Half a decade ago, Amazon FBA was the fastest way to break into the E-Commerce industry. In 2016, you could launch a product for less than $500 and make thousands of dollars of passive income.

Unfortunately, it has only gotten tougher and tougher since then. Now, not only is the start-up capital requirement much higher than $500, but the market is also saturated with new sellers vying for the same products as you.

That doesn’t mean you should write it off and not even try to attempt Amazon FBA in 2025. Why?  All you need is a glance at this chart created by Statista. 

According to the New York Times, it took 8 years for e-commerce in the US to grow from 5% to 12% share in retail sales. In contrast, it only took 12 weeks between March 2020 and June 2020 for it to shoot from 12% to 16%.  E-commerce has grown exponentially due to the Covid pandemic, and as governments still impose safety measures and work culture continues to shift to remote opportunities, it means this is possibly the best time to try out Amazon FBA. 

Even JungleScout’s Seller Report confirmed that 44% of Amazon Sellers performed better in the Covid 19 pandemic and over half were profitable going into 2021. 

Beware, despite the statistics  –  it doesn’t mean it won’t be incredibly difficult! Everyone is clamoring to break into e-commerce, and making a successful FBA business will take some real time, effort, and creativity if you want to beat the competition.

Amazon FBA in 2025

Total Start-Up Cost

For 2025, the cost of getting started in Amazon FBA is between $3000 – $5000 on average. The majority of FBA sellers claimed to have spent less than $5000 to start their FBA business, with the figure including the cost of their products, FBA storage fees, Amazon fulfillment fees, and Amazon PPC advertising fees, which in 2025 is no longer optional. 

A few sellers claimed to have spent less than $1000, but we personally feel this is unlikely with how popular Amazon FBA will be in the coming year. However, it is safe to assume that the maximum start-up cost will not be higher than $5000 unless you have an expensive product or a large-size product which will cost you more in storage and fulfillment fees. 

These statistics are from JungleScout’s “State of the Amazon Seller 2021” report, which can be found here.

Below is a breakdown of all the mandatory costs that will add up to this total amount.

Mandatory Costs

When getting started with Amazon FBA, there are a few mandatory costs that are unavoidable. Here’s a breakdown of them: 

1. Monthly Subscription Fee 

Professional Selling Plan: $39.99 per month
Individual Selling Plan: No fee

2. Per-Item Fees 

Professional sellers: No per-item fee
Individual sellers: $0.99 fee per item sold

We recommend that sellers take the Individual Selling Plan at the very beginning, to try out a small volume of products. The free plan has a product limit. Once you are ready to move on and expand your business, the Professional Selling Plan will become mandatory, and a cost you will have to bear.

3. Per-Item Referral Fee 

Amazon deducts a per-item minimum referral fee which is a percentage of the sale. The referral fee varies according to the category your product belongs in. For example, Baby Products have an 8-15% referral fee depending on the sales price. On the other hand, Amazon Device Accessories have an extremely high referral fee percentage of 45%. Most product categories have a referral fee percentage of about 15%. 

To calculate your exactly per-unit referral fee, you can consult Amazon’s list of referral fees.

4. Refund Administration Fee

When a shopper requests a refund on your product, Amazon charges a $5 fee or 20% of the refunded charge as a fee. These are immediately deducted from your account balance, so be aware of these fees.

5. FBA Fulfillment fees 

Fulfillment by Amazon means Amazon is bearing the cost of picking, handling, packaging, and shipping your goods. All FBA sellers are charged an FBA fee to cover these costs borne by Amazon, and these fees depend on the size of your product. 

To calculate the exact FBA fee per unit sold for your products, you can refer to Amazon’s table for FBA fulfillment fees.

6. FBA Storage Fees 

Monthly storage fees are paid at the end of each month for inventory stored in Amazon’s warehouses. 

Currently, the monthly storage fees are $0.69 per cubic foot for standard-size products. Fees are higher in October-December at $2.40 per cubic foot for the same. For oversize products, the price is $0.48 per cubic foot during January-September, and $1.20 per cubic foot during October-December.

7. Long-Term Storage Fees

Long-term storage fees are fees incurred when items are stored in Amazon’s warehouses for long periods of time. 

180 days or longer will incur a $6.90 per cubic foot fee.
365 days or longer will incur a $0.15 charge per unit. 

8. Product Manufacturing Cost

Unfortunately, this is a cost that we cannot predict for you. Your total manufacturing cost will depend on your sourcing agent, your supplier, your product, and your MOQ (minimum order quantity). 

Most FBA sellers research the manufacturing cost of their prospective products on aliexpress.com.  

9. Product Associated Costs

All Amazon products need a UPC barcode, the cost of acquiring a UPC code from GS1 can be found on the GS1 website.

10. Review Acquisition Cost 

While this would be an optional cost in the past, it is incredibly important to make sure you have reviews on your products. Products without reviews do not receive sales, this is simply how Amazon shopping works. Amazon shoppers will not trust a product with low reviews, and will always flock to a brand with a higher amount of ratings and reviews.  

While it is against Amazon’s rules to directly request customers for reviews, there are workarounds.  You may choose to do a campaign where you offer 100 free units to gather some reviews from your customer base. The cost of acquiring reviews will thus be the cost of those 100 units plus shipping.  

You can also sign up for software like RebateKey, to offer customers rebates and later approach them for reviews on said products. The RebateKey platform has a free sign-up, but they will charge $2.95 for every customer rebate claim. As estimated by InfiniteFBA, this means if you give out 20 rebates in one campaign, you will pay around $60 in commission. 

Optional Costs

For those looking to start Amazon FBA in 2025, there may be some other additional fees associated. Namely, the cost of using external software to optimize and boost your business. Due to the market being very saturated for most if not all product categories, FBA sellers have to find new and creative ways to beat their competitors, and these, of course, do not come free.

1. Product Inspection Cost

Product quality is one key aspect that will set you apart from competitors. In order to ensure your product is of higher quality, you need to get samples from your supplier, and you need to do a full warehouse inspection. 

The estimated cost of samples can be anywhere between $50 to $100 including shipping.

The estimated cost of a factory inspection through an external site such as QIMA will cost around $300 for a 60-page report on the factory. You can also choose to inspect your supplier’s factory yourself. In this case, the cost will vary depending on flight, accommodation, and other miscellaneous costs.

2. Product Listing Optimization Cost

On Amazon, ad ranking depends heavily on the relevancy of your product and the quality of your listing. For this reason, an optional cost would be to have professional photographs for your products.

Professional product photographs can cost anywhere between $500 to $700 dollars. This is extremely expensive, so you can find alternatives locally or using photo-editing software, or simply hire a graphic designer to do this job for you.

3. Keyword Ranking Software Cost

Tracking keyword ranking and knowing the right keywords to rank for is absolutely essential in 2025. There are numerous Amazon Courses that teach you how to do this, or you can self-learn via free Youtube videos. In this case, the cost of software will be optional for you. 

However, it is getting increasingly complicated to rank for keywords, and for an Amazon beginner, we recommend using Keyword Ranking Software to find and track your keyword rankings. 

We recommend Helium10, which is the premier software when it comes to keyword research, rank and optimization for Amazon. The cost of Helium10  will vary based on the subscription plan you use, there is also a free plan but we do not recommend it since it has very limited access. The cheapest and most popular paid subscription plan for Helium10 is the Platinum Plan, which costs $97 per month. 

4. Amazon Advertising Software Cost

Lastly, the most important part of selling on Amazon in 2025, is PPC optimization. Amazon Advertising is no longer optional but mandatory, but the use of an external Amazon PPC software is optional. 

Despite this, we highly recommend using an Amazon PPC Management Software, because as a new seller, it will be difficult to understand how bidding works on Amazon, and it will be a headache for you to constantly manually update your keyword bids on a daily basis just to make sure your product is showing up on the first page. 

There is an abundance of Amazon PPC Tools out there, and most of them are expensive, ranging from taking 1% of your PPC spend to $100-$500 monthly. You will see a lot of articles titled “Best Amazon PPC Software” but the truth is it is very experimental, and not all software will work best for you, or your product. Amazon Advertising Software is absolutely key in 2025, and we recommend you to carefully consider which software you choose to use. 

We at SellerMetrics can do the heavy lifting for you and offer you a scheduled account audit to find you the best strategies for PPC optimization that will meet your Amazon goals and objectives. More than that, we offer clear and transparent pricing and will not price based on budget. Sign up as a Beta User if you’re interested!

Conclusion

The numbers may be daunting, and the Amazon FBA market may indeed be oversaturated but it is important to remember that so is every other platform you may be considering – eBay, Walmart, Shopify, Target – are all e-commerce platforms that are steadily becoming saturated with sellers as ecommerce businesses boom in the Covid pandemic era. 

