Operator glossary
FBA prep requirements
Amazon's packaging rules per product type — poly bags with suffocation warnings, bubble wrap, taping, expiration labeling — done at your factory for cents or by Amazon for a fee.
Every product category carries prep rules: poly-bagging (with suffocation warnings above a bag-size threshold), bubble wrap for fragiles, taped closures, sold-as-set labeling, expiration-date formats for consumables. Non-compliant inbound triggers Amazon's prep service at a per-unit fee, problem-receiving delays, or refusals.
The economics are lopsided: factory-side prep costs cents and travels free inside your freight; Amazon-side prep costs multiples per unit forever. Bake the prep spec into the supplier's packaging SOP and the pre-shipment inspection checklist — prep failures discovered at the FC door are the expensive kind.
The numbers
- Common rules: poly bags need suffocation warnings; fragile items bubble-wrapped; sets labeled 'Sold as set'; expiration dating for consumables.
- Unprepped inbound: per-unit Amazon prep fees or receiving problems — factory prep is cheaper by an order of magnitude.
Primary sources: Amazon selling fees (official)
Related terms