one of the biggest challenges with running an Amazon business is figuring out an inexpensive and efficient way to ship products direct from Alibaba to Amazon FBA but shipping from China to the US isn't as easy as Printing and sticking a label on a carton you must also understand the packaging requirements labeling palletizing and how to find a reliable Freight forwarder so in this video I compare the best ways to ship your products from Alibaba to Amazon FBA along with step-by-step instructions now the first question I want to answer is whether it even makes sense to
ship direct from Alibaba to Amazon well shipping your products direct from Alibaba to Amazon can save you both time and money however shipping from Alibaba directly to Amazon may not be economical depending on a variety of factors first off your Amazon inventory limits new sellers may not be allowed to send bulk shipments to Amazon fulfillment centers also it depends on your Amazon fulfillment center locations Amazon may require you to send your inventory to multiple fulfillment centers which may be more expensive now I'm going to describe in detail the two different ways to send your products
from Alibaba to Amazon FBA depending on your situation now this first method applies if your inventory limits are high enough and the fastest way to get your products into an Amazon fulfillment center is by having your Alibaba supplier ship your inventory direct to Amazon from your factory in China by shipping direct from Alibaba to Amazon you will save money on receiving packaging labeling and storage fees and you will save at least one to two weeks in transit time and since your inventory will be shipped straight to Amazon from the supplier the chances of your goods
being damaged in transit are far lower but here are the downsides in most cases you will have to ship your inventory to multiple Amazon Fulfillment centers which can be challenging to coordinate with your Alibaba supplier now if you ship from China direct to Amazon FBA you also won't be able to check your inventory for damage during transport if there's a significant number of defective products in your shipment you will get negative reviews and hurt your account before you ship from Alibaba to Amazon you must hire an inspection company in China like Kaa but the biggest
disadvantage is that if your supplier knows that you are selling on Amazon they may compete with you directly the number of Alibaba suppliers selling Goods directly on Amazon in the US has increased over the years and your supplier has a big advantage on pricing now in order to get your goods safely from Alibaba to Amazon you must give your supplier specific instructions on how to prepare your inventory for Amazon FBA which includes following Amazon's labeling requirements and packaging specifications most Alibaba verified suppliers are familiar with Amazon's requirements but you must coordinate with your China wholesale
supplier to make sure all of your products are prepped correctly if your supplier makes any mistakes Amazon May refuse your shipment but don't worry we'll cover all this in this video so here's how to ship direct Amazon FBA from China step by step and first off due to inventory restrictions with Amazon fulfillment centers you will likely not be allowed to ship full containers into Amazon FBA unless you sell an extremely high volume but you can ship palets of merchandise to Amazon using these instructions step one is to create a shipment in Seller Central when you
create a shipment in Amazon sell Central the default inventory distribution setting is distributed inventory placement Amazon will divide your inventory into multiple shipments and direct each shipment to a different fulfillment center or receive center now the location of these Cent are selected based on your product size and shipping address and by Distributing your products across multiple regions Amazon can deliver your products to customers within 1 to two days via Amazon Prime however creating multiple shipments can be expensive because it requires additional packing and shipping fees but Amazon offers another option called the inventory placement service
which is where you can send all your inventory to a single Amazon fulfillment center Amazon then splits the stock and ships it out to their FC's on your behalf and Amazon charges a per unit fee for this service and the Amazon fees can get a little bit expensive for example it costs an extra 40 cents plus 10 cents a pound over 2 lb for standard size items for oversized items it costs a buck 30 plus 20 cents per pound over 5 lb here's the fee table for inventory placement now if any of your products require
extra prep or labeling your shipment may be divided into multiple shipments even if you choose the inventory placement service also certain categories such as jewelry app apparel shoes and media are often directed to different Amazon warehouses irrespective of the distribution plan now using inventory placement makes sense when you have high margins and your products aren't oversized inventory placement also works well for small shipments with low profit margins as you can avoid the high cost of multiple shipments now once you select your inventory distribution setting set the ship from address to a California address doing so
will give you a higher chance of being assigned a California fulfillment center which will save you money on Transit costs and shipping times and you don't have to live in California to do this step two is to check your shipment details with your Alibaba supplier now to prep your shipment for Amazon FBA your Alibaba supplier needs to apply three types of labels product labels carton labels and pallet labels now you must ensure that your supplier labels everything correctly as your products will be shipped directly to Amazon FBA ask your Alibaba supplier to send images of
every pallet every box and a sampling of every product also make sure your supplier uses pallets that meet ispm 15 regulations which are set up to prevent pests through the wood used in packaging materials step three is to have your Freight forwarder deliver your products to Amazon's warehouse now Freight forer is a shipping agent who collects your goods from China and ships them to Amazon's warehouses directly make sure your Freight forer has experience shipping inventory to Amazon and knows the carrier appointment requirements now if you're looking for a freight full order sign up for my
