Frequently Asked Questions on FBA | Fulfillment by Amazon India

Overview

What is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

With Fulfillment by Amazon, (FBA) you store your products in Amazon’s warehouse, and we pack and deliver the orders to customers, provide customer service and handle returns.

How does FBA work?

After you have been accepted to our program, you will need to register our fulfillment center as an additional place of business for you with the tax authorities.
Then you will need to list your products and unit quantities in advance to be fulfiled.
You prepare and label your products and packages for shipping.
You ship your products to us.
We receive and store your product units in Amazon’s fulfillment center.
We will ship your orders directly from Amazon’s fulfillment center to the customers.

What are the benefits Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)?

Once your products are listed through Fulfillment by Amazon, they will be eligible for the following features on Amazon.in.

Grow your business and put Amazon's proven fulfillment technology to work.
Delight your customer with world class customer service to service your orders.
No growing pains: FBA can help Sellers scale operations flexibly and without new investments in warehouse space and headcount. Amazon can handle a broad range of product types and large volumes.

Can my FBA products be delivered to addresses outside of India?

With Fulfillment by Amazon, (FBA) you store your products in Amazon’s warehouse, and we pack and deliver the orders to customers, provide customer service and handle returns.

What are the categories in which I can use FBA?

You can sell items in the following categories: Baby Products, Beauty, Books, Consumer Electronics (including Cameras and Video Games - Consoles), Digital Accessories (including Mobile Accessories, Electronics Accessories and PC Accessories), Home, Jewellery, Kitchen, Luggage, Mobile Phones, Movies, Personal Care Appliances, Personal Computers, Tablets, Toys, Video games (consoles and games), and Watches. More categories are coming soon.

Do I need a list of minimum number of items?

FBA has no minimum number of items required to use it.

FBA Registration

How can I participate in FBA program?

You can participate in FBA by providing your details through Contact Us link on the website. We will respond to you after reviewing your information with next steps. Once you are accepted to our program, you will need to register our fulfillment center as your additional place of business with the tax authorities.

Do I need to register Amazon as an additional place of business?

Yes. After you have been accepted to our program, you will need to register our fulfillment center as your additional place of business with the tax authorities. However, if you are selling only VAT exempted books, then this may not be required. Note that if you start selling any taxable goods under our program you need to register under sales tax law adding our fulfillment center as your additional place of business with tax authorities.

Do I have to sell on Amazon.in to use FBA? Can I use FBA for fulfillment of orders received on my website?

Yes. At this time, FBA is available to only sellers who sell on Amazon.in.

What about my branding?

Fulfillment by Amazon orders are shipped in Amazon Branded boxes. The packing slip and invoice displays your name as the seller of the product.

Where are your fulfillment centers?

We currently operate through several state-of-the-art fulfillment centers across Maharashtra, Karnataka, New Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telengana and West Bengal

FBA Pricing

What are the charges?

The following services are included in the FBA fees:

Storage of your products in Amazon fulfillment center.
Increased exposure for your products on Amazon.in.
Picking and packing of your products when a customer orders them.
Shipping of your products to the customer.
Customer service and returns supported by Amazon for products sold on Amazon.in.
For more information about our fees, please refer Pricing

How will you bill me for Fulfillment by Amazon?

We will deduct the FBA fees from proceeds credited to your Selling on Amazon account and withhold the fees from the disbursement of funds to you.

Do you use a minimum weight or the actual weight of products shipped using FBA?

Fulfillment by Amazon uses the exact weight to the nearest 500 grams.

Sending Products to Fulfillment centers (FCs)

How do I upload my listings on Amazon.in?

FBA offers three channels for uploading your listings to accommodate the scale of your business

Add a product - If you have a small number of items you want Amazon to fulfil for you, you can list them one at a time. Seller Central, our web interface for sellers helps you to select items in the Amazon.in catalog or add new ones. Once you have your items listed, you can simply convert it to by fulfiled by Amazon.

Flat file feeds - If you have large number of items, you can list items by uploading a flat file through our web tool. We provide an Excel spreadsheet template that you can use to build the file. This method enables you to directly list them for Fulfillment by Amazon.

API Integration - If you have large number of items and development resources available to you, you can integrate your own website or inventory management software with Amazon's inventory catalog. This method enables you to directly list them for fulfillment by Amazon.

What product and order information you need from me?

You must provide us with information we request about any of your products, or the fulfillment of your products, in a format and upon intervals that we request.
This product information may include all information regarding all available product categorisation and sub-categorisations, item and packaging dimensions, weight and bar code data and product condition for all of your products if it’s not already in our catalogue.

How do I pack products for shipment to you?

Collect your packaged and labeled units and pack them in boxes to ship to Amazon fulfillment center. Print shipping labels for your packages. You can print from your seller account the list of products and quantities you intend to send us and use this list as a reference when collecting the products from your storage facility.

Pack your product units using as few boxes as possible. Protect the products from damage during shipping by adding cushioning material like styrofoam or bubble-wrap to the box. Check the sealed box to ensure the contents in the box will not shift during shipping and that the box is strong enough for shipping. Repack the box if necessary.

How do I prepare units for shipment to you?

Each unit you ship to us should be ready for us to pack and ship to customers. Fragile items need to be individually packed with protective material such as Styrofoam or bubble wrap.

