Amazon Big Sale! How can US sellers avoid FBA warehousing defects?

If you only confirm and complete part of the shipments in the shipping plan when creating shipments using Amazon's API or third-party ERP system, and do not confirm the rest of the shipments, then these unconfirmed shipments will also cause the shipments to be abandoned. This will trigger a series of consequences, including the inbound defect fee, and Amazon will recalculate the inbound configuration service fee based on the actual number and location of the shipments received. For a specific example, suppose you create five shipments through Amazon's optimized shipping plan, but you only confirm and complete one of them. In this case, Amazon will charge you a single-point warehouse fee. However, the other four shipments you abandoned will also incur inbound defect fees because these shipments failed to complete the shipping process as planned. This will not only result in additional costs, but may also affect your inventory management and logistics efficiency. Therefore, when creating shipments using Amazon's API or third-party ERP system, be sure to ensure that you can confirm and complete all shipments in the entire shipping plan to avoid unnecessary fees and potential operational problems.

【Why this is important】Not every Amazon fulfillment center is exactly the same. They each have different processing capabilities and specific product ranges. For example, some fulfillment centers are designed to handle smaller items, while others focus on handling larger items. In addition, some fulfillment centers provide additional protection for specific types of products, such as electronic products or hazardous liquids. These fulfillment centers will take special packaging and storage measures when handling these specific products to ensure the safety and compliance of the products. Therefore, if you accidentally send products such as laundry soap to a fulfillment center that only handles clothing, your products will experience serious delays in receiving and processing. This is because the fulfillment center is not equipped with the facilities and procedures required to handle such products, resulting in inefficient processing, which in turn affects the smooth operation of the entire logistics chain. To avoid this from happening, sellers must carefully check the processing capabilities and product classification requirements of Amazon's fulfillment centers before shipping to ensure that the products can be processed promptly and correctly.

Why this is important: When Amazon receives the shipment plan you created and submitted, the Amazon system assumes and expects that the shipment will be delivered to the designated fulfillment center on time and strictly in accordance with the plan and schedule you provided. Once Amazon confirms the shipment plan, they will begin a series of preparations to smoothly receive your inventory. This includes arranging the necessary human and material resources at the fulfillment center to ensure that everything goes smoothly. However, if the shipment you send is different from the plan you previously submitted, such as inconsistent product quantities, irregular packaging, or any other problems, this will directly affect the accuracy of Amazon's forecasts. Amazon relies on these forecasts to reasonably allocate resources in its FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) operations network to efficiently process and store inventory.

Shipments that do not match the plan will cause Amazon to be unable to properly allocate inventory in the operations network, which will affect your shipment reception time. This will not only delay your inventory listing time, but also prevent your products from being placed in an operations center closer to customers in a timely manner, thereby reducing the customer's purchasing experience. When customers cannot get the products they want quickly, they may choose other sellers, which will have a negative impact on your sales performance. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that your shipments strictly follow the plan you submitted to avoid unnecessary delays and potential sales losses.