You have questions. We have answers.
Find answers to the most common questions about our FBA Prep Services, prices, and policies below.
Do you have a monthly fee?
There is no monthly membership or account fee for using Prep Ninjas. However, we require you to pay a monthly retainer to qualify for the Pro plan pricing. The retainer is $405 per month. It is automatically charged to your credit card on file and added as a credit balance to your account. As you accrue prep charges throughout the month, we first pay the invoices using the credit on file. Once the credit is gone, we pay your invoices using the credit card you have on file.
Our Starter plan doesn’t have a monthly retainer. We bill you for prep services when we complete an Amazon shipment using your card on file.
Are there any items you will NOT accept?
Yes.
Prep Ninjas reserves the right to refuse to accept or process any product or shipment we deem dangerous, excessively laborious, legally questionable, or that we are not properly equipped to process. These products include but are not limited to:
- Customer Returns
- FBA Removals (without express permission)
- Grocery Items from non-approved suppliers (Please inquire about approved suppliers prior to purchase)
- Meltable or temperature-sensitive, regardless of the time of year. This usually includes low-temp melting candles
- KONG Company brand pet products
- Sees Candies brand products
- Used Products, including books
- Dangerous products like corrosives, solvents, fuel, fertilizer, pepper spray, bear repellent, weapons or firearms
- Overly fragrant products that do not come in pre-sealed containers like essential oils, perfumes, sachets, candles, or some cleaning supplies
- Products individually heavier than 20 lbs (without express permission)
- Products larger than 24 inches on their longest side (without express permission)
Received products classified as Unacceptable are subject to a Non-Compliance fee of $2 per unit and must be removed from Prep Ninjas warehouse within seven (7) calendar days at your expense. If the products are not removed by the deadline, we will consider your inventory abandoned and reserve the right to dispose of the items.
Do you work with new Amazon sellers?
We do work with new sellers as long as you know how to do the following:
- Add products to your Amazon inventory
- Verify that you are ungated (eligible to sell) at the ASIN level prior to purchasing a product
We also have a minimum of 25 units per Amazon shipping plan, so you’d want to make sure you are sending enough products at one time so you’re not waiting a long time for your shipment to be completed.
Do you have minimums?
We must be able to send a minimum of 25 units at one time to Amazon. If you send us fewer than 25 units, we will hold your shipment until we receive 25 units. If you would like us to send it anyway, we will charge you $50 for the prep charges on that shipment.
In order to stay on the Pro plan, you’d need to send us at least 300 units per month. If you don’t meet that requirement, we would ask you to downgrade to the Starter plan.
What is considered a Large Unit?
Large units are any item longer than 11″ on its longest side, 8″ on its median side, or 4″ on its shortest side. Examples of this include but are not limited to shoes, board games, Lego sets, basketballs, tool sets, coats, backpacks, etc.
What is considered an Oversized Unit?
Oversized units are any item longer than 18″ on its longest side or heavier than 10 lbs. Examples of this include but are not limited to large Lego sets, yoga mats, Nerf blasters, etc. Please keep in mind that our facility is not typically equipped to accept items longer than 24 inches. Items of this size require advanced approval.
Are there any other charges or fees I should worry about?
Our goal is to process your shipments as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do this, we require your help. We’ve outlined our expectations in our Terms of Service. Not following the Terms causes additional labor, delays, possible safety consequences, and many other situations that prevent us from providing fast and accurate service. Because of its importance to providing good service, we’ve established penalties for non-compliance. These penalties are assessed in addition to any standard fees for Inbound shipments, Outbound Shipments, Storage Fees, or other charges. You can download the list here.
How will I be billed for your services?
We require our clients to list a card on file. You will be billed for the services at the time they are completed. You can access your invoices/billing history on your Prep Ninjas dashboard.
Do you prep and list used books?
No. We do not offer prep services for used books.
What does tax-free mean?
When you purchase online and ship to our center in Oregon, you don’t have to pay sales tax like you would in most other states. The money you save on sales tax helps to offset the cost of outsourcing your inventory prep. That means you can grow your business even faster. For example, the average sales tax rate is around 8%, which means you’d be paying $1.60 in tax for a $20 item. Some of our plans could cost less to process an item than the sales tax would have been!
What is the turn around time for prepping?
Turnaround time varies, but most orders are checked-in within 24-72 business hours. Turnaround times can be longer during peak periods such as before Prime Day and Q4. For OA services we prefer to send a shipment when there are enough items for it to be cost effective for you and us. We build up an outgoing shipment as we process the incoming packages. Amazon shipments are typically completed at least once per week depending on when we receive your inventory.
Do you work with International Sellers?
