Blog
Insights and guides for Amazon FBA sellers, prep center operators, and warehouse professionals.
Landed Cost Per Unit: What Your Amazon SKU Really Costs Between the Factory and the FBA Shelf
A $6.20 invoice price becomes $9.80 on the shelf. Here are the eleven cost lines between the factory and FBA, in the order they are calculated, with a full worked example on 1,000 units — plus the fixed-cost trap that makes every first order look unprofitable.
Amazon FBA Prep Requirements in 2026: The Complete Packaging and Labeling Checklist
Amazon stopped prepping inventory on January 1, 2026, so every unit now has to arrive compliant or it does not get received. This is the full checklist: FNSKU labels, poly bags and suffocation warnings, bundles, fragile and liquid items, expiration dates, box limits and pallet rules.
Where Should Your Prep Center Be? Sales-Tax-Free States vs. Near Your Supplier (2026 Guide)
Montana, Delaware, Oregon and New Hampshire prep centers save retail-arbitrage sellers the sales tax. Port-state prep centers save wholesale importers freight and days. Here is how to decide which one you need, and how to find it in a 500-listing catalog without reading every card.
Your Freight Arrived Short, Wet or Never: A Cargo Claims Playbook
Cargo claims are lost at delivery, not at the negotiating table. What to write on the delivery receipt, who you are actually claiming against, and why an ocean container can be capped at $500 because of how the cartons were described.
Your Prep Center Lost Your Inventory. Now What?
Inventory goes missing at competent facilities too. What decides whether you recover the money is mostly what you did before the email arrived — the liability cap you never read, the receiving count nobody took, and the CCTV that gets overwritten in 14 days.
Prep Center Pricing Decoded: What '45¢ a Unit' Actually Costs You
The per-unit prep rate is the easiest number to compare and one of the smallest lines on the invoice. Here is the whole invoice — receiving, prep, storage, outbound and the exception fees — and how to turn four incompatible quotes into one number you can rank.
How to Vet a Prep Center Before You Ship: A 20-Point Due Diligence Checklist
Amazon no longer preps your inventory, so the prep center you choose is now a single point of failure. Twenty questions to ask before a carton leaves your supplier — labeling competence, receiving SLAs, what "per unit" really covers, liability caps, and the exit clause nobody reads.
Amazon Ended FBA Prep Services: Your 2026 Survival Guide
On January 1, 2026, Amazon permanently shut down its FBA prep and labeling services. No exceptions, no safety net — unprepped inventory now gets rejected at the dock. Here's what changed, why, and how to build a prep operation that survives it.