What is difficult, however, is not impossible. When asked if Amazon FBA is worth it in 2025, we would say that it is indeed worth it. With creativity, knowledge, and the right expertise, you can still succeed on Amazon, and Amazon FBA is still a way to become a successful entrepreneur, especially in 2025 when e-commerce is arguably one of the best entrepreneurial opportunities out there. 

The post Is Becoming an Amazon FBA Seller Still Worth It (2026 Update)? appeared first on SellerMetrics.

In practice, many new Seller also face budget constraints. And let’s be honest, getting started on Amazon in 2026 is not an east feat. Amazon is a mature marketplace and virtually every niche is dominated by well established players that have accumulated tons of customer reviews and weaponize their deep-pockets to aggressively invest in Amazon ads.

According to Statista, 73% of Amazon sellers in the United States take advantage of FBA. This goes to show how beneficial using this service can be. Let’s check out some of the advantages of using FBA and we’ll have some comparison between the different fulfillment options in Amazon.

Start an Amazon FBA Business on a Limited Budget (2025 Reality)

Launching with limited cash isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about sequencing costs. Back in 2024 Amazon introduced (or expanded) fees that change your break-even point: the inbound placement service fee for sending inventory to FBA, a low-inventory-level fee when you chronically run lean on stock, and a returns processing fee for high-return items. If you plan your launch without these, your margin projections will be off by dollars per unit. 

The lean path for budget conscious Sellers: validate demand with FBM (or a micro-batch) to conserve cash, then scale into FBA—taking advantage of New Seller credits and FBA New Selection perks to offset early fees.

Amazon Fulfillment Types

At the moment, there are three types of fulfillment options for Amazon sellers. These are:

1. Fulfillment by Amazon – FBA
2. Fulfillment by Merchant – FBM
3. Seller Fulfilled Prime – SFP

By definition, FBA is a fulfillment service where sellers are allowed to store their products in Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers. Upon sale, Amazon will then pick, pack, ship, and handle customer service on behalf of the seller (more about this in our article on Amazon FBA vs FBM).

On the other hand, FBM is the opposite. It’s a fulfillment type where merchants opt to handle shipping, packing, and inventory instead of being handled by Amazon.

Finally, SFP is a fulfillment program available to Amazon Prime sellers, which allows them to ship from their own warehouses and control their own fulfillment. By displaying the Prime badge, sellers are committing to fulfill orders with two-day delivery at no additional charge for Prime customers.

For more terms, check out our post on Amazon Acronyms and Abbreviations.

How to Start an Amazon FBA Business?

There are 6 main key steps to getting started with Amazon FBA. We’ll discuss them in detail as we go along.

Step 1: Amazon Seller Registration

To register your Selling on Amazon account for FBA, go to www.amazon.com/fba and click on Get started, then select Add FBA to your account. If you do not have a Selling on Amazon account, click on Register for FBA today.

As simple as that, you’re done with step 1.

Step 2: Product Listing Creation

A product listing refers to the product page for the items that you sell on Amazon. This includes the title, the images, product descriptions, and, of course, the price.

There are two main functions an Amazon product listing performs:

• It allows your products to be found in Amazon searches, and
• It gives you the opportunity to convince potential buyers to purchase your products. In other words, to sell your product.

To achieve these functions, it is important that you optimize your Amazon product listing. In addition, writing a good Amazon product description is also vital.

Now you have the product listing, it’s time to have your actual products prepared.

Step 3: Product Preparation

Amazon states that your FBA products need to be “eCommerce ready.” That way, they can be securely transported throughout the fulfillment cycle. Check out the Prep Guidelines below so you can properly prepare your merchandise.

For additional packaging and prep requirements, check out Amazon Seller Central’s post.

This part can be quite tedious as each of your items needs to be prepped and packaged. If you have the budget, you can take advantage of FBA Prep Services. The charge is between $0.50 to $1.10 for standard-size items. For oversized items, the charge is between $1.0 and $2.30.

Before we go to the next step, we have to discuss product labeling, which is an important part of product preparation.

Amazon requires products being sold to have product labels as their receiving systems and catalogs are barcode-driven. Product labels will associate the product with the seller account and these labels can be printed from Seller Central. To learn more about Amazon barcodes, check this post on Explanation of Different Amazon FBA Barcodes.

Printing your labels is something you don’t want to cost-cut since you would really want quality labels. Here’s a checklist when it comes to printing quality labels:

• Use a thermal transfer or laser printer (inkjet printers are more susceptible to smearing and fading).
• Make sure you’re printing with a resolution of 300 DPI or greater.
• Use proper label paper. Litho, semi-gloss, and high gloss paper are recommended.
• Test for scannability.

Amazon also offers to label your products via FBA Label Service for $0.30 per item.

Step 4: Assigning Inventory to FBA

After the product prep, you can now assign your inventory to FBA.

1. Log in to your Seller Central account. Then go to Inventory > Manage Inventory.
2. On the Manage Inventory page, select the products you are adding as FBA listing by checking the tick box next to them on the left side. Then click on the Actions menu and select Change to Fulfilled by Amazon.
3. On the next page, either click on the Convert & Send Inventory button or the Convert button. Use the latter if you’re not quite ready yet for your shipment.

To start your shipment if you selected Convert, you can select Send/Replenish Inventory from the Actions menu on the Manage Inventory page.

After the steps above, you will be prompted to the shipment creation workflow to create a shipping plan.

Step 5: Shipping Products to Amazon

The shipping plan via the shipment creation workflow specifies the products you want to send to Amazon, the quantity of each product, the preferred shipping method and carrier details, and whether you want to prep and label your inventory yourself or if you want Amazon to do it for you.

How to Create a Shipping Plan

1. From the Send/Replenish Inventory page, click on Create a new shipping plan. To add products to an open shipping plan, you can instead click on Add to an existing shipping plan.
2. Confirm your ship-from address. This is the location where your shipment will be picked up which can be your home address, business address, or your supplier’s warehouse address. To change the ship-from address, click Ship from another address.
3. Confirm the packing type of the products you are shipping to Amazon, whether they are Individual products or Case-packed products. The latter are multiples of the same products with each case containing the same quantity in the same condition. Note that an ASIN (Amazon Standard Information Number) with multiple parts must be shipped in a single package.
4. Select Continue to shipping plan.
5. The Set quantity page consists of three tabs:

All Products – This shows all the products you have included in your shipping plan.
Information required – This shows the products in your shipping plan which requires additional information.
Removal required – This shows products that are not allowed to be sent to Amazon fulfillment centers due to certain FBA restrictions.

To set the quantity, go to the All Products tab, then type the number of each item under Units.

For products not on the list that you want to be included in your shipment, click Add products on the top right section, put in the product name, ASIN, or MSKU, then click Search my inventory. Click on Add Product for each item you wanted to be added. Note that only previously converted products are searchable.

To remove the products, simply click X in the Remove column.

Step 6: Tracking Your Shipment

Tracking your shipment can be done on the Shipping Queue page, which provides details on all the shipments you are working on and those you have sent to Amazon.

The Shipment Summary page, on the other hand, shows details of a specific shipment sent to Amazon.

To open the Shipping Queue page, click on the Inventory drop-down menu in Seller Central, then select Manage FBA Shipments. There are two tabs on this page:

Shipments tab – Shows the status of all the shipments you have created and are creating to send to Amazon fulfillment centers.
Shipping plans tab – Shows all the shipping plans, the plan IDs, and the status of each shipping plan.

Shipment Summary

The Shipment Summary page can have up to six tabs, which are:

• Shipment events tab – This lets you track your shipments from creation to completion. You can see the sequence of the shipment’s statuses, along with information about the shipment’s location.
• Tracking shipments tab – Here you can enter your carrier’s tracking information to check the tracking details for small-parcel shipments. For Less than Truckload (LTL) or Full Truckload (FTL), you need to contact your carrier.
• Shipment contents tab – Shows the number of units for which Amazon has confirmed receipt.
• Problems tab – This tab shows up if there are any problems with your shipment. It will tell you of the actions that you need to perform to fix the problems.
• Reconcile tab – Shows information on how to reconcile units in your shipment if there are any discrepancies between what you have sent and what is received, usually with the unit count.
• Pallets tab – Shows information about the pallets you have sent to Amazon fulfillment centers.

Once your carrier has picked up your shipment, or if you’ve dropped it off at your preferred shipping center, mark your shipment as Shipped on the Shipping Summary page.

For shipments with a Delivered status, allow 24 hours before contacting your carrier to confirm the delivery location and the receipt of signature.

A Checked-in status means that the shipment has arrived at the fulfillment center. The status will be updated to Receiving once the fulfillment center starts scanning the barcodes and receiving the inventory.

It normally takes 3-6 days from when your shipment is delivered to be received at the fulfillment center.

