This is a complete guide to ship to amazon fba .
No matter whether you are novice or veteran to Amazon fba shipping, you’ll enjoy the actionable tips in this comprehensive guide.
Let’s get started.
Don’t have time to read the whole guide right now?
Don’t worry.
Here is a copy you can read it when it’s convenient for you.
What is amazon fba ?
Fulfillment By Amazon, known as FBA.
It is a storage and distribution service Amazon provides for its sellers.
How does amazon fba work ? Well, here is a simple explanation :
- Sellers on Amazon send products to Amazon warehouse.
- Those warehouses are close to their main customer base where products are stored.
- After that Amazon picks, packs, ships and tracks the order for sellers.
So here comes to shipping to amazon fba from China, the practice of ship the products from China to Amazon warehouses.
You might be wondering how ?
Common strategies include shipping method choose, labelling, palleting, warehouse choose, final delivery, etc
That’s what I going to cover in the rest of this guide.
Keep reading…
Before we dive into the strategies of how to ship to amazon fba, the first step of amazon fba shipping process is to create a shipment plan on Amazon sell central.
That way, you can inform Amazon：
- which products you’re sending them
- in what quantity
- your shipping method and carrier
- who will take care of labelling and packaging
Don’t know how to do ?
Check this step-by-step guide as below
1. Head to the “Manage Inventory” page on top menu.
2. Edit and select Send/Replenish Inventory from the drop-down menu.
3. Create a new shipping plan
#1. Enter ship from address.
According to Amazon’s original regulation,
the ship-from address is the location where your shipment will be picked up for final delivery to an Amazon fulfillment center. It may be your home or business. If you work with suppliers, it may be from their warehouse.
So what exactly amazon fba ship from address should you input ?
Here I will introduce a technique :“Twins warehouse”.
For example,
if your inventory is coming from China, and the closest delivery location in Amazon is in Los Angeles.
Then, the next step is to coordinate the delivery of your goods to the forwarder’s warehouse in Los Angeles.
So the ” ship from ” address is this forwarder’s warehouse in Los Angeles which close to Amazon’s warehouse like # ONT8.
Just input this address, later you can update it based on the Amazon preassigned warehouse location.
#2. Confirm the packing type of the products
Individual products are single products of varying quantities and conditions.
Case-packed products are multiples of the same product packaged by the manufacturer, each case containing the same quantity in the same condition.
Easy to understand.
4. Set quantity for shipment to Amazon
Ask your supplier the data of units per case and the number of cases, normally you can find it on the Packing List.
Tips : How to ship multiple items to amazon fba ? The quantities must be correct here.
5. Prepare your products for FBA shipping
Select “Merchant,” which means having your supplier do the packing prepare work ( bubble wrapping, bagging, etc). It can be more cost-effective.
Otherwise choose Amazon, you can find its costs here.
6. Label Products
Once again, instead of using Amazon’s service , we recommend get your supplier to do this for you so to save costs.
7. Review shipments to Amazon
At this step, Amazon will automatically designate the fulfillment centers they want your product shipped to.
#Bonus Tip1 :
It can be one fulfillment center, or multiple fulfillment centers.
So it is very important for you to update the ” ship from ” address.
How to change shipping address on amazon ?
For example, if you are assigned 3 warehouses in US west coast, then the best discharge port can be Los Angeles, and you will need a warehouse at LA port.
#Bonus Tip2:
Once the plan approved, the page will change from Review Shipments to View Shipments.
So remember to review the details of your shipment plan carefully since very can be change afterwards.
What’s more, you need to follow through.
If not to do so, your rights to deliver goods to Amazon and Amazon selling may be suspended.
#Bonus Tip3:
Pay attention to the amazon reference id.
It can be found in the Amazon seller central once shipment plan created.
More importantly, it must be noted on the B/L.
So now you have created the shipping plan,
the next is to send the goods to “ship from ” address, which brings us to next chapter.
Let’s dive right in.
Its no secret that shipping & logistics are one of the most important parts in international trading.
But here is the deal:
Sending the goods from one country to another isn’t as easy as local delivery.
As it turns out, certain shipping knowledges must be learned.
That way, you can know how to save time and money on shipping, and focus on Amazon selling.
With that, here are 3 topics that are worth knowing well.
