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 into the country you want to sell them in and storing them in an Amazon fulfilment centre 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 U.S. |
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 the Fulfilment options in Europe section 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 and then enrol in FBA in that marketplace.
For more information about selling internationally and using FBA, see Amazon Global Selling and Programme Policies to remind you about your obligations when using Fulfilment by Amazon.
If your inventory is located in a different country to 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:
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 can also 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 enable Pan-European FBA in your Fulfilment by Amazon settings, Pan-European FBA will become active for a product only after you create 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 enrol the ASIN in Pan-European FBA.
Choose the country to which you wish to deliver 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:
Selecting the European Fulfilment Network
If you are registered for Fulfilment by Amazon, you are able to use EFN with no additional registration, startup 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 delivered outside your home marketplace through EFN.
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.