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How Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) works
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service provided to Amazon sellers that affords the seller more flexibility in selling practices. Similar to a 3rd party fulfillment center, Amazon FBA takes a huge burden off the seller by providing storage, packaging, and shipping services along with a slew of other advantages.
Two main features of this service are the built in customer service and the natural customer visibility that Amazon FBA provides, often allowing a seller’s item to wear the highly coveted “Prime” badge.
All FBA shipments are sent out by Amazon with a built-in customer guarantee. Customers can buy with confidence knowing that if there is any issue with the order whatsoever, Amazon will send them a free return label and refund their money.
Combine this aspect with the fact that Amazon Prime has around 95 million US memberships and you can begin to see why it is essential to get your products into an Amazon fulfillment center.
Benefits of Using FBA Services
Sellers can take advantage of all of the resources and benefits associated with Amazon when they sign up for Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA). These include:
- Amazon’s Name Associated with your Products: This is a quality guarantee that most buyers will appreciate, making them more prone to patronize a seller because of it.
- Subsidized Shipping Fees: Because Amazon has a relationship with several shipping companies (including its own delivery service!) sellers using FBA will be able to pay less in shipping than if the items were being delivered from an individual’s account. In addition, sellers can offer free shipping and take advantage of Amazon Prime visibility and FREE Super Saver Shipping.
- Multi-Channel Fulfillment: Amazon can ship and handle inventory that is being sold on multiple channels, and not just through the Amazon marketplace. While this service does charge a small fee, it is only slightly higher than regular FBA fees, and Amazon does not charge a referral fee on these orders.
- Shipping Standardization: All FBA orders are processed in exactly the same way Amazon handles its own merchandise. This means that when someone purchases an item, Amazon picks the item from inventory, packs the item, and ships it to the buyer. A seller can feature an item on his own website, and, through the Fulfillment By Amazon service, still have Amazon take care of all of the heavy lifting.
Businesses should know that there are specific requirements for completing the FBA process. If these requirements are not followed then additional fees may be incurred at Amazons discretion.
Some of these policies and requirements include, product restrictions, inventory listing requirements, customer returns policy, and FBA shipping policies including a lost/damaged inventory reimbursement policy. With all these policies and fees, it can be hard to keep track, at CommerceBlitz we can help alleviate this headache.
Don’t know how to ship to Amazon FBA?
CommerceBlitz offers FBA management services so you can avoid the frustration of miscellaneous fees for failing to adhere to Amazon FBA guidelines that can often be a little tricky for new sellers to navigate.
Our expertise in this area will allow you start selling your items through Amazon Prime with a minimal amount of effort on your part.