Different Budget Scenarios & What You Can Realistically Achieve

~$500–$1,000 — Proof-of-Concept (FBM-first)

• Model: online/retail arbitrage or a tiny wholesale/private label micro-batch.
• Use FBM to avoid inbound placement and FBA storage at the start; reinvest only from sales.
• Goal (30–60 days): 10–30 sales, ≥20% contribution margin after shipping and returns, proof that the listing converts.

~$1,500–$3,000 — Controlled FBA Pilot

• Model: small private-label batch (100–300 units).
• Costs: inventory + basic branding + initial FBA fees; choose the shipment-split option that minimizes your totallanded cost (freight + placement).
• Goal (60–90 days): rank on 3–5 long-tail terms, maintain healthy days-of-supply to avoid the low-inventory fee.

~$3,000–$6,000 — Confident FBA Launch

• Model: 300–600 units, stronger packaging, Vine/light creative.
• Stack incentives: Brand Registry bonus (10% back on early branded sales/caps), Vine credit, and New Selection rebates/free storage where eligible. 

2025 Fees that Matter on a Tight Launch Budget

Amazon invokes a range if fees and breaking through clutter can seem like a daunting task – especially for new Sellers. Here are the most critical fees you need to be aware of:

• Inbound placement service fee (FBA). A per-unit charge tied to how widely Amazon distributes your inbound inventory. Fewer destinations = higher fee; more splits = lower fee but higher freight. Model both. 
• Low-inventory-level fee. Applies to standard-size SKUs with chronically low days-of-supply relative to demand. Keeping stock healthy often saves money and improves delivery speeds. 
• Returns processing fee. Only for products with return rates above category thresholds (apparel/shoes handled separately). If you sell in a high-return niche, this can tip you toward FBM. 
• Low-Price FBA. Since Aug 29, 2023, items under $10 get lower FBA fees (Small & Light ended). This is a real lever for low-ticket tests.

Final Thoughts

Understanding the steps on starting your Amazon FBA business is vital for the success of your shipping plan and of your business as a whole. We hope this guide has given you a much clearer picture of how to confidently start your Amazon FBA business.

FAQ: How to Start an Amazon FBA Business

The post How to Start an Amazon FBA Business on a Limited Budget: A Practical Guide for 2026 appeared first on SellerMetrics.

8 min read By Rick Wong  Updated Dec 10, 2025

If you’re aiming to be a merchant in Amazon, you might have heard of the FBA option. FBA stands for Fulfilled by Amazon. With this feature, you don’t have to be completely in charge of the fulfillment of you the products you’re offering. Instead, Amazon will be in charge of sorting your products in their warehouse as well as with shipping, packing, package tracking, managing refunds, and dealing with returns. FBA is highly beneficial for independent sellers and small business owners. It is a lot cheaper than doing your own fulfillment. However, before starting your new venture selling on Amazon, we’d like to remind you to avoid some key mistakes. The following Amazon FBA mistakes will help you avoid additional costs and adverse consequences.

The “Revenue Vanity” Fallacy: Miscalculating True Profit Margins

One of the most fatal mistakes new Amazon FBA sellers make is confusing revenue with profit. You might see a screenshot in a Facebook group showing $50,000 in monthly sales and assume that seller is rich. In reality, they might be losing money on every single unit.

The mistake here isn’t just ignoring shipping costs; it’s failing to calculate your Unit Economics down to the penny before you even source a product. Many sellers forget to factor in:

• Inbound Placement Fees: A newer 2024/2025 fee where Amazon charges you for sending inventory to a single location rather than splitting it across multiple fulfillment centers.
• Return Processing Fees: In categories like Apparel, returns can hit 20-30%. If you haven’t factored the cost of unsellable returns into your margin, a “profitable” product becomes a liability.
• The PPC Tax: You must calculate your Break-Even ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales). If your profit margin before ads is 30%, and your PPC campaigns are running at 35% ACoS, you are literally paying Amazon for the privilege of selling your product.

The Fix: Never source a product unless you have a projected net margin of at least 25-30% after all Amazon fees. Margins naturally compress over time due to competition and ad costs; starting with a thin margin is a recipe for failure.

Ignoring the Terms and Conditions of Amazon

Be sure to thoroughly read the terms and conditions set by Amazon. Absolutely avoid missing something or forgetting any terms along the way. Violating these terms and conditions can get your seller account suspended. This mistake can also be costly for Amazon sellers… Especially if you have already shipped your items to a fulfillment center! You won’t be able to ship the items out if your account is suspended! Even worse, you can’t ship them out, so you still have to pay the Amazon fulfillment center for keeping your items.

We also suggest reviewing the terms and conditions whenever you are planning to make some changes in your product listings.

Too Much Competition For Your Product

There are about 2.5 million sellers in Amazon. Unless you are producing your own unique goods, there’s a huge chance that multiple sellers are already offering the same items in your product listings. That’s why before you start selling a specific product, you have to be aware of the number of your competitors. Also search if there are already established ones. The key is to offer products with less competition. This means you’ll also have a greater chance of expanding your market share.

On the other hand, if you think you can still pull off a product despite the number of competitors, you can look into how much the competitors are offering them. See if you can afford to offer lower prices to help attract more shoppers. Of course, remember to consider your items’ landing cost. Remember that Amazon users/buyers (or any e-commerce buyers in general) tend to prefer lower-priced listings.

Not Completely Knowing Your Product

Know your products well before uploading them to your listing. This can help you provide more detailed Amazon product descriptions. It can also help you easily answer the questions of users about your products. It’s good to note that answering the queries of shoppers can also help you convert them into actual customers.

Completely knowing your product also means that you know about your competitors. This can also help you avoid Amazon FBA seller mistake # 2!

Not Optimizing Your product Listing and Not Considering Amazon PPC

Amazon shoppers use keywords when searching for the items they want to buy. If you are a new seller, it will be hard for you to get into the first page of Amazon’s search engine results pages (SERP) for almost every generic search term possible. So if you want to be more visible… We recommend that you use a more unique or specific keyword, or a less competitive search term. This is where keyword research comes in.

It’s a must to search for keywords related to the product you’d like to offer before actually making a listing. This can help you realize the actual number of search results related to your product. Usually, the results in the first few pages of Amazon SERPs are the listings of more trusted sellers or those with plenty of reviews or orders already. It would be difficult to compete with established merchants which is why you may want to consider Amazon PPC.

Amazon PPC (pay-per-click) is where you pay Amazon when a potential customer clicks on your ad. This advertising option is available in three different formats: Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, and Product Display Ads. Sellers often believe that if their products are good enough, it would sell on their own, but it’s not always true especially if you have plenty of competitors out there. In fact, it is not bad to spend on advertising when you’re new in the business. You can first establish your Amazon profile as a seller with the help of PPC, then get more exposure and engagement as you go on.

Not being Aware of the “Honeymoon Period” for new ads

Amazon’s A9 algorithm gives new product listings a temporary boost in visibility for the first 14 to 30 days—a phenomenon known in the industry as the “Honeymoon Period.”

A massive mistake sellers make is creating their listing, letting it sit inactive while they wait for photos, or sending in inventory without a launch strategy. If your inventory checks in and you don’t immediately drive traffic (via PPC or external emails) and generate sales, you waste this golden window. Amazon will assume your product is irrelevant because it has impressions (views) but no conversions.

The Fix: Do not publish your listing until your images and copy are 100% optimized. Coordinate your inventory arrival so that the moment it hits the fulfillment center, you can turn on your Amazon PPC Auto campaigns and aggressive exact-match keyword campaigns. You need to prove to the algorithm immediately that your product converts.

Not Prioritizing Amazon Listing Optimization

Aside from keeping in mind the best keywords to use for your products, you also have to prioritize your product descriptions. In every listing, there’s a product description where you have to type in some of the best things about your product. You can just put a generic description of your product, or come up with your own. We prefer the latter, of course. If you come up with your own, you might as well make it enticing by describing the product as if you are talking to a potential customer face-to-face.

Apart from including a detailed product description, you also have to provide other product information such as the brand name, color, material, etc. As much as Amazon buyers often inquire on a specific product, they also opt for detailed listings that contain almost every information they need.

Not Updating Your Inventory and Stocking Too Much Products

New Amazon sellers usually deal with less inventory volume as compared to more established Amazon merchants. But still, they have to manage their Amazon inventory system properly to prevent supply shortages which could be bad for a seller’s Amazon profile. If you’re a new seller, you must monitor the number of orders you receive, and regularly update your inventory to prevent this from happening.

Meanwhile, storing way too many products in the Amazon fulfillment center could also be costly because you have to pay storage fees for these items extra. For more practical reasons, we suggest that you send out products to the fulfillment center only when they have been ordered by your customers already. This way, the item/s would be shipped out immediately to customers, and you don’t have to pay additional storage fees.

The “Single Point of Failure”: Relying 100% on FBA

While FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) offers the Prime badge and ease of use, relying on it exclusively is a strategic error. What happens if Amazon creates a sudden storage limit for your account during Q4? What if your inventory is stuck in “FC Transfer” for weeks, leaving your listing inactive?

