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An insight into Amazon split shipments

This is a general rundown of how Amazon split shipments work. This will focus on individual product shipments rather than case packed.

The first factor that affects shipments is using Amazon’s FBA Inventory Placement Service. This way your shipments rarely if ever get split into multiple shipments. It seems the shipment will usually go to the distribution center where the main split would have gone otherwise. Without inventory placement the batch or shipping plan will almost always be split into at least 3 shipments to different distribution centers. It’s also possible the batch isn’t split at all. That’s kind of rare and difficult to determine why it happens without inventory placement. How the batch is split is mainly determined by the type of products and the quantity of each in the batch. Batches/plans will still be split between the following groups: Apparel, Jewelry, Shoes, Media, Inventory tracked with a manufacturer barcode (commingled), Oversize items, Amazon prep required, Amazon labeling required, Hazardous materials.

A large factor that affects shipments is whether they are commingled or seller labeled. Commingling may be beneficial for case packed units, but not individual units. We highly recommend you avoid commingling individual units. Commingling uses the manufacturer’s UPC barcode to track the product at Amazon’s warehouses. Seller labeled products use a unique code for that sku/product and your individual seller account. One main reason to avoid commingling is if you make a sale and the customer receives a bad product sent by another seller. You’ll be the one penalized instead of the offending seller. If the UPC is not tied to the Amazon listing you want then the product will be declared incorrect or missing when it arrives at Amazon and that’s if the associate checks it in rather than losing it.

Another reason to not commingle is if you or we use a service like Inventory Lab to list your products. Due to an incompatibility with the Amazon API, seller labeled units cannot be combined in the same shipment as commingled units in shipments created by Inventory Lab. They can be combined if the Inventory Lab batch is exported as a shipping plan and processed through Seller Central. Thus bypassing all the useful features of creating box contents in Inventory lab. This also increases the possibility of making a mistake when boxing the products. The alternative is to have the commingled shipped separately from seller labeled units even though they are going to the same distribution center. That adds to the shipping costs and eats into profit. There is a positive affect of commingling though. That is you can make a sale before your product has arrived because you’ll be drawing from the pool already at the distribution center.

Hazmat units are always sent by themselves and can be split even further if the batch is kind of small relative to how many hazmat units are in it. Hazmat shipments can’t use Amazon’s partnered carrier services. So they are usually processed through the carrier directly without the deep discount of the partnered carrier service. The best way to avoid additional splits is to include them in a large batch with the hazmat less than 5% of the total units. It’s also important to send hazmat units in as few batches as possible to minimize the higher shipping costs.

Oversized units (greater than 15 inches) are also usually separated and sent to random specialized distribution centers, possibly across the country. These do use discounted partnered carriers unlike hazmat. Including the oversized units in a large batch will minimize multiple units getting split even further.

Shoes and shoe related products are mostly sent to Maryland and could be split to Indiana or possibly other locations. The shipping is relatively costly with high “dimensional weight”. They take some time to travel from Oregon to across the country.

Standard items are almost always split into 3 shipments. Four or more is possible but rare. It’s always different ratios from one batch to the next. Usually two shipments are small. The smallest can be between half to exactly the same as the other small shipment. Together they tend to be less than 25% of the total batch. As an example, if the whole batch is ten equal volume boxes, then the smallest shipment could be in 1-2 boxes, the next shipment in 1-3 boxes, and the large shipment in 5-8 boxes. In my experience the largest shipment will usually, but not always, go to the same distribution center batch after batch. Here in Oregon that center is SMF3 in Stockton, CA. The other two shipments go randomly throughout the country. One usually goes somewhere between the west coast to the midwest. The third usually goes between the midwest and east coast. Many times the two shipments go to the east coast. It can be possible to roughly know where they might go depending on the kinds of products or styles. People use different products in different regions and have different tastes too. Amazon’s algorithm can take that into account. A new distribution center can be chosen multiple times for a while too. 

Deciding when to finalize a batch to create a shipment can be a game of chance and skill. There’s a constant balance between spatial volume, unit counts, including hazmat and oversized, and doing quick turnarounds. Quick turnarounds and multiple hazmat and oversized units make for higher shipping costs. Delaying too long can lead to missed opportunities or lower buy box prices from competing sellers.

I’m not an Amazon seller or expert on lead times. My humble advice is to have a lead time of at least 4 weeks before an event or season. That way all the product is in stock and ready to go when customers start looking online for those items. Three weeks could be cutting it close. Less than that is usually too late. Especially when multiple sellers are flooding their prep centers and the distribution centers with product at the same time. Of course it’s a risk and balance between tying up capital versus having stock arrive after the sales are drying up.

