keep selling unless you turn on vacation settings | None (a ¥100 per-item fee on each sale) | Kept |
| Close account | You can no longer transact on that account | If you still have a Professional account with buyable products in another region, the monthly fee for that region may continue | Ended. Cannot be reactivated |
- You want to stop temporarily: Vacation settings. Even while on vacation, you still need to process return requests and reply to buyer emails within 24 hours.
- You want to stop fixed costs and see how things go: Switch to the Individual plan. You can also close all your listings, but Amazon's official pages are inconsistent on when the monthly subscription fee is charged: some say it applies "if you have buyable products (including FBA listings) as of the billing date," while others say it applies "regardless of whether you list or sell," so closing your listings alone may not stop the fee. Either way, if you leave inventory in FBA warehouses, storage fees still apply. We explain the steps in how to switch from the Professional to the Individual selling plan.
- You want to stop selling on Amazon: Close your account. Submit the request after you've finished the preparations in this article.
The Professional plan's monthly subscription fee is ¥4,900 (shown excluding tax). If you haven't used any Professional plan tools or benefits, you may be eligible for a one-time refund of up to three months' fees when you stop using the plan. However, the request must be made within 90 days of paying the Professional plan's monthly subscription fee, so check early to make sure the deadline doesn't pass while you're waiting.
If your account is suspended or under review, check this first
Help doesn't say whether a closure request will be accepted while your account is suspended, and it asks you to confirm before closing that all reasons for suspension have been resolved and your account has been reinstated. While suspended, closing your account won't change the following:
- If Amazon determines there is risk, unpaid sales proceeds are generally held for 90 days, and the hold may be extended
- For products suspected of violating policy (such as suspected intellectual property infringement), you can't create a removal order, and you'll be asked to resolve the issue on the Account Health page
- After you're notified that inventory must be removed due to an account suspension or similar reason, unfulfillable inventory may be disposed of if you give no instructions within 30 days
Review the notification and your remaining inventory and sales proceeds, then decide whether to submit an appeal for reinstatement or to wrap up your outstanding matters and proceed with closure. We explain the difference between "suspended" and "closed" in how to tell a suspended seller account from a closed one, and funds on hold in how to check your sales proceeds after a suspension.
Closure conditions and the order of preparation: work backward from your last sale
The conditions in official Help
The Help page "Close your selling account" (出品用アカウントの解約) states that you can't close your account if any of the following apply: it has been less than 90 days since your last sale, you have an unresolved A-to-z Guarantee claim, or your balance isn't zero. Help doesn't specify which date starts the 90-day count (the order date, ship date, or delivery date), so build in plenty of margin when you plan.
"Steps to take before closing your account" listed in Help
- Ship all unshipped orders
- Wait 90 days from your last sale (the A-to-z Guarantee claim period)
- Wait until your next payment or charge date has passed and your balance is zero
- Resolve all transactions with buyers, including any necessary refunds
- Make sure your current bank account information is on file so you can receive your final payment
- Review your Performance Notifications and confirm that all reasons for suspension have been resolved and your account has been reinstated
- (Note) If you have FBA inventory, request that all of it be returned or disposed of before closing
Each region is a separate process
Accounts in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia are closed separately. If you close the US store on a unified North American account, you'll also be deactivated in the other countries where you're eligible to sell, and closing a European account deactivates you in all European stores. If you've ever sold overseas, start by checking the account list in Global Selling to see which regions still have an account and buyable products.
Preparation schedule
Laying out how long each step takes, the following order is realistic (the timeframes are Help's guidelines). If your account is suspended, decide at this point whether to appeal for reinstatement or wrap up your outstanding matters.
| Order | What to do | Approximate timeframe or timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stop all listings, including FBA, using "Close listing," and also stop advertising and any tools that automatically manage listings or prices. On the Professional plan, also check whether you're eligible for a refund of the monthly subscription fee (requests must be made within 90 days of the payment date) | The last order received up to this point is roughly your "last sale." Leave margin that covers the ship and delivery dates as well |
| 2 | Ship unshipped orders and handle returns and inquiries | Returns are generally accepted within 30 days of delivery (this may be extended over the holiday season) |
| 3 | Request returns or disposal of FBA inventory | Usually 10–14 business days. From October to December and during peak periods, it can take 30 days or more |
| 4 | Wait in case of A-to-z Guarantee claims and chargebacks | At least 90 days from your last sale |
| 5 | Check charges that arrive the following month | Storage fees are usually charged around the 7th to 15th of the month after they're incurred |
| 6 | Confirm a zero balance and receive your final payout | Payouts are generally every 14 days. Make any bank account changes early (changing it at the last minute delays the payout) |
| 7 | Download your records, clean up any remaining third-party access, and submit the request | Right up until you submit, since you can't log in after closure |
FBA listings aren't stopped by vacation settings, so if inventory sells, that day becomes your new "last sale" and the 90-day count starts over. Decide up front whether to sell through your stock before stopping or to stop partway and have it returned or disposed of, and if you'll sell through, include that period in your schedule.
