How to Audit Old And Low-Performing ASINs

Amazon quietly started an internal initiative widely reported as “Bend the Curve”, which aims to dramatically reduce the number of inactive or low-value listings in the catalog. The goal is to trim massive catalog bloat (billions of listings) and reduce infrastructure costs while improving customer experience.

That purge targets listings with little or no inventory, outdated content, and very low sales velocity, meaning a lot of once-profitable ASINs are now at risk if left unattended. 

What this means for sellers and agencies: if you have legacy ASINs that haven’t been audited in months or years, they might be suppressed (hidden) or removed, along with their ranking history and reviews, unless you take proactive action now.  A disciplined ASIN audit is the fastest way to identify risk and either rescue or retire SKUs deliberately. 

Quick Risk Assessment: Which ASINs are in Immediate Danger

Before doing a detailed analysis, run a quick triage so you can prioritize.

High-risk signals (if an ASIN matches 2+ signals, escalate immediately):

• No inventory shipped to Amazon in the last 6–12 months (FBA or seller-fulfilled).
• Sales velocity near zero (fewer than X units per month for the category) for 6+ months.
• Long time since last content or image update (>18 months).
• Policy violations in account notifications or recent suppressions are flagged.
• High order defect rate or spike in negative feedback.
• “Inactive” or “suppressed” state reported in Catalog Health, or high % of Returns.

How to run the quick triage: export inventory & last-sale dates from Seller Central, then cross-check with Advertising history and Returns reports.

Use this to create a prioritized list:

• Immediate (fix now)
• Medium (plan fixes)
• Retire (delist or merge)

The Metrics That Matter (What to Pull from Seller Central & Tools)

A proper audit needs both Amazon’s internal metrics and external context.

Mandatory Seller Central reports:

• Business Reports → Detail Page Sales and Traffic by Child Item (ASIN). 
• Inventory reports → Last Shipment Date, Unfulfillable & Reserved units. 
• Account Health & Performance Notifications (policy issues). 
• Returns report & Refund report. 
• Advertising reports → Campaign keywords, Impressions, CTR, CPC, ACOS. 
• Customer Feedback & A-to-Z claims. 

Important KPIs to compute:

• Sales velocity (units/day) and revenue per day — current vs 90/180/365d trends. 
• Conversion rate per page (sessions → units). 
• Impressions & click-through (if low impressions, SEO issues). 
• Buy Box % and Buy Box price history. 
• Return rate & return reason breakdown. 
• Inventory-days (days of cover) and stranded inventory. 
• Fulfillment costs and unit economics (FBA fees, storage, shipping). 

Why these matter: Amazon’s purge is focused on low-performing, inactive, or inaccurate data. Listings with poor conversion, no inventory, or repeated policy hits are first to go. Use recent trend-based KPIs (last 90 days vs last year) to spot declines.

Step-by-Step ASIN audit process

Below is an operational workflow you can run per ASIN or automate via scripts/tools.

Step A — Inventory & fulfillment check

1. Is there inventory in FBA or available to ship within your normal fulfillment SLA? If not, mark “At Risk.” 
2. Check stranded inventory and unfulfillable units. Resolve or remove blocked units.
3. Estimate days of cover: (on-hand units) ÷ (average daily sales). If < 30 days — restock or reduce expectations.

Step B — Sales & advertising check

1. Sales velocity: compute 30d / 90d / 365d to determine trend.
2. Check any recent spikes/drops that correlate with ad spend changes or Buy Box loss.
3. If impressions are low: run an organic keyword audit + review backend search terms & title.
4. If conversion is low: compare product page to top competitors (price, images, bullets).

Step C — Content & compliance check

1. Title, bullets, backend keywords, images, A+ content — are these updated within 12 months?
2. Policy review — are claims (health, safety, eco) supported by certifications? (Certificates, invoices, testing documents)
3. Check for suppressed fields reported by Seller Central (e.g., missing safety warnings) and fix them.

Step D — Reviews & social signals check

1. Review velocity & distribution: recent negative reviews spike?
2. Is there unexplained review loss (could indicate a policy removal)?
3. Check external mentions or social traffic that might be driving or hurting conversions.

Step E — Unit economics & profitability

1. Compute actual margin after FBA fees, returns, average ad spend, and promotions.
2. If the margin is negative or below your threshold, consider repricing, changing fulfillment, or delisting. 

Fixes that actually work (content refresh, inventory, advertising, reviews)

When an ASIN is flagged “At Risk,” prioritize fixes that influence Amazon’s ranking signals quickly: 

Fast wins (24–72 hours):

• Replenish small inbound FBA stock or enable seller-fulfilled prime if possible. Amazon deprioritizes zero-stock SKUs. 
• Update title & bullets to include high-intent keywords and benefit statements. (Even small CTR/conversion improvements help.) 
• Fix suppressions reported in the Catalog Health dashboard (missing attributes, images).  

