Selling through Amazon FBA

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Gmafb :

Hello from Fulfillment by Amazon,

In order for your products to be placed in our fulfillment centers more accurately and to be ready for sale quicker, starting on October 2, 2017, you will be required to provide the weight of a product in the manufacturer’s original packaging. This information will help improve the accuracy of your inventory records and help move your products through our fulfillment network more efficiently so that they can become ready for sale quicker. You will receive a prompt to enter this weight for each ASIN when you create a new shipping plan if this information is not already on file. You will only be asked to provide this information once per ASIN.

The weight of the product in the manufacturer’s original packaging is needed in addition to the box content information, because it allows us to calculate the weight of each unit within the box individually.

Visit Send FBA inventory to Amazon (sign-in required) to learn more about shipping to our fulfillment centers.

To find out more about box content information, visit Box content information for shipments to Amazon (sign-in required).

Thank you for selling on Amazon.
 

[ISO8T0]

Um. Is their catalog broken?
Most of these weights are on current listings are they not?

[Bold-Arrow]

6 minutes ago, pstebbing said:

Um. Is their catalog broken?
Most of these weights are on current listings are they not?

It's been broke but it should be there . All of it 

[exciter1]

These hair spray cans vary drastically depending on the temperature in the transport vehicle during shipment.

[Jackson]

Amazon's catalog is kind of terrible anyway. There are so many inaccuracies and omissions and duplicate listings.

[asharerin]

1 hour ago, pstebbing said:

Um. Is their catalog broken?
Most of these weights are on current listings are they not?

They r using this info to help with their new receiving process. A lot of the weights in the catalog are inflated by mf sellers to get a greater shipping credit. As the new receiving process means a lot of missing units the accurate weight will allow their software to know if items got lost in the warehouse and need to be found or if the fba seller really did shortchange the shipment. This is a good thing as lots of units have been lost with their new and faster receiving process they put in place about 2 months ago. 

[river41]

4 hours ago, asharerin said:

They r using this info to help with their new receiving process. A lot of the weights in the catalog are inflated by mf sellers to get a greater shipping credit. As the new receiving process means a lot of missing units the accurate weight will allow their software to know if items got lost in the warehouse and need to be found or if the fba seller really did shortchange the shipment. This is a good thing as lots of units have been lost with their new and faster receiving process they put in place about 2 months ago. 

what aspect of the receiving process did they change to make it faster?

[asharerin]

2 hours ago, river41 said:

what aspect of the receiving process did they change to make it faster?

They no longer scan all of your items at receiving. Instead they eyeball everything and if it looks right mark it as completed in full. Then your items go to be stored or transferred then stored where they are scanned. If they get lost on the way or don't get scanned then they go back and edit the shipment received number and state you did not ship all of the items in the box content info even tho u did. This caused thousands on losses for a lot of sellers so now they will be able to verify by matching box weight to box content when they weigh at check in.

[Loghamel]

Needing some advice from you veterans.  I'm starting to put together a shipment for the holidays.  Is there a time limit on the shipping labels I purchase?  Let's say I want to send in 20 boxes and total weight is 450 pounds.  If I approve the shipment, purchase shipping, and print the shipping labels, how long are they good for?  What I'd like to do is get all the boxes completely ready and let them sit until mid-late October.  Will that work and is there any negative impact it can cause?  Also, I'm not charged for the shipping until the shipping company scans the labels, correct?

Thanks guys.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Loghamel

[landphieran]

On 9/28/2017 at 10:23 AM, Loghamel said:

Needing some advice from you veterans.  I'm starting to put together a shipment for the holidays.  Is there a time limit on the shipping labels I purchase?  Let's say I want to send in 20 boxes and total weight is 450 pounds.  If I approve the shipment, purchase shipping, and print the shipping labels, how long are they good for?  What I'd like to do is get all the boxes completely ready and let them sit until mid-late October.  Will that work and is there any negative impact it can cause?  Also, I'm not charged for the shipping until the shipping company scans the labels, correct?

Thanks guys.

You can fill out the shipment. IE declaring all the contents of the boxes but I would not recommend printing off the shipping labels. Amazon's automated processes expect those items and may slam you with "shipment not received in full" or other errors for not sending inventory they are expecting. I believe Amazon automatically charges your seller account the second you accept charges.

I previously completed a shipment but due to the box size it took me about a week of drop offs to unload everything at Fedex. Amazon hit me with a incomplete shipment during that time. I have since moved back to the more expensive UPS and use scheduled pickups.

[landphieran]

Does anyone know the correct process to submit a "FBA fulfillment fee" investigation? I have various listings with exorbitantly high fee's compared to the same item in a different variation. My googlefu is struggling.

[Bold-Arrow]

9 minutes ago, landphieran said:

Does anyone know the correct process to submit a "FBA fulfillment fee" investigation? I have various listings with exorbitantly high fee's compared to the same item in a different variation. My googlefu is struggling.

Open case and disputes the dimensions and/or weight . If you can reference the manficature page/ source that would be very beneficial 

[newbie77]

25 minutes ago, landphieran said:

You can fill out the shipment. IE declaring all the contents of the boxes but I would not recommend printing off the shipping labels. Amazon's automated processes expect those items and may slam you with "shipment not received in full" or other errors for not sending inventory they are expecting. I believe Amazon automatically charges your seller account the second you accept charges.

