Considering FBA
Hi
I’m considering putting a couple of my best selling items over to fulfilled by Amazon, will this mean the Prime service will be offered automatically to buyers.
Also, will my funds become available more quickly, rather than the approx 13 days it’s taking when fulfilling my own orders?
Thanks
37 replies
Seller_qqCKaiyZvp4Rc
The items should be prime within a few days to weeks of you sending the shipment
With regards to funds I believe they are available on your account when the item is dispatched, just like MFN
Seller_vtDx3WUnJe3Dl
Because my items are low value I am sending Royal Mail untracked at present and funds take forever to clear. So I’m thinking small and light might just work for me.
,
Sorted the MFN, I know it as FBM, same thing.
Seller_qqCKaiyZvp4Rc
Mfn is merchant fulfilled - what you are doing now
Yes small and light would be perfect for your low value items, just give it a go on a handful of products and see what your sales are like
Seller_vtDx3WUnJe3Dl
Thanks, I do disburse daily. It’s the time it takes before payments are disbursable that I disagree with. Money I am drawing today is from sales approx 13 days ago. I appreciate that not tracking delivery makes it take longer and am hoping FBA will make it a bit quicker.
The reason I’m thinking of trying FBA is to see if my items sell more if people can buy them using Prime.
So hence the reason for the post, I wanted to know if all FBA becomes available with Prime for Prime members. The money thing is just a bonus, if it comes out more quickly…
Seller_vtDx3WUnJe3Dl
What is S & L ? That’s another I’m not familiar with.
Seller_biwlANaLB6dBt
Your funds won’t be disbursed any quicker than they are now. They will still keep a certain amount in reserve.
Seller_qYWBbVqeAGVy5
Your funds should in theory be available a little earlier because they hold onto money for a specific timeframe (can’t remember off top of my head) after delivery is made to customer, as prime in most cases will be quicker than your postage they will release funds a little earlier, but in reality it doesn’t make much difference
You just get used to it, Amazon holding onto your money for far too long is just another one of bugbears you have to live with unfortunately
Seller_zUYafikN1gby2
Don’t know if im stating the obvious here - we are fba not fbm, so don’t know about funds release or reserves for fbm - but with fba there is always a reserve of “thousands” depending on volume/value of sales that you can never ever have as it is always held as supposedly every order may need refunded out of your reserved funds.
So as your sales grow so does the amount amazon hold in reserve - so be prepared for the investment in stock that will take about 2-3 weeks before becoming available for sale - and then you will only have dribbly bits of money you can disburse as your reserve grows in line with your sales numbers - so more investment would be needed in even more stock, as the dribbly bits of money begins to grow in terms of value of disbursements.
- after several weeks/months it then becomes a rolling cycle of thousands being available for disbursement along with thousands constantly held in reserve - if you get me.
If you’re making huge margin on your products this is less of an issue as your money is “recycled” quicker, but if your margins are low, then it means a lot more stock investment before “all” your money comes out the “amazon machine”.
So as I say not sure i’ve stated info you already know or not, but may be helpful to know - especially in terms of the “investment” in stock.
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
once you start getting money going into your bank regularly you really don’t notice the amount in reserve.
it might be a few days quicker with FBA, but they will still hold it for a certain time after delivery, so the only thing you are speeding up is the proof of delivery rather than them using your last EDD
Seller_6sxtIS0RbZ5k7
I use UPS and have never had a problem. The prices, through Amazon, are very reasonable, you can also get it collected at no extra charge though I choose to drop off to a collection point rather than chance being out when they call. You can send up to 15 kilos for less than £4.