Medium term (1–4 weeks):

• Launch a targeted Sponsored Products campaign with a measured budget to re-ignite sales velocity. Use a “drip” approach: start low, identify converting keywords, and scale. 
• Run promotional offers (limited coupons, light PPC) to regain traction and reviews. 
• Request a catalog review with Seller Support only if you have corrected the problems and can supply evidence. 

Longer term (1–3 months):

• Rebuild A+ content/videos; test improved imagery and mobile layout. 
• Apply Amazon Attribution if driving external traffic to capture real ROI and prove external demand. (Helpful if you want to show Seller Support that demand exists.)  

When to Retire, Merge, or Relist: Decision Flowchart

Not every ASIN is worth saving.

Here’s a simple decision flow:

1. Has the ASIN had meaningful sales in the last 12 months? 

Yes → Attempt fixes (inventory, content, ads). 

No → Go to 2. 

2. Are unit economics positive after restoring (FBA fees + ads + returns)?

Yes → Relist/refresh and run a sprint. 

No → Retire or merge. 

3. Is the ASIN redundant (duplicate SKUs or nearly identical variants)? 

Yes → Merge inventory to primary ASIN and delete duplicates. 

No → Archive/retire. 

Retire vs relist: If the listing has a lot of historical review equity but temporary issues, fix and relist. If it’s a niche with no future potential and negative economics, delist and redistribute resources. Losing a bad ASIN clears noise and lets you invest in winners.

Monitoring, Alerts, & Automation — Keep Your Catalog Clean

To avoid repeat problems, set up continuous monitoring:

• Low inventory alerts (<30 days cover).
• Sudden sales drops (>50% vs rolling 30d).
• Suppression alerts and policy notifications.

Weekly checks:

• Conversion rate by ASIN.
• Advertising performance per ASIN (ACOS, ROAS).
• Returns & A-to-Z claims trend.

Tools & automation: Use tools or scripts to pull Seller Central reports (via API or manual) and feed them into a simple dashboard (Google Sheets or BI tool). Set email/Slack alerts for thresholds. The goal: catch risk signals early so you can act before Amazon suppresses the listing.

Case study — Small Brand Saves 12 Legacy ASINs

Background: A mid-sized brand had 120 legacy ASINs; 40 had zero inventory, and 12 were flagged by the triage as “At Risk.” Sales on those 12 had fallen 85% in 12 months. 

Actions taken (4 weeks): 

• Prioritized the 12 ASINs and fixed inventory on 6 with a small FBA inbound shipment. 
• Content refresh on all 12: updated titles, bullets, and hero images focused on mobile. 
• Launched low-budget Sponsored Product campaigns to kickstart velocity. 
• Implemented Amazon Attribution on 3 ASINs and ran targeted social posts. 

Results after 60 days:

• 8 of 12 regained previous 30-day sales velocity; conversions improved by an average of 18%. 
• 2 ASINs were retired after failing the economics test; 2 were merged into better ASINs. 
• Cost of intervention (ads + shipment) recouped within the next 45 days through restored revenue. 
• This shows targeted, prioritized action works faster and cheaper than broad catalog rewrites. 

Templates & checklist (copy-paste action items)

ASIN Audit Minimum Checklist:

• Export “Detail Page Sales and Traffic by Child Item” (last 90/365d) 
• Check the last inbound shipment date & inventory on hand 
•  Check Account Health for policy flags on the ASIN 
• Export Returns & Refunds for the ASIN (last 6 months) 
• Review title, bullets, images — date last updated 
• Check Sponsored Product history & impressions last 30d 
• Compute margin after FBA + returns + ads 
• Decide: Fix / Merge / Retire / Relist 

You can copy that to Google Sheets and create conditional formatting to flag “At Risk” items automatically. 

Appendix: Tools, Sources, Further Reading

Tools you can use for auditing: Helium 10 / Jungle Scout (ASIN trends), DataHawk / Sellerboard (profitability), custom Seller Central reports, and Amazon Advertising console.

For automation, use Seller Central APIs or third-party dashboards that pull inventory and sales daily. (Use your preferred stack — even Google Sheets + manual exports works if you have fewer SKUs.) 

Key sources & recent reporting: 

• Business Insider — coverage of Amazon’s “Bend the Curve” internal project.  
• MyAmazonGuy & Ordoro — guides summarizing the listing purge and seller implications.  
• Recent analyses of Amazon’s algorithm changes and important seller KPIs. 

Amazon’s “Bend the Curve” initiative is reshaping how sellers must manage their catalogs. Inactive or low-value ASINs are no longer safe to ignore; they can be suppressed or deleted, taking valuable ranking history and reviews with them. The only way to stay ahead is through consistent ASIN audits, performance monitoring, and quick corrective action when risks appear.

AMZ Seller Hub Amazon Account Management Services help sellers protect their catalog health with regular ASIN audits, suppression recovery, and listing optimization, ensuring your products remain active, profitable, and compliant.

Visit AMZ Seller Hub to secure your listings before the next purge begins.