Amazon Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is one of the most popular fulfillment methods used by sellers.
The first Amazon fulfillment method we’ll discuss is FBA. In fact, it’s important to understand that Amazon handles the entire fulfillment process, meaning your products are Prime eligible and you don’t have to ship anything yourself. Due to this, your ability to win the Buy Box increases since your products will utilize Amazon’s Perfect Seller Rating.
Experienced sellers can utilize FBA to alleviate the need to warehouse inventory that sells rapidly. By sending products to Amazon, the overhead can be greatly reduced, allowing for a much larger margin. This is great, because it helps offset the higher fees involved with using FBA.
Amazon Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is one of the most popular fulfillment methods used by sellers.
Start your Amazon FBA journey with find the products from least competitive amazon product categories
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) is a fulfillment method where the merchant is responsible for all aspects of the order process. This includes packing and shipping, as well as customer service.
There are several major benefits to this method. First and most important are the lowered fees compared to FBA. In addition, if you have a large inventory, it can be difficult to find space in Amazon’s warehouses at times. With FBM, however, there’s no need for your products to sit in storage waiting for an order — they can ship directly from your own warehouse or store.
However, there are some drawbacks as well. First among these is that you will need to manage all aspects of the order process yourself. This means having someone on hand to pack each order and ensure it gets shipped out correctly — a task that may not be easy if you don’t already have a staff member dedicated to this purpose. Additionally, if any of the metrics dip below Amazon’s minimum threshold, your account can get suspended or terminated without warning or explanation from the company itself.
What is Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)?
Seller-Fulfilled Prime is a program offered by Amazon that allows third party sellers to offer their products for sale at the same shipping speed as Amazon. The program was created to give sellers more options when it comes to selling on Amazon. It enables sellers to utilize the benefits of Prime Shipping while still maintaining control over their products.
If you are able to fulfill an order quickly (you must be able to ship on the same day and guarantee two day delivery), meet the high seller standards of Amazon, and have multiple warehouses across the country, then you may qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime.
Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) allows you to ship your own products directly to Amazon for fulfillment. This means that you can still have direct contact with your customers and maintain full control over your product listings and customer service.
Amazon lets you use the SFP program if:
You’re able to ship within 1 day or less
Your inventory meets the high seller standards of Amazon (this includes having enough stock to meet demand)
You have at least a 90% positive feedback rating.