FBA Shipping| How to Ship from China to Amazon FBA warehouse

Guide Line

#1 What is FBA?
#2 How much does FBA cost?
#3 How long is FBA shipping?
#4 How to ship From China to FBA
#4.1 Express transportation
#4.2 Sea transportation
#4.3 Air transportation
#4.4 Train transportation
#5 Customs and Amazon certification
#5.1 Certification required by customs
#5.2 Amazon required certification
#6 Amazon’s requirements for product barcodes and boxes
#6.1 Product label
#6.1.1 FNSKU label:
#6.1.2 Suffocation Label:
#6.2 Shipping label
#6.3 Amazon Requirements: Box Size and Weight

#1 What is FBA?

Amazon FBA is Fulfillment By Amazon, that is, you put the goods in Amazon warehouse. Then if there is an order, Amazon will automatically ship. you sell goods on Amazon, if you ship by yourself, you need to pay 15% of the fee to Amazon, but if you use FBA, Amazon will charge 30% of your fee in total. But FBA has many benefits. For example, customers prefer to buy FBA products, and using FBA saves you a lot of time and storage problems.

Amazon has fullfilment centers throughout the United States or around the world. Amazon FBA seller is to send the goods to Amazon’s warehouse after finding the goods by themselves, and then unless the customer returns something, basically 95% of the work (such as shipping, shipping, etc.) is done by Amazon. If consumer returns, is also returned to Amazon, rather than pushed to the seller’s address. Amazon will give the customer a shipping label, and the customer will return the goods to the Amazon warehouse. When the returned goods return to the Amazon warehouse, the seller can decide whether or not to let Amazon mail the return to himself.

#2 How much does FBA cost?

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a way for sellers to ship their products directly to an Amazon warehouse. Amazon will handle the sale, picking the product from inventory, shipping, customer service, and returns. Amazon FBA fees range from 45 cents to $1.35 per unit, and $39.99 per month for a Professional account.

#3 How long is FBA shipping?

It usually takes Amazon 2-6 days to process an FBA shipment after it is delivered to an FBA center. Inventory that is sent to Amazon is scanned and available for sale in a matter of days.

#4 How to ship From China to FBA

Below will introduce the basic 4 kinds of shipment way

The time of each way of transport and the cost of transportation are different. You can choose the method of transportation based on the weight of your product. If your time is urgent, you can choose international Expresses, such as DHL, UPS or FedEx, but the cost of transportation is very high. My suggestion is that if the weight of the goods is less than 21kg, you can choose international Express. If the weight of the goods is between 21kg and 100kg, choose to air transportation. If your products have 100kg + choose sea or train transportation will save a lot of shipping cost.

4.1 Express transportation

Express Usually takes only 2-4 business days. Fast, especially to the US and European countries. and it is possible to check the status of the goods. But, expensive and increase sales costs. The dimensional weight is calculated by 5000 (if the dimension weight is large, it is charged by dimensional weight). There are also a lot of restrictions on goods, such as liquids, batteries and powder products…and more.

You can choose from many Express companies to ship goods from China to Amazon FBA around the world. The issues we need to consider are customs clearance and tariff issues. For example, if ship it to the United States, the value of goods below $800 is not subject to customs duties and Customs clearance fees.

The EU imposes tariffs on products of very small value. For example, if ship it to the UK, it will be taxed if the value exceeds 15 pounds. To the EU countries, the value of goods exceeds 20 euros, you must pay customs duties.

Let’s talk about these three international Express companies: FedEx, UPS, and DHL. FedEx and UPS are American companies and DHL is a German company. If your product is shipped to the US, I recommend using FedEx and UPS because the two companies are more effective in customs clearance in the United States. If your product is shipped to Europe, I recommend using DHL because DHL is easier to clear in Europe. In the end, most of our customers will choose DHL to ship to the world, because the freight will be cheaper than FedEx and UPS.

We ship products to the US, and customs clearance & transportation time are very fast. DHL should be our best choice.

4.2 Sea transportation

Sea transportation is one of the most important modes of transportation to the Amazon FBA warehouse.

The freight is cheap and the loading is very large. But, it cost a Long time, high risk of navigation, inaccurate sailing date and susceptible to weather.

Sea transportation is your best choice if you buy a lot of products from China and ship them to Amazon FBA warehouse and mainly to help you reduce costs. You must know your Amazon product inventory before choosing sea transportation because the shipping time takes about 35 days.

4.3 Air transportation

If your product weight is more than 21 kilograms, you can choose to ship by air. Air transport is not as convenient as express delivery, because the goods must pass Customs.

The basics of air transportation from China to Amazon FBA now include customs clearance and customs duties. I suggest that you find a Chinese FBA freight forwarder to handle your products, and the shipping cost includes customs clearance and customs duties. So we can save a lot of trouble.

Air transport time will be about 10 days slower than Express, but it all depends on the flight chosen by your freight forwarder.

