About Amazon FBALearn More

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service Amazon offers its third-party sellers. Using FBA, sellers send their goods to one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and Amazon ships the items to the customer. Customers who buy FBA products usually get their items rather quickly. When an item sells, employees pick and pack the order and it leaves the warehouse shortly after the sale. Amazon’s shipping partners, including the USPS, work hard to ensure timely delivery. Even companies that don’t deliver on Sundays will ship FBA products seven days a week. It’s fairly simple to use FBA. Sellers must contact Amazon after they prepare their listings. They provide several details, including product information and the quantity they plan on sending. Amazon tells the seller where to send the shipment and they handle deal it from there.

Selling on Shopify using Amazon’s FBA service requires a different mindset than selling on Amazon with FBA. Other than in a few specialty categories, Amazon’s referral fees range between 8% and 17% of the sale amount. People who sell on Shopify try to avoid these fees, but there’s a reason why people gladly pay Amazon’s referral fees. Amazon attracts buyers from around the world to its platform, while Shopify sellers have to do their own marketing to sell their products. Shopify sellers also aim to build a brand without being subject to Amazon’s regulations. For example, Amazon does not allow its sellers to contact buyers. Many people feel that engaging customers is the best way to grow a business. Each of the platforms has its advantages, but people who want to list items without having to market them should definitely sell on Amazon. Those who are eager to promote their own products should consider Shopify.

eBay and Amazon have distinct platforms. Deciding which one to use depends on your goals and what you're looking to sell. Amazon, in general, has a much higher sales volume than eBay. Many sellers choose Amazon because they feel they could earn more money there. While this is true in a lot of cases, some items do perform better on eBay. Amazon is the more restrictive of the two, so there are some products that you can only sell on eBay. For example, Amazon doesn’t allow used clothing sales. For many products, you need preauthorization before you sell them on Amazon. eBay has fewer guidelines for creating listings. If you only plan on selling a few pieces of each item, you might want to stick with eBay. Either way, both Amazon and eBay are great options for most sellers.

FBA is a pay-as-you-go service. Amazon will only charge you after you sell an item and for storing your goods. There are no upfront fees. Monthly inventory storage fees vary depending on the time of year and size. From January through September, you'll pay $0.75 per cubic foot for standard-size products and $0.48 for oversized products. The prices increase to $2.40 and $1.20 from October through December. Fulfillment fees for items sold depend on their size, weight, and category. Small, non-apparel items weighing up to 10 ounces range between $1.97 and $2.63. Larger products up to three pounds cost $3.31 to $5.42. Fees for apparel are slightly more expensive. Both categories have higher costs for oversized products. Amazon also assesses long-term storage fees for goods stored in their warehouse for more than a year. When they return items to a seller, Amazon does charge removal fees.

Sellers use Amazon FBA because of its many advantages. Specifically, high-volume sellers have more to gain from this service. By sending products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers, sellers reduce the need for warehousing space. Since Amazon packs and ships each item, sellers also require fewer employees. Additionally, products ship and get to the buyer faster due to Amazon’s streamlined process. Shipping costs are also lower because of Amazon FBA's relationships with the USPS and private delivery vendors. As part of the service, Amazon handles several tasks for the seller. For example, they manage all customer returns. Overall, it’s well worth using FBA. Sellers are business owners working to operate at lower costs and grow their companies. Using this service reduces their workload and frees sellers up to build their businesses.