Operational playbook

Fulfilment by Amazon

What is Fulfilment by Amazon?

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) means holding stock inside Amazon's warehouses, where Amazon picks, packs, and ships each order to the end customer. Its value is access to Amazon's end consumers, so it suits established sellers building a retail presence at genuine volume.

There's real setup involved, so Prodigi's role is to produce your stock and prepare it to Amazon's requirements, ready to ship into a fulfilment centre.

Not sure whether FBA is for you? If you simply sell on Amazon and have Prodigi ship each order direct to the customer, that's print on demand with Amazon as the sales channel — set it up through the Amazon ecommerce integration. This guide covers the other case: sending stock into Amazon's own fulfilment centres.

What Amazon's inbound process requires

Producing a batch with Prodigi and shipping it into an Amazon fulfilment centre triggers Amazon's inbound compliance regime:

Shipping plan first. Every inbound FBA shipment starts with a shipping plan in Seller Central ('Send to Amazon' workflow). Amazon assigns the destination fulfilment centre(s) — you don't choose, and one plan can require splits across multiple warehouses.

FNSKU labelling. Each unit needs a scannable FNSKU barcode linking it to the Amazon listing, with no other barcodes visible. Non-compliant stock gets returned or re-prepped at your expense.

Prep and packaging to Amazon spec. Amazon publishes prep requirements by category (poly-bagging, bubble wrap, box condition, case-pack rules). Case-packed shipments need units-per-box, box dimensions, and weights declared.

Box and pallet labels. FBA box ID labels plus carrier labels on every box; palletised (LTL) shipments have additional pallet-label and build requirements. Small parcel (SPD) suits smaller volumes; LTL is generally economic above roughly two pallets.

Cross-border inbound. Amazon is never the importer of record. International shipments into FBA must be Delivered Duty Paid — Amazon accepts no collect charges for duties, taxes, or freight. You (or your agent) are the importer.

How Prodigi prepares your stock

For FBA, Prodigi runs the full production, then packs to your specification — for example 10 prints in a tube, one framed print per box, or three per box. We apply your supplied FNSKU labels and ship the batch directly into the Amazon fulfilment centre as the delivery address.

Automated labelling

For B2B orders submitted via the API, label application is now automated.

Palletised despatch

Available depending on volume.

Lead time

Allow the standard production SLA plus roughly 5–10 days.

Pricing

Costs are quoted per job, since they depend on volume and packing spec.

One thing to get right early: your FNSKU artwork and prep spec. A clean spec up front means the batch ships into Amazon without re-prepping. Talk to sales@prodigi.com before you commit to volumes.

Getting started

Confirm it's genuinely FBA — stock going into Amazon's warehouses, not orders shipped direct to customers.

Prepare your Amazon side — create the shipping plan in Seller Central and generate your FNSKU barcodes.

Share your spec with Prodigi — products and SKUs, quantities, prep and packing requirements, and destination(s).

Get a quote and timeline, then submit — for API orders, labelling is applied automatically.

Talk to us

Email sales@prodigi.com with your products, quantities, destinations, dates, and packing spec. Read this alongside Selling B2B with Prodigi and Delivering B2B orders with Prodigi.

Email sales@prodigi.com