If you’re an Amazon seller, you’ve probably heard of Fulfilment by Amazon, or FBA as it’s known for short. This service lets you outsource your storage, warehousing and delivery operations to Amazon. The FBA programme has consistently grown in popularity among sellers since its launch in 2006. But is it really worth it? In this post, we’ll provide an overview of FBA to help you decide whether it’s right for your business, and we’ll give advice on how you can get more out of FBA with the help of Curo Fulfilment.
FBA Fees
There are two main types of FBA fees: storage fees and fulfilment fees. Storage fees are the fees Amazon charges for storing your goods in their warehouse. These are calculated based on the amount of space your inventory takes up, measured in cubic feet. Fulfilment fees are the fees charged for picking, packing and delivery. These are based on the product type, dimension and weight. Customer service and product return fees are also included in this category.
In addition, there are extra occasional fees such as removal fees for defective or unsellable products. It’s important to note that FBA fees can be quite expensive, so use Amazon’s Revenue Calculator to check the total and compare prices before you get started.
How FBA Selling Works
When you list a product on Amazon, you’ll have the option to set it as an FBA listing. You don’t need to set all your products as FBA: you can set as many or as few as you want. To avoid racking up excessive fees, it’s a good idea to choose carefully. Amazon’s FBA Opportunities tool can help you select which items are most suitable to set as FBA listings. Also, certain product categories are not eligible for FBA fulfilment, so check the FBA prohibited products list to make sure your items are eligible. Once you’ve created your FBA listings, Amazon provides a variety of inventory management tools that you can use to help monitor your inventory and sales performance.
FBA Preparation
Before sending your products to an FBA centre, there’s a complex set of guidelines you’ll need to follow regarding packaging and labelling, in order to make sure that your items arrive at the centre in fulfilment-ready condition. Ensuring your products meet these requirements can be a tricky and time-consuming process. Amazon does offer an FBA preparation service themselves, but there are extra fees for this. If you don’t opt for this service, you must make sure your goods are in requirement-ready condition when they arrive at the FBA centre, otherwise you might be charged for unplanned preparation services or your shipment might even be turned away.
Benefits of FBA
Like any third-party fulfilment company, Amazon takes over the responsibility for storage & logistics operations from your business. Amazon will also take care of customer service and returns for you. In addition, many FBA products become eligible for Amazon Prime free two-day shipping – and even non-Prime customers will still enjoy free shipping on eligible FBA orders. This can be an effective method for attracting new customers.
IS FBA worth it?
The main drawback of FBA is without doubt the costly fees. FBA fees are charged on top of Amazon’s standard 15% selling fee and can quickly eat into your operating costs, especially if your products remain in storage for long periods of time. Furthermore, the complicated preparation process can take up a lot of time and effort. That's why many sellers are now choosing third-party companies like Curo Fulfilment to assist with FBA storage and preparation.
How Curo helps you get more out of FBA
In addition to our regular fulfilment services, Curo offers a storage and processing service for FBA orders at highly competitive prices. First, we store your FBA inventory in our warehouse. This means you don’t need to pay the FBA storage fee – our lower rates help you keep costs down. When your FBA inventory needs restocking, our integrated software platform receives the order directly from Amazon. Our team of skilled operatives then ensures your items are delivered to the FBA centre in requirement-ready condition, sparing you the troublesome process of preparation. We label each individual item with an FBA label, then pack the items according to Amazon guidelines and label the pallets with FBA labels. Finally, we choose from our range of trusted logistics partners to ensure your goods are delivered to the FBA centre at the best rates for your business.
If you’re ready to sign up and let Curo start taking care of your goods, it’s easy – just click here to start the sign-up process. If you’ve got any questions or would like to know more about Curo, there’s plenty of information on our website. Alternatively, give us a call on 0845 009 1988 or email us at info@curofulfilment.com, and one of our people will be happy to help with all your queries.