This is a step by step guide on how to send an Amazon FBA shipment. Amazon FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) is a service provided by Amazon that allows sellers to have Amazon warehouse your inventory, as well as pick, pack and ship orders to your Amazon customers. Utilizing Amazon FBA will get your products Prime shipping eligible, which is an important perk for Amazon customers who already have confidence in the shopping and shipping experience. Making sure you send in accurate shipments is vital for successful inventory management so that Amazon customers get the right product when they order it. The steps for sending in Amazon FBA inventory include ensuring your account is set up properly, preparing the inventory, creating a shipment, and sending the FBA shipment.
Prerequisites for Sending Amazon FBA Shipment
Before we jump into going through the process of sending in an Amazon FBA shipment, there are a few prerequisites you need to ensure you have done.
Register for the Fulfilled by Amazon Service
The first thing you need to be sure you have done after setting up your Amazon account is to register for fulfillment by Amazon Service. You can sign up for Amazon FBA which will enable your account to use the service. At this point, it is important to know which products are suitable for Amazon FBA, as you are responsible for complying with Amazon policies. It is important to get to know the dangerous goods identification, restricted products, categories requiring approval, FBA product restrictions, and packaging requirements. These can be found by visiting the FBA policies and requirements.
Create Amazon Listings and FBA Offer
Before sending in your shipment, the Amazon listing and FBA offer must be created. Upon publishing the FBA offer, you will be prompted to select either FNSKU or Barcode tracking. This is asking you for the tracking label designation of each product. FNSKU stands for fulfillment network stock keeping unit and it is a special barcode provided by Amazon to identify what the product is and you as the seller. Barcode tracking states you would like the product to be tracked by the UPC/GTIN that is affixed to the product. Both are viable options, but it is a requirement to select one of the options during the offer publication process.
Available and Ready Inventory
It may sound obvious, but you must have inventory on hand ready to be shipped before you can send in your products. This means they are packaged correctly and have correct barcoding. Inventory can be in stock either at your own warehouse or a third-party logistics provider, but the inventory may be ready to go before proceeding with the Amazon FBA Shipment workflow.
Gather Shipping Equipment and Tools
We are going to list equipment and tools that are quite standard for a shipping department to have. Not all of these are required but having the correct equipment on hand will expedite the FBA shipping process. Some of the important tools and equipment include:
Thermal or Laser label/barcode printer
Scale for weighing boxes
Measuring tape for measuring the length, width, and height of the shipping boxes
Product labels (can be printed from your account under the Inventory Management section, or part of the Send to Amazon workflow)
Shipping/packing tape for sealing your boxes
Shipping Boxes for compiling units
Any other required materials that are required for specific categories. Those can include baby, sharp, fragile, apparel, small, adult, liquid, powder, set labeling
Gathering the correct tools and supplies prior to sending in your shipment will help the workflow for a smooth and accurate shipping process.
Prepare Products for Amazon FBA Shipment
Amazon’s product preparation requirements may vary depending on the product and category you are shipping. Sellers can either prepare the shipment themselves or designate Amazon to prepare the products and pay a small fee using the FBA prep service. Failing to prepare your products correctly when sending them to Amazon, can result in incurring fees, shipping delays, and receiving warnings related to account performance. Regardless of the type of prep that is required, each product must still include a product label and be scannable without opening or unwrapping the packaging. Having a clear understanding of the specific requirements for each of your products is crucial when sending in an FBA shipment. Let’s go through a few examples below.
Fragile and Glass Products Prep for Amazon FBA Shipment
If your product is made of glass or can easily break, you may be required to package in bubble wrap or enclose in a special box that ensures the product will not break if it is dropped. The barcode still needs to be visible and scannable on the product if wrapped in bubble wrap.
Liquid Products Prep for Amazon FBA Shipment
Selling a liquid product such as edible items, drinks, lotions, soaps, etc. have specific requirements to ensure the product does not leak in storage or transit. A bag, which can be a transparent polybag with adequate suffocation warning, can be used to seal the product to prevent leakage. It can be a poor customer experience if they receive a product that is leaking, so ensure your packaging can withstand transit from manufacturing to the Amazon customer.
Apparel, Fabric, Plush, Textile Prep for Amazon FBA Shipment
Items that are apparel, fabric, plush, or textile need to go from the manufacturer to the Amazon customer without any damages, spills, or stains. The prep required for these products are to put them in a transparent bag with a suffocation warning. This will ensure that your textile product will be new and fresh for the Amazon customer.
Toys or Baby Products Prep for Amazon FBA Shipment
Toys or items made for young children 3 years and under require a bag for prep. This will ensure no particulates or unwanted items end up in the toy or baby product.
Powder, Pellet, Granular Products Prep for Amazon FBA Shipment
If you are selling a product that contains fine or very small components including facial powders, baking ingredients, powdered supplements, etc. you need to enclose the product in a plastic bag with a suffocation warning label. This will ensure that if there is a spill in an Amazon warehouse, the product will not end up all over the place. Or the customer does not receive an opened powdered product when they open their package.
Create a Shipment through Send to Amazon
You can send an Amazon FBA shipment through using Send to Amazon workflow, a shipping plan file upload, or using Amazon Marketplace Web Service or a third party Selling Partner API. This process will cover the Send to Amazon workflow.
