What Is FBA Prep?
If sellers are sending their inventory to FBA, it is not only a matter of throwing everything into a box and giving it to an FBA courier. Your stock must follow a series of rules to be accepted by the Fulfillment Center. Some of these regulations are for all stock. Some are specific to certain types of. FBA preparation is the process of getting your inventory ready to be placed on Amazon. It mostly focuses on packaging and marking of products but some sellers, specifically importers, consist of an inspection of their inventory. Getting your FBA prep right is hugely essential. You can be fined for not preparing the FBA preparation correctly. Worse still, if you submit damaged items to Amazon and it gets mistakenly sent to a customer who is likely to file a complaint and then send the item back. These complaints can build up and cause your listing to be removed or your account to be suspended.
Why Outsource FBA Prep?
In the case of FBA prep you have three options: complete it yourself or pay Amazon to complete it, or outsource the task to a third-party. FBA preparation is specialized, full of intricate rules that are easy to miss or get wrong. In essence, you are outsourcing this task. FBA preparation services should be knowledgeable of the procedure. They will ensure that your stock is in line with Amazon rules before you send it to FBA. This decreases the possibility of your stock being rejected. This is particularly important when you first send items to FBA. If you haven't previously done this, you will not know how challenging it is. Amazon has a number of rules that can cause time-consuming preparation of inventory for FBA. When you're not searching for new products, you may find yourself inspecting stock and making boxes.
Price
Many sellers will be worried about price when choosing an FBA preparation company. Although it's not the primary element, it's not uncommon to desire the best price. Your costs don't have to increase just because they begin with a price that is high. The first question to inquire about is whether the preparation service is charged per month or per item. Sellers who have a large volume of inventory will benefit by a monthly charge but sellers who make small volume sales will appreciate the cost per item. Low volume sellers may prefer the per item charge as they are likely to send stock in less frequently. Because some prep centers add additional charges for packaging, such as poly bags or bubble wrap, you will want to determine what the costs are. It is crucial to be aware of the storage fees as well as the minimum number of units that must be sent to the prep center at any time. It is essential to take into consideration other factors when choosing FBA prep services. It is not a good idea to choose a service that cuts corners however you'd like your prep costs to be manageable. It doesn't matter if your initial costs are expensive. When you get more skilled in the process of preparation, it's possible for your costs to be reduced. You can divide certain tasks among your manufacturer and the prep services you provide. See the recommended Door to Door Delivery site for updates.
Location
The ability to think strategically is essential when deciding where to locate your preparation center. If the bulk of your business is private label, then you're likely to transport large amounts of products from China. It's best to determine the ports your shipments arrive at and choose a prep centre nearby. Danny McMillan says that it is possible to use prep centers near the ports you ship to. This will not only help save time and money on transporting however, it can also assist in making your business run smoothly. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong the prep center will dispatch an individual to the port. If the distance between your prep centre and the port was more than 300 miles, this would not be possible. A prep center close to your home is another consideration for sellers of retail arbitrage. This allows them to or pick up the merchandise at their own expense or incur very low freight costs. Take into consideration your options when selecting a prep location. Amazon Fulfillment Centers can differ from one location to the next. If you choose to sign up for Amazon's Inventory Placement Service, this is also the case. Under that program, you will send all of your inventory for a specific product to the same Fulfillment Center, but Amazon can, and will, change the location from shipment to shipment.