Workarounds for Amazons new inbound placement fees
We have been hearing concerns regarding the Amazon Fee changes that started this month. We understand that many sellers don’t want to be forced to use Amazon Warehouse Distribution (AWD) services.
As brands who are growing and expanding marketplaces, it makes it markedly more difficult to manage the supply chain while having inventory at 3PLs as well as at AWD – which can dramatically increase the demand for cash in the business. Not to mention, relying on Amazon for inventory forecasting is a risk – one it seems they are forcing people’s hands on.
It is also cost-prohibitive to pay the exponential per-unit prices to inbound to one FC or split their inventory among multiple FCs nationwide.
At River Source Logistics, we have been exploring ways to mitigate these challenges and costs. We have partnered with other 3PLs whose customers are facing similar hurdles and have found a couple of “workarounds” or “hacks” that could potentially help the overall situation. These solutions aim to keep you in control of your inventory at your chosen 3PL and potentially keep most of your inbound into a few FCs at more reasonable prices. Below, you will find one solution we have determined might be the better solution we have learned about.
Alternative:
Single Sku application
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/fba/settings/index.html/ref=xx_fbasettings_dnav_xx#/inbound-settings
- In settings, select “Amazon Optimized Shipment Splits”. This will avoid the placement fee.
- Create a shipment with one SKU and see if this goes to multiple locations or one single location.
- If it is a single location – add additional units or SKUs to that shipment
- We were told it is fine if you end up with 1 Sku per FBA ID if they go to the same FC.
- We were also warned that this option might only work in around 70% of the times.
- If it is a single location – add additional units or SKUs to that shipment
- Create a shipment with one SKU and see if this goes to multiple locations or one single location.
We hope this workarounds can help your business thrive in light of Amazon’s newly imposed fee hikes and help you avoid being forced to use their AWD services. We are committed to finding additional solutions to reduce the financial burden of these fees and will keep you updated with any new developments.
Should you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for choosing River Source Logistics as your business partner.
We advise you to investigate these hacks at your own will before using them; we do not know these to be against Amazon’s TOS. However, there is no guarantee. Your mileage may vary depending on the outcomes, and as you know, things are constantly changing in the Amazon landscape. Lastly, we have no affiliation with any software or tech mentioned below, nor have we received any kickback for referencing them here. We are solely trying to give our clients and other sellers some relief from the financial burden Amazon has imposed.