Key FBA holiday selling dates in 2021

January 2021

• January 1 – New Year’s Day
• January 27-29 – SellerCon Virtual

February 2021

• February 1 – Black History Month
• February 1 – Deadline to send tax form W-2 to employees and IRS
• February 7 – Super Bowl Sunday
• February 11-17 – Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)
• February 14 – Valentine’s Day
• February 15 – President’s Day

PLUS: In February, start preparing for Prime Day (August).

March 2021

• March 1 – Deadline to file 1099s via mail with the IRS (form 1096) 
• March 8 – International Women’s Day
• March 15 – Deadline to file S-Corps (form 1102-S) and for partnerships (form 1065)
• March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day

April 2021

• April 1 – Deadline to file 1099s electronically with the IRS (form 1096)
• April 4 – Qingming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day, China) and Easter Sunday
• April 14 – Double Third Festival (China)
• April 15 – Deadline to file corporate tax returns (form 1120)

PLUS: In April, start preparing for back-to-school season (August).

May 2021

• May 1-5 – Labor Day (China)
• May 5-6 – JungleCon
• May 9 – Mother’s Day
• May 31 – Memorial Day

June 2021

• June 1 – Pride Month
• June 12-14 – Dragon Boat Festival (China)
• June 20 – Father’s Day
• June 21-22 – Amazon’s “Prime Day”

July 2021

• July 1 – Canada Day
• July 4 – U.S. Independence Day
• July 13-15 – Prosper Show
• July 23 – Olympics Opening Ceremony (Tokyo)

PLUS: In July, start preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (November 27 and 30, respectively) and the holiday shopping season.

To avoid issues with the FBA inventory storage limits that arose in 2020 during COVID, it’s a good idea to get ahead on ordering inventory for the 2021 holiday season. Talk to your supplier now to make sure you’ll have the stock you need by Amazon’s Black Friday inventory deadline, and consider looking into 3PL options so you have a backup plan in the event of new storage restrictions.

August 2021

• August 1 – Back-to-school and start of autumn shopping season
• August 8 – Olympics Closing Ceremony (Tokyo)

September 2021

• September 15 – Last day to order inventory for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday shopping season

October 2021

• October 1-7 – Golden Week (China)
• October 31 – Last day to order inventory before Chinese New Year
• October 31 – Halloween
• TBD – Amazon Selling Partner Summit (usually late October)

November 2021

• November 1 – Last day to get inventory to Amazon warehouse for Black Friday/Cyber Monday and the holiday season
• November 11 – Singles Day (China/Alibaba)
• November 25 – U.S. Thanksgiving
• November 26 – Black Friday
• November 28-December 6 – Hanukkah
• November 29 – Cyber Monday

December 2021

• December 24 – Christmas Eve
• December 25 – Christmas
• December 31 – New Year’s Eve

Quarterly reminders for 2021:

• Turn in tax statements (if your state runs on a quarterly schedule)
• Perform a quarterly performance review on your brand
• Estimate inventory turn rates

Monthly reminders for 2021:

• Check Inventory Manager
  • Look at inventory age and remove accordingly
  • Send new inventory if you have backup stock
  • Place orders for additional inventory accounting for any upcoming holidays/obstacles
• Review PPC charges for the last 30 days
  • Use Sales Analytics to check profitability levels
  • Run Amazon reports to see which keywords are converting
  • Make adjustments in Amazon PPC
  • Adjust budgets
• Review your Profit & Loss (P&L) statements
• Gather receipts, expense reports, etc. for your accountant
• Audit your Amazon transaction reports
• Check on your long-term storage fees