This detailed tutorial will go over how to set up a shipment the old-fashioned way.
STEP 1:
In Seller Central, go to “Manage Inventory” and find your listing.
STEP 2:
By checking the box on the right side, we can select the things for which we will prepare a shipment.
The next step is to select an action, after which we will be presented with the “Send/replenish inventory” option, which must be chosen. Does clicking lead to a new page when we do so?
STEP 3:
You must fill out your “Ship from address” in this step. Enter the address of your home or place of business if the inventory is there. Check the shipping address. It could be your residence, place of business, or supplier as this is where you’ll be shipping the goods from. You would need to enter your manufacturer’s address here if, for instance, your products are being shipped from a Chinese manufacturer.
The following step requires you to select either “Individual products” or “Case-packed products.”
If your package includes many items with various SK Us or conditions, choose “Individual goods.”
For instance, if you offer retail arbitrage and want to simultaneously send 10 different things to Amazon, you would pick this option.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.
For instance, if you are shipping many pieces of your private label product, you would select this option.
Simply select “Continue to Shipping plan.”
You can now move through the 6 primary stages sellers must complete to fulfil a shipment plan.
STEP 4:
SET THE QUANTITY:
After the “Continue to shipping plan” button click. It provides you with a new page where you must first set the quantity in order to carry out your shipping to Amazon FBA plan. Enter the total quantity of all the items you have on hand that you want to send.
Points to Remember:
- To save time when distributing the same products again in the future, you can copy a previous plan and make changes to it.
- Under “Search my inventory,” only the goods you’ve previously designated for fulfilment by Amazon is searchable.
STEP 5:
PREPARE THE PRODUCTS:
Products must be made in accordance with Amazon’s specifications. Additionally, you’ll still need to ship the items to a warehouse in a secure manner even if you decide to have Amazon prepare and label the items for you and pay the per-item price.
Make sure to read about all packaging and preparation requirements for sending FBA merchandise since this can necessitate additional packaging materials.You must prepare your things yourself if you didn’t choose Amazon to do it for you. Respect all FBA preparation criteria to avoid unforeseen preparation costs. To save time and money, many merchants may have their manufacturer or freight forwarder prepare their merchandise. Make sure your manufacturer or freight forwarder is familiar with the FBA prep requirements if you want them to do so.
For information on products that have specific preparation requirements, see the Prepare Products page’s Prep required tab. Any of the following may be necessary for you to employ:
● Polybags
● Bubble wrap
● Opaque bags
● Tape
If a product’s prep instructions are unclear, they will show up under the Prep may be necessary heading. To ascertain whether further preparation is required, choose the respective product category. Once you are ready to move forward, click Continue.
Who Makes the Amazon Shipment Creation Preparations?
The following page you get at will seem as follows, regardless of whether you’re sending single items or case-packed goods:
To apply to all, click here. Who prepares?
Amazon or Merchant is your two choices from a drop-down menu.
STEP 6:
LABEL THE PRODUCTS:
Next, you’ll be given the option to “Print Labels for this page”.
- Amazon stores and tracks its merchandise using a barcode system. Therefore, unless they are eligible for stickerless, commingled inventory, they must be labelled in accordance with Amazon guidelines. You have the following labelling choices when shipping to Amazon FBA:
- Using a UPC or EAN barcode that already exists for compliant products Including an Amazon barcode on the item or packaging
- Letting Amazon add barcodes for you in exchange for a per-item FBA Label Service cost
- All products that need labels are displayed under the Tab for Labeling. You must use the FBA Label Service if you selected Amazon in the Who labels field. Fees that apply will be displayed in the Label cost column. If Merchant is chosen under who labels, you are need to label the goods on your own.
- It’s time to produce your barcodes once this data has been established. Once you’ve made your selections, click Print labels for this page. There will be a PDF created.
- Be sure you adhere to all FBA product barcode specifications. These cover every aspect, from selecting the best printer and paper stock to applying labels correctly.
- Many sellers will have their labels printed directly into either their packaging or their product if they are selling goods made by a manufacturer.
- We advise taking this into consideration as a possibility because it saves the seller time and money. The FBA labelling and printing requirements still need to be followed by manufacturers.
- Not shipping labels, these. You can use these FNSKUs on your products. Amazon will let you know which warehouse your goods will be transported to if your items already have a UPC barcode or a FNSKU written on them.
STEP 7:
I am sending all 50 items to ABE8 (an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey), according to Amazon. My delivery won’t be divided up.
I will therefore select “Approve & continue,” Followed by “Work on shipping.”
PLACEMENT ON AMAZON:
You can find out here where Amazon wants your inventory sent.
Based on demand across the country, Amazon chooses where to send your purchases. Your incoming shipment parameters are by default set to “Distributed Inventory Placement,” which indicates that Amazon may divide your shipment into multiple deliveries to various fulfilment facilities.
This can be a frustrating circumstance, especially if your goods are prepared for shipping and have already been packaged.
Amazon might decide to ship 30 units to a warehouse in New Jersey, 15 units to a facility in Texas, and the final 5 units to a warehouse in California in this scenario.
You have the option of selecting “Inventory Placement Service,” which enables the assignment of quantities of a single seller SKU to a single fulfilment location.
You should be aware that there is a per-unit price associated with using this option. It charges $0.30 per unit for goods weighing under 1 pound and $0.40 per unit for goods weighing more than 1 pound.
Once you’ve hit update, return to Manage Inventory and make a fresh shipping strategy for your product.
If you use Amazon’s Inventory Placement Service, DON’T FORGET to return to Settings after your shipment plan is finished and change it back to the default value.
