7-Step Guide to Preparing Products for FBA Shipping
Introduction
Do you want to succeed in selling products on Amazon?
Then you need to understand the importance of preparing your products for FBA shipping.
To join the Amazon FBA shipping program, you only need to do one thing: get your products into Amazon warehouses around the country.
In the United States, Amazon has over 175 fulfillment facilities, which allow it to handle tens of thousands of products and offer Prime customers free 2-day FBA shipping.
Creating a new Amazon FBA Shipping plan is simple.
What’s difficult is ensuring that you’re properly managing your inventory , appropriately labeling and packing products, and working with a trustworthy FBA shipping business to minimize time-consuming product mix-ups and unexpected service expenses.
Let’s dive into how shipping to Amazon FBA is done.
What we cover in this blog
Steps to Take to an Amazon FBA Warehouse:
Before you try to ship anything into FBA, there’s some prep required: make sure there’s a listing for it in your inventory. That’s because shipping orders are tied directly to a listing, which you use to create your FBA shipping plan.
Create Skeleton Listings
If you’re looking to ship and prepare brand new products for FBA, but don’t have any optimized images or bullets, that’s okay! You can still create what our experts call a “skeleton listing,” which provides all of the essential information to Amazon without it being live.
To create a listing, navigate to Manage Inventory > Add A Product
Step 1: Select Inventory to be Shipped
From your dashboard in Seller Central, navigate to Manage Inventory.
Select the checkbox on the left for all the products that you intend to transition to FBA, then navigate to the Send / Replenish Inventory option within the drop-down menu.
Step 2: Input Pick Up Location
Select Create New Shipping Plan, then choose the Ship From address. This address will tell the courier which location to pick up the shipment from, so it could be your business, your warehouse, or your supplier’s warehouse.
At this point, you’ll also need to select the packing type. Consider if you’ll be sending in individual products (cases containing different products) or case-packed products (cases containing the same item).
After doing this, go ahead and click Continue to Shipping Plan.
Step 3: Identify the Number of Units to be Shipped
Select the All Products tab to review all the items you have selected to enroll in FBA shipping.
Set the number of products by filling in the total number of products you will be sending in the Units column.
In the future, you can duplicate this plan and just make slight changes to the number of units to save time.
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Step 4: Prepare Your Products
Navigate to the Who Preps tab to decide whether you would like to prepare your products yourself, or offload the task onto Amazon for a per-item fee.
To make sure your items arrive safely, Amazon tells you how they want you to prepare your products.
If you’re preparing products yourself, select the Prep Required tab. You’ll find preparation guidelines for your product types. Carefully review the requirements to make sure either you or your manufacturer take these precautions, or else you’ll waste
Step 5: Choose Who’s Responsible for Labeling
From Who Labels, select FBA Label Service to offload the task onto Amazon for a per-item fee.
If you plan to label your products yourself, select Merchant. You’ll want to check out all of the barcode requirements, which specify label placement, printer type, and even the paper type labels should be.
Step 6: Make Sure Everything is Correct
Navigate to the Review Shipments page to see the fulfillment centers that you have been assigned to.
Your shipping plan may need to be broken up into multiple shipments that require you to send products to different fulfillment centers to make them easier to send to customers across the country.
If that’s the case, in your Seller Central account go to Settings > Fulfillment By Amazon > Inbound Settings > Inventory Placement Option > Edit to send your shipment to a single fulfillment center and have Amazon split them for you.
Review your Amazon FBA shipment details because you won’t be able to delete approved shipments, and likely won’t be able to change product quantities.
After double-checking your shipment ID, destination Amazon FBA fulfillment center code, their locations are correct, click Approve Shipments.
Step 7: Choose Your Preferred FBA Delivery Methods
Congrats! The Prepare Delivery page is your final step.
Choose your delivery method, which will either be one of the following:
Small Parcel Delivery (SPD) – items packed in individual boxes
Less Than Truckload (LTL) – cases or boxes stacked or on pallet
Full Truckload (FTL) – inventory that fills an entire truckload and goes straight to an Amazon FBA fulfillment center.
After that, select your carrier, choose the number of boxes you are using, and schedule and pay for the delivery. You’ll have the option of using Amazon-partnered carriers who provide discounted rates.
You’ll then be prompted to print your box labels, which you can secure to your packages for pickup for FBA shipping.
5 Benefits of Shipping to Amazon FBA
Shipping to Amazon FBA can provide many benefits to sellers, including the following:
Faster shipping times: Amazon preparing for shipment for FBA is typically processed and shipped faster than if the seller was handling the FBA shipping themselves. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and increased sales.
Increased visibility: Products shipped to FBA are eligible for Amazon Prime and other Amazon programs, which can increase their visibility to Amazon customers. This increased visibility can lead to more sales and higher conversion rates.
Improved customer service: Amazon handles all customer service inquiries for products shipped through FBA. This can save sellers time and resources and ensure that customers receive prompt and professional service.
Reduced workload: Amazon FBA Shipping products can be time-consuming and labor-intensive for sellers. By using FBA, sellers can focus on other aspects of their business, such as product development and marketing, while Amazon handles the FBA shipping and fulfillment.
Access to international markets: FBA shipping offers international services, which can allow sellers to expand their customer base and reach new markets around the world. This can be especially beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses that may not have the resources to handle international Amazon FBA shipping themselves.
Overall, shipping to Amazon FBA can provide many benefits to sellers, including faster shipping times, increased visibility, improved customer service, reduced workload, and access to international markets.
The Takeaway
Keeping our guide open as you work through the steps will help you come to grips with the process. As we mentioned before, you can save shipping plans to edit and reuse later.
The more shipments you prepare, the easier it becomes to navigate the steps!
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- Use proven playbooks we've used across hundreds of sellers
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FAQs
Questions About
Preparing Products for FBA Shipping
Products should be packaged securely and according to Amazon’s guidelines to ensure safe transport and storage. Amazon requires that products be packaged in boxes that are at least 6 inches on the smallest side and can withstand a 50-pound load. The products should be surrounded by at least 2 inches of cushioning material, such as bubble wrap or packing peanuts.
All products shipped to FBA must be labeled with a scannable barcode, either a UPC or an Amazon barcode. Amazon can provide barcodes for a fee, or sellers can create their own barcodes and label their products themselves.
In most cases, yes. However, Amazon does have guidelines for product packaging and reserves the right to refuse items that are not properly packaged or do not meet their requirements.
Amazon prohibits the shipment of hazardous materials, products that infringe on intellectual property rights, and certain other items such as products that require refrigeration or are regulated by the FDA.
To ensure speedy processing and fulfillment of your products, make sure they are packaged correctly. and labeled with the correct barcode. It’s also important to send the products to the correct Amazon fulfillment center based on their location and the type of product.
- Lower ACoS to increase profitabiluty
- Use proven playbooks we've used across hundreds of sellers
- Maximize Revenue & Sales
- Management of Amazon & Walmart.com advertising
Loved your blog, though I’ve some more insights to add on this topic so i’ll keep commenting.
Thank you for the feedback Hailey!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on FBA Shipping.
I love this post!
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Thank you for the feedback,Jessica.