Shipping inventory to Amazon’s fulfillment centers requires creating a shipment plan in Seller Central, preparing and labeling your products to Amazon’s specifications, and choosing a carrier to deliver everything. The process follows a structured workflow called “Send to Amazon,” and getting it right the first time prevents delays, extra fees, and rejected shipments.
How the Send to Amazon Workflow Works
Every inbound shipment starts in Seller Central under the “Send to Amazon” workflow. The process has five steps, though not all apply to every shipment.
- Step 1: Choose inventory to send. You select which products you’re shipping and specify the quantities. If individual units need special preparation (poly bagging, bubble wrap, labeling), you’ll handle that in a sub-step here.
- Step 2: Confirm shipping. Amazon tells you which fulfillment center(s) your inventory is headed to and shows estimated carrier costs if you’re using a partnered carrier. You’ll confirm the shipping method (small parcel or pallets) and see the cost breakdown.
- Step 3: Print box labels. Each box in your shipment needs a unique label that Amazon uses to route it through the fulfillment center. You print these and apply them to every carton.
- Step 4: Confirm carrier and pallet information. This step only appears for pallet shipments. You’ll enter pallet dimensions, weight, and freight class details.
- Step 5: Print pallet labels. This only applies if you’re sending pallets through an Amazon partnered carrier.
Amazon may split your inventory across multiple fulfillment centers. This is normal. The system optimizes placement based on where customer demand is highest, so a single shipment plan can generate two or three separate shipments headed to different warehouses.
Preparing and Labeling Your Products
Amazon holds you responsible for making sure every product arrives safely packaged, even if Seller Central doesn’t display specific prep guidance for your item. If something shows up with inadequate packaging, incorrect labels, or missing barcodes, Amazon can refuse it, return it, or repackage it and charge you for the labor.
The main prep categories include item labeling (barcodes), poly bagging, bubble wrap, boxing, cap seals for liquids, opaque covering for adult products, and suffocation warnings on bags. Which ones apply depends on the product. Fragile items need bubble wrap. Liquids need sealed caps. Anything in a poly bag must carry a suffocation warning if the bag opening is larger than 5 inches.
A good rule of thumb is Amazon’s 3-foot drop test. Your packaged product should survive five consecutive drops from 3 feet onto a hard surface: one drop each on the top, bottom, largest side, a bottom corner, and the longest bottom edge. The outer packaging can show damage, but the product inside can’t leak or lose its integrity. If your item wouldn’t pass that test, add more protective packaging.
Every unit needs a scannable barcode. Most sellers use Amazon’s FNSKU label, which ties the product to your specific seller account. You can print these from Seller Central and apply them so they cover any existing barcodes on the packaging, preventing scanning confusion at the warehouse.
Choosing Between Small Parcel and Pallet Shipments
You have two main shipping modes: Small Parcel Delivery (SPD) and Less Than Truckload (LTL). The right choice depends on how much you’re sending.
SPD works for smaller shipments. You pack your inventory into individual boxes and a carrier like UPS picks them up or you drop them off. Each SPD shipment is capped at 200 boxes, and no single box can exceed 150 pounds, 108 inches in length, or 165 inches in combined length and girth. This is the simplest option if you’re shipping a few dozen units or a handful of cartons.
LTL is the better choice once your total shipment weight crosses 150 pounds. Instead of individual boxes, you stack your cartons onto pallets and a freight carrier picks them up. LTL shipments require palletization, which means stacking boxes on standard 40×48 inch pallets, wrapping them in stretch film, and making sure the load is stable. If your SPD shipment would weigh more than 250 pounds total, switching to LTL through a partnered carrier is often cheaper than shipping individual parcels.
Using Amazon’s Partnered Carriers
Amazon negotiates discounted shipping rates with partner carriers, and you can access those rates directly through the Send to Amazon workflow. This is often the most cost-effective option, especially for LTL shipments, because Amazon automatically selects the lowest-cost carrier rate at the earliest available pickup date.
There are some restrictions. Partnered carriers only operate within the 48 contiguous U.S. states. You can’t ship dangerous goods (hazmat products) through the program. Pickups can’t happen at ocean shipping terminals or port locations, so if you’re importing products, you’ll need to transfer them to a separate shipping location first. The pickup site also needs to be safely accessible to a truck driver. Locations on busy roads, congested storage facilities, or spots where a truck can’t park without blocking traffic may be rejected.
For LTL shipments specifically, partnered carriers can pick up from locations without loading docks or forklifts as long as the shipment is fewer than 12 pallets and under 20,000 pounds. If you’re shipping directly from a manufacturer or distributor, you can still use the partnered carrier program. You just need the shipment details available when creating the plan in Seller Central.
The estimated cost appears during step 2 of the workflow for small parcel shipments, or step 4 for pallet shipments. The estimate factors in weight, dimensions, carrier rates, and freight class where applicable.
Using Your Own Carrier
You’re free to use any carrier you prefer instead of Amazon’s partnered options. This is required for dangerous goods shipments, and it can make sense if you already have negotiated rates with a freight company or if you’re shipping from outside the contiguous U.S. When using your own carrier, you’ll still create the shipment plan in Seller Central and print the required box and pallet labels, but you’ll arrange pickup and delivery independently.
For LTL and full truckload (FTL) shipments with a non-partnered carrier, you’ll need to book a delivery appointment at the fulfillment center. Amazon’s system provides the appointment scheduling details during the shipment creation process. Missing your appointment window or arriving without one can result in your shipment being turned away.
Box and Pallet Labeling
Every carton in your shipment needs a unique FBA box label printed from Seller Central. These are not the same as the product barcodes on individual units. Box labels tell the fulfillment center what’s inside each carton and which shipment it belongs to. Place the label on a flat surface of the box where it won’t get damaged or obscured during transit.
For pallet shipments through a partnered carrier, you’ll also print pallet labels in step 5 of the workflow. Each pallet gets four labels, one on each side, placed in the upper center so they’re visible from any direction. If you’re using your own carrier for pallets, you skip the pallet label step in the workflow but still need the box labels on every carton.
What Happens After You Ship
Once your carrier picks up the shipment, you can track its status in Seller Central. After it arrives at the fulfillment center, Amazon’s team receives and checks in your inventory. This process can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the fulfillment center’s volume. Your units won’t appear as available for sale until they’ve been fully received and stowed.
If Amazon finds problems during receiving, like missing barcodes, damaged items, or boxes that don’t match the shipment plan, they’ll flag the discrepancy in your account. You may be charged for repackaging or relabeling, and some units could be marked as unsellable. Checking your shipment reconciliation report after delivery helps you catch and dispute any discrepancies while the details are still fresh.