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Frequently Asked Questions

prices  •  policies  •  procedures

What are your prices?

We have several account types to choose from to fit your needs. All our pricing is listed on our services page.

FBA Prep Services

We offer 5 different flat-rate pricing plans. Volume discounts are built-in to each level based on how many units you send to us each month. You pay the minimum charge for the tier you select at the beginning of each month. We hold that prepayment as a credit balance on your account. The credit goes toward all your prep charges for the month until it is all used up. Once the credit is gone, we will start charging your credit card on file for your prep charges.

We have a minimum charge of $50 per Amazon FBA Shipping plan. That means the total prep charges for each shipping plan we propose to Amazon equals at least $50. If it doesn’t, then we can either hold your shipment and wait for more before we send it, or we can charge you the $50 minimum charge. We’ll ask you which you prefer.

You can upgrade/downgrade your service plan at any time. You can also cancel at any time. Any credit balance on file will roll over to the next month; however, prepayments are considered a retainer for services and are not refundable.

Carton Forwarding

For customers who order products that come case packed and are already prepped and labeled for FBA, we can store your inventory and forward the cartons to Amazon as required. This means we don’t open your cartons when received. Instead, we put them directly into storage. When you are ready to have us send some cartons to Amazon, we will attach the shipping and box labels to the outside of the cartons and release them to the carrier for shipping.

You should expect to see at least three types of charges for carton forwarding services —receiving charges, storage charges, and forwarding charges. There is a minimum charge of 5 cartons for each shipping plan.

If you would like us to open and inspect the units, we can. We charge an inspection fee for each unit. If any prep or other services are required, FBA prep charges will apply.

 

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 charge of $50 per Amazon shipping plan, so you’d want to make sure you are sending enough products at one time to us to be cost-effective on your end. 

Do you have minimums?

With our tiered pricing plans, volume discounts are built-in based on the minimum number of units we receive each month. If you do not meet the minimum requirement for the tier you’ve signed up for, we will adjust the tier the following month and charge your prep fees accordingly. 

In addition, we also have a minimum prep charge of $50 for each Amazon shipping plan we submit. If the total of the prep charges doesn’t equal $50 for the shipping plan, we can hold the shipment and add more inventory until it hits the minimum charge OR we can ship it and charge you $50 for your prep charges. We will ask which you’d prefer.

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 by clicking 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 completed 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. Our general guideline is to send at least 40 units once per week or add a $40 fee for shipments under 40 units after a week or two. Storage fees would apply if asked to postpone longer than 1 week.

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.

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?
No. We have a strict confidentiality policy and will not disclose information about you or your buys. We are not Amazon sellers, so you will never have to worry about us trying to compete with you either.
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. 

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.

Can Inventory Placement save shipping costs?

Amazon’s Inventory Placement fee can save on shipping costs and our turnaround times. Especially when your whole shipment is less than 50 lbs and can safely fit within a large box. A batch can be split to go to three destinations or more. The additional shipping fees can cost more than the placement fees. Although it’s not as effective with large shipments or specialized products that will use more boxes anyway. Also splits are meant to get the product sold and to the customer faster. See more about splits on our blog.

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 services 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 Services Page

Still have questions?

If we didn’t already answer all of your questions, please ask. You can chat with us here on our website. Just click the icon in the bottom right of the screen. We usually answer quickly if it is during business hours, which is 9am to 4pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. Otherwise, we will email you back when we are available.

You can also schedule a call with us. Simply click on the button below.