The term Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) has shaped an entire scene. Many small retailers are taking their first steps into self-employment with the Amazon FBA program. What exactly does Amazon FBA stand for? Amazon defines the “Fulfillment by Amazon” service as follows:
“Most Amazon sellers choose to ship through Amazon if they want to increase their sales.
without necessarily investing more in logistics. Shipping through Amazon helps sellers
of any size to move their business activities from sales in one country to another within a few days.
to expand sales across Europe.”
“Shipping by Amazon includes a range of shipping solutions that Amazon sellers can use in the
enable you to sell faster and easier throughout Europe. If you use Amazon shipping via
, you can have Amazon store your products, remove them from the warehouse and pack them
and send them to customers.”
Sign up for Amazon FBA
Participation in the Amazon FBA program is open to all merchants on the Marketplace. When creating a new product detail page, all you have to do is select “Shipping by Amazon”, then send the stock to Amazon and Amazon will take care of the processing.
Amazon describes the “Shipping by Amazon” function briefly and concisely.
“Shipping by Amazon makes selling across Europe easier than ever. Send your products to Amazon logistics centers and we’ll take care of the rest – from storage and Prime listing status for your items on our marketplaces to shipping, order tracking, customer service and returns across Europe.”
Advantages of Amazon FBA
- Send the desired item to the Amazon logistics center. Regardless of the quantity. From one unit to the entire stock, everything is possible
- Low shipping rates to the logistics center by using Amazon’s partner rates
- “Shipping by Amazon” can be changed at any time in the settings
- Easy stock monitoring thanks to Amazon’s integrated online inventory management system
- Amazon records the dimensions of the items for storage
- “Shipping by Amazon” can help to win the Buybox. Better status than merchants who do not use Amazon FBA
- Customers can combine items that are also shipped through Amazon, which can help sell more
- Returns processing by Amazon
- Customer support through Amazon
- Shipping with shipment tracking by Amazon
- Favorable shipping rates
- Eligibility to participate in the Amazon Prime program
- Prime logo on the product detail page
Pan-European shipping
Amazon describes pan-European shipping as follows:
“Managing inventory across multiple marketplaces can be difficult and time-consuming. But with Amazon’s Pan-European shipping, selling internationally becomes a simple matter. Send your products to an Amazon logistics center in your home marketplace and watch as your inventory is automatically and intelligently distributed to logistics centers across Europe based on projected demand.
This ultimate solution for sales in Europe takes the guesswork out of managing stock in multiple countries and gives you more time to focus on growing your business.
- As your inventory is intelligently distributed across logistics centers that cover all European Amazon marketplaces, customers benefit from shorter delivery times for your products.
- You avoid charges for cross-border shipping (see the European Shipping Network program), as only local shipping fees apply. shipping fees are incurred.”
The important thing to remember with this type of shipping is that storage abroad results in tax obligations and costs in each country where the goods are stored. Before using pan-European shipping, it is essential to talk to a tax advisor to clarify whether this measure makes sense.
European shipping network
As a first step, it may be more attractive to use Amazon’s European shipping network to expand your business to other EU countries. The turnover limits of the individual export countries are important for using the European shipping network. Once the turnover limit has been exceeded, a tax registration obligation arises in the exporting country.
Amazon defines the European shipping network as follows:
With the European Shipping Network, you send your products to
logistics centers in Germany and have the option of shipping orders from customers on other European Amazon marketplaces. Your products stored in Germany can be easily purchased, picked from stock, packed and shipped to customers ordering on www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.it and www.amazon.es.
- Simply send your goods to logistics centers in Germany, which simplifies the sending of stock and storage costs.
- Benefit from the Prime eligibility for fast delivery and local shipping fees for domestic orders.
- European Shipping Network fees (EFN fees) apply to the cross-border delivery of orders received on other European marketplaces.”
Marketplace choice
There is also the option of choosing a marketplace. This allows traders to specify the countries in which their goods are to be stored and sold. This option also results in tax obligations and costs for the individual countries. This must be taken into account when setting up this method.
Amazon defines the marketplace choice as follows:
“Stock in the marketplace country
With stock in marketplace country, you can determine which countries you send your goods to for storage. You can choose from logistics centers in all five Amazon marketplaces in the EU. Your products will be stored closer to your customers in these countries, so buyers can choose faster delivery options. You also save on EFN fees for cross-border delivery in these countries.
- You have full control over which countries you want to send stock to for storage and Prime delivery options are available to your customers in those countries.
- Benefit from local shipping fees for sales on the marketplaces where you store products.
- Customers who buy from marketplaces where you do not store your products locally can have their items delivered across borders via the European shipping network.”