When you upload an inventory file, you can use the Purge and Replace option to remove your current inventory and replace it with the inventory in the file. The listings that are not in the file will be removed from the Amazon website. If you upload an empty inventory file with Purge and Replace selected, all your listings will be deleted.
We recommend that you request and download an Active Listing Report before using the Purge and Replace option. The Active Listings Report provides a good basis for reviewing your existing inventory records. It can also serve as a backup file if there is an error in the file that you send when you perform a Purge and Replace.
There are some good cases for using the Purge and Replace option.
Delete your entire inventory to start from scratch
If you need to remove and replace your entire inventory, you can upload an empty feed with just the headers and the Purge and Replace option selected. This enables you to delete all of your listings.
Use different SKUs to reference your products
If you decide to change the SKU naming convention that you are using to reference your products, you can use the Purge and Replace option to do this. However, you cannot use the Purge and Replace option to change your SKUs in the following two cases:
In general, it is not recommended to use the Purge and Replace option to routinely manage your inventory levels. Use the Purge and Replace option sparingly and for special cases when you need to start from scratch with new inventory counts or need to make changes to your SKU-naming conventions.
Specifically, we don't recommend using Purge and Replace to perform the following tasks:
Disabling out-of-stock offers
If you have a large inventory, you may feel tempted to make regular purge-and-replace uploads with inventory files containing only in-stock products. Using this method to disable out-of stock product listings is not recommended. If your file does not contain a complete list of the products that you want to make available for sale, you may unintentionally remove listings and product data contributions for some of them. Also, the processing time of a file with the Purge and Replace option may take several hours, and your available inventory levels may change during that time.
If you run out of stock on some products, use the Price and Quantity file to set the stock levels to 0. You can use this file to modify all of your listings, including those that were submitted manually through the Add a Product tool. It is also a more efficient process that saves you the additional effort of re-listing your products later.
Synchronising your product database with your Amazon product listings
Although it is not recommended, you may use the Purge and Replace option to keep the products that you list on Amazon synchronised with your own product database. The risk with this practice is having an error in your inventory file or uploading the wrong file, which may potentially erase your entire inventory on Amazon. This could result in lost sales opportunities while you re-list your products.
We recommend that you explicitly delete a product from your inventory only if you know that you are never going to sell that product again. If you are just temporarily out of stock, do not delete the product but rather set the quantity to zero (0).
We recommend that you run an Inventory Report or an Active Listing Report before using the Purge and Replace option. These reports provide information about all of the product listings in your Seller Account. They provide a good basis for reviewing your existing inventory records and can also serve as backup records in case there is an error in the file you send when you perform a Purge and Replace.
Specifically, we don't recommend that you use Purge and Replace to perform the following tasks:
Disabling out of stock offers
If you have a large inventory, you may feel tempted to make regular purge and replace uploads with inventory feeds containing only in-stock products. Using this method to disable out-of stock product listings is not recommended. If your file does not contain a complete list of the items you want to make available for sale, you may unintentionally remove listings and product data contributions for some of your items. Also, the processing time of a feed with Purge and Replace option may take several hours and your available inventory levels may change during that time.
If you run out of stock on some items, please use the Price and Quantity update feed to set the stock levels to 0. You can use this feed to modify all of your listings, including those that were submitted manually through the Add a Product tool. It is also a more efficient process which also saves you the additional effort of re-listing your products later.
Synchronising your product database with your Amazon.co.uk product listings
Although it is not recommended, you may use the Purge and Replace option to keep the products you list on Amazon.co.uk synchronised with your own product database. The risk with this practice is having an error in your feed or uploading the wrong feed, which may potentially erase your entire inventory on Amazon.co.uk. This could result in lost sales opportunities while you re-list your products.
We recommend that you explicitly delete a product from your inventory only if you know that you are never going to sell that product again. If you are just temporarily out of stock, do not delete the product but do set the quantity to zero (0).
There are some good cases for using the Purge and Replace option.
Delete your entire Inventory to start from scratch
If you want to purge your entire inventory to start from scratch, you can upload an empty feed with just the headers and select the Purge and Replace option. This will remove all your listings.
Use different SKUs to reference your products
If you decide to change the SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) naming convention you use to reference your products, you can use the Purge and Replace option to do this. However, you cannot use the Purge and Replace option to change your SKUs in the following two cases: