Shipping from China to Amazon FBA

If shipping directly from China to Amazon FBA warehouses, the supplier must get his products prepared strictly according to per FBA specifications. In this way, a lot depends on the Chinese supplier’s end. Errors at this stage may cost you serious issues.

But before importing your goods from China, what count most to Amazon dealers are how the import process proceeds and its sea freight and air freight. We’ll clearly understand break down to the entire process step by step.

        ● Quicker transit times. Once your products are storage in the Amazon warehouses, you don’t have            to worry if there is an emergent replenishment, as you can just get it out from the warehouse instead          of placing another order and waiting for the long-time transportation. The easier the product reaches          the warehouse, the quicker you can start selling on Amazon.

       ● Cost is saved. You don’t have to pay the middleman for inspecting your products, since you can do           it on your own as the products are in the local Amazon warehouses.

       ● Amazon requests to ship the products to different warehouses instead of one centralized location,         which means that you need to pay attention to which warehouses your products are storage in.

       ● The freight and duties have to be paid before arriving to Amazon. And Amazon FBA does not offer         custom clearance service. You need to make sure that all the process after shipping is complete.

       ● Inspect the products is no allowed upon arrival. They cannot ensure that the product meets the                 standards.

       ● The product must meet the shipping and packaging and shipping requirements and standards set by          Amazon.

       ● Products are shipped from China in a consolidated form.
       ● You can inspect to ensure that the product meets the standards.
       ● Shipment is unlikely to be rejected by FBA.

       ● Extra cost is needed to pay the middleman for doing all the work.
       ● Shipments take a longer time to reach FBA.

Express is the most convenient and the quickest method of transportation if the product is a small batch of goods, especially when you need an emergent replenishment. But notice that Amazon itself won’t offer custom clearance service. You need to get well prepared for custom declaration and tariff prepay if there is no middleman doing the work for you. And the cost of express won’t be cheap.

For a fast and suitable means of cargo shipping, Express is the best option you have, especially with Amazon Emergency Replenishment. In addition, it is free of reservation when access to Amazon Warehouses.

Sea Freight is one of the most common methods of transportation for import and export, which takes a long time to transport and the customs procedures are complicated. But its low cost of transportation and capability to accommodate large volume of cargo still make it the first option when importing and exporting.

Sea freight is cheap, but has a longer shipping time than express and air freight. Generally, it takes around 30 to 35 days to deliver the good. Usually, sea freight is combined with the express, in order to save time. If you are not in a hurry, sea freight is the best option.

Since the Amazon won’t offer custom clearance services, a freight forwarder is needed to do the custom clearance and delivery for you. Notice that the customs clearance ability of freight forwarder is very important.

Air freight is the quickest and the most convenient method of transportation of shipping from China to Amazon FBA. If your goods are in a large amount and you are in emergent shipping, then air freight can be your best choice.

Like sea freight, you will need to hire a professional freight forwarder to handle all the customs procedures, which will save you time and money and keep you away from trouble.

Air freight cost almost the same shipping time as express, sometimes air freight will a few days take longer but it all depends on which flight did your freight forwarder has chosen.

Customs clearance is the most important and complex stage in the whole process. Customs clearance procedures are complicated, and a single mistake can delay your shipment. So a professional freight forwarder or a logistics company is needed, which can save you from these potential troubles.

This is the most important step in shipping from china to Amazon which you cannot ignore. This step of labeling and checking process is of great importance and will determine your product entry into the Amazon’s warehouse and its sales. Once your products cannot reach the standards of Amazon, they would reject your application for warehouses.

Each site on Amazon has different requirements for shipping box size and weights. So, you have to read Amazon’s official documents carefully. If you are having doubts about anything, contact Amazon seller support directly. Take the US site as an example. Here are some requirements for boxes measurements for US site.

         ● Amazon FBA has strict requirements on the appearance of master boxes. The master box should             not be damaged or having any deformation, otherwise it will be rejected. So the master carton                       should be made of double-walled corrugated.
         ● Boxes containing multiple standard-size items must not exceed 25 inch on any side.
         ● Boxes must not exceed the standard weight limit of 50 lb, unless they contain one single oversized             item that exceeds 50 lb.
         ● Boxes containing jewelry or watches must not exceed 40lb.

There are also some other requirements in different countries. Therefore, before you decide where to ship, check out their regulations on box measurement by the local Amazon seller center.

There are three basic labels in Amazon FBA: FBA label, Shipping label and Pallet label.

         ● FBA label----FNSKU (Amazon warehouse receives goods according to this label).
         ● Shipping Label (Your freight forwarder will label it).
         ● For a single oversized item that exceeds 50 lb, attach a label that clearly indicates Team Lift on the top             and sides of the box.
         ● For a single oversized item that exceeds 100 lb, attach a label that clearly indicates Mechanical Lift on              the top and sides of the box.
         ● If the goods have batteries, you will have to add battery identification for express and air freight

FBA uses barcodes to identify and track inventory throughout the fulfillment process. Each item you send to an Amazon fulfillment center requires a barcode. (Any FNSKU you use on a Unit must be unique and must correspond to one unique product. For example, each assortment type, such as size or color, will have a different FNSKU.)

Two kinds of barcodes that you can use to identify your products:

        ● Manufacturer barcodes (eligible barcodes include GCID, UPC, EAN, JAN, or ISBN).
        ● Amazon barcodes (ASIN or FNSKU)

Of course, to ensure the uniqueness of your own products, we recommend you stick Amazon barcodes (FNSKU) on products at appropriate location.

Make sure that the printed labels include:
       ● Sufficient white space around the Amazon barcode and related text (0.25 inch on the sides and                     0.125 inch on the top and bottom).
       ● ASIN or SKU
       ● Product name
       ● Item condition

FNSKU and FBA Label are easy, as they are generated by the Amazon system. You just have to download and print it.

The calculation differs in different countries. Here are some entries of Amazon Calculator you may find helpful.
        ● US FBA Calculator
        ● UK FBA Calculator
        ● France FBA Calculator
        ● Japan FBA Calculator