Prep straight off your import container — the port-side advantage
Most FBA prep centers are standalone buildings. Your import container lands at the port, gets trucked to a drayage yard, then trucked again to the prep center — two moves, two invoices, and a demurrage clock running the whole time. A port-side 3PL collapses that.
Our Kent, WA dock is a short drayage lane from the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma. We pull the container, unload it, prep the units to Amazon's spec, and ship them to the fulfillment center — all in one building. If some of the freight is not going to Amazon, the same dock handles cross-docking, transloading and storage, so nothing needs a second vendor. The container clears before demurrage starts, and you paid for one stop instead of three.
What FBA prep actually covers
Amazon's inbound requirements are specific and they change, which is where sellers get caught. Prep covers FNSKU barcode labeling, poly bagging with suffocation warnings, bubble wrap or overboxing for fragile items, bundling and multi-pack kitting, box content labels, and expiration or lot labeling — each with its own placement and format rules. If you want the full checklist before you ship, we keep it current in our guides to what FBA is and how it works and the Amazon FBA prep requirements.
What FBA prep costs — and what it saves
Prep is priced per unit for labeling and bagging, plus per carton for box-level work, on top of receiving and any storage. The comparison that matters is against the alternatives: prepping in-house ties up your own labor and space, Amazon's own prep service charges per item, and a rejected or non-compliant shipment costs you fees, relabeling and days of lost sell-through. Outsourced prep usually lands cheaper than all three. The common fee traps are laid out in our guide to Amazon FBA fees and mistakes, and our pricing overview covers how we structure it.
Shipping to Amazon's fulfillment centers
Once units are prepped, we build the shipment plan in Seller Central and coordinate LTL or parcel freight to whichever fulfillment centers Amazon assigns. Because your inbound freight is already consolidated in one place, you can avoid the split-shipment surcharges that hit sellers shipping from several locations. When you run Fulfillment by Merchant or need returns processing alongside FBA, the same building does that too.
FBA prep questions, answered
What is Amazon FBA prep?
FBA prep is getting your products ready to pass Amazon's inbound requirements before they ship to a fulfillment center: FNSKU barcode labeling, poly bagging with suffocation warnings, bubble wrap or overboxing for fragile items, bundling and kitting, box content labels, and expiration dates. Done right, the shipment clears without rejections, relabeling fees or storage penalties.
How much does FBA prep cost?
Most prep is priced per unit for labeling and bagging, plus per carton for box-level work, on top of receiving and any storage. Volume brings the per-unit rate down. The number that matters is the comparison: outsourced prep is usually cheaper than prepping in-house or paying Amazon's own per-item prep fee, and far cheaper than the fees and delays from a rejected shipment. Send your SKU list and volume and we'll quote real numbers.
Can you prep products straight from my import container?
Yes — this is where a port-side 3PL beats a standalone prep center. Our Kent, WA dock is a short drayage lane from the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, so we pull the container, unload it, prep the units to Amazon's spec, and ship them to the fulfillment center from one building. No second warehouse, no extra freight leg, and the container clears before demurrage starts.
What Amazon prep requirements do you handle?
All the common ones: FNSKU and UPC labeling with correct placement, poly bagging with the required suffocation warnings, bubble wrap and overboxing for fragile or oversized items, bundling and multi-pack kitting, box content labels, expiration and lot labeling, and case-pack compliance. Every shipment gets a final audit against your shipment plan before it leaves.
Do you ship to Amazon fulfillment centers?
Yes. We build compliant shipment plans in Seller Central and coordinate LTL or parcel freight to whichever fulfillment centers Amazon assigns, nationwide. Consolidating your inbound freight here also helps you avoid split-shipment surcharges.
Do you support FBM as well as FBA?
Yes. The same building that preps your FBA inventory can also store it and pick, pack and ship direct to customers for Fulfillment by Merchant — so you can run both models, or switch between them, without changing providers.
