If your company sells or is panning on selling through Amazon, there are quite a few stipulations regarding product packaging. Whether your company is FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) or FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant), every seller is required to follow the packaging requirements. For FBA sellers, Amazon handles the order processing, picking, packing, packaging, and shipping to the customer; so, making sure that your product arrives at the Amazon fulfillment center accordingly is a must.
FBA Packaging Requirement Guidelines
For shipping, use a sturdy, six-sided box and add two inches of cushioning between each of the items and the box. Shake the box to test that contents the box do not move. Regular cardboard boxes are fine as long as any other barcodes or labels, other than the one for that specific product, are removed. You can reduce potential receiving delays by using boxes with dimension and weight minimums of 6-inch x 4-inch x 1-inch and 1 lb, respectively, but no more than 25 inches on any one side and under 50 lb total.
Wrap all SKUs separately and use tape made for shipping. If you’re selling products together like a kit, package all products within the kit together. If the product is sharp or fragile, wrap each of them with a protective packaging layer like bubble wrap. Acceptable packing materials include polyethylene foam sheeting, inflatable air pillows, bubble wrap, and full sheets of paper. Amazon does not allow any type of packing peanuts, foam strips, crinkle wrap, shredded paper, or Styrofoam.
Label all individual products with a barcode from a LaserJet printer to ensure that it doesn’t fade. All items in the same package must be the same SKU. When you set up a shipment to Amazon FBA in your seller account, the system will generate labels for you to use in your shipment. If it is a large shipment, it will automatically create labels for cartons and pallets as well.
Amazon Master Carton Requirements
The maximum weight for each carton is 66 lbs. Label boxes that weigh between 33-66 lbs “heavy-weight” from both the top-down and side view of the box. Each carton needs to have one shipping ID and when shipping multiple case-packs in a master carton, place the unique shipping label on the master carton.
Amazon Pallet Requirements
Every pallet needs to have a label with the seller’s name, the fulfillment center’s address, and the return address on the top center of each side. Each box on the pallet also requires its label. On the upper right side of the pallet, indicate the number of cartons within that pallet as well as the total number of pallets.
When sending bulk shipments, all pallets should contain similar products. When a pallet contains more than one SKU, label it as “mixed SKUs” or “mixed merchandise”. Your pallets should be standard 1200 mm x 1000 mm four-way access pallets. The total height (including the pallet) cannot be taller than 5.9 feet. Merchandise cannot hang over the edge of the pallet farther than an inch on all sides. The total weight cannot exceed 1,102 lbs. For stability, interlock cartons when stacking onto the pallet. Cover pallets in clear plastic stretched wrap with a “do not break stretch wrap” warning. Amazon does not accept damaged pallets. (Source)
If you don’t label your packages and products correctly, you risk incurring the fees for Amazon to fix them. You also risk being rejected completely on top of more possible fines if the packaging isn’t up to par. Stressing over trying to meet the Amazon packaging requirements? Let Kleen Concepts take care of it for you. We can package your products, pallet, and ship directly to Amazon for you, we do it every day! Contact us today to get started. info@kleen-concepts.com (480) 515-557