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.

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.

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