As times change, so does our knowledge and expertise. Over the past 2 years, Westbound have become more and more involved with Amazon retailers and as such are able to offer a direct factory to Amazon Hub/Distribution centres service, across Europe and North America. Here’s everything you need to know:

Shipping costs

We understand the importance of knowing how much it will cost you to import your products from your supplier via an Amazon UK Fulfilment Centre, and Westbound are here to help. If you don’t have the relevant information of your preferred warehouse, we will send you an approximate cost. If you would like to get a quote from us, get in touch and tell us the shipment size, weight, outbound port, delivery postcode, and a description of the goods you are shipping – we’ll do the rest!

Things to ask your supplier

You need to be aware of how your goods must be packed and labelled in order to meet Amazon’s FBA standards. It is important to check the following with your supplier so your products will be accepted:

• Cartons cannot weight more than 23kg
• Cartons exceeding a weight of 15kg must be marked as ‘Heavy packaging’
• Carton dimensions cannot exceed 63.5cm on any given side
• Make sure the Amazon labels are clearly visible. You will need to label each box with the generated carton labels if you have more than one SKU.

Setting up an LTL shipment plan

Your shipment plan will help Amazon identify your product details, such as quantity, shipping method, and if you would like Amazon to prepare and label your package. 

Here is how you set up your Amazon plan:

1. Visit the ‘inventory’ tab in your Amazon Seller Central account.
2. When you get to ‘Prepare Shipment’, choose ‘Less than Truckload (LTL)’ which will generate the pallet labels we will apply to your goods.
3. Send the box/carton labels to your supplier to be applied to your boxes. 
4. Send us your pallet labels to stick to your cartons before palletising them to meet Amazon’s requirements.

Please note that this only applies to sea and air freight, and that if you are using a traditional courier such as FedEx or UPS you must select SPD (Small Parcel Delivery). These will be for units packed in single boxes individually labelled for delivery.

Delivering to Amazon

If your supper ships your goods as loose goods, which is fairly common if they are imported from China and the Far East, then our warehouse will unload the cartons from the container and palletise them to Amazon’s specifications using the pallet labels you sent us as part of your shipment plan.

If your supplier wants to complete this step at their factory they must do so according to Amazon’s standards by loading them on to 100cm x 120 cm pallets, heat treated to ISPM 15 standard, and make sure they are no taller than 180cm or heavier than 1000kg including the height and weight of the pallet, and must be accessible from all sides. They will then be required to shrink-wrap it in clear wrap.

All your pallets will need to contain like items where quantities allow, otherwise mixed or visually similar products must be labelled as ‘mixed merchandise’ or ‘mixed SKUs’ on all sides.

Upon meeting Amazon’s standards we will book your delivery with Amazon warehouse and let you know when a slot has been allocated. When they have arrived at Amazon UK they will appear on your Amazon Seller Dashboard. Simple!

The process is virtually the same for China to USA using our LCL/FCL/Air and 3PL fulfilment services from Los Angeles, too. (Sizes and weights differ in each region).

To get an instant LCL Amazon quote today or for more information, get in touch on at amazon@westboundglobal.com or call us on 01375 800800.