FBA check-in: getting your goods into Amazon's warehouse without errors
- You create an FBA shipment correctly in the Send-to-Amazon workflow.
- You solve the labeling question cleanly: FNSKU instead of barcode chaos, ideally from the factory.
- You know the carton rules where deliveries most often fail.
- You audit the check-in and claim discrepancies.
Between “goods are in the country” and “goods are sellable” stands the FBA delivery — a process with clear rules where small formal errors cost big delays. Learned once properly, it becomes routine.
1The goods' route: two options
- Route A — with a stopover (recommended for the first order): the forwarder delivers to you (or a prep center). You check quality and labels with your own eyes, then ship to Amazon. Costs a few days and some money — and has prevented many disasters.
- Route B — port straight to Amazon: faster and cheaper, but you never see the goods. Sensible only once supplier and process have proven themselves (from order two or three — with a passed pre-shipment inspection from lesson 8).
First order of the AURELO spice grinder set: 500 units arrive at the port. Route A through a prep center costs €200 extra at €0.40 per unit — and there, 12 sets with a scratched acrylic hopper get spotted and go back to the supplier, sorted out. Had the same 500 units gone straight to Amazon, the fresh listing's first reviews would have told of scratches — and removing the defective stock from the FBA warehouse would have cost a multiple of the €200.
2Creating the shipment: the Send-to-Amazon workflow
- 1. Choose items and quantities — your product, units per carton, carton count.
- 2. Packing type: single items or (better, with uniform cartons) case pack templates: dimensions, weight, units per carton — saves time on every future shipment.
- 3. Solve labeling (next section).
- 4. Shipping mode: small parcel delivery (courier, practical up to ~20–30 cartons) or LTL/pallet freight. Amazon's partnered carrier is often surprisingly cheap.
- 5. Print carton labels — every box gets its own Amazon shipping label (outside, readable, never across edges).
- 6. Accept the destinations: Amazon decides WHERE goods go — and often splits shipments across warehouses. That's normal; don't fight it.
If your forwarder delivers straight to Amazon (route B or pallets), they need a delivery appointment and the shipment data. Confirm BEFORE shipping that your forwarder knows Amazon deliveries and handles the booking — “turned away at the gate” is an expensive classic.
3The labeling question: FNSKU
- Amazon identifies your goods via the FNSKU — your product-specific Amazon barcode. Use it instead of the plain EAN: it keeps YOUR inventory attributed to your account instead of being pooled with other sellers' identical products.
- The most elegant route: have the FNSKU printed onto the packaging in the factory (part of the packaging design — and of the spec sheet). No stickers, no errors, no per-label fees.
- Alternatives: supplier applies printed labels (ask for a sample photo first!), you label during the stopover, or Amazon labels for a per-unit fee.
- Also part of prep: poly bags above a certain opening size need a suffocation warning, loose parts packed together, leak-proofing, etc. — the workflow lists requirements per product type.
The EAN is like a car's model name, the FNSKU like its license plate: “blue Golf” describes many cars — the plate exactly yours. With only the EAN on the goods, Amazon treats them as interchangeable with other sellers' identical products; with the FNSKU they stay tied unambiguously to your account, and the customer is guaranteed to get the unit whose quality you personally ensured.
4Carton rules: where most deliveries fail
- Maximum 23 kg per carton; above 15 kg add the heavy-package notice.
- Standard cartons with no side over 63.5 cm (exceptions only when a single unit is bigger).
- Sturdy, new boxes; no bundles tied together, no strapping, no tape over the labels.
- Per carton, ideally one product in a uniform quantity — mixed cartons are possible but error-prone and slower at check-in.
- These rules belong in the supplier spec sheet — export cartons are planned in the factory, not at the port.
Carton planning for the AURELO set: one set weighs 750 g packed. 24 units per carton make 18 kg of goods plus about 1 kg of box — 19 kg, safely under the 23 kg limit but above 15 kg: the carton needs the heavy-package notice. 30 units per carton would be about 23.5 kg — rejected. So the spec sheet says: 24 units per export carton, carton size 60 × 40 × 35 cm (no side over 63.5 cm), heavy notice applied at the factory.
5Check-in: verify, don't hope
- After arrival Amazon receives the goods — depending on warehouse load this takes days up to two weeks (Q4: longer). Build that buffer into your launch date.
- Compare the received quantity with your shipment. Small gaps often resolve themselves (late receiving); persistent ones can be claimed via the shipment reconciliation report — Amazon reimburses documented losses.
