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Your First FBA Shipment

Move a delivered container into sellable inventory without triggering a rejected shipment or a receiving delay.

From delivered container to sellable inventory

A container at the port is not a listing that can sell. Between them sits a sequence of fulfillment steps, and each one can fail in a way that delays or rejects the freight. The earlier sourcing and listing guides got the product made and the detail page ready; this stage moves the units into a warehouse and turns them into inventory a customer can buy.

Receiving is not instant. Build that gap into the launch date rather than assuming stock goes live the day it lands.

Received is not sellable
Inventory sitting on a receiving dock cannot be purchased until it is checked in and made live in the catalog.

The shipment plan and the fulfillment barcode

Every inbound shipment starts with a plan that tells the warehouse what is coming, in what quantity, and to which destination. The listing's fulfillment setup assigns the fulfillment barcode — the unique identifier that ties each unit to the listing; the shipment workflow is where you print and apply it. Without that barcode, a received unit cannot be matched to anything.

1

Create the shipment plan

Declare the product, the quantity, and the ship-from address so the network can route the freight and split it across destinations if required.

2

Generate the fulfillment barcodes

Print the barcode label for each unit, then apply it so it stays scannable and is not covered by other packaging.

3

Declare contents, label the cartons, and hand off

Lock the plan, record what each box contains in the workflow, and print the carton labels for the outside of every box. Then choose the shipping mode — boxes or pallets — confirm the carrier, and record tracking at handoff.

Prep and packaging by category

Prep requirements protect the unit in a shared warehouse and vary by category. A poly-bagged item usually needs a suffocation warning once the bag passes a threshold size. Fragile goods need protection that survives handling by people who do not know the product. Liquids and anything that can leak, shatter, or shed carry their own rules.

Before you pack
  • Poly-bag and add a suffocation warning where the bag size requires it.
  • Protect fragile units so they survive a drop without inspection.
  • Seal liquids against leaks, and bag anything that can shed or contaminate.
  • Cover or remove any existing barcode so only the fulfillment barcode scans.
  • Confirm the category's prep rules before packing, since they differ by product and destination market.

Determine the exact prep for your category before packing. Reworking prep after freight arrives is slow and usually billed back to you.

Carton labels and box contents

A carton becomes receivable through the label on the outside and the declaration of what is inside. The label routes the box; the box content record tells the warehouse what to expect so check-in reconciles. A mismatch between them — a miscounted carton, a swapped label — is a common cause of receiving delays and units that never get credited. The free pallet calculator checks carton and pallet limits before you pack.

A rejected carton is expensive to unwind

Fixing a mislabeled or miscounted shipment after it ships costs far more than catching it at the packing bench.

Where to prep: factory, service, or yourself

Prep can happen in three places, and the right one depends on volume, cost, and how much you trust the factory to follow instructions.

At the factory

Cheapest per unit and done before freight, but the factory must follow the prep spec exactly, sight unseen.

A domestic prep service

A third party receives the freight, preps to spec, and forwards it — useful when the factory cannot label reliably.

Yourself

Full control and no added fee, but it does not scale and eats time better spent on the launch.

Whichever route you pick, write the prep and labeling spec down and confirm it before production ends. The cheapest place to fix a prep error is before the freight ships.

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