Use Fulfillment by Amazon to ship your Handmade products

You can use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to send inventory to one of our fulfillment centres. When a customer places an order, Amazon packs/handles the stored inventory and ships it for you.

Why should you use Fulfillment by Amazon?

The benefits of using FBA include:

• Free shipping on eligible orders: With FBA, your products are eligible for Amazon Prime free Two-Day Shipping and all Amazon customers can get free shipping on eligible orders.
• Customer service and returns: Amazon provides customer service on your behalf and handles returns for FBA orders.
• Opportunities to reach new customers: Programs such as FBA Small and Light, Lightning Deals, Prime Exclusive Discounts and more, which can help you maximize sales and build customer trust.
• Tools to help you manage your business: Choose from optional services including product preparation, repackaging, and Amazon partnered carrier options.

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the FBA fees and rate structure.

Use the FBA Revenue Calculator to determine what your actual fulfillment costs will be and how this would impact your margin.

Step 1: Convert your products to FBA

You must first create your listing as Merchant Fulfilled – this is the default option. After you have created your listings as Merchant Fulfilled, the following steps will walk you through the process of converting them to FBA:

1. On the Manage Inventory page, identify the item that you want to convert to FBA.
2. From the Edit drop-down list, select Change to Fulfilled by Amazon.
3. This will direct you to the Set Your Fulfillment by Amazon Label Preferences page, where you will be asked to accept or decline label services. Go to FBA Label Service for additional details.
4. Click Review Selection.
5. This will direct you to the Convert to 'Fulfilled by Amazon' page, where you will have options for Convert Only or Convert & Send Inventory.
   • If you want to continue creating your shipment, click Convert & Send Inventory.
   • If you want to keep adding inventory before creating your shipment, click Convert only.
6. You will be asked to provide additional compliance information. Answer any questions and click Save & Continue.
7. You can click Convert and be directed back to your Manage Inventory page for Amazon-Fulfilled Inventory listings, or click Convert & Send Inventory to create a shipping plan. See Step 3: Create a shipping plan for more details.

Step 2: Prepare your FBA products

Proper preparation, packaging, and labelling helps ensure your products are transported safely and securely to the fulfillment centre and made available quickly to customers.

For additional information on the prep and packaging requirements for FBA, go to Packaging and prep requirements and Shipping and routing requirements.

As hand-crafted products do not have a barcode attached to them, they must be labelled individually with FBA labels containing an Amazon barcode so that they can be received at Amazon’s fulfillment centres.

Step 3: Create a shipping plan

When you are ready to send inventory to Amazon, you begin by creating a shipping plan. A shipping plan specifies:

• The products you want to send to Amazon
• The quantity of each product
• The shipping method and carrier details

To learn about creating a shipping plan, go to Send/replenish inventory to Amazon.

Once your products are received at the fulfillment center, they are available for customers to buy. For more information, go to How Amazon receives and stores your inventory and Manage FBA orders.

Replenishment alerts: Amazon will alert you when remaining inventory falls below a threshold of your choosing. We suggest a coverage of 4-8 weeks, which is likely to give you enough time to prepare/send inventory and have it received before items sell out.

FAQs

Is FBA right for me?

Determine if Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is right for your business by using the FBA Revenue Calculator. This tool allows you to calculate your FBA fees by entering the ASIN you consider enrolling. There are no inventory minimums, so you control which and how many items you enrol.

Can I create two listings - one with customization and the other one enrolled in FBA?

Yes, but modify the title so that the listing is not a duplicate. Send the non-customizable SKU to FBA while your offer with customization needs to be fulfilled by you.

Examples:

You list a personalized necklace with chain lengths offered in 12”, 18” and 22”. You could offer one, two, or all three sizes without personalization through FBA by creating a unique custom-disabled listing for each size. You could also create a separate seller-fulfilled listing that offers engraving in all three chain lengths.

You have multiple candles in five different colours. You could have an FBA offer for your best-selling colours – green and blue – plus a seller-fulfilled listing with customization options offering all five colours.

Why can't I convert my Handmade listing to FBA?

Listings must be custom-disabled. This means that attributes such as size or colour need to be fixed to be eligible.

How can I unsubscribe products from FBA?

1. On the Manage Inventory page, select the items you want to unsubscribe from FBA.
2. From the Action on selected drop-down list, select Change to Fulfilled by Merchant.
3. This will direct you to a confirmation page.
4. Click Yes, continue.
5. To remove your FBA inventory, go to Remove inventory (overview).