FBA out of control? Sellers have to relocate their shipments for 3 months

During the peak season , FBA frequently encountered problems. A large number of goods were reserved after entering the warehouse and were in transit. Some sellers' goods were in transit for up to 3 months. These situations made some sellers think about quitting FBA and switching to FBM. In fact, rational analysis by peers shows that FBA is still more suitable for most sellers.

FBA reservations are out of control, and many sellers’ goods are still in transit

Recently, various chaotic problems have erupted in FBA. A large number of sellers have reported that the goods have been reserved in the warehouse and have been in transit, unable to be put on the shelves. Some popular products are out of stock but there is nothing they can do.

Seller Kam said that it has been more than a month since the shipment, and Amazon has been reserving my goods, claiming that they are being shipped to other warehouses and are always in transit. From the time FBA receives the goods to the time they can be sold, everything is out of control .

This problem has also happened to other sellers. Seller Mike found that his inventory was shown as received and started to sell, and then the goods were always in pending status and never shipped because Amazon held the goods and said that more research had to be done on the size or something. But what puzzled him was that he had been shipping the same goods to Amazon for more than a year, and this problem had never occurred until the past few months.

It is common for large quantities of goods to prompt problems in transit. Many sellers have found that many recent shipments have to be transited in the operation center for half a month or one month, and some even take three months .

“—— ABQ2, PCS2, HIA1, and RYY2 are so slow, they took a month to be put on the shelves after being transferred;

——The transfer of warehouses is too slow. This phenomenon has become more obvious recently. Where does Amazon spend the extra money collected during the peak season? The efficiency is extremely low.

——PSC2 warehouse has received dozens of parcels but has not registered or accepted them for more than ten days;

——What ’s outrageous is that a batch of goods has been in transit for 3 months and is still being transferred. It has not been sold, but the storage fee is still being charged. I opened many cases to solve half of the problem, and the other half is still being transferred. Now, after more than half a year, I have given up on this batch of goods.

——Recently, several batches of goods were put on the shelves 20 to 30 days later. Once they were signed for, they were all transferred to other warehouses. The transfer took a long time and I couldn’t urge them.

——The configuration fee is also charged, and the goods are forwarded immediately after delivery. In order to speed up delivery and provide a better user experience, the seller's experience is sacrificed.

According to feedback from many sellers, the FBA inventory reservation problem is now very serious, among which warehouses such as ABQ2, PCS2, HIA1, RYY2, MDW2, and VGT2 are the hardest hit areas.

Questioning the inefficiency of the platform, a group of sellers turned to FBM

The current situation of FBA has seriously affected the sales of sellers. Some sellers bluntly said: "Hot-selling products are out of stock, and out-of-stock products are still being transshipped."

In addition to out-of-stock, the transshipment of goods also caused sellers to cancel their orders. One seller said: " After the goods were delivered, they were always in the delivered status, and it took more than half a month to receive them. After receiving them, they were still in transshipment, and it took more than a month to receive them. The front desk estimated delivery time was at least 15 days later than normal. Moreover, after the customer placed an order, the estimated delivery time was constantly postponed , and then there were many canceled orders. During this period, the platform continued to charge low inventory fees. "

The current situation of FBA makes sellers feel powerless . In their view, the platform has added fees to sellers during the peak season, and now it only collects money but does not do anything, and its efficiency is even lower than before.

Not only that, some sellers have threatened to stop using FBA and switch to FBM. Kam said that he would no longer ship goods to FBA and would use FBM to ship all orders . Another seller who has been using FBA for 15 years also said that he would switch to FBM because it is cheaper and can control his own inventory, and no longer be reserved for weeks or months.

Some of my peers agree that using FBM saves more money, but rational sellers analyze that this matter depends 100% on the product.

The seller uses his own products as an example, arguing that the cost of using FBA is much lower , and further explains: “ All of our listings use FBA and FBM, and the net profit of FBA is much higher than FBM. Mainly because the total cost of FBA including shipping is much cheaper than our fees + USPS shipping. One of our more popular items sells for $29.95 , and if FBA ships to Amazon, the total cost is $ 8.20 ; the FBM fee is $4.49 + $4.50 (the average cost of a 4-ounce USPS ground advantage) , and the total cost is $ 8.99 .

So, using FBA we save $0.79 per item , and with Prime , Amazon covers any feedback related to delivery, and we don’t have to use warehouse space for storage. Just saying, some sellers may save more money with FBM , but for many sellers , using FBA is more cost-effective . ”

Three steps to Amazon cargo acceptance

A seller who has been selling on Amazon for many years said that he had never seen this happen. Currently, many FBA warehouses have to wait a long time to acknowledge receipt of the goods , and then wait even longer to start unpacking. It takes more than 30 days to transport them to all parts of the country. This is so strange! If you contact the seller center, Amazon will give a general reply about pending payment and reserved inventory .

Amazon informs sellers that the final receipt process itself is a three-step process:

Delivered : Amazon has received information from the carrier that your shipment is ready for delivery, or it has been delivered to the fulfillment center facility yard but has not yet been checked in by the fulfillment center.

For small package shipments, it may take up to four days from the seller 's scheduled delivery date for the shipment to move to "Checked" status. For LTL and FTL shipments, it may take up to 10 days. During peak times, it may take longer. It is not possible to manually change the shipment status because the shipment status is automatically updated to "Checked" status after it is received at the fulfillment center dock.

Sometimes, a shipment that has been delivered to a fulfillment center does not show as "delivered." This can happen because the information between the carrier and the fulfillment center is out of sync.

Shipped: The trailer containing the cargo has been moved from the facility yard to the dock and is ready to be unloaded. Checked-in inventory has not yet completed the receiving process.

For small package shipments, it may take up to two days to move from the "Shipped" status to the "Receiving" status. For LTL and FTL shipments, it may take up to nine days. During peak times, it may take longer. It is not possible to change the shipment status manually as it automatically updates to the "Receiving" status after the fulfillment center dock receiving process.

Receiving : Amazon has begun scanning the seller's shipment ID label and units are available for sale as soon as they are received. However, since the unit may be shipped to a different fulfillment center that is closer to the customer, it may take up to 18 days for received units to be shipped immediately.

Failure to comply with Amazon's packaging, preparation, or shipping requirements may delay receipt. Sellers who want more information can visit Packaging and Preparation Requirements, Shipping and Routing Requirements, and Small Parcel Delivery to Amazon. Amazon cannot manually expedite the receipt of any shipment. Sellers ' shipments may be in "Receiving" status longer than expected due to the need to transfer inventory from the ship fulfillment center to the warehouse fulfillment center.

As for the current status of FBA, sellers’ shipments are being delayed on a large scale, and the continuous transit has also exposed the inefficiency of warehouses, which will have an impact on sellers’ normal sales during the peak season.

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