Amazon's New Inbound Placement Fees Explained

FBA shipping is about to get a lot more expensive come March 1st when Amazon starts charging their new Inbound Placement fees. (formerly known as Inventory Placement). Either pay up or deal with tons of split shipments!
In this video I'll breakdown everything you need to know about these fees, plus give you some potentially money saving tips.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

2D WORKFLOW FREE 7-DAY TRIAL >>> 2dworkflow.com

[@mannya1282]

I noticed this after I created a shipment last week. It’s crazy stupid how much more we are paying in shipping fees.

[@BossmanJames96]

Same. My shipping price tripled. F Amazon 😂

[@kristeneifes]

It’s cost me $100 for 2 boxes plus Amazon fees, taxes and everything else. I’m almost paying Amazon to sell my items and make nothing. I have to increase prices to offset set cost. It’s ridiculous

[@zuser12345]

Selling on Amazon has become ridiculous. Been selling on it for 7 years, and the FEES have gotten so high that it is time to be done. Let's list the fees: Fee to ship to FBA, Fee to transfer shipments, Fee for storage, fee FBA fees, Fees for Referrals, Fees for low-inventory. F*ck Amazon.

[@timsmith1776]

Yea i was just forced to pack 6 items in 1 box and 33 in another it ended up costing me $4.76 for the 6 items $13 something for the actual shipment and $15 something for placement fees, placement fees were higher than shipping

[@ELANG184]

In the end, the consumer will pay more.

[@thepocketshot9116]

Most customers don't even realize the seller is paying for all the convenience.

[@Bekssss]

No I oder from china directly from Aliexpress

[@walkinfaithnotbysight]

I just shipped 311 units from California to the east coast and it wound up costing $0.86 a unit to send tonone warehouse. There was literally no other option. Even after checking my settings and waiting and watching for a couple days, the other options were "unavailable." I could cry.

[@lowbarb]

Same!!!

[@RichColby71]

I just sent a shipment of books & music in (before 3/1) these new fees per item are back-breaking to the small business owner. Looks like I'll be doing 100% FBM from here on out. Are they trying to get rid of 3rd party sellers?

[@va_tech_chick]

I'm in the same boat! Yesterday, I was getting a FBA shipment together, not knowing about the new fees. My inbound shipping cost almost doubled! Now, I'm watching videos on FBM and cross listing to eBay. This is ridiculous!

[@Stanbott]

It just means you have to reevaluate FBM or you have to rethink AMZ if you have small and light

[@streakurt]

Time to leave Amazon. i'm afraid this not indeed for faster shipment this is indeed for how to charge to seller more.

[@robertr3470]

The key component is that there is ZERO improvement to service to the seller or consumer. It is just Amazon shedding costs to sellers that they have been doing for well over a decade already.

[@annking1576]

Amazon is trying to charge shipping for EACH item now - just deleted EVERYTHING in my basket! Had over $200 worth of items! NOT f-ing happy!!! Going back to Wally world & other local retailers! Sick of China knock offs that are no good anyways!

[@branoatrice]

4+ locations? My last shipment was 19 shipments. This is ridiculous

[@WatchMeAmazon]

😳

[@billshinas27]

Would this affect sellers sending lets say 300 to 400 units as much?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Everyone has inbound placement fees, even if you were only sending in one unit

[@gracy901]

Please make another video if we can avoid the inbound placement fees using 2D workflow now that the inbound placement feature has started

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Regarding Inbound Placement fees, I cannot promise you that there will be no fees in the future. I could only go off of the information we have now. Starting March 1st, any sellers who use a software like 2D Workflow to create their shipments will be able to select a prefered inbound option through a setting in Seller Central. This means that what you enter there will reflect in how the software splits your shipments, and how much, if any, you pay in Inbound Placement fees. You can select your prefered inbound setting option in Seller Central by clicking on the below link: sellercentral.amazon.com/fba/settings/index.html/inbound-settings#/inbound-settings Please select the first option, 'Amazon-Optimized Shipment Splits', if you are looking for the cheapest placement option, and then continue using the software the same way you normally would. Based on our current understanding, we assume that if you select that option in Seller Central and continue creating shipments in 2DWF the same way you have been, then you won't face any inbound charges. It's important for you understand that this is just our assumption after analyzing the information that we have right now, and shouldn't serve in any way as advice for how you should proceed. Lastly, you can always check how much a shipment's placement fee is by opening that shipment in Seller Central. We would love to show you those fees in 2DWF, but unfortunately Amazon has not updated their inbound API yet, so that data is not available through software... but you can see it in Seller Central. To see what they're charging you in inbound fees, just complete a shipment through the software and then open it up in Seller Central. If you try to open it before finishing it, Amazon will convert it into a Send To Amazon (STA) shipment and then you'll have to start over. Weird. But thats Amazon.