Choose the right Incoterm
You may heard of FOB or EXW before ?
That’s right, Incoterm is the first topic knowledge highly recommended for every importers that come to the international trade and shipping.
What it is:
It is the standard contract term used in sales contracts with importing and exporting to define responsibility and liability for shipment of the goods.
Why it works:
The main reason is Incoterms will impact your shipping costs, as it will determine the shipping distance and relative responsibilities.
In short, what cost you need to pay or not is depended on the Incoterms. And you need to look before you leap.
What is included:
It’s time to dig a bit deeper and actually explain what these strange Incoterms actually means.
Here is a description for you to know the risks, costs , responsibilities under each Incoterm.
Still confused ? I believe so. ( I took 1 week to learn this when I came to this industry 10 years ago :)
Don‘t despair.
Fortunately, when you break down the shipping distance, everything will be quite simple.
- Door to Door
- Door to Port
- Port to Door
You see ?
When comes to send goods to Amazon warehouse, either you want door to door shipping , or just port to door.
In other words, choose EXW or FOB.
The difference between EXW and FOB lies in who take care of local export operation and costs like Customs clearance, insurance, doc processing, picking up, port fee, etc
When the trade term is EXW, you pay all.
And when FOB, the local charges will be on supplier’s account. You save this.
Period.
Select the right shipping method
Everyone has a general concept that shipping method includes sea freight, air freight, railway, road, etc.
When comes to international shipping, more specifically, to send goods from China to Amazon FBA, the exclusive terminologies would be: FCL, LCL, Air and Courier .
Each method has its applicable conditions, pros and cons.
You have to decide if you have to prioritize shipping cost or delivery time.
And here I will show you how to select the best way to ship to amazon fba.
FCL
Outline:
- Stands for full than container loading.
- Port to Port ( CY-CY ) service by sea.
- There are 3 standard container types : 20’FT; 40’FT; 40’HQ ;
- Minimum order is 1 x 20’ft container.
- Charged as per container type & amount.
- Advantage : World’s most used shipping way, load a lot.
- Disadvantage : You need to order big and more.
To learn the FCL amazon fba shipping cost, you will need :
- Price Search : Try our container shipping cost calculator to learn FCL port to port shipping costs.
- Container finder : Use this tool to learn the knowledge of shipping companies like name, logo and how to track shipment.
LCL
Outline:
- Stands for Less than container loading.
- Port to Port ( CFS-CFS ) by sea
- Minimum order is 1 CBM.
- Charged by volume ( as per CBM ).
- LCL is a great option for smaller shipments
- Advantage : Overall, price is very affordable.
- Disadvantage : Shipping times takes longer than FCL and Air.
Additional Resources :
- Price Search : Checking LCL price calculator for global LCL price from china.
- World seaports : A map to help you find world seaports for ship from and ship to.
Air
Outline:
- Serving cargo shipping by the commercial airline companies.
- Airport to Airport air service.
- Minimum order is 45 KG, 100 KG for some route.
- The chargeable unit is weight (per kilo ).
- Advantage : Fast speed of course.
- Disadvantage: Cost is the biggest downside.
Additional Resources :
- Price Search : Make a budget based on the Air shipping price calculator .
- Airport Codes Finder : A world freight airport map to help you find the closest airport for freight discharge.
Courier
Outline:
- Serving by 4 international courier companies : DHL, UPS, FedEx, TNT
- Door to Door air service.
- It charged cost by weight ( As per kilogram )
- Minimum order is 1 KG.
- Advantage : It is perfectly for small cargo, especially less than 100 KG.
- Disadvantage : If big cargo, then it will be costly. Meanwhile, limited to some commodities.
Additional Resources :
- Parcel Tracking : All in one courier tracking solution, click, click, track.
Master POL & POD
How much does it cost to ship to amazon fba ?
Now inquiry the amazon fba shipping cost ? Not Really.
Why ?
Like what talked above, FCL, LCL and Air service are all port to port service, not door to door.
So you need to compare the right POL ( Port of loading in China ) and POD ( Port of discharge at destination ).
There are tons of ports in China that you can select as source ports and numerous ports ( in USA ) that you can pick as destination ports.
Meanwhile , the costs among different POLs and PODs are quite different, especially POD effect the price a lot.
