Why should we use an Amazon FBA freight forwarder? This article will cover all things related to Amazon FBA freight forwarder. We will show you Amazon FBA shipping solutions and help you choose the best Amazon FBA freight forwarder for seamless logistics and ensure timely delivery to fulfillment centers.
What is an Amazon FBA Freight Forwarder?
An FBA Freight Forwarder specifically denotes the freight forwarding agency for the first leg of the FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) shipment. Sellers engaged in Amazon FBA entrust their goods to FBA Freight Forwarders, who manage the transportation process from domestic locations to the FBA warehouses around the globe. While international freight forwarders only handle certain aspects of international transportation, FBA Freight Forwarders provide end-to-end services, essentially covering the entire journey from door to Amazon warehouse.
What is a customs broker? A customs broker serves as an intermediary between you and customs, ensuring the smooth clearance of your goods during transportation. They inform the shipper of the required documents for customs clearance and prepare and submit these documents to obtain customs clearance. Customs brokers are crucial, as customs issues can potentially delay your shipments. Most freight forwarders offer brokerage services, allowing them to act as your customs broker. This eliminates the need to hire a separate company for this purpose.
Why Hire an Amazon FBA Freight Forwarder?
Various issues may arise for large, heavy shipments requiring ocean or air freight, such as customs clearance delays or damage to goods. Suppose you want to ensure your products safely and punctually reach Amazon fulfillment centers from the factory. In that case, hiring an Amazon FBA freight forwarder is advisable to manage every step of the process.
They Arrange the Entire Shipment for You
When you hire an Amazon FBA freight forwarder, aside from filling out some paperwork and paying freight charges, you don't have to do much regarding your goods. Experienced freight forwarders will ensure your goods legally, safely, and efficiently reach their final destination.
Amazon FBA Freight Forwarders are Familiar with All Shipping Matters
Once you've tackled the challenging parts of finding profitable products and reliable suppliers, the last thing you want to deal with is shipping companies, government agencies, and logistical issues. Freight forwarders possess expertise, experience, and best practices throughout the end-to-end transportation process. They are familiar with the entire process of each shipment. If you attempt to handle this on your own, you might miss crucial steps, potentially leading to loss, confiscation, or delays of your products.
They Can Insure Your Goods
In international shipping, especially during ocean freight, issues may still arise even with a freight forwarder. Ensure the chosen shipping company provides cargo insurance to offer additional protection in case problems occur during the transportation of your products.
Customs Clearance
Customs clearance is arguably the most crucial benefit of hiring a freight forwarder. If customs hold your shipments, an Amazon FBA Freight Forwarder is responsible for helping you out ASAP to avoid delays of several weeks or even months in shipping.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Warehousing and Delivery Services
In the FBA model, FBA sellers are required to prepare and store their goods in Amazon-designated warehouses. After the sale, Amazon takes care of picking and shipping the items. However, Amazon sellers need to handle the initial leg of the journey, known as the FBA inbound shipping, leaving sellers responsible for transporting their goods to Amazon's fulfillment centers. This is referred to as FBA inbound shipping.
