AMAZON FBA PREP WAREHOUSE SERVICES

Amazon, the largest online marketplace globally, presents a logical choice for your brand’s visibility. However, for businesses engaged in selling products through Amazon, it is crucial to comply with the platform’s packaging requirements, considering the various options for packing, labeling, and fulfillment.

As an Amazon seller, you are responsible for managing several aspects of the selling process, ranging from sourcing products to finalizing sales. Among these steps, packaging and labeling require your attention. Despite appearing as a minor procedure, effective packaging and labeling play a vital role in successful Amazon selling, particularly for FBA sellers. Failure to adopt appropriate packaging and labeling practices could result in your products being rejected by Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

Order fulfilment

To start, it’s important to note that when it comes to selling products on Amazon, there are three distinct types of order fulfillment. It is crucial to pay attention to these as each type has its own specific packaging requirements:

1. FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) – In this scenario, your company is responsible for receiving orders, packaging the products, and shipping them out.
2. SFP (Seller Fulfilled Prime) – Under this option, you handle order processing and packaging, while Amazon carriers collect and deliver the orders to customers within one day.
3. FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) – With FBA, your orders are processed and dispatched from Amazon’s warehouse. Thus, you need to send your items to Amazon in bulk.

For the purpose of discussing packaging and labeling, these three fulfillment options can be grouped into two categories: FBM and FBA. While SFP resembles FBM in terms of the seller processing orders, it still requires attention to packaging and fulfillment requirements.

General Packaging Guidelines:

To ensure that their logistics process remains streamlined, Amazon imposes strict guidelines on the inventory they accept in their fulfillment centers. As mentioned earlier, specific policies apply to different types of products. Listed below are the FBA prep requirements and Specialized prep services for fragile items on Amazon you need to know for a smooth sailing process:

General Packaging Requirements

• Amazon utilizes the FNSKU (Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit) to distinguish individual products. When it comes to Amazon FBA inventory, sellers are obligated to assign a unique FNSKU to each product. This requirement extends to items of varying colors or sizes, which must each possess their own distinct FNSKU.
• Every unit of inventory must feature a scannable barcode that is readily accessible. Prior to sending the products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, it is essential to ensure that the barcode is clearly visible and legible. 

Guidelines for Loose Products

• Amazon strictly prohibits accepting inventory that necessitates assembly.
• Units lacking secure packaging must be appropriately bagged and sealed with removable tape.
• Specifically for footwear, it is imperative to package them in a manner that leaves no part of the shoe exposed.

Products Sold as a Set

• When selling products as a set, it is required to label them accordingly. Sellers should affix a sticker label to the items, which may include statements such as “Sold as a Set,” “Do Not Separate. Sold as a Set,” or “Ready to Ship.”

Guidelines for Boxed Inventory

• Amazon exclusively permits units that are boxed on all six sides.
• All boxed goods must be sealed properly. Tape or adhesive should be used to secure lids that are designed to be easily opened.
• Boxes, in general, should possess the ability to withstand medium pressure. In the case of perforated boxes, products must pass a 3-foot drop test. If the product fails the test, it must be placed inside a poly-bag.

Guidelines for Poly-Bagged Products

• Poly-bags with a minimum 5-inch opening must include a suffocation warning if used.
• All poly-bags must be transparent, sealed, and have a minimum thickness of 1.5 mil.
• Poly-bags should feature a scannable barcode either incorporated into the packaging, placed outside the packaging, or directly on the poly-bag itself.
• Sellers offering adult products have the option to utilize black or opaque poly-bags.

Bubble Wraps and Over-boxing

• Bubble-wrapped items must be securely sealed and tightly taped to prevent any possibility of the products falling out.
• Products enclosed in bubble wrap should be able to successfully pass a 3-foot drop test on a hard surface without any damage to the contents.
• For safety purposes, Amazon may mandate over-boxing in certain cases. Items with sharp edges, those that fail the drop test, products containing hazardous liquids, and vinyl records are examples of items that may require over-boxing.

Guidelines for Products with Expiration Dates 

• Expiration dates should be displayed in either MM-DD-YYYY or MM-YYYY format and must be clearly affixed to the outer box of the product using a font size of 36-point or larger.
• Perishable items are not permitted for sale on Amazon.

Buy Amazon Packaging Supplies

Adhering to Amazon’s packaging guidelines is crucial for sellers to ensure compliance with FBA requirements. It is important for sellers to acquire packaging supplies that meet Amazon’s standards.Cost-effective Amazon prep services for small business is also an important point.