free 6 day e-commerce mini course below and email me to get my recommendations these companies will give you an all-in-one quote that includes pickup storage destination unloading and Customs clearance now this is important you must prepay all the duties or make sure that all Customs charges be build to the sender the commercial term for this type of delivery is delivery Duty paid or DDP Amazon will refuse any inventory where the customs duties aren't paid and will return the shipment to China so make sure you use a DDP service from your Freight forwarder now the second
method of getting your goods from Alibaba to Amazon is to use a 3pl or Amazon FBA prep Center a 3pl is a third-party Logistics firm that stores and fors your inventory to Amazon on your behalf an Amazon FBA prep Center is just a fancy name for a 3pl that specializes in shipping to Amazon FBA now in this shipping model your Alibaba supplier ships your inventory to your 3pl who then inspects labels and consolidates a shipment or breaks it into smaller batches and preps it for Amazon FBA now because there are more steps involved using a
3pl costs more than shipping your products directly to Amazon FBA however there are many advantages in doing so for example unlike the direct Amazon FBA method you can ask your 3pl to check your inventory for faulty goods and discard them before they reach Amazon and having this extra layer of quality control ensures that you're only sending high quality inventory using a 3pl also allows you to ship to multiple Amazon Fulfillment centers easily because your 3pl can sort the inventory and pack it as per FBA requirements and because Amazon has strict inventory requirements on how much
inventory you can send in you can use your 3pl to drip inventory into Amazon FBA as needed now with the 3pl in the US you can also use the Amazon partnered carrier program where Amazon ships small parcel deliveries and less than truckload shipments within the us at extremely cheap rates and in my experience Amazon's negotiated rates are less than half the cost of retail now the main downside is that it can cost you more money up front your thirdparty Logistics firm will charge you a receiving fee around 10 to 15 bucks per pallet a handling
fee and outbound handling fee to pack and ship the products to Amazon FBA which usually ends up being about $1 to $4 per Carton and in addition you also have labeling and storage fees it will also take longer to get your goods into Amazon a 3pl requires 3 to 7 days to receive and pack your inventory and then after your shipment is received it takes another 2 to 3 days to ship your products to Amazon FBA as a result using a 3pl adds roughly a 1 to two week delay to the time required for your
goods to reach Amazon and then finally the chances of your goods getting lost or damaged are higher since your inventory is shipped and unpacked more than once your 3pl may make mistakes during the process of unpacking adding labels repacking and then sending your stuff over to Amazon now storing all of your products at an Amazon fulfilment Center is is expensive compared to most 3pls as a result it's almost always more economical to store your Goods at a 3pl and then make small shipments to Amazon as needed here are step-by-step instructions on how to use a
3pl to send your products to Amazon FBA so step one is to verify shipment details with your Alibaba supplier before export and since you're hiring a 3pl to receive your inventory from China you don't really need to ask your Alibaba supplier to prep your goods as per Amazon's requirements but you should still ask your supplier to send images of the cartons and pallets for your records and follow all labeling requirements for importing into the US step two is your freay for ships your goods from China to the 3pl a good freay forward will guide you
through the import process as there are many forms to sign when importing from China your agent will also keep you updated throughout the shipping process and arrange transportation from the port to the 3pl and most importantly if anything goes wrong your Freight forwarder will sold out the issue and deliver your products as quickly as possible step three have the 3pl prep your goods and send it over to Amazon once your 3pl receives your shipment from China they will either Warehouse your products or prep them for Amazon and the major advantage of using a local 3pl
is that it's much more coste effective to drip your inventory into Amazon's Warehouse compared to shipping small packages from China to Amazon Amazon's strict warehousing limits will often prevent you from making large shipments direct from Alibaba to Amazon so using a 3pl may be cheaper depending on your situation make sure you do your own due diligence before selecting a 3pl it's best to choose an Amazon prep center that is local to where you live so you can perform spot checks if necessary now if you want a list of 3pls sign up for my free sixday
e-commerce mini course below send me an email and I'll send you a list now the million-dollar question is which method should you use well if you're new to selling on Amazon and have little experience importing from China using a 3pl will provide another pair of eyes to inspect your goods and make sure your products are labeled correctly for FBA and as a new seller Amazon will not allow you to ship many units to FBA as a result your only option may be to send your goods to a 3pl first and then drip your inventory into
Amazon and then finally if your products require kitting or assembly a 3pl can pack multiple products into a box for Amazon but in all other instances shipping direct from Alibaba to Amazon will be more efficient as long as you can sell what you send in within 6 months so overall here's a checklist of what you need when shipping your goods from Alibaba to Amazon FBA make sure your Alibaba supplier has experience exporting Goods to your country ship from Alibaba to Amazon directly if you have experience importing inventory from China and need the goods fast ship
from Alibaba to a 3pl if you're a new seller with low Amazon inventory limits and always use a freay forwarder for a hassle-free import process always hire an inspector in China double and triple check that your products are labeled properly before they're shipped to Amazon and then make sure all Customs ofuse are paid prior to shipping to Amazon FBA now that you know how to ship your goods make sure you watch this video here on how to buy from Alibaba safely
