What Is FBA Prep?
FBA does not allow sellers to simply put their inventory in a box and send it to them. Fulfillment Center can only accept items that meet certain criteria. Some of these rules apply to all inventory, while others are specific to categories. FBA preparation is the process of making sure your inventory is ready to be shipped to Amazon. Although it is mostly about the packaging and labeling of goods certain sellers, specifically those that import items, include inspections of their inventory. It is crucial to get your FBA preparation in order. Amazon will not accept your stock when you make an error. You'll be responsible for the cost of returning the stock. If damaged stock is sent into Amazon customers, they'll likely complain and then return the product. If there are a lot of complaints, you could see your account suspended or your listing taken down.
Why Outsource FBA Prep?
FBA prep is a three options: do it yourself, pay Amazon for the service, or employ professionals. FBA prep is complicated, requires a great deal of expertise and is prone to a sloppy error. You can outsource the process and let the rest fall to professionals. Your FBA prep service should know the process and make sure that any stock you send into FBA is in compliance with Amazon's guidelines and reduces the chance of your inventory being rejected. This is especially important when you're making the first attempt to send your inventory to FBA. You don't know how complex a process could be until you've tried the task yourself and have learned from your mistakes. Amazon has numerous rules that create a lengthy process of preparing inventory for FBA. The process of analyzing stock, creating boxes and printing labels could be laborious. Your time could be better spent on sourcing new products.
Price
Most sellers will be concerned about the cost when choosing the FBA prep company. While it shouldn't be the primary aspect, it's normal to desire the best price. The cost of your services shouldn't go up just because they begin at a high level. It's important to know whether the service is charged per item or per month. Sellers with a high volume of inventory will benefit from a monthly cost but sellers who make low volume sales will appreciate the price per item. Low volume sellers may prefer the per-item cost since they are likely to send stocks in less frequently. Since some prep firms charge extra for packaging like bubble wrap or poly bags You should find out what the packaging cost is. It is also important to understand what storage charges are as well as the quantity of units you need to send to the prep centre at any given moment. It is important to consider other aspects when selecting FBA prep services. While you don't want to pay too much for a service, it is crucial that the costs of your preparation are affordable. There is no need to incur high initial costs. It is possible to reduce expenses by becoming more acquainted in the process of preparation such as splitting tasks between the manufacturer and your prep service. See the recommended Door to Door Delivery site for info.
Location
The ability to think strategically is essential in deciding where to put your preparation center. If your business is mostly private label, it's very likely that you'll be shipping massive quantities of stock from China. Thus, knowing the ports where your deliveries arrive at and selecting the nearest prep center is a good strategy. In Danny McMillan's experience, using prep centers near the ports you ship to can be beneficial, not just for reducing time and transportation costs, but also for the smooth running of your business. In the unlikely event that something does go wrong the prep center will dispatch someone to the port. This is not possible if your prep center was located at a distance of 300 miles from the port. Another consideration for retail arbitrage sellers is having a prep centre close to their homes and, therefore, when they need to source stock, they can either bring it into the store their own or pay very little cost for transport. You should not choose an organization based solely on its proximity to an Amazon Fulfillment Center. Each Amazon warehouse is different. If you choose to sign up for Amazon's Inventory Placement Service, this is also the case. The program lets you ship all of your stock of a single item to the same Fulfillment Center. Amazon can modify the shipping location.