Amazon does not handle customs clearance and the delivery of goods from China to its warehouses. FBA inbound shipping service involves transporting goods from China to Amazon's warehouses, and there are specific services to meet this demand. For example, JIKE, a recommended FBA inbound shipping and self-delivery service provider, operates in China and handles FBA shipments from China to the globe. In FBA inbound shipping, there are generally four shipment methods available:
Amazon FBA Shipping Method
| Direct Courier Shipping | FBA Air + Local Delivery |
| Utilizing express services like DHL, UPS, FedEx, etc, is generally cost-effective for shipments over 20kg. This method is fast and suitable for urgent restocking. It's important to note that Amazon does not handle customs clearance and taxes, so sellers must take care of declarations, prepaying duties, and preparing for local customs clearance. Cross-border logistics companies like JIKE can provide tax numbers to clear, but having one's own customs clearance tax number is preferable. | This involves air freight shipping to the destination, followed by local courier delivery to Amazon's warehouse. It is slightly slower than direct courier shipping but still quick. This method often includes tax and clearance services, making it cost-effective at around USD 5/kg. It's advisable for sellers to have their own tax number for proper customs clearance and tax payment. |
| FBA Sea Freight Shipping | Overseas Warehouse Allocation |
| Sea freight has a slightly longer delivery time. The overall cost does not include taxes, approximately USD1/KG-USD3.5/KG. Prices vary, with the United States and the United Kingdom being cheaper and Canada relatively more expensive. Although sea freight takes longer, it is cost-effective. For example, for 10 boxes weighing 20kg each, express shipping might cost around USD 1300, while sea freight could cost less than USD 400. This method is suitable for non-urgent restocking and is more appropriate for bulk replenishments during peak seasons or stable-selling products. | Storing goods in an overseas warehouse that can handle both Amazon FBA and shipments to other platforms. There are various options for transferring goods from overseas warehouses to Amazon, such as express delivery, air freight, sea freight, etc. This method is flexible, and convenient, allows for frequent restocking with short lead times, and solves customs clearance issues before sending goods to Amazon. Using an overseas warehouse also facilitates sales on multiple platforms, including self-built platforms, Temu, and many other emerging platforms. |
Tips: Amazon Freight Forwarders also have cross-border trucking services and railway freight from China to Central Asia and Europe.
Now that you know what Amazon FBA freight forwarders are and what they can do for you, here are some guidelines based on our experience for when you should consider using freight forwarders:
If your shipment is less than 200 kilograms: If the weight of your goods is less than 200 kilograms (440 pounds), it is advisable to have your freight forwarder use express courier services such as DHL, FedEx, or UPS. Using express couriers is the most economical and fastest way to receive small shipments. In this case, the courier company handling the transportation of your products will act as the customs broker and deliver the goods to your final destination. FedEx/DHL may send you a customs/tariff bill. If your shipment exceeds 200 kilograms: If the weight of your goods exceeds 200 kilograms, it is recommended to use a freight forwarder specializing in air freight or sea freight. This will be more cost-effective and save you a lot of hassle.
Which Shipping Method Should You Choose?
Firstly, ask the factory/supplier for the cargo data: package quantity, package size and weight, and the exact product's HS code.
Then, provide the above cargo information to your FBA Amazon freight forwarder and ask for a shipping quotation using a different shipping method.
Divide the total shippping quotation you got by the number of product pieces to figure out the shipping cost per piece. Then, compare the shipping costs and transit time.
Now you can make your decision!
FBA First Leg Logistics Solution
Logistics Methods | Overseas Warehouse Allocation Replenishment | Express FBA First Leg | Air Freight FBA First Leg | Sea Freight FBA First Leg |
| Usage Scenarios | 1. Emergency Replenishment 2. High Time Sensitivity 3. Multi-platform Sales | 1. Small Emergency Replenishment 2. High Time Sensitivity | 1. Large Emergency Replenishment 2. High Time Sensitivity | 1. Large/Bulky Goods 2. Stable Sales Volume 3. Low Time Sensitivity |
| Time Sensitivity | 1-5 days | 3-7 days | 4-10 days | 35-50 days |
| Time Sensitivity Ranking | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Cost Comparison | Most Cost-effective | Relatively Expensive | Economical | Lowest |
| Delivery Coverage | USA/Canada/UK/Germany/EU | Global | EU/USA/Japan/Canada | UK/USA/Canada |
| Notes | Depending on the volume, choose local courier/truck delivery. | Amazon does not act as an importer and does not pay taxes. | It includes tax clearance with no need for pre-appointment for storage. | Truck delivery requires an appointment for delivery to Amazon FBA. |
Price Comparison: Overseas Warehouse Allocation < Sea Freight FBA First Leg < FBA Air + Delivery < Direct Express Delivery;
Delivery Time Comparison: Overseas Warehouse Allocation < Direct Express Delivery < FBA Air + Delivery Sea Freight < FBA First Leg.