If you don’t, the Inventory Placement Service will be used without your knowledge for every shipment you arrange after that.
STEP 8:
SHIPPING SERVICE:
The Amazon Shipping Service You Should Use
You have two options for your shipping method in Section 2 of this page, Shipping service: small parcel delivery (SPD) or less than truckload (LTL).
TL also covers Full Truckload (FTL) and full ocean container load (FCL).
The main difference between SPD and LTL is how the shipment is delivered.
If you’ve ever had anything delivered to your house from FedEx or UPS, that’s small parcel delivery.
Each carton is a size and weight that can be easily lifted by a human. If you’re only shipping a small number of cartons, and no carton weighs over 50 lb., SPD is usually the logical choice.
LTL, on the other hand, involves larger trucks, cartons stacked on pallets wrapped in plastic, and is more commonly used to make deliveries to commercial addresses.
WHENEVER WE ARE SHIPPING SMALL PACKAGES!
When shipping SPD, you can send up to 10 cartons to Amazon through one of their partnered carriers. In addition, you can send inventory through any other carriers you choose, such as freight forwarders from outside, if you like. You have the option to select an alternative carrier or one of Amazon’s affiliated carriers.
Continue on to the section on shipment packing now.
Choose “Everything in one box” under “How will this cargo be packed” if you are just shipping one carton. The drop-down menu.
Your box’s weight and measurements will be requested (the weight and dimensions of your carton).
Using the drop-down menu, select Many Boxes if your shipment consists of multiple cartons. You will be given the options of using the web form, uploading a file, or shipping box information while paying the manual processing cost. The web form you can see below in the image above is the default selection. This seems like the simplest choice to me.
You can download an Excel template or CVS by clicking the Upload file button if you find using Excel to be more convenient. The numbers must then be manually entered, and the file must be uploaded again. Moving on to the web form…
There is only one product in the shipment, but if yours has more than one, they will all be shown here with the opportunity for you to enter:
- Units per box = how many packed in each carton
- Number of boxes = total number of cartons containing that AND ONLY THAT product
- Box weight = weight of carton
- Box dimensions (in.) = carton dimensions
Hit Confirm after entering the numbers for your shipment. You will see this message if you filled it out correctly:
Scroll down to the shipping labels area now. We’re nearly finished!
If you’re shipping your own cartons, you can print them here; otherwise, you can download them and mail them directly to the manufacturer.
Select the paper size, and then click Print box labels.
If your package has more than one carton, each one will have a different label; my shipment only contains one carton.
See how my label reads “Box 1 of 1”? You will have 20 separate labels if your cargo has 20 cartons, such as Box 1 of 20, Box 2 of 20, Box 3 of 20, and so on.Make sure that no two of your cartons have the same label. Take nothing for granted, and always double-check. If your manufacturers have ever produced a cargo for an FBA warehouse, they should be aware of this. After that, all you need to do is click Complete Shipment to finish.
Whenever we ship less than a truckload!
Less than truckload (LTL) shipments are those that are less than a truckload, full truckload (FTL), or full container loads when shipping by ocean (FCL).
- Using one of Amazon’s affiliated carriers will be the least priced and fastest shipping choice if you’re sending from within the 48 contiguous United States.
- Your freight forwarder will select your U.S. carrier if you are shipping from outside the 48 contiguous United States.
- Inquire about the name of the American carrier. In case your carrier isn’t included in the drop-down option, choose a different one.
- Full container load is also covered by LTL (FCL). FCL will not be covered in this article; instead, see our guide to shipping entire containers to Amazon to find out everything you need to know.
- You can now go to the Shipment packaging stage, regardless of the carrier option you selected, whether it was Amazon-Partnered or not.
- Choose everything in one box from the How wills this shipment be packed menu if you’re just shipping one carton. The drop-down menu.
- Your box’s weight and measurements will be requested (the weight and dimensions of your carton).
- Using the drop-down menu, select Many Boxes if your shipment consists of multiple cartons.
- You will be given the options of using the web form, uploading a file, or shipping box information while paying the manual processing cost.
- By default, Webform is chosen, as seen by the online form that can be seen beneath it. This is the most straightforward choice for me (and most sellers).
- Click Confirm after entering the number of units per box (carton).
- Every carton’s label is distinct. Therefore, if you have 20 boxes, you will receive 20 unique labels. For each carton, one.
- Verify that your manufacturer does not apply the same label to many boxes. Each box needs a separate label.
- Go down to the shipping labels section now. You’re nearly finished.
Your carton labels won’t be completely accessible because they’ll be bundled up on pallets. Therefore, a special label must be created and applied to each and every pallet’s four sides. Click Print pallet labels to print them. A pdf will be created, which you can either print out or download and email to the person handling your shipping.You just need to click Complete Shipment at this point to finish.
What Labels Are Necessary For My Amazon FBA Shipment?
I Need Labels for Small Parcel Delivery (SPD), but which ones?
- Each box in your package requires its own shipping label.
- When you reach the Prepare Shipment step of your shipping plan and scroll down to 4. Shipping labels (“Print box labels”), you may print or download these labels to send to your manufacturer.
For Less Than Truckload (LTL) And Full Truckload (FTL), Which Labels Am I Supposed To Use?
Similar to SPD, each carton requires its own shipping label. In the Prepare Shipment phase of your shipping plan, you can print or download them for your manufacturer.
Your cartons will be packaged collectively on pallets for LTL or FTL transportation. Pallet labels are what you will also need as a result. Your pallet labels can be printed or downloaded during the Prepare Shipment stage of your shipping plan.
Labels must be adhered to all four sides of each pallet in accordance with the guidelines above.