What happens to Amazon Seller balance when someone dies

“You may not assign this Agreement, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. Any attempt to assign or otherwise transfer in violation of this section is void.”¹

Transfer on death is a transfer by operation of law, so the selling account is not something an heir takes over; the estate's path is to recover the balance and inventory and close the account.¹

A relative who wants to keep selling builds on their own account, since the selling account cannot be taken over by an heir.¹

Fulfillable inventory stays available for customers to buy until it is removed, so listings stay live unless the estate closes them.²

Removal orders typically process in 10 to 14 business days, longer during the holiday season, and returns ship only to the seller, their warehouse, supplier or distributor, not to a PO, APO, FPO or DPO box or another fulfillment center.²

Amazon shares account details or takes most account actions only when the request comes from the authorized estate manager.³

Without full authorization documents, Amazon can still assist with terminating subscriptions, stopping recurring deliveries and deactivating the account, on an email that includes the death certificate and the account's email or phone number.³

An account cannot be closed within 90 days of the last sale, so the A-to-z claim period is honored, or while A-to-z claims are open or the balance is above zero; an account with Fulfillment by Amazon inventory first submits a request to return or dispose of all of it.⁴

Amazon cannot reactivate or reinstate a closed account, and closure ends access to order history, returns, refunds, A-to-z responses and buyer messages.⁴

The seller may terminate the account or the Agreement at any time on notice to Amazon by Seller Central, email, the Contact Us form or similar means, and stays responsible for transactions entered into before termination and for liabilities accrued before or as a result of it.¹

Following termination Amazon returns or disposes of stored units as the seller directs; if the seller does not direct it within fourteen days after termination, Amazon may elect to return or dispose of the units itself.¹

Amazon states that all documents sent to Bereavement Support are securely deleted after validation.³

Units are treated as abandoned where the shipping address is outdated or incorrect, none in the country is provided or confirmed, or return shipping cannot be arranged; Amazon may then dispose of them and keep any proceeds, with no lien or other claim left to the seller.¹

Amazon settles seller accounts every two weeks: it adds sales to the beginning balance, subtracts expenses, adjusts for refunds and pays out after withholding a reserve, which becomes the next period's beginning balance.⁵

Amazon pays by Automated Clearing House or electronic funds transfer in a single disbursement to the bank account on file, which can take up to five business days to arrive; delivery-related transactions are typically held seven days for returns and refunds.⁵

Amazon's closure steps include confirming the bank account on file is up to date to receive a final payment and waiting for a zero balance; money already disbursed is recovered from the receiving bank account, not from Amazon.⁴

Selling Partner Support, the Payments Dashboard, the Close Account form and removal orders all sit inside a signed-in Seller Central session, so the estate's request is made in writing from outside it.⁴