When your FBA stock hits zero, your listing disappears from search results, and your organic ranking freefalls. This is why seasoned sellers utilize a hybrid model: FBA + FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant).

The Fix: Always create a duplicate SKU for your product fulfilled by you (FBM) or a third-party logistics (3PL) partner. If your FBA stock runs out, the FBM SKU automatically takes over the Buy Box. You might sell fewer units due to longer shipping times, but your listing stays alive, and you maintain your hard-earned keyword rankings.

Final Thoughts: There are many Ways to Fail

Taking note of these common Amazon FBA seller mistakes can help you avoid committing them and from suffering from potential unnecessary costs in the future. If you have more questions about Amazon FBA in general, feel free to reach out to us because we’re more than willing to help you get answers.

FAQ: Amazon FBA Mistakes

The post Top 7 Common Amazon FBA Mistakes by Sellers appeared first on SellerMetrics.

What is Amazon Inventory Management?

Being one of the top online shopping sites, Amazon has established a reliable inventory management system. This allows its sellers to make the last mile shipment as a service. This inventory management system is called fulfillment by Amazon, also known as Amazon FBA.

Amazon FBA is a non-compulsory facility. Amazon offers this across all their supported marketplaces. It focuses on the management of inventory, packaging, shipping, and last-mile delivery. We highly recommend that you use this system as it can truly help set you free from worrying order fulfillment. In fact, Amazon permits even 3rd party inventory and shipping. Regardless, FBA is still your best and most reliable option. Considering that you can offer prime shipping (1-2 days) and better relative search page ranking with Amazon FBA.

How to Set Up Your Amazon Inventory

First off, you need to register for a Professional selling account. After setup of your seller account, you may choose the FBA option. You can then start using Amazon’s inventory management system. Here’s a step by step guide that can help you set up your Amazon FBA:

1. Inventory Placement Option

In Amazon Seller Central dashboard, go to Settings ➜ Fulfillment by Amazon Settings ➜ Inbound Settings. Click “edit” and on the Inventory Placement Option: select “Inventory Placement Service”. By selecting this service, you will only need to send your inventory into just ONE warehouse. This option saves time, money, and effort.

2. Add Your Product Listing

In Amazon Seller Central dashboard, go to Manage Inventory ➜ Click “Add a Product”. For additional information on adding a new product listing, please see our comprehensive listing optimization guide here.

3. Set Your Product Listing to Amazon FBA

Staying on the Manage Inventory screen, select your listing ➜ Action ➜ select Change to Fulfilled by Amazon. Select this option, it means your listing supports Amazon FBA as a fulfillment method.

4. Prep Your Inventory for Amazon FBA

Make sure to follow all Amazon FBA prepping guidelines here. Ensure each piece is labeled with the FNSKU and country of origin. Also, make sure that each carton box must be labeled with the given FBA carton label.

The good thing about Amazon FBA is that it goes beyond just fulfillment services. It maximizes customer satisfaction by providing customer service. They have an efficient tracking system for the customer to carefully track their orders by using a code. They also have a back office to maintain good customer relationships. The staff frequently checks customer feedback on all products sold on their website. Amazon customer support is available 24/7 for inquiries, refunds, returns, and order tracking. You are definitely in good hands if you let Amazon manage your inventory.

How much does FBA cost?

There are a few fees within the Amazon FBA bucket. First is FBA Fullfment Fees, which are charged per order shipped from an Amazon FBA warehouse. The table below shows an overview of Amazon FBA fees fees (and cross-check with this page to see if any of these fees have been adjusted)

Amazon FBA Fee Table

The other type of Amazon FBA fees are the FBA Storages fees.

Amazon FBA Storage Fees

How to Avoid Running Out of Stock

As mentioned, running out of stock can take a toll on your sales and the performance of your product listing. The good thing is, you can avoid running out of stock by doing the following:

1. Know your average daily sales velocity

The average daily sales velocity is a measure of how fast/slow your product gets sold. If you are selling a new product, you may compute this by taking note of the number of stocks/orders you have from your supplier, and the number of days it took to sell half of those orders.

Sample velocity calculations:

If you have 100 units of your product and you were able to sell them 50 units in 10 days, the average daily sales velocity is 5 units per day.

50 units / 10 days = 5 units (Your sales velocity)

Average daily sales velocity may change depending on the demand for the product. You can adjust your inventory management based on the movement of your sales velocity.

2. Know your lead time

Your lead time depends on the number of units you are ordering from your supplier. The higher the number of units, the longer the lead time needed. You also need to factor in the shipping time. And more importantly, you have to add buffer days to cover any possible problems in customs, courier delays, and other unforeseen factors. Typically, 30 days of lead time are enough to cover the manufacturing, shipping, and buffer days. 

3. Know when to reorder and how many units to order

Once you’ve figured your daily sales velocity and the lead time, you may already start computing the number of units that you should order at a given time of your analysis.

Sample Computation:

Based on the examples above, we may assume that we have 30 days lead time, average daily velocity is 5 units and a safety buffer of 10 units so the advisable number of units to order is 160 units.

4. Be aware of upcoming seasonal sales fluctuations

The sales of businesses usually increase during the fourth quarter because of the holidays. Considering the increase of demand during this time, you must be able to plan ahead the amount of stock you need to order as well as the time you need to allot to be able to get these stocks on time. While under ordering may result to customer dissatisfaction once products ordered is out of stock, it’s also good to note that overordering may cause unnecessary costs for storage and shipping. Not all products are in high demand during Christmas so please do your research.

5. Be aware of special holidays that may affect your supply

An important factor that may be neglected is taking note of special holidays that your supplier/manufacturer may encounter. If your supplier is from a different country, their holidays and operational working days may differ from yours. This may have an effect on your lead time, so be sure to plan ahead and research on their holidays as well.

Amazon Forecasting That Actually Works

Forecasts have two common characteristics: they are tedious and time-consuming and they are always wrong. So, accepting these two realities, it’s key to create the best possible forecast without spending hours and days on it. For Amazon sales forecasts your goal should to keep days of supply (DoS) within a target band that maintains Buy Box competitiveness without paying exorbitant amounts for storage or aged-inventory surcharges. Here’s how to get this done:

Inputs to collect (per ASIN)

Gather your last 90/180/365-day sales; price & promo calendar; ad spend changes; seasonality (Prime Day/Q4); lead time (supplier → port → FC receipt); order interval; MOQ/case pack; capacity constraints.

Simple Forecasting Model

1. Baseline demand: start with trailing 60–90 days adjusted for stockouts (use ordered units, not sessions).
2. Seasonality & promo uplift: apply factors for upcoming events (Prime Day, BFCM, off-Amazon promos that drive Amazon demand).
3. Lead-time coverage: multiply expected daily demand × total lead time .
4. Safety stock: add a buffer based on demand volatility and lead-time risk (port congestion, FC receiving).
5. Reorder point: daily demand × lead time + safety stock; Order Qty = target DoS × daily demand − on-hand − inbound − reserved.
6. Capacity & fee check: will the order push you into >181 days of supply or capacity penalties? If yes, split shipments or trim the buy. 

How to Remove Inventory on Amazon

Given the cost implications of having an inefficient storage system, removing inventory on Amazon warehouses may save you money especially if your products do not sell. Here’s a quick guide on how you can remove your inventory on Amazon:

1. Close your product listing

The first thing you can consider is temporarily or permanently removing your product online. To temporarily remove your product, you may “close” a product listing. The product will be removed from the storefront and will be tagged as inactive on the inventory page. All details and information regarding sales history and product information will still be accessible, and the listing can be activated anytime.

This can be done in the Manage Inventory tab on your Amazon Seller Central account. Select Manage Inventory/Listing, then click on the Actions button. Choose between “Close Listing” or “Delete Product and Listing.”

To permanently remove your product, you may “delete” a product listing. The product is removed from the inventory page. The details and information regarding sales history and product information will also be deleted from your account. Only take this option if you can guarantee you’ll never sell that product again. There are only 24 hours for you to reactivate that listing.

2. Create a removal order

You can create a removal order once the product is no longer on your inventory page. It’s either you do it in the Manage Inventory tab or from the Recommended Removal report (for inventory subject to long-term storage fees). On the Manage Inventory page, choose to Create Removal Order, and choose from Dispose or Return. When you dispose of the products, you will allow Amazon to get rid of your products and charge a fee for each item they dispose of. When you choose to return the products, they will be shipped back to you. It is more costly to have the products shipped back to you than to dispose of your inventory, you need personally weigh the pros and cons of each option

After creating a removal order, an order ID is generated for you to track the order. When you choose to return the products, you also need to give your address for delivery. If you have other SKUs for the product, you can also add the details to also have them removed. There’s a total quantity available for removal, it’s possible that there will be items available and unavailable for removal.