Yes, especially if you are purchasing goods in the US and shipping them to our center. We accept international shipments sent to us. We do not broker or process the paperwork involved for importing/exporting goods at this time. We only accept payment in US Dollars.
Please keep in mind that online stores may cancel orders from international sellers because they interpret them as suspicious. Unfortunately, Prep Ninjas does not allow clients to use our address as their business or billing address. We recommend marking purchases as a gift if this option is available to reduce the chance of your orders being canceled.
What kinds of "hazmat" items do you accept? Cosmetics and batteries too?
Products that are or contain batteries such as toys or power tools are accepted, though we do not accept products with lithium-ion batteries for long term storage. Cosmetics that are classified as hazmat are accepted as well. Products that require specialized storage and equipment such as fuels, solvents or corrosives are NOT accepted at this time. Products need to follow Amazon’s temperature sensitive requirements here as well. Because they require special handling, Hazmat Shipments are subject to additional service charge of $5 per shipment.
Do you accept and ship pallets?
Yes. We ship LTL (Less than Truck Load) and receive palletized or container shipments. We accept deliveries between 9am and 4pm, Monday through Friday. Please advise us in advance if we will be receiving more than 4 pallets at one time or if we will be receiving a container. Additional fees may apply.
Will you share information about my buys?
Do you require User Permissions for Seller Central and Inventory Lab?
Our system (Prep Ninjas IMS) syncs directly with your Amazon account so we do not need user permissions to Seller Central. Our system doesn’t connect with Inventory Lab, but you can still use Inventory Lab for your bookkeeping purposes. We don’t need access.
How are the fees for shipping to Amazon calculated and paid?
The shipping labels and charges for your Amazon bound shipments will go through your Seller Central account. We recommend using Amazon’s Partnered Carriers to save on shipping costs. You pay those shipping costs through your Amazon account. For hazmat shipments, or any other shipments that go outside of the partnered carrier, we will invoice you for the incurred shipping costs.
There is no easy way to estimate shipping costs before hand. The rates depend on the number of packages, dimensional weight of the package(s) and distance to the destination(s). UPS’s Amazon partnered carrier rates seem to fluctuate around a third of their standard rates.
Do you take oversized items?
Yes, we take products up to 24-inches on their longest side for an additional fee. Space is limited, so please inquire prior to shipping oversized items.
Do you offer storage if I need to hold a shipment?
Yes. The first week after we check in the package/pallet is free. Starting day 8, we charge $0.75 per cubic foot per month. Space is limited, so please contact us for availability.
How do you minimize outbound shipping costs?
We try to minimize shipping costs when possible without breaking Amazon’s rules or risking damage to anything in transit. Larger shipments to Amazon will help you save shipping dollars. We work with you to determine if your preference is frequent smaller shipments or less frequent larger shipments.
How do you deal with Amazon Inbound Placement Fees?
We create shipments in our software using Amazon’s API and do not use the Send To Amazon (STA) workflow. Because of this, we cannot select which placement option you prefer when we are creating shipments. You are responsible for updating your Inbound API Shipments settings in your Seller Central account. Simply go to Settings → Fulfillment by Amazon → Inbound Settings → Inbound placement service fee options for Amazon APIs. Edit the section and select the setting that you feel is appropriate for your account. For example, if you do not want to pay placement fees, select Amazon Optimized. For Prep Ninjas, please make sure the region selected is “West”.
The tradeoff for selecting Amazon Optimized is that your shipping plans will be split into 4+ shipments.
What kind of fire protection do you have?
We have alarms, extinguishers, sprinklers, and insurance. We do not store combustible fuels, solvents, or lithium-ion batteries.
Are my products secure?
Yes. Our warehouse is a secure facility and your items are stored with care. We are also insured and have an alarm system.
Do you use WhatsApp or similar programs?
We have a chat service on our site! We rarely, if ever, need to speak on the phone or use anything else. Our system emails notifications of unsellable products and other errors so you can update us at your convenience. However, if you’d like to speak on the phone you can schedule a call at https://calendly.com/prepninjas/30min.
Do you process customer returns or FBA removals?
We do not offer services for processing customer returns or FBA removals at this time.
How do I sign up?
You can sign up on our pricing page. Simply follow the steps and register for your account.
What are your Terms of Service?
You can download our Terms of Service from our Pricing page.
How do I contact you?
If it is during our business hours (9am to 4pm PST), the fastest way to contact us is on our website chat. Just click on the icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.
You may also email us at ninja @ prepninjas.com.
The next best way to contact us is to schedule a call. You can do this by clicking this link.
If you’d like to contact us by phone and can’t wait for an appointment, you can call us at 541 – 393 – 1081 during our business hours (9am to 4pm PST). We aren’t always available to answer the phone, but we will if we are available.