Amazon's FBA Inbound Placement Service: Navigating Fees

Amazon customers expect fast and free shipping, and Amazon takes that expectation very seriously. However, shipping items across the United States certainly isn’t cheap.

That’s why Amazon focuses on placing inventory in multiple fulfillment centers to deliver fast and at a lower cost. To assist with this goal, it introduced the FBA inbound placement service. Standard and large bulky-sized products are subject to the FBA inbound placement service fee as of March 1, 2024. We’ll explain how it works in this article.

This article has been updated to reflect changes to the FBA inbound placement fee for 2025.

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FBA Inbound Placement Service Options

When creating a shipping plan for inbound FBA products, you’ll choose from minimal, partial, or Amazon-optimized shipment splits.

Minimal shipment splits allow you to send inventory to fewer inbound locations (often a single location) for a fee. Amazon then decides how to place your inventory across the fulfillment network. The fee varies by inbound location.

You'll send inventory to multiple inbound locations for partial or Amazon-optimized shipment splits for a reduced fee and, in some cases, no fee. The fees are determined by the number of shipments and inbound locations you're sending inventory to. If your FBA shipping plan qualifies, you can use the inbound placement option to send inventory to the locations recommended by Amazon and pay no fee. You'll pay a reduced fee if you send your inventory a partial number of inbound locations.

Amazon also added additional requirements for sellers to qualify for the Amazon-optimized option in August 2024. The FBA inbound placement fee policy states:

To qualify for the Amazon-optimized inbound option with no inbound fee, your shipments must include at least five identical cartons or pallets per item. Each carton or pallet must contain the same quantity per item and the same item mix. If you select the placement option in which you send your inventory to a partial number of inbound locations, generally two or three, you will pay a reduced fee.

You might benefit from the Amazon-optimized option if you regularly ship large quantities of the same product or send enough of the same item to benefit from the partial shipment split fee reduction. Streamlining your inventory management process to reorder and ship your product to Amazon FBA at the right time can save you money. Software like RestockPro by eComEngine facilitates this process.

However, smaller sellers and those who sell a variety of products might experience significant costs due to the five-carton requirement. Increasing the number of units per product to meet the five-carton requirement might not align with demand, and trying to find ways to save on the FBA inbound placement fee adds logistical challenges. Consolidate shipments when you can to meet the five-carton requirement. FBM or Seller Fulfilled Prime may be a better fit for some products due to this change.

The fee doesn’t apply to extra-large-sized products. See Amazon’s product size tiers for more details on size. Inbound placement service fees will typically be higher for inbound locations in the western part of the country.

FBA Inbound Placement Service Availability and Fees

Inbound placement service options will be available based on product types, quantities, existing inventory levels across the Amazon Fulfillment Network, and customer demand location. When creating your shipping plan, you’ll see a cost estimate for each available inbound placement option. The FBA inbound placement service fee will be charged 45 days after the shipment is received.

The FBA inbound placement service fee for a small standard product (maximum size 15x12x0.75 inches, weighs 16 oz or less) with a minimal shipment split ranges from $0.21-$0.30. Effective January 15, 2025, Amazon is reducing the fee for large bulky-size products by an average of $0.58 per unit for minimal shipment splits. You can see the full fee rate card in Seller Central.

Amazon will waive this fee for the first 100 inbounded units of new parent ASINs that qualify for the FBA New Selection program and are included in shipments between December 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025.

If you’d prefer to use an end-to-end solution, Supply Chain by Amazon will place products within Amazon’s network on your behalf. If you’re using Amazon Warehousing & Distribution (AWD), managing inventory placement within Amazon’s network is an included service, so you won’t be charged the inbound placement service fee.

Inbound Defect Fees

You may be charged inbound defect fees if your shipments are misrouted and/or don’t arrive within the timeframe specified by Amazon’s inbound policies. This charge covers the additional costs of redirecting, receiving, and processing your shipment. Shipments sent using the Premium or Discounted inbound placement service that don’t arrive at the correct locations or become abandoned are also subject to increased rates based on the actual inbound location(s) and the number of shipments received.

Amazon requires domestic shipments to arrive within 45 days of shipment creation. International shipments must arrive within 75 days of shipment creation. If you’re shipping to multiple locations, additional shipments must arrive within 30 days of the first shipment.

You can track your shipments on the Shipment Performance Dashboard and see additional details on the Inbound Performance Report in Seller Central.

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