Transportation Process
Let's review the steps involved to help you better understand how the shipping process works. Remember that if you're using an Amazon FBA freight forwarder, they'll handle each step of this process – it's great to know how it all operates!
| Step 1: Goods transported from the factory to the international port |
In this step, you'll have two options when working with suppliers: FOB (Free On Board) or EXW (Ex Works). Your supplier may offer other shipping terms, so be sure to negotiate with them. These terms determine who is responsible for transporting goods from the factory to the shipping port. In most cases, FOB is the simplest choice, as your supplier ensures your goods reach the port. After that, your freight forwarder can take care of the remaining tasks. |
| Step 2: Goods shipped from the international port to the destination port |
Once your goods arrive at the port (assuming in China), they will be headed to your destination port (assuming in the USA). You can choose air or sea freight for this, but we recommend sea freight as it is much more cost-effective. Sea freight costs around $2-$4per kilogram and takes approximately 15-22 days to arrive at port. Air freight costs around $5 per kilogram and takes approximately 7 days for transit. |
| Step 3: Goods arrive at the domestic entry port and start the customs clearance process |
Once your products reach the port, customs initiates the clearance process. This is where a customs broker comes in handy, and you'll want your freight forwarder to handle these matters. Before customs clears your goods, you'll need to pay any owed duties. Your broker/freight forwarder will take care of this. Your freight forwarder will handle any additional documentation required by customs. This process takes about one day to a week if all goes smoothly. |
| Step 4: Use a 3PL to prepare goods for Amazon |
Before your items ship to an Amazon fulfillment center, they need proper labeling and palletizing according to Amazon's requirements. Once your product boxes are palletized, you must affix shipment ID labels on them. These labels inform Amazon about how many products have been delivered and that these products belong to your seller account. You receive these labels after creating a shipment in Seller Central. This is why collaborating with a freight forwarder experienced in Amazon FBA and also serving as your 3PL is crucial to simplify this process. Note: If you exclusively sell on Amazon, ask your supplier to label each item with your product's FNSKU code (Amazon barcode). This steps is to make the preparation process more manageable. Once your goods are ready, they can be sent to Amazon. The decision you need to make here is how to ship your products. You can use SPD (Small Parcel Delivery) via a local carrier (e.g., UPS) or by truck. SPD transport is usually cheaper if your shipment weighs less than 150 pounds. Note that there's a 200-box limit when creating shipments via SPD. If your shipment weighs more than 150 pounds, use Less Than Truckload. Remember, Amazon has specific pallet requirements for truck transport, so ensure your freight forwarder is aware of this. |
| Step 5: Ship your products to Amazon |
Once your products are labeled and ready, you can ship them to Amazon's fulfillment center! This step requires your action. Don't worry – you can obtain any information about your goods from the supplier or Amazon FBA freight forwarder. For SPD transportation, you can use UPS and purchase shipping labels directly from Seller Central. For LTL transportation, you can arrange for a truck to pick it up from the 3PL and deliver it to Amazon through Amazon's partner. |
Transportation Terms You Should Know
Incoterms Breakdown: Obligations of the Buyer and Supplier
Notice:
1. In CIF or CIP terms, it is the seller's obligation to arrange the insurance service and afford the insurance fee. In other terms, it depends on the buyer as to whether to buy the insurance service or not, but we kindly suggest the buyer buy the insurance service in order to reduce loss in case any risk happens.
2. The above information provided by Jike is just for reference only. For detailed legal terms, please check the original "Incoterms 2010."
How Do You Choose the Best Amazon FBA Freight Forwarder?
One should possess experience in handling Amazon FBA goods and familiarity with Amazon warehouse entry standards.