- Once received, your offer is live: the launch begins (lesson 12).
Shipping the first order sight-unseen from the factory straight to Amazon — no quality check, no label check. If the FNSKU is missing or the goods are defective, the problem now sits inside Amazon's warehouse: removal orders, relabeling and stranded inventory cost more than the direct route ever saved. For order one: see it, then send it.
- Route consciously chosen (first order: with stopover/prep center).
- FNSKU solution set — ideally printed in the factory.
- Carton rules (23 kg, 63.5 cm, sturdy boxes) communicated to the supplier.
- Shipment created in the workflow, case pack templates saved.
- Carton labels applied correctly; forwarder knows Amazon deliveries.
- Check-in buffer in the launch schedule.
- Received quantity audited, discrepancies claimed.
6Expert insight: shipment splitting and the day-181 math
The beginner question is: “How do I get my goods to Amazon?” The pro question is: “How much of them belongs there at all?” The FBA warehouse is an excellent flow-through warehouse and a poor storage warehouse: the regular monthly fee is harmless for small products, but from day 181 the long-term storage surcharge lands on top, in the fourth quarter storage rates rise sharply — and goods once checked in only come back out with removal fees and weeks of waiting.
Add the concentration risk: if your entire order sits at Amazon and the offer gets stranded (missing GPSR data, a listing conflict, a review case), 100 % of your stock is unsellable at once — and keeps paying storage fees anyway. Goods at the stopover stay in your hands: relabelable, sellable through other channels, ready to ship any time.
Hence the splitting rule:
- First shipment: 30–60 days of coverage at your PLANNED sales velocity; the rest waits at the stopover or prep center (a rule of thumb, not an Amazon law).
- Replenish on real numbers: keep FBA coverage in a corridor of roughly 30 to 90 days — below it you risk selling out, above it you park capital and risk at Amazon.
- The day-181 backwards math: FBA stock divided by daily sales = days remaining. Above roughly 150, stop replenishment shipments — the 30-day gap to the 181 line is your reaction time.
- Plan Q4 separately: from October to December the cubic meter costs considerably more. Goods that will realistically sell only in January are stored more cheaply outside until then.
AURELO first order, 500 sets, planned velocity 10 sales per day. Shipment 1: 300 sets (30 days of coverage), 200 wait at the prep center. If the plan holds, replenishment follows weekly — the €0.40 prep fee per set is the price of that flexibility. But if the set really sells only twice a day, a full 500 sets in the FBA warehouse would have meant 250 days of coverage: by day 181 only 362 sets are sold, and the remaining 138 pay the long-term storage surcharge month after month from then on. With splitting, those same 138 sets sit fee-free at the prep center.
Run your storage cost once, concretely: the AURELO export carton (60 × 40 × 35 cm) holds 0.084 cubic meters for 24 sets — 0.0035 m³ per set. Even at an assumed €26 per cubic meter per month (an assumption for the sake of the math; Seller Central shows the current rate), that is only about 9 cents per set per month. So the standard storage fee is NOT your problem — long-term storage from day 181, Q4 rates and the concentration risk are. Which is why you steer by days of coverage, not by fee cents.
Rule to remember: Amazon gets as much stock as it will sell in the next one to two months — not as much as fit into the container. Run that coverage math weekly from week 1; lesson 12 uses the same number as the reorder trigger.
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- 2Creating the shipment: the Send-to-Amazon workflow
- 3The labeling question: FNSKU
- 4Carton rules: where most deliveries fail
- 5Check-in: verify, don't hope
- 6Expert insight: shipment splitting and the day-181 math
- ✓Quiz: 6 questions with instant feedback
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Frequently asked
What is a prep center and when does it pay off?
A service that receives, checks, labels and forwards your goods to Amazon compliantly — typically €0.30–0.80 per unit depending on effort. It pays off if you lack storage space, sit abroad, or your repacking time is worth more than the fee.
Can I deliver stock in several shipments?
Yes, easily — many sellers send a partial quantity first (faster start, less capital inside Amazon's warehouse) and store the rest themselves or at a prep center. Just note: every shipment runs the full workflow, and Amazon's warehouse split applies per shipment.
What does a “stranded listing” after check-in mean?
Stock exists but the offer isn't buyable — most common causes: missing mandatory data (GPSR!), price errors or a listing conflict. The “stranded inventory” report names the reason per ASIN; check weekly, because stranded goods sell nothing and still incur storage fees.
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