How ?
With the help of our featured freight tool shipping maps & shipping calculator.
1. Know the amazon fba warehouse address and POD.
For example, when Amazon assign you the warehouse # DFW7.
You can zoom in above map and the map will show you this warehouse is close to Dallas.
The next is is to ask a quote to Dallas since it is one of the main discharge ports in U.S
However, if you don’t know airports and ports well, you can use our another airports map and seaports map.
2. Learn general POL in China.
If you use air shipping service for Amazon fba shipping, the most used loading airport in China will be :
- PEK : Beijing
- PVG : Shanghai
- SZX : Shenzhen
- CAN : Guangzhou
- HKG : Hongkong
- TPE : Taipe
In other words, goods at other places will be delivered to above airports.
Why not use other small airport or closest airport from your China supplier ?
For example, if your goods are in Jiangxi Province, the closet airport is KHN ( Nanchang ), why not goods must be loaded and shipped from Shanghai, not Nanchang directly?
This is because main airports means more airline companies with different routes, schedules and costs. Shanghai is one of the main biggest airport in China, while only few international fights in Nanchang.
Seaports in China
Among world’s top 10 ports in 2018, 7 of them are located in China.
No matter where your Chinese supplier located, your goods are never too far from one of the world’s largest and most productive ports.
Here are top ten POL for sea freight from China.
| POL | Volume 2018 (Million TEU) | Rank – China | Rank – China |
| Shanghai | 42.01 | 1 | 1 |
| Ningbo | 26.35 | 2 | 3 |
| Shenzhen | 25.74 | 3 | 4 |
| Guangzhou | 21.91 | 4 | 5 |
| Hong Kong | 19.60 | 5 | 7 |
| Qingdao | 19.31 | 6 | 8 |
| Tianjin | 16.01 | 7 | 9 |
| Kaohsiung | 10.45 | 8 | 14 |
| Xiamen | 10702 | 9 | 15 |
| Dalian | 9707 | 10 | 16 |
If you want to ship to Amazon fba safely and legally, it’s reasonable to use a specialist in shipping.
Having a shipping agent involved is an effective way of managing the risks and ensuring the process goes smoothly.
The question is :
How to find a reliable amazon fba freight forwarder in China ?
Read this chapter to find out.
Here are 4 important evaluation criterions:
Qualification
Shipping safety is always the first priority.
You don’t want to deal with a fake company, right ?
In order to check if a freight forwarder is “real” , you can check and confirm whether the forwarder have the necessary license.
As for China forwarders, the license including :
- Business certificate
- Class-A forwarder license
- Whether NVOCC
- Whether member of WCA or CGLN
- Whether SGS audited
Pricing
It’s reasonable for you to search the quote from 3-5 forwarders, and choose a price within market.
Really the amazon fba shipping cost doesn’t have to be the cheapest, as it would normally means poor service.
Don’t inquiry everywhere and try to get a so called best price. The result could be just the opposite, you will pay more.
What’s more, quotes given by the forwarder should be transparent with no hidden cost.
You don’t want to be shocked by the amazing cost on invoice, do you ?
Experience
The experience that a freight forwarder determines the quality of the services they will provide.
Specifically, you will need a forwarder with rich experience regarding to fba shipping. When using a traditional forwarder without Amazon shipping knowledge and practical experience, it could be disaster.
You can recognize the extent of a company’s experience when you talk to them:
- inquire about their steps for an import shipment,
- ask for the solutions they would give to different scenarios,
- talk to both sales and customer service people.
With that, you will get an idea of how well their people are experienced.
Flexibility
Instead of finding very big forwarder company, you may need use a small medium size forwarder.
First, a giant forwarder normally don’t do Amazon shipping business. They are specialized in project shipment like quantity container shipments and ton weight air shipments.
Second, a small medium size forwarder are more flexible to offer tailor made shipping proposal.
Third, the service can be real one-to-one, with fast response and friend care.
No guide to Amazon fba shipping would be complete without a chapter on labelling.
Remember the label products when create the shipping plan in Step 1 # No.6 ? Now it’s time to download label PDF and send it to supplier and forwarder.
