Amazon FBA Shipping Requirements and Prep Guide

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) lets you store products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, where Amazon picks, packs and ships orders and handles customer service and returns. Getting inventory into that network means following Amazon’s prep, packaging and box rules, and two recent changes matter for every U.S. seller:

Amazon stopped offering prep and item-labeling services on Jan. 1, 2026, for U.S. FBA shipments. Supply Chain Dive reported that every unit must now arrive prepped and labeled. Shipments created after that date without proper prep and labeling “won’t be eligible for reimbursement if damaged or deemed untraceable.”
The maximum box length rose from 25 to 36 inches on June 20, 2025. Supply Chain Dive reported the change, and said width, height and weight limits stayed the same.

This guide covers how inbound shipping works, the prep and box rules, the fees Amazon charges, and how to keep inbound costs down. Amazon’s detailed rules live in Seller Central and change often, so check the current help pages before each new product launch.

How FBA Works

According to Amazon’s FBA page:

You enroll products in FBA. You can switch an existing listing or choose “Amazon will ship and provide customer service” when you list.
You create an inbound shipment in the Send to Amazon workflow. Amazon says it “will guide you through the shipment-creation process, including preparing, packing, and labeling your inventory.”
You ship the boxes to the fulfillment centers Amazon assigns.
Amazon receives and stores the inventory, ships orders, and handles customer service and returns.

You can use FBA with either selling plan. Amazon says FBA “might be a more cost-effective choice if you sell 40 items or more per month with a Professional plan,” which costs $39.99 a month.

Prep and Labeling: Now Your Job

Since Amazon no longer preps or labels U.S. inventory, you have three options, which Supply Chain Dive summarized from Amazon’s announcement:

Do it yourself, following Amazon’s prep guidance.
Use a third-party prep service provider.
Use the Ships in Product Packaging program for eligible products, which can reduce prep needs.

The main prep tasks that used to be outsourced to Amazon are now yours:

Item labels. Every unit needs a scannable barcode that Amazon can match to your listing. Sellers can print Amazon’s FNSKU labels from Seller Central on a standard or thermal label printer.
Poly bags. Amazon’s product packaging requirements say poly bags with an opening of 5 inches or more, measured flat, must carry a suffocation warning, printed on the bag or attached as a label. Items without one may be re-bagged.
Protective prep. Fragile items, liquids, sharp items and sets each have their own prep rules in Seller Central. Follow them exactly, because Amazon won’t fix noncompliant units for you.

Before your first post-2026 shipment, audit your catalog for SKUs you used to send to Amazon for prep or labeling, and decide who will handle each one.

Box Requirements

Amazon enforces its carton rules strictly. Supply Chain Dive quoted Amazon’s warning that oversized boxes can lead to the “blocking of future shipments.” As of the June 20, 2025 change:

Length: up to 36 inches.
Width and height: up to 25 inches each.
Weight: Amazon’s standard limit is 50 lb per box. Its shipping and routing requirements allow heavier boxes only for a single oversize item, and require “Team Lift” or “Heavy Package” labels on any box over 50 lb.
Single oversize items may exceed the length limit if, as Supply Chain Dive put it, the box “isn’t significantly bigger than the item itself.” Amazon warns that boxes “excessively large relative to the oversize units” may face fees, refusal or restricted shipping privileges.
Packing material: Amazon’s shipping requirements prohibit “all types of packing peanuts, including those made of biodegradable material or corn starch.” Use air pillows, full sheets of paper or foam instead.
Labels: each box needs the box label Amazon generates for that shipment. Put it on a flat side where it won’t wrap over an edge or seam.

The 50 lb rule lines up with carrier pricing. FedEx’s 2026 Service Guide and UPS’s 2026 rate guide both add an Additional Handling charge, $46 to $58.75 per package by zone, to domestic packages over 50 lb. That’s another reason to keep cartons at or under 50 lb if you ship them yourself.

Choosing How to Ship Inbound

Amazon Partnered Carrier program. You can buy discounted inbound shipping inside Send to Amazon. New Professional sellers get “$100 off shipments into the Amazon fulfillment network using the Amazon Partnered Carrier program,” according to Amazon’s FBA page.

Your own carrier. You can also ship with your own UPS, FedEx or USPS account and enter tracking in Seller Central. That makes sense if your negotiated rates are better, or if your inventory ships from a supplier or prep center that already has carrier contracts. Compare total costs, including the carrier’s surcharges, using our heavy package guide and FedEx vs. UPS vs. USPS comparison.

Pallets and imports. Larger inbound loads move as less-than-truckload or full-truckload freight. Amazon also offers Amazon Global Logistics for imports, and new Professional sellers get a $200 credit toward fulfillment costs when they use it.

FBA Fees to Plan For

Amazon’s FBA page lists the fee types without fixed prices, because most depend on a product’s size tier, weight and price:

Fee	What Amazon says it covers
Fulfillment fee	Picking, packing and shipping orders, plus customer service and returns, “based on the product’s price, weight, and dimensions”
Monthly storage	Charged on the space your inventory occupies, based on daily average volume in cubic feet
Aged inventory surcharge	Charged monthly on items stored in a fulfillment center for more than 181 days
Returns processing	Charged on orders where Amazon gives the customer free return shipping
Removal, disposal and liquidation	A per-item charge to have Amazon return, dispose of or liquidate inventory
Inbound placement service	For standard and large bulky products, covers distributing inventory to fulfillment centers close to customers

Use Amazon’s Revenue Calculator, which Amazon links from its FBA page, to estimate these for a specific product. New Professional sellers are enrolled automatically in the FBA New Selection program. It offers free monthly storage, referral discounts and fee waivers on eligible new-to-FBA products when you create a shipment within 90 days of listing.

Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) is Amazon’s bulk storage service. Amazon says it has “no seasonal surcharges,” includes FBA inbound placement services, and can automatically replenish FBA inventory.

Common Mistakes That Cost Money

Sending unprepped or unlabeled units after Jan. 1, 2026. Amazon won’t prep them, and they lose reimbursement eligibility if damaged or untraceable.
Oversized or overweight cartons. Stay within 36 x 25 x 25 inches and 50 lb unless you have a single oversize item.
Packing peanuts, which Amazon’s rules ban in all forms.
Ignoring the shipment plan. Ship each box to the destination and with the box labels the Send to Amazon workflow assigns.
Letting stock age. Inventory stored more than 181 days triggers the aged inventory surcharge.

Reducing Inbound Costs

Right-size cartons. Fill boxes close to the limits without exceeding them. Carriers charge by dimensional weight, so empty space costs money.
Batch shipments so you send fewer, fuller boxes or pallets.
Compare partnered and your own carrier rates for each shipment rather than defaulting to one.
Use a prep center near your supplier so inventory is prepped, labeled and boxed before it moves.

For general carrier pricing and packaging tips, see our small business shipping guide.