[@juancruzcastella4503]

How do I finish the shipment in 2DWF so I can check the fees on STA? @@WatchMeAmazon

[@TommyC_FPV]

Are you going to respond about the emails that went out from amazon?

[@user-nj1ke5gu1s]

I never used to be able to beat amazon LTL rates, now my rates for many locations are way better than amazon's rates, which means they are turning this into a secondary profit center because there is no way I have as much negotiating power with LTL carriers as Amazon does.... The cost of a comparable shipment (similar weights and dims to same locations) before March 1st was about 60% less

[@fp2231]

Not seeing split shipments options at all. No matter how many boxes selected

[@LittleBambi777]

Effective today. For me, the options to split my shipment is not even available, only the option of minimal split with the highest fee. I'm basically forced to pay an extra fee that is 3x the shipping fee, now 1500 units shipment which usually costs me $1xx now cost $5xx, a total rip-off!

[@WatchMeAmazon]

They’re rolling it out in waves. You probably have the new setup by now

[@LittleBambi777]

@@WatchMeAmazonby new setup do you mean the options to split my shipment? I logged in on my Send to Amazon page yesterday and saw that they offered 3 options, 2 were unavailable tho, only the minimal split option was available

[@serkankos23]

@@LittleBambi777Same here - only the minimal split option is available. ‘Partial’ and ‘Amazon-optimized’ splits are greyed out when creating shipments. Any input?

[@marietteh1066]

The same here

[@o.l1407]

Same! I'm on my third shipment and the "free* option is greyed out and always unavailable so I have no choice but to pay inbound placement fees (and this is after I disabled this feature in my settings). Help!

[@scarletspider1240]

I had a shipment I just sent in last week where they double slammed me…not only did they force me to ship over 1000 units across the entire country…they forced me to use inventory placement once it got there, presumably sending a ton of the units back toward the same direction they just came from. This entire thing is ridiculous and completely un sustainable for any small seller. Which leads me to believe that this is intentional to push small sellers out of the marketplace.

[@va_tech_chick]

I have my account set up for the partial split shipment option. Amazon decided to send all my books to one location, and I still got charge the placement fee! I guess I'm moving to FBM.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Partial is not free.. Amazon optimized is. But I’ve seen cases even with that selected, where in seller central they force to one location and charge

[@MichaelLirette-rx5rs]

So basically your software can offset the costs?

[@user-jg2yz3cz4d]

I use IL and finish shipment in SC. Does it sometimes make more sense to choose "partial placement fees" vs optimized free shipping because shipping can cost more when sending to 5 locations? Is there somewhere in SC that shows this comparison?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

@@user-jg2yz3cz4d in SC it will show you the different options and costs in the shipment workflow so that you can compare

[@roberts4411]

can someone please explain why does any seller WANT anything other than optimized shipment splits ? I must be missing something. Prior to this new change unless you had it set to ship to one location then you were allowing amazon to split shipments and getting the best cost possible. That hasnt changed so why would anyone want otherwise ?

[@kaycali4912]

Well, now instead of one label from your supplier, you have to get 4 or more shipping labels as you have to send it to different warehouses.

[@lasvegasadventures8729]

This sucks. You were never shipping to one warehouse that is closest to you anyway (Im in Vegas and they always make me split my shipments to TX, IL, TN, CT...basically, all ove rthe damn country). But now, that Placement Service is in my shipment BY DEFAULT. It doubled my shipment costs. Gave me a heart attack. Thanks for this video. I will have to figure this out.,

[@cathychats]

but isn't the reason behind this that they want people to use their Amazon 3PL services or third-party 3PL services?

