Selling through Amazon FBA

[BrickLegacy]

Another hour, another question (I do appreciate the responses and advice, thank you).

 

I know the consensus is that you shouldn't sell large expensive sets via FBA because of the risk of Amazon handlers damaging the sets upon arrival and when packing/shipping.  Other sellers don't recommend selling large, expensive items on Amazon (FBA or not) due to the buyer friendly return policies (ex: one lost claim on a SSD can set you back BIG $).

 

Has anyone considered doing the following though:

• Pack a large exclusive carefully in a shipping box with bubble packs, etc.
• Affix a picture of the set on the outside of this box.
• Affix your FBA label on the outside of this box.
• Pack this box inside another box for shipping
• Ship to Amazon FBA
• Amazon inventories the inner box (with the set and picture on the outside)

I read somewhere that you can do this on Amazon FBA but I'm not sure if its still allowed or if there were restrictions on what types of items you can do this with. Has anyone ever considered this or tried it?

[Bold-Arrow]

Another hour, another question (I do appreciate the responses and advice, thank you).

I know the consensus is that you shouldn't sell large expensive sets via FBA because of the risk of Amazon handlers damaging the sets upon arrival and when packing/shipping. Other sellers don't recommend selling large, expensive items on Amazon (FBA or not) due to the buyer friendly return policies (ex: one lost claim on a SSD can set you back BIG $).

Has anyone considered doing the following though:

• Pack a large exclusive carefully in a shipping box with bubble packs, etc.
• Affix a picture of the set on the outside of this box.
• Affix your FBA label on the outside of this box.
• Pack this box inside another box for shipping
• Ship to Amazon FBA
• Amazon inventories the inner box (with the set and picture on the outside)

I read somewhere that you can do this on Amazon FBA but I'm not sure if its still allowed or if there were restrictions on what types of items you can do this with. Has anyone ever considered this or tried it?

you cAn do that without even putting a picture , but u are wasting your time. Even if Amazon checks it in, the costumer can still claim it was damaged prior to shipping. At that point u have to wait for Amazon to recieve the set then recall it and then u have to open a case with Seller Support and even then it is iffy to get your money back .

Rule of thumb : don't send it in if you can't absorb potential loss

[Dbroncoboy]

Another hour, another question (I do appreciate the responses and advice, thank you).

I know the consensus is that you shouldn't sell large expensive sets via FBA because of the risk of Amazon handlers damaging the sets upon arrival and when packing/shipping. Other sellers don't recommend selling large, expensive items on Amazon (FBA or not) due to the buyer friendly return policies (ex: one lost claim on a SSD can set you back BIG $).

Has anyone considered doing the following though:

• Pack a large exclusive carefully in a shipping box with bubble packs, etc.
• Affix a picture of the set on the outside of this box.
• Affix your FBA label on the outside of this box.
• Pack this box inside another box for shipping
• Ship to Amazon FBA
• Amazon inventories the inner box (with the set and picture on the outside)

I read somewhere that you can do this on Amazon FBA but I'm not sure if its still allowed or if there were restrictions on what types of items you can do this with. Has anyone ever considered this or tried it?

My worry has never been Amazon handlers. For the most part they take good care of things and if they mess up they are accountable. The worry is someone returning an open one or taking the minifigs. Like anything else, it probably comes close to equaling out if you sell enough as you get a premium from selling on FBA. They also are accountable for any outbound shipping damage.

[dubzero]

You can ship in boxed items and have them them box (for double box shipping). Put a 'single item enclosed, do not open' sticker next to your FBA label and for good measure a 'not ship ready' sticker.

I do it all the time for all sorts of items with no problems.

[BrickLegacy]

Hey, its me again with another FBA question.

 

I think I'm getting the hang of seller central.  I added a bunch of inventory as fullfilled by amazon.  When I went to create a shipment for everything, it scattered some of the larger sets across shipments which means I end up wasting some space in the larger boxes.