Clearing outstanding orders, returns, and claims
Your obligations to buyers continue during the preparation period, so check your notifications and email every day until the request is complete.
Stop new orders and ship unshipped ones
On the Manage All Inventory (全在庫の管理) page, choose "Close listing" (出品を終了) from "Edit details" (詳細を編集) to make a listing "Inactive" (停止中); you can also do this in bulk from "Action" (アクション). Use this rather than "Delete product and listing" (商品と出品を削除), which can't be undone. Ship all unshipped orders, and finish by sending shipping confirmations and entering tracking numbers.
Process returns and refunds through Amazon's system
The BSA requires cancellations, returns, and refunds to be processed promptly using your account's functionality, and all payments to buyers to be made through Amazon. Settling a refund outside your account, such as by bank transfer, doesn't follow the contractual procedure. We explain the flow from return to refund confirmation in an overview of the Amazon returns process.
Prepare for A-to-z Guarantee claims and chargebacks
For A-to-z Guarantee claims, if you don't respond to a request for additional information within 48 hours, the buyer's claim will be granted and the claim amount will be debited from your account. Respond via Performance (パフォーマンス) > A-to-z Guarantee Claims (Amazonマーケットプレイス保証申請) > the "Action required" (対応が必要な申請) tab, using "Send explanation to Amazon" (詳細説明をAmazonへ送信). For claims that have been granted, you can request an appeal within 30 calendar days.
Among chargebacks (a buyer disputing a payment through their card issuer), those for service-related reasons, such as an item not being received, are the seller's responsibility. You're advised to keep tracking information and similar records for at least six months from the order date.
Returning or disposing of FBA inventory
If you still have inventory, request a return or disposal using the following steps.
- On the Manage All Inventory (全在庫の管理) page, select the products, then choose "Create removal order" (返送/所有権の放棄依頼を作成) from "Apply to selected" (選択中の商品を一括変更)
- Choose a ship-to address to have items returned, or "Disposal" (廃棄) to have them disposed of
- Enter an order ID (one is assigned automatically if left blank) and the quantities of sellable and unsellable units
- Proceed through "Review" (確認) and "Confirm" (確定), and check that the message "Removal order confirmed" (返送/所有権の放棄依頼が確定しました) appears
What to check before placing the order
Checklist before a return order
- Is the return address yourself, your own warehouse, your supplier, or a vendor? (Items can't be sent to a convenience store, a carrier's local office, another fulfillment center, or outside Japan)
- Did you enter the phone number correctly? (The carrier uses it to arrange delivery dates and times)
- You can cancel only while the order is "Planning" (計画中), which usually lasts a few hours; once it's "Processing" (処理中), it can't be canceled
Submitting the order means you're deemed to have agreed to accept the items when they're delivered in a batch. If you refuse delivery, disposal costs are charged to you, and if items come back as undeliverable because of an incorrect address or similar issue, they may be treated as abandoned and disposed of.
Removal and disposal fees, and what happens if you never place an order
Fees are charged per item. For example, for small and standard-size items, they are ¥60 for 0–200 g, ¥90 for 201–500 g, and ¥130 for 501–1,000 g (tax included). From April 1, 2026, fees are charged at the time each individual item is removed.
Unsellable inventory may be disposed of if you don't place an order within 30 days of being notified, and the BSA also provides that if you give no instructions within 30 days after the agreement ends, Amazon may return or dispose of the inventory.
Settling sales proceeds and charges to bring your balance to zero
Sales proceeds are held under the following mechanisms, so factor in the waiting time as you prepare.
| Mechanism | Details |
|---|---|
| Delivery Date-Based reserve | To cover refund requests, sales are held for a set number of days after the delivery date (7 days by default) |
| Account-level reserve | Funds are held for reasons such as unresolved A-to-z Guarantee claims, chargebacks in the past 90 days, performance metrics falling below targets, or the account being under review |
| Payout cycle | Generally once every 14 days. Adding or changing bank account information may push the settlement date back by up to 14 days |
After you add or update bank account information, a transfer can't be initiated until 3 days have passed, so avoid making changes in the 3 days before a payment date. A minimum balance of ¥351 is said to be required to receive sales proceeds, and Help doesn't say what happens to a balance left below that amount. If a small amount remains and things won't move forward, check with Seller Support. Check your payment status under "Payments" (支払い管理; "Payments Dashboard" (ペイメントダッシュボード) on the older screen).
