How to Package Items for Amazon FBA

Not sure how to package items for Amazon FBA, or looking to refine your processes? Amanda Dixon of FBAPrep4U shares her expert advice in this guest post.

Utilizing the Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) distribution network can quickly turn a small hobby into a massive business. So, what do you need to do to get products ready to be sold on Amazon?

Think Like A Machine

When training a new hire in my prep center, the first thing I have them do is picture a fully automated fulfillment center with no human intervention. When prepping products for FBA, what would you need to do to communicate to a machine, not a person, exactly what this product is?

Think of a conveyor belt with 360-degree scanners where the only input is a barcode. What if you have the wrong barcode or two different barcodes on a given product? If there is any confusion or a disconnect between what is expected and what is received, then your items 1) will take longer to become available for sale and 2) are more likely to have errors in processing. Therefore, each product needs to have one clear identifying barcode.

What Barcode Should I Use?

When you create a listing on Amazon, you will be told if you can use the manufacturer’s UPC barcode or if you need to use Amazon’s Fulfillment Network SKU or FNSKU. I recommend using the Manufacturer’s barcode if that is an option.

If Amazon requires their FNSKU then you need to make sure any other barcode anywhere on the product is obscured. If you have multiple products bundled together then you will need to cover every barcode that is visible before applying the FNSKU to the outside of the final sellable unit.

What is A Sellable Unit?

The final product that a person is buying for a single price is a sellable unit. That can be a single item, like a book, or multiple items bundled together, like a shampoo and conditioner set.

When you are prepping products for FBA it needs to be very clear what is a single sellable unit. Therefore, Amazon requires bundled products to have the “sold as a set do not separate” sticker on each.

One painful learning experience I had is that I purchased a product where a single sellable unit was one laminated page of reference material. I purchased 50 units and Amazon allowed manufacturer barcode tracking, so the prep was simple--just send the items into FBA.

I received all 50 units shrink-wrapped together and since I did not need to add an FNSKU to each unit, I just sent the pack of 50 directly to FBA. What happened is the bundle of 50 units was sent to the customer as one single sellable unit. Ever since then I make it abundantly clear what is a single sellable unit before any item leaves our prep center.

Know the Amazon Requirements

When you create your shipping plan in Seller Central, Amazon will let you know if there are any prep requirements for a given product. These include labeling, poly bagging, bubble wrap, taping, etc. The key requirement, as I discussed above, is the barcode.

Make sure there is one clear identifiable barcode for each sellable unit. In addition to that, any plastic bag you use must have a suffocation warning either printed on the bag or on a sticker placed on the bag. Any other requirement should be self-explanatory.

Package Items for Amazon FBA with Common Sense

In the end, put on your customer hat. When you are buying something from Amazon what are you happy receiving?

Do you want an ugly box covered in stickers? No.

Do you want your items rattling around and getting broken? Of course not.

If you wouldn’t be happy receiving an item in a given condition, then most likely your customer won’t be happy with it either.

There are also times when Amazon doesn’t have a prep requirement on a given product but common sense dictates certain precautions. For example, if your product is in a glass jar, use bubble wrap even if Amazon doesn’t require it. If you have something that might pop open and leak, use tape to close the top even if it’s not a requirement.

Keep Customers Happy

There are many obstacles in selling on Amazon, but FBA prep doesn’t have to be one of them. When getting items ready for FBA use your common sense and try to follow Amazon’s guiding principles and be “customer obsessed,” meaning: do what it takes to make the customer happy and you should be successful.