My E-Com Journey

Creating an Amazon FBA business from scratch (Jan 1, 2025)

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Sending Inventory to Amazon

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by

Michael
in

As an Amazon FBA reseller, “sourcing” is the critical activity to determine your success. No question about that. But there are many other time consuming activities to running an Online Arbitrage business that have to be dealt with, and getting your products shipped to Amazon is one of them. The sooner you get your product to Amazon, without issues(!), the sooner it’s available to be sold and you can start making money.

Here’s a breakdown of the process, including tips on labeling, prepping, and understanding check-in times.

1. Preparing Your Products

Before sending inventory to Amazon, ensure your products meet their preparation standards:

  • Labeling: Each item must have a scannable barcode (either Amazon’s FNSKU, or the manufacturer’s UPC). Amazon will tell you which label is required when you select your products to ship to Amazon (see below). You can print the FNSKU labels directly from Seller Central or have Amazon label them for a fee.
  • Polybagging: Several different kinds of items, such as clothing or liquids, will require polybags. Polybags are special protective plastic bags you can purchase from Amazon (shocking, right?) as well as Alibaba or other retailers. There aren’t exactly common plastic bags, they’re generally labeled with suffocation warnings and come with an adhesive strip at the top to facilitate easy closing.

    Use clear bags at least 1.5 mil thick with suffocation warnings if the opening exceeds 5 inches. Also, make sure the barcode is visible through the bag or if you add an FNSKU (Amazon barcode), place it on the polybag itself.
  • Packaging: Use sturdy boxes with proper cushioning. I buy my boxes from Walmart now, but just find the best price you can. One note: Don’t reuse old Amazon or other “branded” boxes. Also, avoid loose fillers like foam peanuts and ensure boxes are sealed securely. I try to keep even my largest boxes limited to 45 lbs (vs Amazon’s 50lb limit), and sometimes even 40 lbs.

2. Creating a Shipping Plan

In your Seller Central account, navigate to the “Send to Amazon” workflow:

  • Select the inventory you’re shipping.
  • Provide details such as box dimensions, weight, and the number of units per box.
  • Amazon will then assign the fulfillment centers where your product will go based on your products and location

3. Printing Labels

Amazon generates two types of labels:

  • FNSKU Labels: For individual products.
  • Box Labels: These include shipping barcodes and destination details. Ensure labels are placed on a flat surface of the box and do not cover seams or edges.
    For best results, use a thermal printer capable of printing 4×6-inch labels. I tried printing shipping labels on my laser printer and while that worked for a month, I found it to be a huge time waste so I reluctantly bought a Rollo X1040 wireless thermal printer. it’s a little tricky to get the bluetooth connection to my laptop configured, but once I did it made printing labels a piece of cake.
    i still print the FNSKU labels on my laser printer right now, but plan to look into buying different label sized for the Rollo printer soon

4. Shipping Your Inventory

You can ship via Amazon’s Partnered Carrier Program for discounted rates, or Amazon gives you the option to use your own carrier. I use Amazon’s service exclusively, I found that they’ve got the best rates and it does make tracking shipments easier. it’s an added advantage that Amazon has all the shipping information, since they created the label I printed, so any problems with a shipment are well known to Amazon. That said, I have not had any issues wiht shipments getting lost or damaged so far. Just ensure all boxes are labeled correctly and match the shipping plan to avoid delays.

5. Check-In Times

Once your shipment arrives at Amazon’s warehouse, it typically takes a minimum of one week, and sometimes longer, to be processed and made available for sale. However, during peak seasons like holidays or Prime Day, delays may occur due to high volumes. For that reason many sellers use FBM during Q4, and also when you just want to test 5-10 units quickly to see if they are going to sell well or not.





To minimize delays:

  • Ensure accurate labeling and packaging.
  • Monitor shipment status in Seller Central regularly.

6. Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Incorrect Labeling: Ensure no other barcodes are visible on the product packaging. Don’t want to confuse the folks in the Amazon distribution center when your package arrives
  • Non-Compliant Packaging: Fragile items or liquids must meet specific requirements. Amazon has some specific requirements that you can find in the Resources area of the Seller University section.
  • Underestimating Time: Plan ahead for shipping and processing times to avoid stockouts. it will take longer than you think, and it’s important to keep that inventory moving so you can recoup your cash and get it working again quickly.

By following these steps and adhering to Amazon’s guidelines, you can streamline your FBA shipments and ensure your inventory reaches customers quickly and efficiently! Once you’re proficient at shipping, the you might want to consider a prep center to handle all that repetitive work. But I prefer understanding the process myself before I hand it off to a prep center, hence I’ve been doing my own prep until now.