Capable of identifying Amazon shipment labels and adept in the simplicity of the order placement process.
Proficient in resolving customs clearance and taxation issues, as Amazon does not handle customs clearance and tax payments as the primary party.
For large quantities of goods, it is essential to be familiar with the process of scheduling appointments for Amazon inbound shipments.
Ideally, the chosen FBA first-leg logistics service provider should be recommended by Amazon, such as JIKE Logistics.
The provided FBA first-leg services should be diverse, allowing for the selection of different services tailored to the specific needs of various types of goods.
JIKE Logistics – Your Best Amazon FBA Freight Forwarder in China
Over the past decade, JIKE Logistics has built a solid reputation, accumulating a substantial number of high-quality clients. To this day, we maintain deep collaborative relationships with our clients, having partnered with over ten thousand businesses and sellers. As a well-regarded Amazon FBA freight forwarding company, JIKE Logistics stands out among the numerous FBA logistics companies in the Pearl River Delta region in terms of strength and customer reputation.
With a decade of expertise in import and export freight forwarding, we are also an authorized agent for the initial transportation of FBA goods designated by Amazon. Throughout this period, we have garnered extensive operational experience and resources, ensuring a seamless transportation process with prompt resolution in case of any issues.
When selecting a professional and reliable freight forwarding company, the key consideration is often the shipping channel. If the chosen company is using another's services to ship your goods, it is advisable to reconsider your choice. Without a proper channel, they might lack practical operational experience and cannot guarantee the safety and timeliness of the goods. In contrast, having a dedicated line to the United States (or another country's FBA warehouse) makes a significant difference, providing effective assurance of timeliness and relieving you of worries regarding the transportation of goods.
Moreover, our services go beyond mere freight transportation. We possess our own overseas warehouse in the United States. If you find Amazon warehouse fees too high or have other reasons, we can arrange overseas warehousing services for you. Directly shipping from the overseas warehouse to customers saves domestic shipping costs and time and offers greater convenience. As we all know, Amazon warehouses often encounter issues such as returns and label replacements, making overseas warehouses particularly helpful during such situations.
Contact JIKE to ship your goods!
FAQs
| Do you have experience with Amazon FBA shipping? |
Yes, we have extensive experience with Amazon FBA shipping. We have successfully collaborated with numerous sellers and businesses, accumulating professional shipping service expertise. |
| Can you work with smaller sellers? |
| We welcome collaboration with sellers of various sizes, including smaller ones. We are dedicated to delivering services that are both efficient and dependable to all of our clients. |
| As the best Amazon FBA freight forwarder, do you offer cargo insurance? |
| Yes, we provide cargo insurance services to ensure comprehensive protection for your goods in case of unexpected events during transportation. |
| Can you handle various aspects of the shipping process? |
| We can handle various aspects of the shipping process, including but not limited to cargo pickup, packaging, transportation, customs clearance, and other steps, ensuring a smooth overall process. |
| Do you provide a customs deposit? |
Currently, we do not offer customs deposit services, but we can assist you in completing all necessary customs procedures to ensure a smooth passage of goods through customs. |
| Can you provide customs clearance services? |
| Yes, we offer customs clearance services, ensuring that your goods can pass through customs in the destination country quickly and smoothly. |
| Can you transport goods directly from the destination port to an Amazon warehouse? |
| Yes, we can transport goods directly from the destination port to an Amazon warehouse, providing you with end-to-end transportation services. |
| Can you assist in labeling products according to Amazon's requirements if needed? |
| Yes, we can assist in labeling products according to Amazon's requirements to ensure that your products meet Amazon's standards. |
| Is your communication effective? |
| We prioritize effective communication with our clients to ensure timely and accurate information transmission, meeting the needs of our clients. |
| Do you charge reasonable fees? |
| We provide reasonable fees and offer detailed quotes based on your specific needs. We are committed to providing cost-effective services to our clients. |
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