3. Confirm the removal order

Processing may take around 10-14 days upon the confirmation of the removal order but expect around 30 working days for complete processing.

Amazon FBA offers an automated removal process for products that are already incurring long-term storage fees. Every 15^th of the month, Amazon takes stock of inventory in their warehouses, and the automated option refrains sellers not to incur additional storage fees. These products are now unfulfillable. Amazon FBA notifies sellers that they are unsellable, and will most likely be disposed. This can be done in your Amazon Seller Central account by going on the Settings menu clicking on Fulfillment by Amazon. You may select Automated Unfulfillable Removal Settings, click Edit, click Enable, choose from Return or Dispose and then select a schedule – Immediate, Weekly, or Twice a month.

Additional Tips in Improving the Way You Manage Your Inventory

Here are a few more things that can help you improve the way you manage your Amazon inventory:

1. Keep an eye on supply and demand fluctuations.

Adjusting your orders based on the demand patterns can help you manage your inventory better. It can also help you avoid unnecessary costs for storage. Having the right amount of stock at a specific period of time-based on supply and demand is a must. Clearly communicating with your supplier can also help prevent delays in manufacturing and shipment.

2. Be strategic on your timing.

Amazon is a global company that allows you to trade across countries. Therefore, the timing of stock orders and shipping and the amount of time your stock stays in Amazon FBA’s warehouse are critical factors in your success.

3. Take a time out.

One of the best strategies to consider when running out of stock is taking a time out from accepting orders. You wouldn’t want to disappoint existing customers or potential customers for not delivering their orders on time, so it’s better to pause to restock your inventory.

4. Using a 3PL to optimize cost

A 3 PL stands for 3rd party logistics. Basically, they would be a non-FBA warehouse that can prep, receive, and ship inventory. 3PL can be a cost-efficient way to manage your inventory, cause let’s face it, Amazon FBA can be quite costly, especially during Q4 seasons. You can use a 3PL such Deliverr to optimize your logistics further.

Capacity & Compliance: IPI, Limits and Capacity Manager

Inventory success on Amazon is not only about making the math work. It’s also about mastering Amazon’s capacity & program rules. Your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) and sell-through determine how much inventory you are allowed to ship to Amazon, while the Capacity Manager can unlock more space when it matters.

Understand the rules of the game: IPI is Amazon’s barometer of your inventory health (sell-through, excess, stranded, and in-stock rates). IPI also gates certain benefits and program eligibility (for example, program thresholds of 300+ IPI). If your IPI dips, you will see that being reflected in in storage limits and capacity. 

Know your limit and raise it when needed: Your FBA capacity limits are influenced by IPI, sales forecasts, FC capacity and shipment lead times. If you are confident that a product will sell well, use Capacity Manager to request more space (and track approvals in Capacity Monitor Amazon typically confirms limits the fourth week of each month). Build this into your monthly S&OP so that you don’t get caught off guard ahead of sales promos or seasonal spikes. 

Plan for peak periods with strict calendar discipline: For Cyber Week Amazon publishes inbound-by dates (e.g., October cut-offs) and peak playbooks. Understand that these are hard deadlines: reverse-engineer PO dates and freight transits to hit FC receipt on time, or you risk ending up carrying stock in 3PL limbo while competitors win the Buy Box for your ASINs.

Manage the Fees you can control: There are two types of fees push you can control to keep your inventory balanced:

• Aged-inventory surcharges (181+ days in FCs) encourage sell-through and clean-up (removal/liquidation if needed).
• Low-inventory-level fee (US rollout tied to days-of-supply; policy has evolved since 2024) nudges you to avoid running too lean on fast movers. Operationally, it means forecasting must target a healthy DoS band, not just “as low as possible.”

Final Thoughts: Amazon Inventory Management

Amazon inventory management can be time-consuming, but it can provide a great long-term impact in your business. Aside from helping improve your logistics and operations, proper Amazon inventory forecasting can also help you retain customers and increase your sales.

FAQ: How Sellers can Optimize Amazon Inventory Management

The post Amazon Inventory Management: Complete Guide to Maximize Sales and Prevent Stock-Outs appeared first on SellerMetrics.

So what does all this mean for Amazon FBA sellers? The good news is, AI is not going to replace sellers any time soon. But it will make selling on Amazon much easier over the next few years as AI tools help automate the hardest and most tedious parts of Amazon selling.

Here’s a rundown of the top AI tools you can use right now to save time, increase sales and become more successful on Amazon.

Best Free AI Tool: ChatGPT

If you don’t know about ChatGPT, the best way to learn is to simply play around with it yourself.

ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot that will answer almost anything you ask it to.

Sellers can use it for all kinds of common tasks: messaging suppliers, product bundle ideas, customer support messaging, and more. Here are some common ways to use it:

Draft a letter to a supplier

Write a compelling letter to Wholesale Party Supplies asking if they would like to work with our business AllHouse Retail and allow us to sell their products. They are a wholesale company in Raleigh, North Carolina that specializes in selling party supplies. Make it professional but personal, including their company name multiple times. Also use my name, Richard Jeffers. Tell them we have been in business on Amazon 5 years and have experience creating Amazon listings that convert.

Product research ideas

What are some product ideas for selling to parents in the cold winter months?

Listing bullets

Note: ChatGPT is a general tool, so it will not write you a perfect listing copy. But if you can’t afford a purpose-built tool, it can give you a good starting point:

Write 5 Amazon bullets for a product called [product]. Details of the product are [details]. Include these keywords [SEO keyword list].

Proceed with Caution with ChatGPT

Keep in mind that ChatGPT has serious limitations. It is not reliable for factual data, and is not specialized for Amazon selling. Don’t expect ChatGPT to create perfect answers or results. But it can give you a good starting point.

Pricing

• Free use: ChatGPT can be used free, but you’ll often hit outages during peak times. You’ll also have slow responses
• $20/month: this paid plan will give you continued access at peak times, and you’ll get overall faster responses.

Best AI Amazon Listing Writer: Perci

A well-written, SEO-optimized listing is essential to get your product listing on page one. Luckily, Perci is a purpose-built AI writer specifically for Amazon listings.

Why does that matter? General AI tools like ChatGPT don’t know Amazon’s rules, restrictions or best practices. ChatGPT will write listings that aren’t fully optimized. Or worse, they might get denied or delisted by Seller Central.

Perci, on the other hand, combines state-of-the-art AI writing technology with Amazon’s best practices to give you reliable, optimized product listing copy that converts.

It’s also the only AI writing tool that incorporates your Amazon keywords through your entire listing automatically

Features

Simple and easy: Get your entire listing, from Title to bullets and HTML description, with one click

Automatic SEO Optimization: You can put your keyword list into Perci and it will automatically optimize your keywords through your Title, bullets etc

Creative Controls:  You can control bullet topics, byte lengths and more with Perci’s optional controls

Languages: Perci writes in all Amazon marketplace languages—this is great for translating your listings into new marketplaces.

Unlimited Rewrites: With Perci you can rewrite any part of your listing with a click, as many times as you want to get the perfect listing

Perci Pricing

• Free trial: All users who register get 2 free listing generations to try it out
• $59/month Starter: 10 listings per month
• The starter plan includes all the creative options like SEO keyword optimization, bullet control and tone of voice.
• $99/month Pro: 20 listings per month
• the Pro plan is great for agencies or big sellers with a large catalog they want to optimize. It also includes listing export options
• $199/month Business: 50 listings per month
• Perci’s Business plan is for large teams or agencies with large workflows. This plan also allows for the bulk generation of listings.

Best AI Product Video Creator: Oxolo

Videos are a powerful way to convert shoppers on your Amazon listings and build your brand across your range. Stats show product videos create more engagement and sales than still images. There aren’t many AI tools out there yet that do eCommerce videos, but Oxolo is one of the pioneers in this space.

How Oxolo works

Oxolo uses digital models to create professional videos showcasing your products. You can choose different models based on your brand personality, and change the script to reflect your brand.

You don’t have to spend a bunch of time collecting data for Oxolo—it will work simply off your product page URL. Oxolo even learns from the videos you create, so it becomes more personalized over time.

Features

 – URL one-click videos

• HD downloads
• 40+ languages
• Music library and Video templates
• Studio editor to perfect your videos

Oxolo Pricing

Note: Oxolo is currently in beta, so they are offering a 15% discount to all signups.

• Free trial: Oxolo offers a limited free version that allows you to try out the platform. But all your videos will be watermarked
• For their paid plans Oxolo uses credits to count usage. New videos cost 5 credits, and an edit uses 1 credit.
• $29/month: 25 video credits per month
• $39/month: 50 video credits per month
• $59/month: 100 video credits per month

Best AI Amazon Image Creator: CreatorKit + Canva

AI Image studios allow you to add a product image, then create new images with your product.  You can add your product to scenes reflecting your use cases, or simply add visual elements to up the look of your listing.