Negative balances and charges that arrive later
During the preparation period, your sales go down while refunds and fee charges continue, so your balance may go negative. In Help's example, refunding a paid ¥1,000 item in a category with a 15% referral fee results in a charge of ¥865: the refund plus a ¥15 refund administration fee, minus the ¥150 referral fee.
A negative balance that isn't cleared by the next settlement is paid either by card via the Payments tab's "Payments" (ペイメント) > "Pay negative balance" (マイナス残高を支払う), or by wire transfer (the reference code is "NSB JP" combined with your Merchant Token, which you can find on the Seller Information (出品者情報) page). Storage fees may arrive in the month after you've removed your inventory.
Before you lose access: records to keep and data to delete
Move the records you need to your own storage before submitting the request, and delete buyer personal information you no longer need.
| Category | Item | How to handle |
|---|---|---|
| Download | Date range reports (summary PDF and transaction CSV) | "Payments" > "Reports Repository" (レポートリポジトリ). Up to 365 days per report, going back as far as 2012. Reports can take up to 3 hours to generate, so don't leave this until the day you submit |
| Download | Settlement reports | From "Payment Reports" (ペイメントレポート) on the older screen or "Finance Reports" (ファイナンスレポート) on the newer screen |
| Download | Order reports | "Orders" (注文) > "Order Reports" (注文レポート). Orders more than two years old are on the "Archived Orders" (過去の注文) tab (buyer personal information is not included) |
| Download | Copies of invoices issued to buyers (qualified invoices) | "Manage Invoices" (請求書管理) in the order details, or from order reports in bulk (sign in with your primary email address). This covers orders from December 2024, when the feature was introduced; for earlier orders, check your own copies |
| Download | Fee invoices from Amazon | "Reports" (レポート) > "Tax Document Library" (タックス関連文書ライブラリ) > "Fee Invoices" (手数料明細書) tab |
| Download | Performance Notifications and correspondence with Amazon | Keep the history you need by saving or printing the screens |
| Delete | Buyer names, addresses, and phone numbers saved for shipping | Delete promptly once no longer needed, except to the extent required for legal obligations and similar purposes |
How long to keep books and invoices
According to Japan's National Tax Agency, the retention period for books and records is generally 7 years for corporations (10 years for fiscal years in which a loss arose under blue-form filing, among other cases), and 5 or 7 years for individuals depending on the type of return and document. Help also states that qualified invoice issuers are required to keep copies for 7 years. Electronic transaction data received electronically from Amazon, such as fee invoices, is subject to rules that require it to be kept in electronic form. For which data is covered and how to store it, as well as the filings required if you shut down the business itself and how to handle your qualified invoice issuer registration, check with a tax accountant or the tax office. For the accounting side, see also handling accounting and organizing records during a suspension.
Cleaning up buyer information and access permissions
The BSA provides that confidentiality obligations for confidential information, including buyers' personal information, continue for 5 years after the agreement ends, and that such information must be deleted promptly once it's no longer needed. Identify everywhere it's stored, including address lists imported into spreadsheets or shipping software, and delete it. We explain how to review this in checking how you handle buyer information.
For inventory sync and repricing tools, turn off automatic listing when you stop selling so they don't bring listings back to life during preparation, or remove them from "Manage Your Apps" (サービスの管理) (removal takes effect immediately). Remove tools used for shipping and return processing just before you submit the request, and cancel any contracts made outside Seller Central separately.
How to submit a "Close account" request
STEP 1. Do a final check
In addition to the "Steps to take before closing your account" above, check the following.
Additional checks before submitting
- Removal orders are complete and your FBA inventory is zero, including items that came back to the warehouse through buyer returns (place a new return or disposal order for those)
- Your final payout has reached your bank account
- You've downloaded the records you need and removed any remaining third-party access
- You've checked how related services such as advertising, Brand Registry, and Amazon Pay are handled, following the guidance for each
- You've decided what to do with your accounts in other regions
STEP 2. Submit the request from the screen
Open "Settings" (設定) > "Account Info" (出品用アカウント情報), and click "Close account" (アカウントを閉じる) in the "Manage your account" (アカウントの管理) section on the left. In Japan's Help, the link leads to a contact form; fill in the required fields and click "Send" (送信).