There are 3 lables must be placed :
- Amazon product label
- Amazon carton label
- Amazon pallet label
So let’s briefly cover them:
Amazon Product Label – FNSKU
FNSKU, stands for Fulfillment Network Stock keeping unit
Just have your Chinese supplier mark the cartons with the FNSKU. But to meet following requests :
- An FNSKU label needs to be applied to each individual product.
- Only one machine readable barcode can appear on the actual product.
FBA Carton Labels
The Amazon fba shipping requirements for carton labels.
How ?
- One Amazon carton label attached on each individual product box. For example, if you have 600 boxes, you need to print 600 carton labels.
- Make sure your supplier labels each carton with the correct FBA label ( FBA ID ) when Amazon assign multiple fulfillment centers.
- Make sure the label is visible on each carton. It would be best on the four sides.
When ?
To ensure an efficient shipment, send the FBA carton labels together with FNSKU to your China suppliers to label at origin.
Otherwise, lots of additional costs like warehousing operation and storage can be incurred especially when it is a FCL shipment.
FBA Pallet Labels
Besides labelling, Amazon also require to do palleting for every shipments to Amazon warehouse.
I will show you Amzon palleting requirements in next chapter.
As for the pallet label requirements, here are 4 regulations :
- One pallet, but 4 pallet labels. Place them on four sides of the pallet.
- Place labels squarely, so that it is visible for forklift to lift the pallet.
- If shipment contains only one ASIN, just label the pallet “Single ASIN Pallet”.
- If there are multiple SKUs on a pallet, you also need to physically separate the SKUs.
Additional Remark
If you use Amazon Shipping program to send shipment to Amazon warehouse , you also need additional Amazon carrier shipping labels.
Each Amazon carrier label is unique and must be applied with your FBA shipment label.
Meanwhile those labels must facing the trailer door when loading.
Palleting is far more important than you think. Why ?
Besides the reason of shipping safety, it matters because of amazon packaging requirements same as labelling.
Amazon requires that most shipments are delivered to their warehouses on pallets.i.e pallet shipping is necessary when using LCL or Air shipping.
If not, shipment to Amazon warehouse will be turned away.
And you also receive a invoice with sky high additional costs.
Weep no tears…
So what’s the amazon fba shipping requirements for palleting ?
Here are 5 basic tips :
- Size : 40 inch x 48 inch ( 1 M x 1.2 M ) . Four way access
- Material : Wooden. Amazon doesn’t accept plastic, cardboard or particle board Pallets.
- Height: Any single pallet must not be taller than 72″ ( 1.8 M )
- Standard: GMA Standard B Grade or higher
- Condition：Don’t use broken and damaged pallets.
Besides the pallet requirement, another question you need to concern is palleting at origin or destination.
If palleting in China, the total volume will be increased 1-2 CBM. So shipping costs will be increased if you use LCL service.
If you choose palletize your cargo at destination, your shipment will be palletized at destination warehouse before final delivery to Amazon. Consequently, more costs can be incurred especially for FCL container shipment.
But my suggestion is, getting as much done in China as possible. Same as labelling, ask your supplier do the pallets too.
If they don’t familiar with the requirements or can’t do the palleting, get your forwarder to do this in China warehouse so to save shipping to amazon fba cost.
Ok. Now your goods have been delivered to ” ship from ” address with right label and palleting.
So it’s time to login your Amazon seller central again and prepare the last delivery to Amazon FBA.
You will now have a different FBA shipment ID for each fulfillment center you are assigned. The next is to select the shipping method and shipping carrier.
Amazon provide two choices of shipping methods:
SPD : Small parcel delivery
- Shipping small boxes, it can be suitable for most shipments when you choose courier service. Courier will send the goods to Amazon di
LTL : Less than truck load
- LTL would means pallet shipments bulk order , shipping method by FCL, LCL or Air cargo.
Also, 3 kinds of carrier service are for delivery :
- UPS / TNT
- Amazon LTL
- The third party LTL ( Like FreightPaul LTL service with agent partner )
How to choose ?
Remember courier service is door to door by UPS/FedEx/DHL/TNT , and suitable for small parcel delivery ?
So if you just send couple of small boxes, select SPD for shipping method and choose UPS/FedEx or DHL as the carrier.
For other palleting shipments, you will want LTL and third party LTL carrier service.
Why not use Amazon LTL and UPS / FedEx to send the goods ?