 

How do you guys handle this?  Do you try different quantities and different SKUs to see if you can get Amazon to create shipment plans that accomodate your boxes?  Are there any tricks?  Is large quantities of the same SKU better or smaller qty across different sku?  Perhaps it also depends on your location (I'm in Ohio).  I bought some large and extra large boxes from Home Depot (heavy duty), which are nice.  I screwed up on the XL tho.  I didn't get the 24" (only 21").  Oh well, I'll find a use for it eventually.  I think I need some small and medium boxes for those smaller FBA shipments.

 

Any tips, insight or suggestions are welcome.  I had to try several different combinations of skus and quantiies to get a shipment plan that worked for what I had but I figured I would ask you guys hoping to learn something new.

[Bold-Arrow]

Hey, its me again with another FBA question.

 

I think I'm getting the hang of seller central.  I added a bunch of inventory as fullfilled by amazon.  When I went to create a shipment for everything, it scattered some of the larger sets across shipments which means I end up wasting some space in the larger boxes.

 

How do you guys handle this?  Do you try different quantities and different SKUs to see if you can get Amazon to create shipment plans that accomodate your boxes?  Are there any tricks?  Is large quantities of the same SKU better or smaller qty across different sku?  Perhaps it also depends on your location (I'm in Ohio).  I bought some large and extra large boxes from Home Depot (heavy duty), which are nice.  I screwed up on the XL tho.  I didn't get the 24" (only 21").  Oh well, I'll find a use for it eventually.  I think I need some small and medium boxes for those smaller FBA shipments.

 

Any tips, insight or suggestions are welcome.  I had to try several different combinations of skus and quantiies to get a shipment plan that worked for what I had but I figured I would ask you guys hoping to learn something new.

I wouldnt mess with it... If you delete shipments or try to force items to one FBA center often, you will get a stern warning. 

More quantities of the same SKU are better

Over size items will go to a separate center than none over size items 

[BrickLegacy]

Thanks guys.  Hopefully I didn't trigger any warnings by trying a few different combinations of SKUs and Quantity. Going forward I'll just add what I have and figure out the box situation after Amazon tells me where everything needs to go.

[belljohn]

Thanks guys.  Hopefully I didn't trigger any warnings by trying a few different combinations of SKUs and Quantity. Going forward I'll just add what I have and figure out the box situation after Amazon tells me where everything needs to go.

 

I was worried about multiple small shipments too, but then I went ahead to pack and prepare 3 and 4 sku boxes with 3 lb weights each.  The UPS shipping cost was $3.94 and $4.32.  That was way cheaper than I expected and did not really impact the total shipping cost of my 5 box shipment.  I would follow their packing plan and not worry about it.  All of my oversized items go to one warehouse, so I have removed an item if there was one that didn't fit in my box.  That is the only warehouse I can predict for set placement.

[BrickLegacy]

Yeah, the shipping costs are incredible. $7 for 25lbs and $8 for 20lbs (diff warehouses).

I'm paying for boxes but still... very cost effective.

[dubzero]

I handle this a couple of ways. Inventory placement is useful but if you are regularly sending inventory in, just leave the small or one off shipments until you get more things sent to the same FC. You can add the new items to the existing shipment and fill out a box.

[BrickLegacy]

I handle this a couple of ways. Inventory placement is useful but if you are regularly sending inventory in, just leave the small or one off shipments until you get more things sent to the same FC. You can add the new items to the existing shipment and fill out a box.

 

Help me understand how that works.  I thought once you approve a shipment its more or less final?  Will Amazon give you the option to add to an existing active/open shipment if you add inventory that is going to that same location?

[Bold-Arrow]

Help me understand how that works. I thought once you approve a shipment its more or less final? Will Amazon give you the option to add to an existing active/open shipment if you add inventory that is going to that same location?

u can adjust quantities by 5% of your total

Units

[amtrak23]

Help me understand how that works. I thought once you approve a shipment its more or less final? Will Amazon give you the option to add to an existing active/open shipment if you add inventory that is going to that same location?