STEP 3. Check the reply email
If your account is closed, you'll receive a confirmation email; if it can't be closed, you'll receive an email explaining why and what additional steps to take. There's no official guideline on how many days it takes, so keep checking your email after submitting, and if the request is sent back, resolve the reasons one by one and resubmit. Here is a sample inquiry for when the reason is unclear (replace ◯ with your own details).
I submitted a request to close my selling account and was told that it cannot be closed at this time. My last order shipped on ◯/◯, my FBA inventory removal order has been completed, and my balance in "Payments" is ¥◯. Please let me know if there is anything else I need to do.
Common mix-ups and things you must not do when closing
- Closing your buyer account by mistake: Closing your Amazon.co.jp buyer account is a separate procedure from closing your seller account. If you use the same email address and password as for Seller Central, closing it is said to also cut off your access to the data and listings associated with Seller Central. For details, see what to check before closing your buyer account.
- Selling or transferring the account: Selling accounts can't be transferred. The BSA revision effective August 24, 2026, also explicitly states that you can't assign or pledge your contractual rights and obligations, including receivables such as sales proceeds.
- Continuing to sell on another account: Unless you have a legitimate business reason and all your accounts are in good standing, you may have only one account per region where you sell, and if any one of them has a problem, all your selling accounts may be suspended. Opening another account in the same region before your closure is complete, or closing a problem account and continuing to sell on a different one, may violate Amazon's policies, so don't do it. We explain how account linking works in what to do when Amazon flags your account as related to another.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Should I sell through my FBA inventory before closing?
A. Selling through means you won't pay removal or disposal fees, but it pushes the 90-day wait back by that much, and storage fees (plus the monthly subscription fee on the Professional plan) keep accruing. Another approach is to submit removal orders early for slow-moving products and sell the rest by a set deadline.
Q. Do other services such as advertising and Brand Registry end too?
A. The Help page on closing an account doesn't provide a consolidated explanation of how related services are handled. Pause your advertising campaigns when you stop selling, and for Brand Registry, Amazon Pay, and other services, check each one's guidance on how to end it and how charges are handled before submitting your request.
Q. What happens if a return or chargeback comes in after closure?
A. The BSA provides that obligations and liabilities for transactions made before closure survive it, but Help doesn't say how they're handled after closure. Your best protection is to allow plenty of time after your last sale and to keep your records.
Q. Should I switch to the Individual plan before closing?
A. The Individual plan has no monthly subscription fee, but the comparison table lists Technical Support requests as "not included," and Help doesn't say whether you can still submit a closure request or contact Amazon in the same way after switching. If your preparation period will last several months, weigh the monthly fees for that period against the chance that you'll need to contact Amazon to check on claims or payouts.
Q. If I'm closing a sole proprietorship or corporation, which should I do first: file with the tax office or close my seller account?
A. Tax procedures such as filing a notification of business closure or deregistering as a qualified invoice issuer are separate from closing your seller account. Since it becomes harder to check your transaction records after closure, we recommend downloading the reports and invoice copies you need first, and proceeding while checking with a tax accountant or the tax office on whether filings are required and when to submit them.
Summary
Closing a seller account can't be undone, and once it's closed, you lose the means to deal with any outstanding matters.
- First consider whether vacation settings, closing your listings, or switching to the Individual plan would be enough
- The conditions are "90 days since your last sale," "no unresolved A-to-z Guarantee claims," and "a zero balance." Each region requires a separate process
- From stopping sales to downloading your records, work through the steps in order, planning backward from your last sale date
- If your account is suspended, closing it won't resolve held sales proceeds or inventory issues. Review the notification, inventory, and sales proceeds, and decide whether to appeal for reinstatement or prepare to close
If you're unsure what to do, organize the details of your notifications and balance, and consider consulting a specialist.
Unsure whether to close your account or appeal for reinstatement?
If your account is suspended and you're considering closing it, we will review your options before you close, including your prospects for reinstatement, at no cost. Consultations are free, as often as you need.
Free consultation, 24/7 *This article provides a general explanation. The appropriate response in individual cases depends on the circumstances.
Further reading
Distinguishing Amazon seller account suspension from closure: notices and reinstatement inquiries Read article → 
Before closing an Amazon buyer account: balances, orders and linked services Read article → 
From Amazon account suspension to an appeal: reviewing the notice and planning your response Read article →