Why do I need to label my product?

Each unit must be labelled so that the correct item can be picked from inventory in Amazon’s fulfillment center and shipped to your customer. Labels also help in tracking units you have in inventory at Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Shipments that are received without proper labelling may be returned to you. You can print labels from your seller account.

What is on a label?

A label has a product identifier specific to Amazon Fulfillment Services, including a barcode of the product identifier, item description, and item condition.

Which units require labelling?

Every unit must be labeled whether using the labels provided by your seller.

How do I print labels for my products?

After we provide you the information needed for the labels, print labels for the registered products from your seller account. Labels will have the product description to help you match the label to the correct product.

How do I notify you of units I want to ship to you for fulfillment?

Once you register a product type, you will enter the number of units of that product type that you want to send to us in your seller account. Then you will create a shipment in your seller account. Once you have shipped the units, you will set the shipment to Mark as Shipped.

Will Amazon compensate for any lost or damaged units?

If a loss of or damage to any Unit occurs in circumstances for which we take responsibility under the Amazon Services Business Solutions Agreement, we will reimburse you.

Can someone manage delivery to Amazon’s fulfillment center?

We have service providers who can pick up packed products from your store or warehouse and deliver to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. These providers also can take appointments at FCs on your behalf.

What are the benefits Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)?

Yes. We can receive inventory that originates from overseas. Sellers with shipments that originate from overseas will need to arrange the import and customs clearance of the shipment and then arrange for the delivery to our facility.

We will not serve as the importer of record or ultimate consignee on any of your imported freight.
We will not be responsible for any duties, taxes or other charges associated with the importation of your freight.
We will not provide tax ID numbers to you.
We will not provide brokerage or freight forwarding services.
You are responsible for compliance and filing with all applicable other government agencies at the time of importation.
You must provide prepaid delivery to Amazon’s fulfillment center and the products should arrive stickered.

Will my products be safe in Amazon’s fulfillment center?

All fulfillment centers in the Amazon fulfillment network are secure facilities with highly automated pick, pack and ship processes to facilitate the safe and timely processing of merchant orders. Features include the following:

24-hour security staff in fulfillment center.
Fully automated wireless and computer-networked order tracking throughout the facility.
High-value secure cage storage.

Customer Service Returns and Refunds

Who will handle customer service?

One of the advantages of fulfillment by Amazon is the use of Amazon’s customer service to handle customer enquiries, refunds and returns. If the customer wants to return a product, we direct the customer to our online Returns center. Our online returns center provides customers with help pages and details about how to contact us.

Who will handle customer returns?

Our online returns center provides customers with help pages and details about how to contact us. If the customer wants to return a product, we will direct the customer to our online Returns center. Once the customer raises a return request, we will handle the customer returns.

How will customer refunds happen?

For products sold by you through the Amazon.in website, we will process the customer refunds for product returns in accordance with Amazon.in returns policy, the FBA service terms and the selling on Amazon Service terms. Your selling on Amazon report will show these refunds.

What happens to customer returned products?

If we determine the product is no longer sellable in the same condition as previously listed, we will flag it as damaged in your seller account and will hold it temporarily. If you do not tell us within 90 days whether you elect to dispose of the unit or have it returned to you, we may choose to dispose of or return it at our discretion.
If we determine the returned product is still sellable in the same condition as previously listed, we will automatically place the unit back into your inventory available for sale.

What do I do with unfulfillable inventory?

You can request that your unfulfillable inventory be returned to you. You will need to contact us to set up a distributor return for the inventory you no longer want to be fulfilled by Amazon, including unfulfillable inventory.

How do I ask you to return products (unfulfillable inventory) to me?

You can request to have your inventory returned to you by completing the contacting seller support. You can include the following information:

SKU of each item to be returned.
Quantity of each item to be returned.
Address to which you would like us to send the items.
Follow-up e-mail address (if the address is different from the one to which this message is being sent)

Amazon Prime

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a membership programme that will offer Amazon customers in over 100 cities unlimited free one-day and two-day delivery on lakhs of eligible products. Amazon Prime Members will also get discounted pricing on scheduled, same-day and morning delivery on thousands of items across 20 cities. In addition, Prime members get early access to top Lightning Deals every day, and exclusive deals on sought-after products.

How can I participate in this programme?

The Prime services are offered on all products on amazon.in which are fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). Being a FBA seller, your products have been selected as Prime eligible and the Prime badge will appear for all such products on amazon.in. On this basis, your customers in over 100 cities can get unlimited free one-day and two-day delivery on your products.

Is there an enrollment fee? Is it different from regular FBA?

There is no fee to join this programme. All fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) products are now Prime eligible other than large appliances, furniture and similar items that require special handling.

What are Amazon Prime delivery benefits?

All Amazon Prime members receive multiple benefits including FREE one-day and two-day delivery, discounted same-day and/or morning delivery at Rs.50, scheduled delivery at Rs.50 for Prime eligible items. For deliveries to cities not yet eligible for one-day or two-day delivery, members will receive free delivery with no minimum purchase.

How will Amazon Prime impact me as a seller?

Premium and expedited delivery options and early access to special shopping deals will enhance the shopping experience. This will help increase customer demand and satisfaction for your products and also increase customer loyalty.