Understanding FBA and FBM

FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon, FBA, is a storage, picking and shipping service provided by Amazon. The downside to FBA is that FBA is more costly than FBM. You don’t have control over where your products are stored. Products are shipped to and stored in Amazon warehouses all over the country. Often, a shipment of your inventory will be divided and stored in multiple locations, making it difficult to understand where each item is. 

There are many benefits to using FBA for your business to take advantage of. It opens up opportunities for many businesses that can’t ship themselves. Amazon will take care of storage for you. They will also make sure your products are optimally distributed for fast delivery for higher customer satisfaction. They can package your products for you for an additional fee if you don’t have the resources to do it yourself.  The product listing will display “fulfilled by Amazon”, increasing customer trust and boosting sales. Your products will be available for prime shipping when you use FBA. Prime members will be incentivized to buy with fast, free shipping through FBA. 

FBM

Fulfillment by Merchant, FBM, is what it’s called when you sell your items on the Amazon platform, while storing, picking and shipping items yourself. You will have to store and ship your own products. You’ll have to print your own shipping labels. Your products won’t be available for prime shipping unless Amazon invites you to the program. If you don’t ship your products within a day or two, Amazon will count this against you, damaging your account health. FBM is not available for the Subscribe & Save program. 

There are some substantial upsides to selling FBM. Your fees will be far lower without having to pay fulfillment fees. You will have more control over how and where your products are stored. FBM is just more straightforward, giving you more control in your inventory management. Sometimes Amazon restricts certain ingredients or products from being stored in their warehouses, making it impossible to sell FBA. Using FBM gives you the opportunity to sell certain products in your line regardless of any Amazon storage challenges. 

Using a Combination

Many sellers find using a combination of FBA and FBM to be beneficial. This allows you to optimize customer experience and have greater control over your inventory. Some products may have ingredients that would be best controlled in your own storage space, while other products of yours are easily shipped to Amazon for storage. With FBA and FBM options, you can choose how your products are sold through Amazon most effectively and efficiently. 

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