Amazon FBA Prep

Bulky goods arrive at an Amazon fulfilment centre as a large, fragile, awkwardly shaped carton — which is exactly the combination that generates prep failures, rejected shipments and unplanned prep fees. Prep done at the factory, before the goods are packed for export, is cheaper and more reliable than prep done after arrival.

What FBA prep covers

• FNSKU labelling — labels printed from your shipment plan and applied to each sellable unit, positioned so they scan and so they do not cover required product information.
• Poly-bagging — units bagged where required, with the suffocation warning printed in the size and position Amazon specifies, and the barcode visible or duplicated on the outside of the bag.
• Bundle and multi-pack assembly — sets assembled and labelled as a single sellable unit with its own FNSKU, rather than as separate units that arrive mismatched.
• Carton labelling — Amazon carton labels matched one-to-one to the boxes actually packed, with the carton count reconciled to your shipment plan.
• Packaging to spec — cartons and inner protection checked against Amazon packaging requirements, including the rules for fragile and oversized items, which is where most lighting fixtures fall.
• Shipment documentation — packing lists and carton content lists prepared to match your shipment plan, so receiving reconciles without a discrepancy investigation.

Why prep at the factory

Three reasons. The goods are already there, so no inbound freight is paid on unpackaged stock. The factory packing line has the original inner protection and the original carton, so re-packing is avoided. And a defect found at prep stage — wrong barcode, missing accessory, damaged shade — is found before the goods are sealed for export, when fixing it costs nothing.

Prep after arrival means paying a third-party prep centre, paying inbound freight on goods that then get unpacked and repacked, and losing the original packaging protection. On a fragile category like decorative lighting, that last point is where the damage happens.

What you need to supply

• FNSKU labels or the shipment plan — a PDF of the labels, or the plan ID and the per-SKU label file.
• Sellable unit definition — what counts as one unit, and whether any models ship as multi-packs.
• Bagging requirements — which units need poly-bagging and whether the suffocation warning is required for your marketplace.
• Carton plan — how you want the units distributed across cartons, and the maximum carton weight you can accept.

If you are new to FBA, send the shipment plan and we will work to it. If you have not created one yet, tell us the destination marketplace and the model list and we will prepare the cartons to a workable plan while you set the shipment up.

Where this fits with the rest

FBA prep sits between inspection and export documentation: goods are inspected, then prepped, then packed for export and documented. Consolidating several FBA SKUs into one shipment is handled by the consolidation service.

For e-commerce sellers shipping direct to consumers rather than to a fulfilment centre, see dropshipping support.

Common questions