CreatorKit is the best one we’ve seen on the market. It’s built specifically for e-comm product images, with some really slick templates and an easy-to-use interface.

Features

• Lots of photo-shoot quality background templates
• Photo-quality rendering
• Note: not all backgrounds will work with all angle

Pricing

You don’t pay per generation here—instead CreatorKit has simple pay-per-use pricing: $1 for each image used.

Pair CreatorKit With Canva

One essential aspect of Amazon product images is text call-outs. The images after your first main image should have text highlighting the best features of your product.

AI Image tools are working on this feature, but so far none of them offer this in their images. So for that final touch, Canva is still the best option. 

Canva makes it really easy to upload your AI-generated photo, and add simple text overlays to bring your features to life.

The AI hype is real

AI is already providing tons of value to those Amazon sellers who are ready to experiment.

Pretty soon, Amazon sellers who aren’t using AI to cut costs and sell smarter are going to be left behind.

Ultimately that’s good news for sellers because these new AI tools are only the beginning. In the next few years, expect to see new AI applications to help Amazon sellers with all sorts of time-consuming tasks like creating imagery, handling compliance issues, SEO research, and more.

Have any AI tools you’ve been using to help you sell better?

Let us know in the comments.

The post AI Tools Amazon FBA Sellers Can Use Right Now appeared first on SellerMetrics.

What is Amazon Seller Central?

Amazon Seller Central is a platform that allows individuals or businesses to sell their products directly to customers on Amazon. This platform is designed for sellers who want to maintain control over their products and prices, as well as handle their own shipping and customer service.

Features of Amazon Seller Central

Some of the key features of Amazon Seller Central include:

• Inventory management
• Order fulfillment
• Customer service tools
• Marketing and advertising options
• Sales reporting and analytics
• Benefits of Amazon Seller Central

Some of the benefits of using Amazon Seller Central include:

• Control over product pricing and listing
• Direct access to customers and their feedback
• Flexibility to handle shipping and order fulfillment
• Lower fees than Amazon Vendor Central

Who is Amazon Seller Central for?

Amazon Seller Central is best suited for small businesses or individuals who want to sell their products directly to customers on Amazon, maintain control over their inventory and pricing, and handle their own shipping and customer service.

What is Amazon Vendor Central?

Amazon Vendor Central is a platform designed for manufacturers and distributors who want to sell their products wholesale to Amazon. In this model, Amazon acts as a retailer and purchases products directly from vendors, who then ship their products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

Features of Amazon Vendor Central

Some of the key features of Amazon Vendor Central include:

• Bulk product listing and management
• Direct payment from Amazon
• Amazon handles shipping and customer service
• Access to Amazon’s marketing and advertising services
• Sales reporting and analytics

Benefits of Amazon Vendor Central

Some of the benefits of using Amazon Vendor Central include:

• Access to a larger customer base and distribution network
• Simplified shipping and order fulfillment
• Higher profit margins than Amazon Seller Central

Who is Amazon Vendor Central for?

Amazon Vendor Central is best suited for manufacturers and distributors who want to sell their products wholesale to Amazon, with Amazon handling the shipping, order fulfillment, and customer service.

Amazon Seller Central vs Vendor Central: Key Differences

Ownership of Inventory
In Amazon Seller Central, sellers maintain ownership of their inventory and are responsible for storing, packing, and shipping their products to customers. In contrast, in Amazon Vendor Central, Amazon purchases products directly from vendors and owns the inventory until it is sold.

Pricing and Profit Margin
Amazon Seller Central allows sellers to set their own prices and profit margins, while Amazon Vendor Central requires vendors to negotiate prices with Amazon. Generally, vendors have higher profit margins on Amazon Vendor Central, but they also have less control over pricing.

Control over Product Listing
In Amazon Seller Central, sellers have complete control over their product listings, including the images, descriptions, and pricing. In Amazon Vendor Central, vendors have less control over product listings, and Amazon may make changes to the listings to optimize them for search and sales.

Shipping and Order Fulfillment
With Amazon Seller Central, sellers are responsible for shipping their products to customers and handling customer service. In Amazon Vendor Central, Amazon handles shipping and customer service, making it a more hands-off option for vendors.

Advertising and Marketing Opportunities
Amazon Seller Central offers a variety of marketing and advertising options for sellers, including sponsored product ads, display ads, and Amazon Stores. In Amazon Vendor Central, vendors have access to even more marketing and advertising opportunities, including Amazon Vine, A+ Content, and Amazon Marketing Services.

Which Platform is Right for You?

The decision between Amazon Seller Central and Vendor Central ultimately depends on your business needs and goals. If you’re a small business or individual looking to maintain control over your products and pricing, and are willing to handle your own shipping and customer service, Amazon Seller Central may be the best option for you.

On the other hand, if you’re a manufacturer or distributor looking for a more hands-off approach to selling on Amazon, with access to a larger customer base and Amazon’s marketing and advertising services, Amazon Vendor Central may be a better fit.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both Amazon Seller Central and Vendor Central offer unique benefits and features for sellers on Amazon. By understanding the key differences between these two platforms, you can make an informed decision on which one is right for your business.

The post Amazon Seller Central vs Vendor Central: Which is Better for Your Business? appeared first on SellerMetrics.

During this time, there are a lot of things that can happen to your inbound shipments. One of which is getting lost during transit. Aside from that, product units can also be misplaced or lost even after all boxes are properly received in the FC. 

Even though Amazon is a well-established company, they also make mistakes. Every day Amazon’s warehouses receive tons of packages and it is not surprising that some of them may be lost, damaged, or misplaced. If one of your packages is lost during shipment or items get lost in the FC operations, you can ask for a reimbursement.

What is an Amazon FBA Inventory Reimbursement Claim?

If your package is lost, damaged, or misplaced while in transit or when it was received in Amazon’s FC, you may be eligible for a reimbursement claim. There are different kinds of claims a seller may file and the process varies depending on where your item is damaged or lost during the fulfillment process.

Here are the different Amazon reimbursement claims.

• Shipment to Amazon – Items are damaged or lost while in transit to FCs.
• Fulfillment Center Operations – Items are damaged or lost by one of Amazon’s FCs or any facility that is operated by Amazon once they have received the items.
• FBA Customer Returns – Items that FBA customers returned were damaged or lost.
• Removals – This is for items that are damaged or lost by Amazon or their carrier while removing the seller’s inventory from an Amazon warehouse going to the seller’s return address.

To be eligible for a replacement or reimbursement it must be:

• The item should be sent via FBA when it was damaged or lost.
• The items you sent should match the quantities and description in your shipping plan.
• They must comply with FBA inventory requirements and product requirements and restrictions.
• The item is not damaged by the customer or is not defective.
• The product has no pending disposal request from you or from Amazon.
• Your selling account is in good status at the time you file a claim for damaged or lost items.

What is the FBA Inventory Reimbursement Policy for Shipment to Amazon?

If one or more of your packages are missing or damaged when you ship them to an Amazon warehouse, here’s Amazon’s reimbursement policy for Shipment to Amazon claims.

Before you submit a claim, make sure that your shipping plan tallies with the number of items and with the contents of the shipment. You also need to check if you haven’t been reimbursed for it before. 

Claim Window

Once you confirm that you are eligible for investigation, you can now file a claim. However, make sure that it is within the claim window. The claim window for shipment to Amazon claim is no later than nine months from the date the shipment delivery to Amazon FC or a third-party facility has been verified. If it is past the allowed window, you are no longer eligible for reimbursement.

How to Create a Case?

To check if you have items that were lost or damaged during transit going to an Amazon FC, you can go to Inventory, then Manage FBA Shipments. 

You can sort or filter it by created dates and search for closed or choose the closed one and sort it from new to old. 

Check if there are any differences from what you shipped to what was received by Amazon. You can focus on those with bigger differences.

For example, you shipped 390 units and Amazon only received 350, so there are 40 units missing from what you originally shipped to them. You can create a case for the missing 40 units. Here’s how to do it.

1. On the same shipping plan page, go to the Reconcile tab.
2. Gather all the necessary documents such as Bill of Lading, Invoice, and Proof of Delivery. You will only need the Bill of Lading if you don’t have a copy of the proof of delivery. 
3. Once all the documents are complete, upload the required documents and send this template. This template is for your reference only but you are still responsible for ensuring that you provide the right information and additional details if necessary.

“Please investigate this full summary below.

SKU Missing, Quantity 

SKU – 40

If the units are not found, please reimburse me for the above missing units.”

Once you’re done and have uploaded the necessary documents, click on Preview Request.

To get the SKU, go to Manage FBA Inventory and take the SKU for that ASIN that you shipped. So, it is best that you give Amazon the opportunity to locate the items and put them back in your stock. If they fail to find the missing units, they need to reimburse you. In my case, Amazon will reimburse you after a few days after their investigation is over.