Yes, just keep adding to existing shipments.

Essentially what you do is have several large boxes setup, one for each fulfillment center you are sending to, then keep adding to them. When one gets full you process that shipment.

[dubzero]

Help me understand how that works. I thought once you approve a shipment its more or less final? Will Amazon give you the option to add to an existing active/open shipment if you add inventory that is going to that same location?

So long as you don't print labels and physically send the box you can add to the shipment in SC or any good 3rd party app. It's in there. Use google though, AZ's internal SC search blows.

[xeeeej]

Yeah, the shipping costs are incredible. $7 for 25lbs and $8 for 20lbs (diff warehouses).

I'm paying for boxes but still... very cost effective.

I haven't tried FBA yet.

How do the shipping costs work?  You pay for shipping using Amazon's rates?

 

Thanks.

[BrickLegacy]

I haven't tried FBA yet.

How do the shipping costs work? You pay for shipping using Amazon's rates?

Thanks.

Shipping costs to get the items to Amazon are very cheap. That's what I was referring to above. BA and others should be able to point you in the right direction for incurred costs when the item ships to the customer. I'm still processing my first inbound shipment.

[pcaster]

Just for a rough idea of shipping costs into fulfillment centers, it is usually about 1-2.5% of my selling price.

[amtrak23]

Yeah, the shipping costs are incredible. $7 for 25lbs and $8 for 20lbs (diff warehouses).

I'm paying for boxes but still... very cost effective.

Just keep an eye on the per pound rate and play around with the weight/sizes/#boxes when creating a shipment to get an idea of what's what. I generally run about .08 to .42 per pound.

[Bold-Arrow]

A good estimate is 30 cents/lb for inbound .

[amtrak23]

You can ship in boxed items and have them them box (for double box shipping). Put a 'single item enclosed, do not open' sticker next to your FBA label and for good measure a 'not ship ready' sticker.

I do it all the time for all sorts of items with no problems.

So you are the one whos stuff keeps getting cubiscanned and charging me more for my stuff! I'm constantly battling them to re-cubiscan my retail stuff to get it back to the proper cubic size. Then go back and correct every wrong fee...which is like pulling teeth.

[beartrapper]

Tons of good info in here. Does anyone sell food items through FBA?

[amtrak23]

Tons of good info in here. Does anyone sell food items through FBA?

Yea. Just ran through about 1000+ of the new oreo flavor.

You need a good sku/inventory setup to keep track of expiration dates. Learn how to multipack properly and get good at polybagging.

[beartrapper]

Looking through the Amazon fees, they seem to keep piling up the deeper I look into this.

Assuming one intends to sell 40+ items a month and elects to sign up for the Professional plan at $39.99, toys (lego in this case) would carry a 15% or $1.00 referral fee for each sale as well. While that's roughly the same as ebay + paypal fees for someone without a store, that's before the costs associated with storage, shipping to Amazon, etc.

 

What kind of margins between purchase price and sale price on Amazon does one need to find for this to make sense? I'm guessing something around 50% or more.

[dubzero]

So you are the one whos stuff keeps getting cubiscanned and charging me more for my stuff! I'm constantly battling them to re-cubiscan my retail stuff to get it back to the proper cubic size. Then go back and correct every wrong fee...which is like pulling teeth.

Well, maybe you should get out of the spray cleaner business!

Also, when I double box collectibles (for in box collectors) I use a tight fitting box so there's not much difference in cubic size.

Edited February 20, 2015 by dubzero

[Phi1316]

Hi all, I searched around but didn't find exactly what I was looking for.  Do you guys have a way to know the estimated shipping amazon will charge you through their USPS deal on a package before when you first add it to inventory?  I know I could go to the USPS website and take a look but amazon I thought had a little bit of a deal/discount so wondered how to go about finding this out.

 

Thanks for your help!