I previously completed a shipment but due to the box size it took me about a week of drop offs to unload everything at Fedex. Amazon hit me with a incomplete shipment during that time. I have since moved back to the more expensive UPS and use scheduled pickups.

only thing i would add is:

a. whether you ship or not shipping charges are assessed within 24/48 hours /i.e. the time allowed you to void charges. once that duration passes whether you ship or not you eat that cost.

b. i believe while its not strictly followed; one is allowed to ship within certain time of label printing. for USPS its 48-72 hours similarly there is a time limit for UPS and FedEx as well. i am not sure because never had to wait that long. 

[Loghamel]

Thanks for the info, guys.

 

[Achilles]

I've had paid/printed labels and shipped out the items up to about 2 weeks after the fact without issue.

[asharerin]

11 hours ago, landphieran said:

You can fill out the shipment. IE declaring all the contents of the boxes but I would not recommend printing off the shipping labels. Amazon's automated processes expect those items and may slam you with "shipment not received in full" or other errors for not sending inventory they are expecting. I believe Amazon automatically charges your seller account the second you accept charges.

I previously completed a shipment but due to the box size it took me about a week of drop offs to unload everything at Fedex. Amazon hit me with a incomplete shipment during that time. I have since moved back to the more expensive UPS and use scheduled pickups.

FedEx does pickups for FREE for your fba packages. With fedex they go by amazon's account and they obviously have free pickups negotiated. 

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, asharerin said:

FedEx does pickups for FREE for your fba packages. With fedex they go by amazon's account and they obviously have free pickups negotiated. 

Isn't FedEx more expensive compared to ups shipping charges ?

[asharerin]

24 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Isn't FedEx more expensive compared to ups shipping charges ?

For us FedEx is always about 10% cheaper over ups.

[landphieran]

47 minutes ago, asharerin said:

For us FedEx is always about 10% cheaper over ups.

@asharerin How do you schedule these pickups? Everything I have read on the Amazon Forums says you have to go through Fedex and they charge you per pickup.

[newbie77]

4 hours ago, Bold-Arrow said:

Isn't FedEx more expensive compared to ups shipping charges ?

depends on where its going but for certain sizes like 24X20X20 fed-ex is cheaper vs UPS. 

but for me due to distance CA to OH/EWR it doesn't make much difference

[redcell]

On 9/28/2017 at 11:23 AM, Loghamel said:

Needing some advice from you veterans.  I'm starting to put together a shipment for the holidays.  Is there a time limit on the shipping labels I purchase?  Let's say I want to send in 20 boxes and total weight is 450 pounds.  If I approve the shipment, purchase shipping, and print the shipping labels, how long are they good for?  What I'd like to do is get all the boxes completely ready and let them sit until mid-late October.  Will that work and is there any negative impact it can cause?  Also, I'm not charged for the shipping until the shipping company scans the labels, correct?

Thanks guys.

You can create the shipment, enter all of the box information, but then hold off on printing the shipping labels until you're ready to go.  Amazon will let a shipment sit for 6 months before cancelling it.  Don't know how long the shipping labels are good for once printed.

5 hours ago, asharerin said:

For us FedEx is always about 10% cheaper over ups.

Fedex is generally cheaper for me too, but I still use UPS because I have such a good relationship with my local UPS store and they never complain when I fill up half their store with incoming boxes.

[asharerin]

10 hours ago, landphieran said:

@asharerin How do you schedule these pickups? Everything I have read on the Amazon Forums says you have to go through Fedex and they charge you per pickup.

You use your own FedEx account to schedule the pickup. FedEx charges pickups to the account that created the label (amazon) not the account that schedules the pickups. Ups is the opposite.

5 hours ago, redcell said:

You can create the shipment, enter all of the box information, but then hold off on printing the shipping labels until you're ready to go.  Amazon will let a shipment sit for 6 months before cancelling it.  Don't know how long the shipping labels are good for once printed.

Fedex is generally cheaper for me too, but I still use UPS because I have such a good relationship with my local UPS store and they never complain when I fill up half their store with incoming boxes.

For us box content info does not save when we leave the shipment screen. Modify contents saves but not box content.

[asharerin]

Just a heads up we got auto-approved today to sell the LEGO brand on our non-Lego selling account in both new and collectible conditions. No invoices or fee required. If you have been previously restricted you may want to apply if you are interested in selling this brand on Amazon. Applying is free and takes a few seconds.

[Forsaker]

Just a heads up we got auto-approved today to sell the LEGO brand on our non-Lego selling account in both new and collectible conditions. No invoices or fee required. If you have been previously restricted you may want to apply if you are interested in selling this brand on Amazon. Applying is free and takes a few seconds.

You still need that Lego authorisation letter though?

[legolegolego2014]

1 hour ago, asharerin said:

Just a heads up we got auto-approved today to sell the LEGO brand on our non-Lego selling account in both new and collectible conditions. No invoices or fee required. If you have been previously restricted you may want to apply if you are interested in selling this brand on Amazon. Applying is free and takes a few seconds.

Do you apply from a product listing or via another method? I'm ungated for LEGO but curious as to what your particular process is to applying to new brands. Thx!