Using Fulfillment by Amazon for International Orders

An alternative way to fulfill your international orders is to use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) in the country corresponding to the Amazon marketplace where you are listing your products. Using FBA will require importing your products to another country for storage in an Amazon fulfilment centre to sell them to customers in that marketplace. The one exception to this case is if you already sell in one of Amazon's European marketplaces and fulfill with FBA in that marketplace. In that case, you can fulfill your orders from other EU marketplaces using your current FBA account through the European Fulfilment Network or Multi-Country Inventory (see below).

The following chart summarizes instances where you will need to import your products when using FBA:

The following section covers what you need to know in order to plan for the import process. As covered in Register and Launch, you will first need to create a seller account in the Amazon marketplace where you want to sell, then enrol in FBA in that marketplace.

For more information about selling internationally and using FBA, please refer to Amazon's help pages on Seller Central, including reminders about your obligations when using Fulfilment by Amazon.

Sending inventory to an Amazon fulfilment centre

If your inventory is located in a different country than the fulfilment centre, you need to export your products from the source country and import them into the destination country. You will act as the exporter of record in the source country and the importer of record in the destination country, and must comply with all laws and regulations of the source and destination countries. You may be subject to import taxes, customs duties, and fees levied by the destination country. Here is an overview of the process:

1. Create listings in Seller Central.
2. Prepare a commercial invoice indicating that you are the importer of record.
3. Choose a customs broker (this service may be offered by your carrier).
4. Ship the products from the factory or warehouse to the port.
5. Clear the products through customs for export.
6. Load products onto a carrier for transport to the destination port.
7. Ship products to the destination port and offload them.
8. Clear the products through customs for import.
9. Load products onto carrier for transport to the fulfilment centre.

Fulfilment options in Europe

Selling in Europe allows you to leverage Amazon's fulfilment network. Not only is listing simplified with a single Amazon European marketplace account, but cross-border sales also can be easier to manage with Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). In Europe, FBA offers three international fulfilment programs: Pan-European FBA, the European Fulfilment Network, and Multi-Country Inventory.

European Fulfilment Network (EFN)

If you're just getting started selling in Europe, we recommend using the European Fulfilment Network (EFN). EFN is a simple way to store and ship your inventory across all five of Amazon's European marketplaces. Here's how it works:

1. You ship your inventory to fulfilment centres in your home or local marketplace in Europe-for example, in the U.K.
2. You list the products in one or more of the Amazon European marketplaces, for example, on Amazon.de (German language website).
3. Customers across Europe can order your products, and Amazon fulfills those orders from that single pool of inventory. For example, when a customer in Germany purchases your product on Amazon.de, the product is fulfilled by Amazon and shipped from your inventory pool in the U.K.
4. When customers track their orders, they can see where it is shipping from and the expected arrival time.

Benefits of the European Fulfilment Network

Selecting the European Fulfilment Network

If you are registered for Fulfilment by Amazon, you're able to use EFN with no additional registration or startup costs. Simply add your listings to each Amazon European marketplace where you want to sell. When those products sell, you pay a fee for each order shipped outside your home marketplace through EFN, in addition to your other FBA fees. Learn more about EFN Fees.

Multi-Country Inventory (MCI)

You can reduce the time it takes for an order to get to your customer by using Multi-Country Inventory (MCI). MCI is an optional international fulfilment program offered through Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) that helps you grow your international sales by making your offers more competitive. With MCI, you send your most popular inventory directly to the countries where customers are buying, so the products are close to your customers. When customers order your products, Amazon can ship and deliver them faster.

Even if you fulfill domestic orders yourself, you can gain a competitive edge in the international marketplaces where you sell by fulfilling locally with MCI. You can either choose to fulfill your entire listings or just your best-selling items locally through MCI -there are no minimum requirements.

Benefits of Multi-Country Inventory

Selecting Multi-Country Inventory

In order to take advantage of MCI, you can create offers in any Amazon European marketplaces with Amazon's Build International Listings tool. When you enable MCI, you will be able to select from the available countries to send inventory.

Deciding between EFN and MCI

If you are an FBA seller and have never sold internationally before, the easiest way to start is to list your FBA products in the new marketplace, and your orders from that marketplace will automatically get fulfilled through EFN. Keep in mind that orders fulfilled through EFN will take slightly longer to reach your customers than offers fulfilled domestically in each marketplace. When using EFN, you will pay an EFN fee in addition to your FBA fees. To make your bestselling international items even more competitive and so increase your sales, we recommend fulfilling these items locally with MCI. With MCI, you will pay the FBA fees of the country where your inventory is located. See fees for corresponding marketplaces below.

You can use both EFN and MCI to fulfill your international orders. When international customers order items not available locally, their orders will be fulfilled through EFN.