Using Fulfilment by Amazon for International Orders

An alternative way to fulfil your international orders is to use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) in the country corresponding to the Amazon marketplace where you are listing your products. Using FBA will require importing your products to another country for storage in an Amazon fulfilment centre to sell them to customers in that marketplace. The one exception to this case is if you already sell in one of Amazon's European marketplaces and fulfil with FBA in that marketplace. In that case, you can fulfil your orders from other EU marketplaces using your current FBA account through the European Fulfilment Network or Multi-Country Inventory (see below).

The following chart summarises instances where you will need to import your products when using FBA:

Seller is based	FBA fulfilment centre location	Importation required?
Outside the United States	United States	Yes, products need to be imported into the US.
Outside Canada	Canada	Yes, products need to be imported into Canada.
Outside Europe	UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland or the Czech Republic	Yes, products need to be imported into Europe.
In Europe	UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland or the Czech Republic	No, goods don't need to be imported between EU member states. If seller uses FBA, seller can use FBA international programmes (see below).
Outside Japan	Japan	Yes, products need to be imported into Japan.

The following section covers what you need to know in order to plan for the import process. As covered in Register and Launch, you will first need to create a seller account in the Amazon marketplace where you want to sell, then enrol in FBA in that marketplace.

For more information about selling internationally and using FBA, please refer to Amazon's help pages on Seller Central, including reminders about your obligations when using Fulfilment by Amazon.

Sending inventory to an Amazon fulfilment centre

If your inventory is located in a different country than the fulfilment centre, you need to export your products from the source country and import them into the destination country. You will act as the exporter of record in the source country and the importer of record in the destination country, and must comply with all laws and regulations of the source and destination countries. You may be subject to import taxes, customs duties and fees levied by the destination country. Here is an overview of the process:

Create listings in Seller Central.
Prepare a commercial invoice indicating that you are the importer of record.
Choose a customs broker (this service may be offered by your carrier).
Ship the products from the factory or fulfilment centre to the port.
Clear the products through customs for export.
Load products onto a carrier for transport to the destination port.
Ship products to the destination port and offload them.
Clear the products through customs for import.
Load products onto carrier for transport to the fulfilment centre.

Fulfilment options in Europe

Selling in Europe allows you to leverage Amazon's fulfilment network. Not only is listing simplified with a single Amazon European marketplace account, but cross-border sales also can be easier to manage with Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). In Europe, FBA offers three international fulfilment programmes: Pan-European FBA, the European Fulfilment Network and Multi-Country Inventory.

Pan-European FBA

The Pan-European FBA programme allows you to fulfil offers in all European marketplaces from one inventory pool without incurring per-unit, cross-border Fulfilment Fees for the European Fulfilment Network. Amazon will distribute your inventory across the European fulfilment network at no additional cost. You can track your Pan-Europe FBA offers using all standard reports and tools in Seller Central.

Once you have enabled Pan-European FBA in your Fulfilment by Amazon Settings, Pan-European FBA will become active for a product only after you have created an active FBA offer in each of the Amazon European marketplaces (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it and Amazon.es) from the same inventory pool, and have enrolled the ASIN in Pan-European FBA.

Choose the country to which you wish to ship Pan-European FBA ASINs. Amazon may then move this inventory across European fulfilment centres at its discretion at no additional cost to you. This helps inventory be as close to customers as possible.

Learn more about Pan-European FBA.

European Fulfilment Network (EFN)

The European Fulfilment Network (EFN) is another simple way to store and deliver your inventory across all five of Amazon's European marketplaces. Here's how it works:

You ship your inventory to fulfilment centres in your home or local marketplace in Europe, for example, in the UK.
You list the products in one or more of the Amazon European marketplaces, for example, on Amazon.de (the German website).
Customers across Europe can order your products, and Amazon fulfils those orders from that single pool of inventory. For example, when a customer in Germany has purchased your product on Amazon.de, the product is fulfilled by Amazon and dispatched from your inventory pool in the UK.
When customers track their orders, they can see where it has been dispatched from and the expected arrival time.

Selecting the European Fulfilment Network

If you are registered for Fulfilment by Amazon, you are able to use EFN with no additional registration, start-up costs or surcharge fees. Simply add your listings to each Amazon European marketplace in which you want to sell. When those products sell, you pay a Fulfilment Fee for each order shipped outside your home marketplace through EFN.

Note: The EFN Fulfilment Fee is no longer a surcharge. It is charged just like the domestic Fulfilment Fee.

Learn more about EFN Fees.

Multi-Country Inventory (MCI)

You can reduce the time it takes for an order to get to your customer by using Multi-Country Inventory (MCI). MCI is an optional international fulfilment programme offered through Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) that helps you to grow your international sales by making your offers more competitive. With MCI, you send your most popular inventory directly to the countries where customers are buying, so the products are close to your customers. When customers order your products, Amazon can dispatch and deliver them faster.

Even if you fulfil domestic orders yourself, you can gain a competitive edge in the international marketplaces where you sell by fulfilling locally with MCI. You can either choose to fulfil your entire listings or just your bestselling items locally through MCI – there are no minimum requirements.

Selecting Multi-Country Inventory

In order to take advantage of MCI, you can create offers in any Amazon European marketplaces with Amazon's Build International Listings tool. When you enable MCI, you will be able to select from the available countries to send inventory.