New requirements for warehouse distribution! Amazon's new shipping rules are about to take effect!

In two days, Amazon’s “new FBA warehouse rules” will officially take effect!

Starting from February 20, Amazon will make new adjustments to the FBA warehousing configuration, especially for the delivery of standard-size goods, and sellers’ operating space has become smaller again!

Last year, Amazon launched a warehouse configuration service. The US FBA added a new warehouse configuration service fee. According to previous regulations, sellers have three inventory configuration options:

Now, Amazon has made new adjustments to the warehouse configuration service:

Starting from February 20, 2025, the "partial shipment split" option for standard-size products will be cancelled and integrated into two warehousing options : " Amazon optimized shipment split " and " minimum shipment split ".

What are the two modes of “ Amazon optimized shipment split ” and “ minimum shipment split ”?

1. [Amazon optimized shipment splitting ]

That is, if the seller can pack at least 5 identical cartons or pallets and send them to multiple Amazon US operation centers, there is no need to pay the warehousing configuration service fee.

To qualify for Amazon's optimized shipping option and waive shipping fees , your shipment must meet the following criteria:

1. Each product (SKU) contains at least 5 identical cartons or pallets.

2. Each carton or pallet must contain the same combination of products, and the quantity of each product in each carton or pallet must be the same.

2. [ Minimum Shipment Split ]

It means that there is no requirement for sellers to pack their inventory in cartons or pallets. The inventory can be shipped to a single warehouse in the geographic area selected by the seller (West US, Central US, or East US), and the corresponding warehousing configuration service fee will be charged.

It is worth noting that the shipping method for large and bulky items (such as large furniture, home appliances, etc.) has not changed. Sellers can still select the warehousing area (West US, Central US or East US) for "minimum shipment split". At the same time, the "partial shipment split" option for large items will continue to be retained.

The new regulations are about to come into effect , and many sellers have reported that subsequent delivery work is becoming more difficult compared to the past .

Previously : "Amazon optimized shipment splitting", products may be sent to 4 locations

Now : At least 5 locations, more warehouses, less control over delivery time, and overall shipping costs may increase

For sellers who cannot meet the "Amazon optimized shipment splitting" conditions, if the shipment warehouse appointment fails, it may also result in additional warehousing configuration service fees , and the operating costs will increase. Previously, a seller encountered a situation where there were 5 warehouses, and the 5th batch of goods failed to be delivered to the warehouse and was delayed by 4 days, resulting in the last batch of goods entering the warehouse more than 30 days apart from the first batch of goods, and was forced to pay the warehousing defect fee!

At the same time, the complexity of inventory management for sellers has increased, and stocking in multiple warehouses requires more accurate sales forecasts, so the risk of unsold products tilts towards sellers .

As the new regulations are about to take effect, sellers are advised to start cost calculations, compare the differences between the existing warehouse costs and the two models after the policy, and complete the adjustment of the logistics structure.

In order to avoid the uncertainty, warehousing configuration and defect fees caused by the split warehouse, sellers can choose to prepare inventory in overseas warehouses in advance and use the "transit replenishment" model to balance the risk of out-of-stock in the split warehouse.