Step 1: Choose Inventory to Send
Under the Manage Inventory tab, select the Amazon FBA offers you want to send in by either selecting multiple products through the checkbox and under the Action tab selecting “Send/replenish inventory” or you can select an individual offer and hit the down arrow (next to the Edit button) and select “Send/replenish inventory”. This will queue the send to Amazon workflow. From there, you can add in additional FBA SKUs that you want to send in for the shipment. If this is your first shipment, you will need to add a ship from address. For each SKU, you will need to create or assign a packing template which tells Amazon how your SKU is packed, prepped, and labeled. The next step is to note the number of boxes for each SKU, which will populate the number of units to be shipped given our packing detail. At this time, you can print and affix FNSKU labels under the Information/action tab or complete any required product prep. Hit “Read to send” when you have completed this step for all the SKUs you want to send in with this shipment.
Step 2: Confirm Shipping
The first step is assigning the planned ship date. Once the anticipated ship date is selected, Amazon will tell you where to ship the products. The next area to address in this section is the shipping mode you will be using. This includes either small parcel delivery (which is individual boxes) or less than truckload (which is sending inventory by pallets). Select the shipping mode that makes the most sense for you given the size and quantity of the products you are shipping. Amazon will provide a partnered shipping carrier (generally UPS), which includes steeply discounted shipping rates and convenience of buying shipping labels and automated tracking. However, you do have the option of inputting a non-amazon partnered carrier. When you are ready to proceed, hit the Accept charges and confirm shipping to move on to the next section of printing and affixing the shipping labels to your shipping boxes.
Step 3: Print Box Labels
Print the box labels provided by Amazon which are populated in a PDF. Each box label has a specific box ID and details of the items within each box. Ensure you affix the box label and the shipping label right next to each other. If you select LTL shipping, you will print out box labels and apply the box labels on each individual box on the pallet.
Step 4: Send Shipment to Amazon
If you have used the Amazon partnered carrier, your work is done and you do not need to enter tracking details into the workflow. If you used a non-Amazon partnered carrier, enter in the tracking details. The last thing to do is ship your products by having UPS or the carrier pick up your items, or drop them off at a shipment location for your products to be sent to Amazon warehouses.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sending a Shipment to Amazon FBA
How can I send product to Amazon FBA?
You can send the product to Amazon FBA by 1. Choosing the inventory you want to send 2. Confirming the shipment 3. Print box labels 4. Send the shipment to Amazon
Should I use FNSKU or Barcode Tracking?
You can use both FNSKU or Barcode Tracking. Either option works for tracking inventory in the Amazon inventory system
What product categories require additional prep for FBA?
The category product types that require can include baby, sharp, fragile, apparel, small, adult, liquid, powder, set labeling, etc
What tools do I need for sending in an Amazon fba shipment?
The most important tools you need for sending in an Amazon FBA shipment include: Thermal or laser printer for printing off barcode and shipping labels, scale, measuring tape, product labels, shipping/packing tape, and boxes for compiling units.
How can I send my inventory to Amazon?
You can send in inventory to Amazon using the Send to Amazon workflow. Follow the steps to select the items you want to send, confirm your shipping information, accept the charges, print and affix your labels, and ship the boxes.
How much inventory should I send to Amazon FBA?
The quantity of units is up to you for how much inventory you should send to Amazon FBA. A standard amount to send is 30-60 days worth of inventory for Amazon to hold.. There is a limit to how many units can be sent in and any additional long term storage fees designated by the FBA capacity manager.
How much are FBA inventory Fees?
FBA inventory fees are broken down into line item groups and it varies based on the size and weight of the product. Here is the 2023 FBA fee structure.
How long does it take for FBA inventory to become available?
FBA inventory becomes available in about a week once your items are received at Amazon. This can be greater when there is an increase of inbound shipments, particularly around holidays and events. This can be extended if there are missing shipments, incorrect labeling, processing issues.
Send to Amazon FBA Shipment Conclusion
Depending on the location of the Amazon fulfillment center you are shipping to, it can take up to 10 days to arrive. From there, depending on the capacity and speed of Amazon accepting your inventory, your products will go from delivered, to checked in, to receiving, up to available and live for Amazon customers. If you successfully followed the appropriate Send to Amazon FBA workflow steps, labeled, and correctly prepared your products, there should be no issues for your products to be prime eligible and ready for Amazon customers to purchase. The next steps for you include marketing and advertising the products, and ensuring you keep in stock by monitoring sales levels and continuing to replenish your FBA inventory. If you have any questions with the Send to Amazon FBA shipment process, please reach out to Goat Consulting through the contact us button below.
About the Author - Matt McGinty
This post was written by Matt McGinty, an Account Manager at Goat Consulting. Matt helps his clients sell on Amazon by increasing sales, mitigating risk, reducing costs, solving problems, and sharing best practices around fulfillment such as how to send Amazon FBA shipments. He has developed experience and expertise for guiding clients in fulfillment best practices with servicing a wide variety of Goat Consulting clients. If you want help sending in your first Amazon FBA shipment or assistance with other aspects of selling on Amazon, Matt is happy to lead your account.