We wish you well and much success in your efforts as an Amazon seller or potential seller too if your researching the subject!

Understanding Prep Services for Amazon FBA

Prep is a big deal

Selling on Amazon isn’t only about finding the best products to source and selling them at the right price. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done in between the buying and selling. 

That’s right! We are talking about prep — AKA preparing all those products according to Amazon’s standards so they can be fulfilled by Amazon. 

Prep is a big deal for Amazon sellers. Why? Because the way you prep your products can either positively or negatively impact your business. 

Poorly or incorrectly prepped products can lead to damaged products, refund requests, or even negative feedback from customers. It can also cause issues and/or additional fees with Amazon, all of which negatively affects your bottom line. 

On the other hand, when prep is done right, you have fewer problems, smoother inventory management, and happier customers — leading to more sales and more revenue.

It’s about time

It takes time to prep all the products you are sourcing. A lot of sellers start out prepping their own products. This is a necessary step, especially when you have more time (as opposed to money) available to invest in growing your business.

As your business grows, you’ll start to realize that handling your own inventory is getting increasingly more difficult to manage. The more you buy, the more you have to prep, and the more time it takes you away from sourcing. It’s the ultimate business Catch-22.

ready to scale

When you start to feel like handling your own inventory is getting in the way of growth, you know you are ready to scale.

Scaling is a way of growing your business by increasing sales without increasing the effort (time, resources, or money) that goes into making the sale.

One of the most effective ways to scale is through outsourcing time-consuming tasks that don’t directly produce income so you can focus on income producing activities. And, what is the most time-consuming, non-income-producing activity Amazon Sellers do? Yep! It’s prep. 

Outsourcing to a Prep Center

For sellers focusing on online arbitrage, one of the simplest ways to outsource your prep is to use a prep center.

Prep centers will receive inventory, inspect it for accuracy and/or damage, prepare it according to Amazon’s specifications, FNSKU label it, and pack it up to be shipped to Amazon.

Outsourcing to a Prep Center means you don’t have to hire employees or rent a warehouse to expand. It means you don’t have to stock supplies. It means freeing up space in your dining room, living room or garage (you know, where you’ve been storing your inventory). And, the best part — it frees up your time to focus on income-producing activities, like sourcing products with the best ROI. 

It also means you will be paying for this service, however convenient it may be. So, it is important to find a prep center that fits your needs. 

choosing the Right Prep Center

While the price is definitely important when choosing a Prep Center, it isn’t the only thing to consider. Cheapest isn’t always best when it comes to prep so when you are looking for the right Center, take the following into consideration.

1. Size

Big Prep Centers can often offer lower per-unit prices which is great if you are focused on wholesale or private label. However, if you are looking for a place to prep your online arbitrage buys, a smaller Prep Center may work better. Why? Sometimes retailers will flag the address for Prep Centers and not ship to them. This means your orders could be canceled. A smaller Center can fly under large retailers’ radars so you have a better chance of not having your order canceled.

Prep Ninjas is proud to be a small, family-owned Prep Center. We are large enough to accept pallet shipments but small enough to know each of our clients by name. We pride ourselves on providing our clients with hands-on customer service, excellent communication, and top-quality work.

2. Location

The state in which a Prep Center is located is important for a couple of reasons. First, if it is located in a sales-tax-free state, you can actually save money by using one. Or, at least help to offset the cost of it. Just think. If the average sales tax rate is 8%, you’d be paying $2 in sales tax for an item that costs $25. Factor in the cost of the supplies and the value of your time and a Prep Center in a tax-free state sounds like a bargain!

Prep Ninjas is located in Springfield, Oregon — one of the sales-tax-free states.

3. Quality

The way the Prep Center prepares each product is important as well. The way it is prepped and packed in boxes influences the condition of the product when received by your customer. If it is prepped well and looks good, your customers will be happy. If it is not — you may receive negative feedback which impacts your seller rating.

Ask the Prep Center about the staff’s training and how orders are completed. Do they take extra time with easily-damaged items or just stick to Amazon’s recommended prep? Do they have client testimonials you can reference?

Here at Prep Ninjas, our owner Jeremy, has 15+ years of experience in shipping and receiving and knows his way around packing boxes securely for shipment. We train our staff according to Amazon’s standards and stay up-to-date on the guidelines. We take extra time with special items to make sure they’ll arrive to your customer in perfect condition. Check out our customer reviews on our Facebook page. 

Do Your Research

As with any investment, research and due diligence are essential to do before signing up for anything. And, if you aren’t sure what kind of services will work best for your business model, hit us up here in the chat (lower right corner of the screen) and we can help you figure it out — even if we aren’t the right Prep Center for you.