[@RichColby71]

So would it be logical now to add .25 to each item for cost of goods to know what you are really going to profit? These Amazon fees have already been killing my P&L for years. I sincerely hope the other side reduces in fees to make up for this or I won't be able to do any more FBA.

[@ronclark9306]

My first shipment since the new fees is going out the door today. I was shipping to within my state, or over to the neighboring state. This time I'm shipping up to several states away. That was the best option that Amazon gave me. My shipping cost on this shipment went up 50%. I raised the price of everything that I sent in by .50 per item. If I hear customers complain, I'll tell them to thank Amazon for being less than "delighted".

[@walkinfaithnotbysight]

From California to the east coast, with no other available option, just cost me $0.86 per pound!!!

[@citybassboy99]

I am in Canada and we don't have the option for inventory vs distributive placements in our Amazon Fulfillment settings so I'm assuming there isn't much of a change to my experience. But I am wondering if 2D Workflow would provide a great benefit to sellers who do OA/RA and not wholesale aka ppl who aren't sending thousands of items per month. Is it still useful or is it geared more toward wholesale sellers who are pushing thousands of products?

[@friendlyandsafe5607]

What’s so bad about the amazon optimized shipping splits.I mean if it’s gonna save you 15 grand why not do it?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Because the cost of sending packages to California costs more than the cost of sending packages to New Jersey

[@barbaramimibel5756]

I didn’t actually notice this till day, I was abt to buy something worth £67 and the total it wants me to pay is €130, i was so confuse and didn’t know what was happening 🤦🏾‍♀️😭😭😭😂😂

[@operationamz]

Does the new inbound fee apply to case packed shipments by default? It doesn’t matter if it’s case packed or individual units, if it’s going to one location they are going to hit us?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Correct. Unless you have one sku, select the free option, and they send it to one location anyway. Then presumably there is no fee

[@hussaingurana3056]

cleaning those lamps has to be a nightmare

[@mmurat608]

What about this restocking fee I now get for everything.. I only get shipped and sold from Amazon products and still get charged.. not one of those who buys and returns every 5 products. I rarely return. .anyvwayvto work around.. this is getting out of hand... thanx in advance if any input on this inconvenience

[@Office-Brothersintrade]

i sell alot of shoes and can ususally only send 10 in each box due to box size, and amazon is not giving me any o[ptions to split shipments any tips you would gve me to avoid loosing alot of margin due to new fees ?

[@mark4553]

you can use shipment flat file to create shipment instead of web form which allow you ship up to 50 boxes in one shipment, you can get a good chance to split them into 4+ locations to avoid shipment splits service fee.

[@Divyv520]

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[@RyanResellsInfinity]

#RyanResellsInfinity

[@Burnenwhysee]

Larry, lets say you make a shipment and set the packaging template as a single sku pallet (assuming you are shipping enough units for a whole pallet). How can amazon then ask you to split that pallet up? Wouldn't they default to a single warehouse?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

There’s a limit to that I believe its 150 units. Also, what if you have multiple SKUs? We ship 200 SKUs per shipment

[@texasnative]

Just raised my prices from $39.95 to $41.50 to compensate for these new fees. It's either that or do away with FBA and fill my own orders.

[@sdtimeless]

I’m not ‘effin LEAVING!

[@zeek2024]

How does it affect me if I ship from China to FBA? By sea and then with UPS ground to FBA warehouses

[@WatchMeAmazon]

It affects you when you create the shipment on seller central. It is in the shipment creation process where they will charge you to ship to less locations

[@brianflores5533]

Theres no avoiding this new fee placement? U mentioned it used to be a toggle can it be turned off

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Already being avoided

[@deliana448]

So which option should I choose? Partial, mininal splits or Amazon optimized. Im in NJ trying to send 85 units 55 SKU. Dont know which option to pick 😢😢😢😢

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Amazon optimized is free, partial is a fee, and minimal is a higher fee.... if you want the cheapest inbound option, select amazon

[@Trkr-pb4td]

I just did my first shipment since new fees and my shipping increased to just over a dollar per pound and that's because I chose to ship to more than 4 places. Does this seem normal? I am paying46 cents per item for the cheapest option

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Sounds expensive. Which it is

[@pennyp9497]

@@WatchMeAmazonthis is criminal fee increases

[@guilhermemendes6618]

Your software is more for wholesale business model? I run a private label brand , how it can benefit me? Thanks.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Amazon is also going to charge you these crazy fees to ship to one location. Are you ok with now having to ship to 4+ locations every time you ship?

