Amazon Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN or FBM) Guide

7 steps to use FBM/MFN

Step 1: Create an Amazon seller account

• Business email address or Amazon customer account
• Chargeable credit card
• Government ID (identity verification protects sellers and customers)
• Tax information
• Phone number
• A bank account where Amazon can send you proceeds from sales

Step 2: List products for sale and create product pages

How you go about listing will depend on if you have existing listings, need to create new listings, and whether you want to create listings one by one or in bulk. Help shoppers find items by adding descriptive titles, clear images, and concise feature bullets on offers.

Seller Tip

Save time with existing product pages.

If you’re selling items that already exist in Amazon stores, you do not need to create a new product page from scratch. You can simply:

• Search the Amazon catalog to find the product.
• List an offer on the product detail page or use Seller Central to add a product offer.

Step 3: Manage your storage space, warehouse, or fulfillment center

The more efficiently you manage inventory, the more profitable your business can become. Try to have enough inventory to cover demand, but not so much you become overstocked.

Continuously manage inventory to get a return on your investment. It’s essential to have enough inventory to meet customer demand, especially during seasonal holidays or peak sales events such as Cyber Monday or Prime Day

Step 4: Set up your shipping templates to match your logistic capabilities for both handling time and transit time

Through the Seller Central dashboard, you can assign shipping templates from the Manage Inventory dropdown menu. Create large batch shipping templates and assign them to specific offers that match your logistic capabilities for specific products.

Additionally, through the Seller Central dashboard, you can set your Default Handling Time and Order Handling Capacity to ensure that you are protected from a surge in orders.

Step 5: Coordinate picking, packing, and shipping for orders

Once a customer completes a transaction, order processing begins. If you want to handle fulfillment in-house, be sure you have the capacity to efficiently pick, pack, and ship orders to customers. You will also want to make sure that the carriers you will be using are part of our valid tracking rate network of carriers:

A critical part of order processing is choosing the right packaging. This could be:

• Boxes
• Paper or bubble mailers
• Packing material such as bubble wrap or air fillers

Be sure to follow all Amazon requirements for packing and preparation to minimize costs and avoid damaging items in transit.

Did you know?

You can buy Shipping Services

If you don’t already have shipping logistics in place, you can take advantage of discounted rates with Amazon Buy Shipping Services. Through Amazon Buy Shipping Services you can buy labels, handle shipping, confirm orders, and track shipments. As long as you confirm shipment of your products on time, you will receive protections against Negative Customer Feedback, A-to-Z Guarantee claims, and Valid Tracking Rate

To access this service, click on the “Buy Shipping” button on your merchant fulfilled order.

Step 6: Handle customer service and returns in-house

Providing great customer service is essential for success on Amazon. Research shows that orders, where sellers respond to customers’ messages within 24 hours, receive half as much negative feedback as orders with response times over 24 hours. ( source

Staying on top of customer service can help convert one-time buyers into loyal customers. Monitor customer service metrics in Seller Central to stay on top of customer feedback and responses.

Excellent customer service includes handling returns swiftly and efficiently.

Here are a few simple measures you can take to limit returns and exchanges:

• Provide accurate product listings.
• Include sizing guides.
• Allow customers to ask questions about products before purchasing.
• Use the “Request Review” button to encourage customer feedback.

Learn more about how to handle in-house returns on Amazon.

Did You Know?

Shipping can make or break a sale.

Order shipping is among the top factors’ customers weigh when deciding whether to buy a product. A study on U.S. shoppers found:

• Free delivery is the most important factor for 83% of shoppers when ordering online. (source)
• More than half of shoppers (54%) have abandoned online shopping baskets because of delivery costs. (source)

You can learn more about your fulfillment options in this ecommerce fulfillment guide

Step 7: Consider FBM costs and fees

Costs vary based on many factors, including:

• Your selling plan. Learn about the differences between an Individual or Professional plan.
• Referral fees. For every item sold, sellers pay Amazon a percentage of the total price—including item price, shipping cost, and any gift-wrapping charges—or a minimum amount, whichever is greater.
• How you handle fulfillment.

Did You Know?

The Amazon Partner Network offers software to improve your ecommerce logistics.

The Amazon Partner Network offers Amazon-approved third-party software and services to help you automate, manage, and grow your business. Applications from third-party and Amazon software providers can help you automate pricing, manage inventory, conduct product research, improve customer response time, and more.

Visit the Amazon Partner Network