It is depend on time and costs.
Overall, courier UPS/FedEx is the fastest way, but with most expensive price.
And the third party trucking more fast and cheaper than Amazon LTL.
Bonus Tips :
Here is the checklist before sending the goods to Amazon
- Correct Label
- Pallet in good condition
- Providing the bill of lading (BOL)
- Scheduling a delivery
Use the third-party warehouses, specifically,the warehouse at the port close to the Amazon warehouse, it can be used as “ship from” address, and functionally for labelling, palleting as well as storage.1.What if I don’t want all of my goods shipped to Amazon ?
In fact, people underestimate about amazon fba storage fees.
Many sellers make the mistake of believing that Amazon can store their products with little cost.
However, if your item isn’t selling , Amazon will think your goods is just taking up space, and will charge you handsomely for its storage.
Below is current fee by Amazon :
So you can find that Amazon’s warehouse fees may end up being burdensome and costly for sellers.
Remember the ” Twins Warehouse” technique ? ( Talked in chapter 1 : step 3 )
Again, it can be used well.
Besides it can acted as the ship-from address when creating your shipment on Amazon, it an still serve with a cheap storage fee.
So if you don’t want all of your shipment to be immediately delivered to an Amazon fulfillment center,
just store at the “Twins warehouse”.
There are two options : ship the goods together to the warehouse close to Amazon FBA and then schedule the trucking delivery separately; Or you can ship separately to ship-from address directly and then truck delivery to Amazon individually2. How to book a shipment to multiple Amazon warehouses?
For most FBA business importers, every shipment are shipped to one Amazon warehouse.
However, Amazon may assign multiple amazon warehouses for the products in some situation.
So how to do that ?
Here are another 2 techniques to go about handling split shipments:
1.Ship Together and Delivery Separately.
This method can be considered when the multiple warehouses consigned are close enough.
Suppose Amazon assign #ONT6, #ONT8, #ONT9 3 warehouses for your products.
Firstly, we ship all the goods in one shipment to Los Angeles port warehouse , the ” ship address “,
Secondly, you use Amazon LTL or third-party truck, even your own truck, to pick goods from from LA port warehouse, and send to the 3 destination warehouse separately.
Amazon will assign a different FBA ID for each fulfillment center, so your shipment may have multiple FBA IDs.
Make sure labelling with FBA ID are correct when delivery goods from ” ship to ” address to Amazon warehouse.
2.Ship Separately and Delivery individually.
For example, when Amazon designated warehouses are # ONT8 ( in California ) , #CLT2 ( in North Carolina ), #FTW2( in Texas ),
Then this could be worthwhile to ship shipments separately since the warehouses are in different states.
i.e book shipments to Los Angeles, Charlotte, and Houston.
TIPS:
To get a quote and ship to multiple destinations,
please notify us where the second or third warehouse is at the point of inquiry or booking , and indicate it in the comments with your shipping details.
That way, we can know it and make a tailor made shipping solution.
3. How long will it take for shipment from amazon shipping address to Amazon warehouse?
The time frame is depend on the shipping service and carrier you use. It differs from 1-3 days to 2-3 weeks
Amazon requires that all FBA shipments be delivered to their warehouses at very specific times.
If you have shipped to Amazon fba before, you may ask why does amazon take so long to ship.
This is because pickup can only be scheduled when the Customs cleared and goods arrive at the destination country port ( airport ) warehouses.
This may result in delivery delays.
Reservation is also required for shipping inventory to amazon warehouse.
Below is the illustration of detail among the shipping methods and carriers you choose for last-mile delivery.
