Fulfillment-by-Amazon (FBA) sellers have the option of having their products shipped directly to Amazon’s warehouses from their supplier or having them shipped to another location first, before going to Amazon, after doing product research, finding a winning product, and working with a supplier to create a private label product.

Why wouldn’t sellers request that their suppliers supply product directly to Amazon? Some sellers prefer to examine items in person, ship a small amount of stock to Amazon at a time to keep FBA storage fees low, or any number of other reasons.

If sellers choose this path, they’ll need to figure out how to transport their goods to Amazon’s warehouses when they’re ready. So, how do you get your merchandise into an Amazon warehouse using an FBA shipment?

Navigating Seller Central and setting up your first FBA shipment might be tricky for a new Amazon seller. I’ll walk you through every step of setting up your FBA shipping properly, utilizing both old and new ways.

The old technique vs. the new way of shipping to Amazon’s warehouses

Amazon has launched a new “Send to Amazon” beta, which is a three-step procedure for setting up your FBA shipments. You can only generate shipments for case-packed items using the Send to Amazon test right now. If you wish to send specific items to FBA, you’ll have to stick with the previous way.

Let’s look at how to make a shipment using both ways. You’ll need to know how to accomplish it if you sell retail arbitrage, private label, or wholesale.

Sending your FBA merchandise to Amazon: A Step-by-Step Guide

Setting up your first shipment might be difficult at first, but after a few tries, you’ll be an expert.

The original technique of setting up a shipment will be covered in this step-by-step instruction.

1st step

Go to “Manage Inventory” in Seller Central and look for your listing.

2nd Step

Choose “Edit” from the drop-down menu on the right-hand side, then “Send/Replenish Inventory.”

3rd step

If you haven’t previously, you’ll need to input your “Ship from address” in this step. Enter the address of the inventory if it is kept at your home or company.

After that, you must pick between “Individual items” and “Case-packed products.”

If your shipment contains numerous goods with different SKUs or conditions, choose “Individual products” (new, used).

If you’re selling retail arbitrage and want to send 10 different things to Amazon at the same time, this is the option to pick.

If your package only contains one SKU, choose “Case-packed items.” The number of cases and units per case for each SKU in the shipment can then be entered.

If you’re exporting many units of your private label goods, for example, you’d pick this option.

“Continue to shipment plan” should be selected.

Take a look at an example of a “Case-packed product” below:

4th step

You’ll input how many units of your product are in each case and how many cases you’re sending on this screen. I’m planning to ship a total of 50 units in this case. Because I can only put 25 units in each container, I’ll go with two cases.

You can see that we’re mailing 50 units under “Total Units” below.

Click Continue once you’ve entered the number of units per case and the total number of cases.

5th step

You’ll need to decide whether or not your items need to be prepared before shipping to Amazon at this phase. This may involve putting it in a poly bag, labelling it, or bubble wrapping it.

A drop-down menu will allow you to choose the product type. I’ll use “baby items” as an example.

Amazon will tell you what kind of preparation your purchase requires here. You won’t need to prepare your goods if it doesn’t fall into one of the categories shown in the drop-down option.

If you don’t have the resources or equipment necessary to prepare your items, you may now pay Amazon to do so for you. Depending on the sort of preparation your product requires, the charge will range from $1.00 to $2.30 per unit.

6th step

The next step is to decide how you want your items to be branded. If your items require an Amazon (FNSKU) barcode, you have the option of applying it yourself or having Amazon do it for you.

Enter the amount of labels to print and click “Print labels for this page” if you want to label the goods yourself. Peel and paste the FNSKU barcodes onto each item using address label sheets.

In certain cases, you’ll need to utilize the manufacturer’s barcode. If you’re selling retail arbitrage products or wholesale things with a barcode on the package, this might be the case.

If your FNSKU starts with “X00,” you’ll need to use the Amazon barcode, also known as the FNSKU, to mark your items.

Use current manufacturer barcodes for FNSKUs beginning with “B00.”

Your FNSKU will be shown under “Product Name” in this section.

If you’re reselling things through retail arbitrage, you may need to utilize the Amazon (FNSKU) barcode instead of the manufacturer barcode, however I recommend using the FNSKU wherever possible.

Note: You may select either the Amazon barcode or the Manufacturer barcode as your FBA Product Barcode Preference. Go to Settings > Fulfillment by Amazon > FBA Product Barcode Preference in the top right corner of Seller Central.

Choose Merchant for this part if you’re selling a private label product with your FNSKU barcode printed on the package by your supplier.

If you don’t want to label the things yourself, you may pay $0.30 per unit to have Amazon do it for you.

7th step

This is where you’ll learn where Amazon wants your stuff sent.

Amazon determines where your items will be sent based on demand across the United States. Your incoming shipment parameters are set to “Distributed Inventory Placement” by default, which means Amazon may divide your cargo into many fulfilment centers. This might be aggravating, especially if your things have already been packed and are ready to ship.

In this case, Amazon could wish to send 30 units to a New Jersey warehouse, 15 units to a Texas warehouse, and the remaining 5 units to a California warehouse.

But what if you don’t want your package to be broken up? In Seller Central, you may adjust your FBA shipment options to send all of your units to one warehouse.

You have the option of using “Inventory Placement Service,” which allows you to designate amounts of a single seller SKU to a single fulfilment location. You will be charged a per-unit cost if you choose this option. It costs $0.30 per unit for things weighing less than 1 pound, and $0.40 per unit for commodities weighing more than 1 pound.

Go to “Settings” > “Fulfillment by Amazon” > “Inbound Settings,” then modify.

In this case, Amazon says I’m shipping all 50 units to ABE8 (an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey) and that my cargo would not be split up. As a result, I’ll select “Approve & Continue,” followed by “Work on shipping.”

8th step

You’ll pick your delivery provider and how your products will be packed in this final step. Amazon will offer you a (cheap) pricing when you enter your package dimensions and weight, and you’ll be ready to ship!

I’ve selected “Tiny parcel delivery” and “Amazon-partnered carrier” because this is a small cargo. If you’re sending pallets to Amazon, you can select “Less than truckload (LTL).”

You’ll input the units per box, the number of boxes you’re sending, the dimensions, and the weight in the following area.

After you’ve entered all of that information, click “calculate,” and Amazon will compute the delivery cost for you. After that, you may decide whether or not to accept the costs and print your shipping labels.

Finally, pick a ship date (when you want to ship the boxes) and print your labels! On the label, there are two barcodes. Make sure both barcodes on each box are visible. One barcode belongs to UPS, while the other belongs to Amazon.

Click “Complete shipping” once you’ve finished these steps.

That concludes our discussion. You may now mark your boxes and drop them off at a UPS facility near you. If you are unable to drop things off, you can arrange for UPS to pick them up from your home.