[@TommyC_FPV]

So I've tested it. It works. But how long before amazon fixes this?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

knock on wood

[@MoranRefael]

Where is the link to the tool please?

[@joegygi6760]

You mentioned that they were cutting one of the fees. Any info you can pass on about that one? Which fee?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

FBA fees

[@joegygi6760]

@@WatchMeAmazongotcha, thanks!

[@gabbeat]

@@WatchMeAmazon FBA fees, storage or fulfillment?

[@WatchMeAmazon]

@@gabbeat fulfillment

[@gabbeat]

@@WatchMeAmazon thanks. Is that only for us or canada too

[@Chandler890]

can you talk about the Fee discounts that amazon is giving

[@IrfankhanAMZ]

❤

[@tomfriphilips2801]

1603 Consuelo Views

[@fredjackson8869]

FYI DONT USE THIS METHOD TO AVOID THE FEES. YOU STILL WILL BE CHARGED THE FEES.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Let me know when someone’s been charged. Thanks.

[@basvh666]

😂😂 i understand why people are switching from amazon. Me included!

[@614Lyfe]

this is such bull

[@philrobpar]

Maybe it won’t take weeks to get inventory placed 🥴🥴🥴

[@rhomoo4490]

Good content, too much cursing. Moving on ...

[@WatchMeAmazon]

So you will pass on good content due to cursing ?

[@fredjackson8869]

I am unsure how you can claim this will work when the change over has not occurred yet? I feel like there should be a disclaimer that there is no way of knowing if your software will actually work to avoid the fee until March 1. Also keep in mind the fee does not post until 45 days after the inventory arrives to the FC so its going to take at least another month to two month to know if you actually found a loophole. Also in the video you make it seem like amazon is definitely going to give buyers varies options with how many FC they can ship to and I think that is still unclear. The million dollar question is how often will sellers have the option to ship to four different FC? This whole video seems super premature and may be over promising imo.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

I did not guarantee 100%. It will work. I said I believe it will work, I am confident it will work, I think it will work, but yes, they can throw a curveball at us come March 1. If for whatever reason it doesn’t work, we would obviously let our users know, andremove the feature from the software if we needed to March 1 I am sure there will be more videos either showing it in action, or saying it doesn’t work

[@fredjackson8869]

@@WatchMeAmazon I am just confused what gives the confidence to say that when nothing has been rolled out yet. I will admit that my inbound workflow is through seller central so from what I can tell everything is still a mystery. If you can make a video that provides more insight on why you are so confident that you found something I would be interested to see it.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

@@fredjackson8869 because Amazon has had placement fees and rules about split shipments for many, many years now that we’ve been able to work around. This is not their first time doing this.

[@fredjackson8869]

@@WatchMeAmazon Sure but you cant really compare the current placement fee with the new one. Generally speaking if you create a large shipment its not that hard to avoid split shipments. With the new fee, I just dont see how you can avoid the placement fee without split shipments. Even if your method continues to allow sellers to ship to one FC/DC according to the new rule you will be charged a placement fee for that. Unless you know something I don't I am unsure how you can claim that fee wont be charged.

[@WatchMeAmazon]

@@fredjackson8869 I probably know something you don’t

[@goktugakkus629]

I rather drive myself and deliver my shipments to Amazon warehouse on my own.

[@denisouncho2513]

New sub😂

[@rickdoerr7895]

#amazonsellerstrike

[@WatchMeAmazon]

lol. Not me bro.

[@jmnelson75]

F Amazon

[@Chandler890]

So why not always ship east

[@WatchMeAmazon]

Not sure what you mean. Even if you wanna ship east, Amazon will split your one shipment in 4 smaller ones unless you pay up.

[@ruslantito2337]

Hey, guys. I have a warehouse in New Jersey, precenter. I have 30 pallets of plywood circles that a customer left and disappeared. I'm selling below cost, by a lot, since the product is not from the US market. Anyone interested, let me know.

[@RayPray-w1t]

089 Roma Ford

[@BlakePhyllis]

22914 Rosenbaum Landing