Amazon may require other information for your claim and this includes the following:

Amazon Shipment ID – You can get this in your Shipping Queue.

Proof of Inventory Ownership – This can be a receipt from other sellers, an invoice from your supplier, or if you are the manufacturer it can be a signed packing slip. Any of the documents mentioned should have the date of purchase, quantity, and product names that match the damaged or lost items.

Tips for Successful Reimbursements

To make sure that you get your reimbursement successfully and on time here are some things to remember.

• Before filing a claim, make sure the shipment is already closed. You can’t file a claim if the shipment status is still open and check the tracking numbers if they are already delivered.
• Ensure that all necessary documents that you upload are complete. 
• Check first if Amazon had opened a case before creating a new one. This is to ensure that Amazon will not think you are trying to trick them.
• When sending an invoice to Amazon, make sure to blur or cover the prices, so they don’t see the real price of the items.
• When sending units to Amazon, make sure you double-check and don’t make any mistakes. For example, you shipped 20 cartons with 15 units each, that’s 300 units in total. Make sure you mark 300 and not 320. If you make a mistake, that’s not really good because if Amazon finds out that you are lying or is making too many mistakes, they might close and suspend your account.
• Remember not to abuse the refund system and only request reimbursement if you are sure that there are missing items. You don’t want Amazon to think that you are scamming them if there are really no missing items.
• When creating a case, ensure that it is still within the claim window, so you don’t waste your time and Amazon’s.

Conclusion

It is easy to create a case for Shipment to Amazon Claims, but you have to be very careful when filing. If you follow their process and their FBA inventory reimbursement policy and you’re sure that there are really missing items, then you should be fine. Remember the tips above for a higher chance of a successful reimbursement and avoid making any mistakes to prevent any issues, or worse, have your account suspended by Amazon!

Author Bio

About TOMER

I’m Tomer, owner of an Amazon FBA brand with experience in e-commerce for 14 years. My passion started when I was young and I’ve been programming since age 12. When I was 14, I opened my 1st online business which was a hosting company. At 16, I left school to pursue my dreams full time by working at a startup company until now where I have experience in e-commerce and marketing.In addition to my own success on Amazon, I also teach other sellers how to succeed on this platform through my website and Youtube channel Sourcing Monster, where I share videos about sourcing products from China and running successful online businesses.

The post How to Get Reimbursed When Amazon Loses Inbound FBA Inventory appeared first on SellerMetrics.

The experienced sellers on the other hand will limit the number of keywords because they are thinking about the following:

• Manageability
• Scalability
• Campaign Budget
• Campaign Objective

Structure of your Amazon PPC Campaigns

To ensure that your Amazon PPC account is set up for manageability and scalability, you have to make sure to name each of your PPC campaigns. The campaign names should indicate the following:

• Advertising Type (Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, or Sponsored Display)
• Targeting Type (Auto or Manual)
• Keywords or Product Targeting (KW and PAT for short)
• Product (Using ASIN, SKU, or Short Description)
• Strategy (Launch, Mature, by Match Type etc)

We name our Amazon PPC campaign to the following naming convention. This is what we do, and you don’t need to follow exactly.

{Advertising Type} – {Targeting Type} – {Keywords or Product Targeting}- {Product} – {Strategy}

For example, if the campaign is a sponsored product, manual, ASIN: B07PY7GLKV, and the product just launched. Then the campaign name should be:

SP – Manual – KW – B07PY7GLKV(Moon Lamp) – Launch

By naming your campaign like the above, you can stay organized and pinpoint the exact type of campaigns you want to optimize.

What is your Campaign Budget?

Another aspect in determining the number of keywords in your campaign budget. You want to set a campaign budget that allows all your keyword to get a chance at an impression. If you add many keywords, you might be spreading your budget across too many keywords, where >60% of the keywords will not get any impressions

In order to give all your keywords a chance, your campaign budget should be set to the below formula:

Daily Budget (Campaign) = Number of Keywords or Product Target x Est. CPC

So if you have a campaign budget limit on your Amazon advertising, this would be a constraint on the number of keywords you can use. In other words, you can determine the number of keywords base on your campaign budget if you reverse the above formula:

Number of Keywords or Product Target = Daily Budget (Campaign)/Est. CPC

Avoid Keyword Dumping

As mentioned above, you can add up to 1000 keywords per ad group. If you add many keywords indiscriminately from keyword research tools, you are probably keyword dumping. Keyword dumping can lead you into what I call a “Whack a Mole” situation.

What is the “What a Mole” situation?

When you are caught up in a cycle of constantly optimizing for keywords because your ad group/campaign has too small of a budget for the number of keywords in it, if your ad group has over 100 keywords, you are a good chance probably keyword dumping.

For example, the seller has 1000 keywords in his ad group, but there is not enough budget to win an impression on all 1000 keywords, so what Amazon will do is to allocate impression to only 100 of the 1000 keywords. As you optimize the first set of 100 keywords, the campaign budget will then move on to the next set of 100 keywords, and then you would need to optimize for that set. If it takes you one full month to fully optimize your 100 keywords, it will take a full 10 months to optimize this campaign completely.

So what’s the solution to this Amazon PPC mistake?

Limit the number of keywords or product targets in an ad group to 100 at most

As a well-informed Amazon seller, you will limit yourself to 100 keywords and ensure your campaign will get optimized within a reasonable timeframe.

What is the Optimal Number of Keywords for your Campaign?

You should look to add around 50-60 keywords per ad group and 100 keywords in a campaign level.

How SellerMetrics can make sure you recover from Keyword Dumping mistakes

Proper Amazon PPC campaign setup requires experience. The first few campaigns created by sellers, in most cases, are not the most optimally structured. This includes not properly naming your campaign, budgeted or adding too many keywords.

At the same time, these “grandfathered” campaigns drive a lot of the PPC sales; shutting them down and creating a new campaign could potentially be a very risky proposition. If your campaigns are not properly named, take the time to dig through your campaigns to the naming conventions mentioned above.

If your campaign/ad group is too tough to manage from having too many keywords via keyword dumping, SellerMetrics can help. Our automation bidding function has 3 types of bid settings, they are:

1. Growth
2. Moderate
3. Optimize

In a situation where you have too many keywords to manage, you can use our “Optimize” bid settings, this setting do the following:

• Will down bid lesser relevant keywords compress bidding on less relevant keywords, while leaving more budget to high performing keywords
• Change bid according to user-specified ACoS goals
• Make bid change to all keywords daily

By using the SellerMetrics bid automation feature, you easily manage and optimize these large campaigns without any interruptions.

The post How Many Keywords for Amazon PPC Should You Be Bidding For? appeared first on SellerMetrics.

Sourcing for funds is a phase that most, if not all, businesses encounter every now and then. Just because you need to pool funds from external sources, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your business is facing financial turmoil. Most financial institutions use this mindset, so potential borrowers should adopt the same mindset! It should not be degrading to request financial support for this is rather a part of the business. Amazon FBA is also a business, and so all sellers should be unafraid to seek out Amazon financing options, or external financing for their Amazon Store when needed.

According to a Business Finance Survey by the British Business Bank, only 37% of companies seeking to finance is under the reason “working capital/cash flow,” which refers to the need to continue trading or for the general running of the business, and also to cover a short-term gap in the funds.

A small 2% from the same study has the reason of “refinancing.”

Challenges Small Businesses Face When Seeking Financing

Needless to say, not everyone gets approved when they request funds. There are some factors financing institutions lay the groundwork for simply because lending money to other parties is a risk in itself.

Here are some of the challenges you need to consider before starting to shop for financing options.

Poor or No Credit History

Most lending companies use credit reports to determine the potential borrower’s paying capability. It goes to show that if you had issues with a previous debt, what are the chances it won’t happen again?

A credit score of 720 happens to be the threshold. If you have a credit score above 720, you will be approved for a loan in most cases. Below this number, you need some fixing worked on. You can start by checking for accuracy on your credit report, which you can request for free once a year from one of the 3 credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax or Experian.

Limited Cash Flow

Cash flow is a measure of how much cash you have on hand to pay a loan. It is one of the first things lenders consider when gauging your business’ financial health.

We recommended that you calculate your cash flow periodically – at least every quarter.

Insufficient Operating History

Financial institutions prefer to engage with a business with significant track records. Your request for funding may be declined if your company has been operating for a while but has not sustained a certain amount of credibility.

Insufficient Collateral

Loan applications usually include a request for collateral in order for the requestor to receive funding. For large corporations, this is a non-issue, but for SMBs, this can be a hurdle. This is also likely the biggest challenge for online businesses. It is hard to source funds if there are no actual physical stores for collateral.

Lack of a Solid Business Plan

Lenders will want to know that your business will stay on for long, and having a solid business plan is a fundamental testament to this. This makes your loan application much more attractive. It also gives investors a good idea of how you’ll spend their money.