| METHOD | UNLOADING FROM PORT TO CY/CFS | TRANSPORT FROM CY TO WAREHOUSE | WAREHOUSE OPERATION | FROM WAREHOUSE TO CARRIER | LAST MILE DELIVERY TIME FOR CARRIER TO AMAZON | CARRIER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courier Service | 2-3 weeks | |||||
| AIR | 1-3 Business Days | 1-3 Business Days | 1-3 Business Days | Courier UPS/FedEx | ||
| 2-4 Business Days | 2-3 Weeks | Amazon LTL | ||||
| 2-4 Business Days | 1 Week | FreightPaul | ||||
| FCL | 1-3 Business Days | 1-2 Business Days | 1-2 Business Days | 1-3 Business Days | 1-3 Business Days | Courier UPS/FedEx |
| 2-4 Business Days | 2-3 Weeks | Amazon LTL | ||||
| 2-4 Business Days | 1 Week | FreightPaul | ||||
| 1-5 business days to direct deliver the container to Amazon warehouse | ||||||
| LCL | 1-3 Business Days | 1-2 Business Days | 2-4 Business Days | 1-3 Business Days | 1-3 Business Days | Courier UPS/FedEx |
| 2-4 Business Days | 2-3 Weeks | Amazon LTL | ||||
| 2-4 Business Days | 1 Week | FreightPaul | ||||
How can I pack my cargo when use FCL shipping to Amazon FBA ?
You need to pay attention to 2 things : Right packed with pallets and schedule a delivery appointment.
How to pack for amazon fba when using FCL service ? 3 options can be given to comply with FBA palleting requirements.
1. Floor loaded firstly, then palletized.
You can have your China supplier just load the container with boxes.
Then, unload the boxes from the container by your forwarder when goods arrived at destination port, palletized it at ship from warehouse.
2. Directly palletized.
Ask your China supplier to load your container with right palleting as well as correct labelling, then container can be sent straight to the Amazon warehouse.
Note: This only works if Amazon assign just one warehouse.
3. Only floor loaded.
In fact, containers that stacked with boxes can be also accepted by Amazon.
But we don’t recommend. Why ?
Because palleting shipments are often prioritized over floor loaded containers..
It will take much nore longer for you to schedule a delivery appointment when you send container with floor loaded.
Consequently, a huge storage charges can be incurred.
What’s more, Amazon will also charge you the processing fee to handle floor loaded containers.
Twins Warehouse : The Secret of Success to FBA shipping
Rob Schad, seller of WORLD CLASS GOODS LLC on Amazon, based in PA 16066 US.
He was struggling to send goods from China to FBA warehouse before 2019 September.
Sure, Rob was selling great product.
But, the shipping he used before can’t meet his time requirement.
He even hold the order since ship from address can’t be confirmed.
Until Rob meet us,
So I offered him the ” Twins Technique” , and he can create the shipment plan in just 3 minutes.
Boom…
From 2 shipments in Sep to 15 shipments in Oct.
Not bad…
Why does the Twins Warehouse Technique work so well?
According to Rob:
“I never expect it is so easy, like a super sub.”
And then, with enough inventory, Rob’s sales increased 331 %.
Also he got more 5 star comments in few days ( The is a air shipment , fast delivered ).
With the order increasing, Rob aware the balance between inventory and selling.
So he started to compare the Amazon warehouse costs and want to store his goods in another third party warehouse.
Once again, as you already know, our ” twins warehouse ” came in handy.
And Rob saved more than $ 1500 for his 20 pallets shipment with 36 Cubic Meter.
For me,
the best thing is not to make certain amount money but t0 grow up with client’s business.
especially when I find that I can create something value for client.
With continuous shipments, it’s very glad that Rob become more experienced.
Here is what he wrote to supplier.
You see, now Rob totally understand the importance for Palleting, correct FBA ID, labelling for different product.
And the above is what he instructed to our US agent partner, very clear instruction.
Apparently he is a veteran now. I have nothing else to remind him:)
Conclusion
I hope you found this new Amazon shipping guide helpful.
Now I’d like to hear what you have to say:
Which tip from today’s post do you want to try first ?
Are you going to use port warehouse as the ” ship-from ” address ? Or maybe you want to have your supplier to label at origin.
Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.
Hi,
I’ve booked a shipment from a 3pl to amazon location via UPS , this is my first shipping plan. I’m in the UK.
Its shown as collected but the 3pl store tell me its still there.
Should I have been in touch with UPS at any point about this shipping booking, or is it all done in seller central by me?
I’m waiting on amazon response, UPS couldn’t trace the booking using the BOL information I have.
Forum users mention a tracking number but I haven’t been given one by amazon that I can find. Some of the forum questions are old so I don’t know what the process is.
Thanks
A useful guidline of FBA , and to ensure the process smoothly, better tochoose reliable former stage freight forwader from the supplier’s
country, like IRFREIGHT
Thank you. Good tips.