When selling products through Amazon’s Fulfilled by Amazon ( FBA ) program, adhering to the platform’s packaging requirements is vital as it affects how Amazon receives and processes your inventory.
If you do not package and prep your products according to Amazon’s guidelines, they can refuse or return your inventory, and you, as the seller, may be subject to extra fees or even lose the ability to ship to Amazon fulfillment centers. Cloud Wrapping Paper
This article aims to shed light on Amazon’s FBA packaging requirements, ensuring sellers are well-equipped to meet these guidelines and prevent sellers from violating Amazon’s TOS.
Before creating an FBA shipment or having your supplier package your goods, ensure you fully understand Amazon’s FBA packaging and prep requirements.
Tip: When working with your supplier, ask them if they know how to package and prep for Amazon FBA (most of them do know by now).
This section will go over prep, labeling, and packaging requirements for FBA shipments. If your products are not prepped or labeled correctly, you may incur a preparation fee.
FBA uses barcodes to track and identify sellers’ inventory throughout the fulfillment process. Having the proper barcodes tells Amazon which products belong to your seller account.
Each unit sent to an Amazon fulfillment center must have a scannable barcode.
Amazon uses two types of barcodes to track inventory: Manufacturers barcode and Amazon barcode, aka the FNSKU .
Amazon will use the manufacturer barcode (such as a UPC barcode) by default unless you change your barcode settings to the Amazon barcode. When more than one seller of a product uses the same manufacturer barcode, Amazon may fulfill orders with the inventory that is closest to the customer.
If you are an arbitrage or wholesale reseller and don’t want your inventory commingled with other sellers inventory, you can use the Amazon barcode labels on your units.
By using the FNSKU (Amazon barcode) it tells Amazon that those exact units belong to your specific seller account.
FNSKU barcodes must be applied to all products that do not use the manufacturer barcode. You can either print and label the barcodes on each unit yourself (you can do this during FBA shipment creation ), have your supplier print the barcode on your product packaging, or you can have Amazon label your products for a fee.
If your product does not have a manufacturer barcode, you can apply for a GTIN Exemption in Seller Central and all of your products will use the Amazon barcode instead.
We suggest always using the Amazon barcode as it makes tracking your inventory easier, and that way, your inventory doesn’t mix with another seller’s inventory.
Note that every product on Amazon will have its own FNSKU, even if you use the manufacturer’s barcode.
READ MORE | How to List Products on Amazon Without a GTIN or UPC
Here are the general packaging guidelines according to Amazon :
Going back to the barcode section, this basically states that every product sent to Amazon FBA must have a scannable barcode that links those products to the corresponding seller account.
Amazon also has different requirements depending on how your products need to be packaged.
Each unit sent to Amazon must be contained in a single, secure package. Units that aren’t contained in a package, must be bagged or secured with easy to remove tape.
The barcode must be scannable without having to remove any bags or tape.
Footwear must be packaged with no shoe material exposed, either in shoe boxes or in poly bags with a suffocation warning.
Clothing such as shirts or pants, should also be secured in a polybag to prevent damage.
Poly bags with a 5-inch opening or larger (measured when flat) must have a suffocation warning, either printed on the bag or attached as a label. Failure to apply a suffocation warning may lead to the items being re-bagged.
Print size of this warning should conform to the following table:
Units that are sets, such as a set of six tubes of toothpaste sold as one unit, must be marked as sets on their packaging.
Add a label to the unit that clearly states that the products are to be received and sold as a single unit. For example, “Sold as set,” “Ready to ship,” or “This is a set. Do not separate.”
For bundled sets, the barcodes on the individual units in the set must not be visible. The bundle set should have its own unique FNSKU barcode that tells Amazon the unit is a set.
This helps ensure that fulfillment center associates scan the barcode for the pack, not the barcode for the individual units inside.
If you sell units that come in a box, such as granola bars, must have six sides, must have openings that cannot be easily opened on their own, and must not collapse when medium pressure is applied to any sides.
If the box perforated sides or openings, the product must pass a 3-foot drop test. If it fails, the unit must be placed in a polybag.
Bubble wrap may be required because the item is:
A fragile product must be packaged in either a six solid-sided box, or completely secured in bubble wrap, so that it is not exposed in any way.
Products with bubble wrap must meet the following criteria:
When you are ready to package your units into a shipping box and send to FBA, here are the requirements you must follow :
The first step is to provide box content information during the FBA shipment process. You must provide Amazon with what products you’re sending, how many of each, and how many in each shipping box.
If you are having your supplier package and ship your units directly to Amazon FBA, make sure they fully understand Amazon’s packaging and labeling requirements before shipping.
There will be sections for all of this information when creating your FBA shipment.
Follow these instructions laid out by Amazon to ensure shipments arrive undamaged and ready for intake to Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
One of the most important pieces of information from above is the box size and weight you can send to Amazon.
Maximum box dimensions: No more than 25 inches on each side
If you go over the dimensions or weight, it may delay your shipment and Amazon may restrict your ability to send FBA shipments.
The only time you can exceed the maximum weight and dimensions is if the individual unit exceeds 50 lbs or 25 inches.
Here are the packing materials allowed by Amazon will sending in shipments to fulfillment centers:
After properly boxing your units, it is time to label the shipping boxes and send off to Amazon.
Before that though, you need to determine the appropriate shipping method and carrier to use.
Here are the labeling requirements according to Amazon :
Make sure the FBA box ID label is visible. This label tells Amazon what the contents of the box are and what seller account the shipment belongs to.
READ MORE | How to Ship Directly to Amazon FBA
Follow that guide above to learn more about how to create Amazon FBA shipments.
Supplies such as shipping boxes, labels, bubble wrap, thermal label printers, and packing tape are things that all Amazon sellers should have if you’re handling your own FBA shipments.
For most of these things, you can actually order them from Amazon!
Here are acceptable standard box types you can send to FBA:
If you are using UPS to send your FBA shipments to Amazon (one of Amazon’s partnered carriers) you can actually get free shipping labels from UPS .
For heavy-duty shipping boxes and other shipping supplies, you can also check out local stores like Home Depot or Lowes.
Shipping your products to Amazon doesn’t have to be difficult. All you need to do is follow Amazon’s requirements and you won’t have any issues sending your products to FBA.
Do you have any more questions about Amazon FBA packaging requirements? Let us know in the comments.
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Brian is a writer and entrepreneur with over 6 years of experience in e-commerce and selling on Amazon.
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