FBA not the best way
I am a small and fairly new seller on Amazon. I would NEVER use FBA. Ship it yourself and you have complete control over when and how. I have worked in Royal Mail for 30 years and Amazon packaging is a disgrace. I see many many packages going through actually falling apart. Contents either falling out or missing altogether. Also huge boxes used for small items which are obviously rattling around. No wonder when their employees are expected to pack and secure parcels in literally seconds. Obviously sellers who ship huge numbers of items probably need to use FBA but where possible I suggest you do it yourself
20 replies
Seller_z6B2L9xab6HlP
FBA is actually pretty good:
- Fulfilment costs are lower than if I did it myself, plus it’s a lot less work.
- Items that are lost or damaged are often reimbursed nearly in full, and I don’t have to submit claims for damaged items to couriers.
- Amazon deal with a lot of the customer service themselves, so less work for me.
- If a customer returns an item damaged sometimes Amazon takes the hit for that. If I sent it out myself there’s no chance Amazon would reimburse.
- I can practically take full days off on a whim, where if I had to dispatch things myself I wouldn’t be able to.
I do get your point that for some items Amazon’s packaging is shocking. I’ve had the following examples of oversized boxes:
- 1.2m venetian blind (product box 120m x 5cm x 5cm) delivered in a box approx 140 cm x 120 cm x 20cm but without sufficient filling to prevent it from collapsing.
- Gift bags for bottles (size 50cm x 15cm x 0.5cm) delivered in a box approx 60cm x 40cm x 10cm again without sufficient filling.
Seller_MaCn7NvTI3GGw
I disagree. We’re small sellers and it works just fine for us.
We can compete with bigger companies and get a good share of the buy box.
Seller_SVjYtgYt2Y3ze
I cannot agree as I spent most of the last year fighting cancer but with FBA I was still able to continue to earn enough to survive financially.
You couldn’t do that with Merchant Fulfilled.
Seller_EJIX7rqDNQJi2
FBA is the best for sellers who are selling high profit items and don’t have the time to manage fulfillment and customer service.
You just keep selling without having to worry about anything other than an occasional negative feedback or a performance notification and the funds are just getting transferred to your bank account…
Seller_amUAzjvL5uIzu
Very small seller 100% FBA its perfect for me,way more profitable then FBM,& way less work.
Seller_YPcHTm0I7Zd5o
FBA is the only way in my opinion. FBA items get a price advantage which is worth its weight in gold on ASINs where there is competition
We sell 70+ items per day… I wouldn’t want to pack and dispatch that number
Seller_44dXBkGAjE5Er
im a new seller ( 5 months) I ship to USA FC. and here in the uk. today im told they lost my inventory of 43 after checking it in. and they have the nerve to offer a reimbursement of £319 when total sale is £34.99 x 43- just over £1500. today im not feeling like I would recommend uk fba.
Seller_0pkMTMROIPEmY
There are Pro’s and Con’s to both, it really depends on your category and product detail, we’re 100% FBA, despite the costs associated to this you have to factor in 24/7 shipping , Buy Box possesion, Prime sales volume vs FBM, Amazon Reimburse lost , damaged, Items returned that are not yours etc, Amazon handle the majority of customer service issues 24/7. Your metrics are far better protected with FBA in terms of Seller feedback and the delivery side remains 100% if your FBA.
On the ngeative side of FBA Amazon will refund the customer before return although you are reimbursed if the item is not returned, Amazon will actually give up to 2-6 years warranty under EU law for an item that is claimed as faulty, this happens rarely but does occur irrespective of warranty.
Amazon lose product but again your reimbursed (EX VAT)
They Reimburse most things but this is not without considerable effort and long running cases to resolve but as yet we have not had any issue over a number of years now.
Seller_zu2CrR65aMnGl
Business 101 is to leverage your time. I wish I could send in my used books straight into FBA and have them listed and labelled.
Seller_vNJRtTMxd54dj
We tried a few FBA orders this year, was so much easier than doing it ourselves. So this coming Xmas nearly everything will be FBA.
