Fulfillment by Amazon: Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA)

Also called Amazon Fulfillment Network (AFN) in English. Most Amazon sellers opt for Fulfillment by Amazon when you want to increase your sales without necessarily investing more in logistics. Fulfillment by Amazon can help sellers of any size expand their business activities from selling in one country to Europe-wide sales within a few days. If you prefer self-shipping, you can instead use Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).

Amazon Takes Over Logistics with Fulfillment by Amazon

Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA for short, is Amazon's best-known shipping program. When you use Fulfillment by Amazon, you store your products directly in Amazon's logistics centers, so that Amazon takes over the entire further process including delivery to the customer. In addition, Amazon is also responsible for customer service and processing returns. Fulfillment by Amazon comes with some costs, including product-dependent shipping and storage costs.

Versatile Shipping and Storage Options

Fulfillment by Amazon includes a range of shipping solutions that enable Amazon sellers to sell faster and easier throughout Europe. There are various options for storing your goods, depending on which countries you supply:

• If you store your products exclusively in Germany, you choose domestic storage. This is particularly good for starting on Amazon, where your monthly order volume is still relatively low.
• From around 1,000 orders per month, the Central Europe Program or PAN-EU (Pan-European Storage) is suitable, allowing you to store your goods in all European logistics centers of Amazon. You only need to supply the German logistics centers.
• Thanks to the European Shipping Network, or EFN for short, there is the option to store your goods in a specific Amazon logistics center. If you use FBA, you automatically have access to the European Shipping Network. On other Amazon marketplaces (e.g. amazon.fr), your product can then be purchased, but is shipped to customers from Germany.
• If you want to ship goods directly from abroad for an order from abroad, you can also opt for the Marketplace Country Inventory Program (MCI). This is advantageous for the customer, as delivery is usually faster.

Small and Light

Sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon have the option to offer their products via Small and Light. To participate in this program, a product must meet specific requirements:

• Price including VAT of max. 10.00 €
• Weighs less than 225 grams
• Maximum size of 33.5 x 23 x 4.6 cm (shippable up to maxi letter)
• Was sold at least 10 times in the last 4 weeks
• Condition new
• Offer on Amazon.de
• No items that fall under the following: age verification, erotic items, dangerous goods, temperature-sensitive items, etc.

Amazon offers Small and Light as a program that can help many FBA sellers bring items to customers cheaper and faster.

Which FBA model is the right one and what costs arise in each case?

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