A standard business plan includes a brief of your company, market, products and financial reports. If you’re not sure your plan is strong enough to persuade lenders, it is advisable to talk to a business plan expert who can review it and offer feedback. Financial experts can easily spot a half-baked plan and it likely won’t be approved!

Character

Deciding on whether you get a loan or not is not 100 percent objective. Well, ideally, it is, but there are some subjective factors that come into play, and this is where your character comes in. Two things to bear in mind when it comes to presenting with the right character: apathy and disorganization.

Apathy

Some financial experts argue that most business owners present their loan application rather too methodically that they appear apathetic. You need to exude enthusiasm and a compelling faith in your venture to draw in investors and make them also a believer in your offer.

Disorganization

Before approaching potential lenders, make sure you have everything set properly and in order. All required documents need to be available with multiple copies, which should be clear and labeled as such. Also, fill in all relevant forms with information correctly. Sign and date all fields that need a signature & date if necessary.

The fewer trips you make to the lending company office, the more chances of your loan request getting approved. To help you organize, it is advisable to print out a loan application checklist.

Funding Options for Amazon FBA Sellers

When you run into a situation where you need to finance – whether to continue running your business or for business growth – or for any other reason, here are some of the options available to help out your Amazon FBA finances. Some of these are Amazon financing options, others are external sources.

Financing Option 1: Amazon Lending

Amazon Lending is an invitation-only short-term business loan program. It’s offered to qualified sellers and finances additional inventory to sell through the Amazon marketplace. It is a program that does not check your credit and loan amounts range between $1000 and $750,000.

Eligibility

To be qualified, you need to have a Seller Account in good standing and with good customer metrics. You must be an active Amazon seller and your store needs to show a steady increase in sales.

Eligibility for this program is displayed in your Seller Central dashboard.

Interest Rates

This is not a disclosed information. The rate depends on your account and sales metrics. Some sellers, however, have reported receiving a rate anywhere between 3% and 17% APR.

How to Apply

Apply within your Seller Central account if you are eligible for Amazon financing options.

Financing Option 2: Amazon Line of Credit

Similar to Amazon Lending, Amazon Line of Credit is also an invitation-only program where the Amazon partnered with Goldman Sachs to provide eligible Amazon sellers with a Business Line of Credit. This line of credit allows sellers with the flexibility to request funds ad hoc, instead of receiving one large lump sum. Out of the mentioned Amazon financing options, this one is available only for Amazon sellers based in the United States.

Eligibility

Amazon and Goldman Sachs do not disclose the eligibility criteria. You will similarly see it on your Seller Account dashboard if you’re eligible. You can then open a link that will redirect you to the Goldman Sachs page to verify your eligibility and to complete your application.

Your merchant data will be thus shared with Goldman Sachs, which will then use your business revenue data to underwrite your line of credit.

Interests Rates

The interest rates range from 6.99% to 20.99% APR. The credit limit available is up to $1 million and it uses revolving credit.

How to Apply

Application is done via a Goldman Sachs page, which you will be redirected to when you open the link from your Seller Account dashboard. Again, this is an invitation-only initiative.

Financing Option 3: FinTech Lenders

The continually growing number of online sellers gave rise to the Financial Technology Lenders or FinTech Lenders. Most banks and traditional loan institutions would sometimes decline loan requests from online shop owners because of the absence of physical stores. Luckily, now you are not limited to just banks, and you’re not even limited solely to using Amazon financing options. FinTech companies are focused on, but not limited to, providing financing assistance to ecommerce businesses.

Some of the FinTech Lenders are AccrueMe, Sellers Funding, Kabbage, and Payability.

AccrueMe

AccrueMe offers growth capital to Amazon sellers with no monthly payments. They also do not charge any interest, but will take a small percentage of your profits so long as you’re using their money.

No credit checks and no personal guarantees needed, and funding is based on your Amazon sales. They can invest between $5,000 to $5,000,000 in your Amazon business.

Sellers Funding

Amazon sellers based in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada (Quebec not currently supported) can also request for Working Capital solutions from Sellers Funding. They use an artificial intelligence algorithm to leverage your Amazon store performance for qualification. Sellers may still be eligible if the owners reside abroad so long as the business are registered within the listed supported country.

You can request for a minimum of $20,000 USD or £25,000 GBP. You need to have at least 6 months of sales history on your ecommerce marketplace and your sales average should be at least $20,000 net sales per month or equivalent for the past three months. Finally, your company needs to be generally in good standing, and your sales metrics will be consolidated across all of your sales platforms.

Kabbage

An American Express company, Kabbage offers a revolving line of credit which can be used on a per-need basis. There are different loan types available to all kinds of businesses for up to $250,000 USD. The loan amount offered is based on your sales volume and you don’t pay until you start using the funds.

Payability

Payability offers capital advance as much as $250,000 USD in as quickly as 24 hours. You need to have a seller account for at least 9 months with average monthly sales of $10,000. Fees are typically between 0.5% and 1% per week, with no obligation fees. You have the option to pay your advance sooner to lower down your cost.

Financing Option 4: Merchant Cash Advances

Another way to gain access to immediate funds is through Merchant Cash Advances. These are external financing options that Amazon FBA sellers who are not eligible for Amazon financing options can consider. MCAs allow business to grow against its future earnings. The biggest perk MCAs offer is the speed of obtaining funds if approved. Sometimes, delivery of capital advances occur within hours of applying and being qualified.

Similar to FinTech Lenders, MCAs can also be applied online. They require very little to no paperwork at all. Typically, no collateral is required and no credit check is needed either.

Since MCAs are within an unregulated industry, however, interest rates tend to be higher. There might also be some varying fees depending on the company. When applying for MCAs, make sure to understand every fee associated with your loan request.

According to Business.org, the best Merchant Capital Advance companies are: Lendio, Fundbox, CanCapital, and National Business Capital.

Lendio

• Loan Amount: $5,000 – $200,000.
• Loan Term: Up to 2 years.
• Time to Funds: As early as 24 hours.
• Interest Rate: Starts at 18%
• Minimum Annual Revenue: $50,000
• Requires past 4 months of bank statements or receivables.
• No collateral required.
• No credit pull.
• Request submitted via online cash advance application.

Fundbox

• Loan Amount: $1,000 – $150,000.
• Minimum Time in Business: 3 months.
• Interest Rate: Starts at 4.66% draw rate.
• Time to Funds: As early as next business day.
• Minimum Annual Revenue: $50,000
• You can integrate your bank account and accounting software with your Fundbox account, where you can directly draw funds from.
• To apply, you need to create a Fundbox account then click on the Apply button.

CanCapital

• Loan Amount: $2,500 – $250,000.
• Loan Term: Estimated at 6 to 18 months.
• Minimum Time in Business: 6 months.
• Interest Rate: Starts at 12.9%
• Time to Funds: As fast as 2 business days.
• Minimum Annual Revenue: $100,000
• The criteria for funding eligibility includes business performance.
• Some of the additional fees include: a 3% origination fee, and $595 MCA administration fee.
• To apply, fill out the online application form.

National Business Capital

• Loan Amount: $10,000 to $2,000,000.
• Minimum Time in Business: 6 months
• Time to Funds: Within a few days or even hours.
• Minimum Annual Revenue: $120,000
• No personal guarantee needed, no collateral needed.
• No minimum credit score requirement, no credit check hard pull.
• Flexible Payment Terms – no set payments, repayment is based on your day-to-day sales.
• The only paperwork required is 3 months of bank statements.

Financing Option 5: Personal Loans

Personal loans are often unsecured loans that can be used for a variety of things including business. This can be a good option for someone just starting out, without a bit of sales history yet to get them a business loan.

Eligibility

Being eligible for personal loans highly depends on your credit score, income, employment history, state of residence, and even your nationality.

The safest personal loan that you can apply for is still through your local bank or your credit union. Expect lots of paperwork to be required. Approval may take a few days to a few weeks.

You can also apply for personal loans with online lending companies. Just make sure you understand the terms and conditions and all the fees associated with it.

Interest Rates

On average, personal loan interest rates vary between 10% and 28%, depending on your credit score. Credit scores of 720 and above enjoy the lower rates of 11.4% or lower, while credit scores below 680 start at 18.85%.

How to Apply

Instructions on applying for a personal loan varies depending on the lender. More often than not, these are available on the financial institution’s website.

Final Thoughts

There are definitely a lot of viable sources of funds in case you need extra financial sources. However, they should not be treated as an extension of your financial department. The best way to obtain needed funds is definitely by growing your online business into a successful ecommerce store. With your business running stable and consistent with good performance, not only you may not need to borrow financial resources, but if you would have to, then the approval chances get very high.

Sources

1. Amazon
2. British Business Bank
3. Business News Daily
4. Business.org
5. Fundera
6. Jungle Scout
7. RepricerExpress
8. The Business Journals
9. Value Penguin

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