From China to Amazon warehouse in the US: Usually takes 10-12 working days (including customs clearance)
From China to Amazon warehouse in Canada: Usually takes 12 working days (including customs clearance)
From China to Europe (UK, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Spain) Amazon warehouse: Usually takes 13 working days (including customs clearance)

4.4 Train transportation

Train services are only available when shipping to Europe from China. Time and price are almost the same as trains and ocean shipped to Amazon warehouse. It takes about 30 days from China to reach all Amazon Fulfillment Centers in Europe. The train is safer than sea shipping. Most of our customers choose train transport if the product is shipped to Europe.

From China to Europe (UK, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Spain) Amazon warehouse: usually takes about 25 business days (including customs clearance)

There is 4 kind of way for shipping to FBA from China,

By express, by sea, by air, by train, but now China to FBA shipment is quite popular so there is more upgrade shipment, more convenience for the seller to use it, like shipping by the sea + local truck delivery, shipping by air + delivery with local express….

More upgrade ways please check: 5 easy ways of Shipping from China to US Amazon FBA

#5 Customs and Amazon certification

#5.1 Certification required by customs

When the goods are cleared, Customs has the right to require your products to provide relevant product certification. If you are unable to provide it, Customs may fine, detain or destroy your product. So you have to know what kind of product certification you need to provide to successfully pass the customs (this is very important). not a joke!! We must minimize the risk.

The following is a list of commonly used US, Canadian and European customs import products that need to be certified as follows:

For the United States

FCC Certification — All products
FDA Certification — Food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biological agents, medical equipment and radioactive products
UL Certification — Direct contact with high voltage and safety-related products: LED lights, Wifi plugs, power adapters, Wall Charger…etc.
ETL Certification — Direct contact with high voltage and safety-related products: LED lights, Wifi plugs, power adapters, Wall Charger…etc.
CPC Certification– Toy
BQB Certification — Bluetooth products

For Canada

CSC Certification — Direct contact with high voltage and safety-related products
CUL Certification — Direct contact with high voltage and safety-related products
ETL Certification — Direct contact with high voltage and safety-related products
IC Certification — Radio and television equipment, information technology equipment, radio equipment, telecommunications equipment, etc.
CCPSA Certification– Toy
BQB Certification — Bluetooth product

For Europe：

CE Certification — All products
Rosh Certification — Electronics and equipment
E-MARK Certification — Cars and their safety parts, noise, etc.
BQB Certification — Bluetooth product

#5.2 Amazon required certification

When selling products on Amazon, we must know if we need product certifications to sell on Amazon. We must comply with Amazon’s product regulations which would otherwise cause the listing to be closed.

In 2019, fidget spinners are on sale at Amazon. Many sellers have already purchased a large number of fidget spinners products from China and shipped them to Amazon FBA. But many sellers do not consult Amazon when purchasing products. When a product is shipped to Amazon FBA, Amazon requires the seller to provide certification, ASTM F963-16 certification in the United States, and Sor / 2011-17 certification in Canada. In the end, many sellers were unable to provide these proofs, resulting in a lot of money lost to these sellers.

the example above, authentication is very important on Amazon. When purchasing a product in China, we must confirm with Amazon whether certification or special requirements are required to sell the product on Amazon.

#6 Amazon’s requirements for product barcodes and boxes

Before shipping products to Amazon FBA, we must understand Amazon’s demand for products and boxes. All product packaging and boxes must comply with Amazon warehouse regulations. If we do not comply with Amazon’s requirements, your product will be rejected by Amazon Warehouse. If your product packaging does not have the correct FBA label, Amazon does not know that your product belongs to the seller.

#6.1 Product label

Every Amazon product label is required. Amazon Warehouse will scan your FNSKU tags when your products are delivered, so Amazon keeps your products in the correct warehouse location.

#6.1.1 FNSKU label:

Amazon requires an FNSKU label on each product package. If we don’t attach the FNSKU label, so Amazon can’t identify your product and you can’t sell it on Amazon.

Once you’ve created a product on Amazon backend, you can download the FNSKU label directly.

#6.1.2 Suffocation Label:

If your product package is an OPP bag, you must pay attention to whether the size is bigger than 5 inches. If the OPP bag is larger than 5 inches, Amazon must require a “suffocation” label. Amazon will not allow you to sell if you find that your product is OPP bag packaging and there is no “suffocation” label.

#6.2 Shipping label

If you want to ship to Amazon warehouse, we must create a “Shipping Plan” on Amazon’s background. You can download the master box label. After downloading the box label, you can print it out and then attach the label to your box. If the box doesn’t have this label attached, Amazon will also reject you. Amazon requires that each box must have 2 shipping labels at least.

#6.3 Amazon Requirements: Box Size and Weight

Amazon warehouse also has requirements for the size and weight of the box. If you do not follow Amazon’s request, Amazon may find, reject or warning to you.

The size of the master box cannot exceed 25 inches on either side.
The weight of a single box cannot exceed 50 lb. If the weight of a single box exceeds 50 lb, Need a “Team Lift” label must be attached to the top of the box. If the weight of a single box exceeds 100 lb, need a “Mech Lift” label must be attached to the box.

Tip: Normally, if you are the first time, Amazon may warn you. If it is the second time, Amazon warehouse may reject your product. If your product size or weight exceeds the above requirements, please consult Amazon in advance.

If you have any FBA Shiping question, please leave the comment below.