Sellers now have the option to purchase Amazon-preferred packaging supplies, including poly bags, boxes, stretch wrap, bubble packs, and more, directly from Amazon. Additionally, for shipping products to FBA, sellers can avail themselves of free supplies offered by UPS, FedEx, and USPS. However, it is important to note that when sending products to Amazon fulfillment centers using these free supplies, sellers will need to follow the specific rates and guidelines provided by each of these vendors. 

Prep Centers

If you prefer to outsource the packaging and labeling process, you have the option to engage with an amazon prep center, which is a third-party company specializing in logistics and offering FBA Prep Services.

Prep centers are well-versed in adhering to Amazon’s packaging and labeling policies, and they handle the necessary FBA processes for your products. The fees charged by prep centers may vary depending on the specific logistics company you choose. Many prep centers can be found online, each with their own approach. Typically, their fees are aligned with Amazon’s fees (you can refer to the Amazon fees table for details). However, since they handle the logistics of your products, additional charges for storage and shipping may apply. ALso these are Cost-effective Amazon prep services for small businesses.

To coordinate your shipment and generate FNSKU labels with you and Amazon’s warehouse, prep centers require access to your Amazon account data. To grant them restricted and secure access to your shipping plans, you will need to create an assistant account. Rest assured that the prep center will not have access to your sensitive data, as their access will be limited and secure.

Shipping Requirements – Do’s and Don’ts

Strict adherence to Amazon’s packaging and labeling guidelines is crucial, as there is no tolerance for deviations from these rules. Shipments that even slightly fall outside the specified parameters run the risk of being rejected, which can have severe consequences for the seller’s Amazon account. These rules are for Amazon prep services for multiple marketplaces and each marketplaces.

Amazon implements these restrictions to ensure fair allocation of space for all sellers and to maintain a safe working environment for FBA warehouse employees. It is essential for sellers to comply with these guidelines to avoid any potential disruptions to their business on the platform.

DO	DON’T DO
Ensure that, if shipping on pallets, boxes do not overhang the pallet by more than one inch. This harkens back to Amazon’s need to maintain size consistency for efficient storage and movement throughout the warehouse.	Ship any boxes over 50 lbs. Unless your products are considered oversized and packed one unit/box.
Shrink wrap all pallets for safer movement of products.	Shrink wrap, strap, tape, or bind boxes together. Amazon wants to ensure that their intake process is as uniform as possible, and the removal of these bindings creates an additional step that equates to unnecessary additional risk of employees cutting themselves. Additional packaging also runs the risk of getting caught in sorting machines.
Confirm that no pallets exceed 72” in height and/or 1500 lbs.	Ship any boxes with a side over 25” unless your products are considered oversized and packed one ASIN/box.
Always apply FBA labels on outer cartons. Amazon needs to be able to identify freight quickly to direct and sort accordingly, without digging through packages to find it.
Keep a running tally of exactly how many of each ASIN is in each box. Long gone are the days of shipping pallets of products and telling Amazon “They’re in there somewhere!” Knowing exactly what’s in each box without opening them makes it much easier to quickly route the correct number of products throughout the FBA network. This is important enough that we recommend not sealing boxes until you’ve finalized box contents just in case any changes need to be made. Document the box level contents using or any means that works best for you.

Dangerous Good Guide

Amazon has stricter guidelines on specific products that it considers “dangerous goods.” Not all products of a particular category are prohibited, but there are some restrictions to the quantity that Amazon FBA accepts.

ALLOWED BY AMAZON FBA	ALLOWED IN LIMITED QUANTITIES	PROHIBITED BY AMAZON FBA
Products containing lithium batteries	Flammable or Non-flammable gasses , non-toxic gasses	Explosive substances
Power banks, cameras, mobile phones, battery chargers	Flammable liquidsFlammable solids	Toxic Gas
Products containing magnets	Oxidizers and Miscellaneous dangerous substances	Substances liable to spontaneous combustion
Speakers, light meters, magnetized decals	Organic Peroxides	Infectious substances
Small tools, and toys	Toxic Substances and Corrosive substances	Radioactive material

 

References
https://feedvisor.com/university/packaging/
https://www.kaspien.com/blog/amazon-packaging-requirements-understanding-fba-prep-guidelines/
https://www.efulfillmentservice.com/2022/07/amazons-fba-prep-services/
https://zhenhub.com/blog/fba-prep-requirements/
https://www.optimizon.co.uk/amazon-knowhow/amazon-packaging-requirements-everything-you-need-to-know/
https://blog.bqool.com/amazon-fba-prep-service/