How to ship products to amazon FBA step by step | FBA Pinatar

Introduction: you already have a product, now you need to ship it properly

Many sellers reach the same point: you’ve found a supplier, defined your product, maybe even created the listing on Amazon… and suddenly you hit the less glamorous but critical part: sending your stock to the Amazon FBA warehouse.

This is where the questions start:

• What exactly do I need to select in Seller Central when I create a shipment?

• What’s the difference between preparing the product myself and letting Amazon do it?

• How heavy can a box be and where do I put the labels?

• What happens if my boxes arrive badly prepared?

The truth is that a good FBA shipment is decided before the box leaves the warehouse. If you prepare everything correctly, Amazon checks it in without issues, your stock becomes available quickly, and you don’t waste time on claims and investigations.

In this guide we’ll go through, step by step, how to ship your products to Amazon FBA, from the supplier to the warehouse, and at which point an FBA prep center in Spain like FBA Pinatar can make the whole process much easier.

Step 0: Make sure your account and products are ready for FBA

Before you think about boxes and labels, make sure the basics are in place:

1. Seller Central account is active, with no holds or suspensions.

2. Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is enabled for your account.

3. The ship-from address is correct (your home, your own warehouse or your prep center, for example FBA Pinatar).

4. Your products are created in Amazon as “Fulfilled by Amazon / FBA”.

5. Clear SKUs: every product you plan to send has its own internal SKU so you don’t mix anything up.

Once this is ready, you can use Amazon’s shipment creation workflow, currently called “Send to Amazon”.

Step 1: Create your FBA shipment in Seller Central (Send to Amazon)

1. Log into Seller Central and go to Inventory → Manage All Inventory.

2. Tick the products you want to replenish.

3. From the drop-down menu, choose something like “Send / Replenish Inventory” (Amazon changes the wording from time to time but it always leads to the shipment workflow).

4. Confirm your ship-from address and the destination country.

In the Send to Amazon flow you’ll be asked to specify:

• How many units of each SKU you’re sending.

• Who prepares the products (you / your prep center or Amazon).

• Who labels the units (you / your prep center or Amazon).

• How items are packed: individual units, sets, bagged items, etc.

If you want full control and predictable costs, the safest approach is:

Select that you (or your prep center) will handle both preparation and labelling.

This way you know exactly how everything is packed, you follow Amazon’s packaging rules yourself and you avoid extra prep-service fees from Amazon.

At the end of this step Amazon will tell you which FBA warehouses your stock will be routed to, and you’ll be able to download:

• FNSKU labels (per product).

• Later in the flow, box labels (for the outside of each shipping box).

Step 2: Prepare individual units for Amazon FBA

Before anything goes into a shipping box, you need to prepare each unit correctly. This is where many small sellers start losing hours.

2.1. Apply an FNSKU label to every unit

The FNSKU label is the key piece: it’s the code Amazon uses to link that physical item to your listing.

• Download the labels as a PDF from Seller Central.

• Print them with good quality (laser or thermal printer is ideal).

• Stick one label on every unit in a flat, clean, visible area of the packaging.

Avoid corners, seams and closing flaps. Remember that the label must survive transport, handling and storage.

2.2. Cover original barcodes

If you leave the manufacturer barcode visible, Amazon may scan it instead of the FNSKU. The result can be units checked in as another seller’s stock or even as another product.

The fix is simple:

• Place the FNSKU label directly over the original barcode, or

• Cover the barcode with an opaque sticker and place the FNSKU somewhere else on the packaging.

The important point is that only one scannable barcode is visible on each unit.

2.3. Bagging, film and protection

Some products must be protected in a specific way:

• Textile items, plush toys, products with loose parts.

• Anything that could spill, leak, stain or be damaged easily.

• Bundles made up of several small units.

Typical solutions:

• Poly bags with suffocation warnings where required.

• Shrink wrap or stretch film to hold several units together.

• Stickers such as “Sold as set – Do not separate” when you sell a bundle as a single unit.

2.4. Special products

If you’re dealing with:

• Cosmetics, chemicals, aerosols, flammable products.

• Food, supplements, baby products.

• Electronics containing lithium batteries.

Then you should also review the category-specific FBA policies and, where needed, register the item as dangerous goods. If you’re not sure, this is exactly the kind of situation where support from an experienced prep center is worth it: they handle this type of product every day.

Step 3: Choose and prepare your shipping boxes

Once your units are ready, it’s time to think about shipping cartons, and this is much more than just “throw everything in and tape it”.

3.1. Box type

• Whenever possible, use double-wall cardboard boxes for medium or heavy shipments.

• Avoid boxes that are already damaged or very worn out; Amazon may reject them or they may break in transit.

• Ideally all boxes in the shipment should be similar in size and weight, it makes handling easier.

3.2. Dimensions and weight

Amazon sets maximum weight and size limits per box and it’s important to stay within them. You don’t need to memorise the exact number – they can change – but you should follow these principles:

• Don’t use huge boxes that are mostly empty.

• Don’t push each box to the very top of the weight limit.

• If you sell very large or heavy products, treat them as oversize and check the specific rules for that type of item.

A practical rule of thumb:

Aim for boxes that one person can lift in a natural way without “hugging” them with both arms. If it obviously takes two people to lift it, you’re probably going too far.

3.3. Internal packing and void fill

Inside the box:

• Arrange your units so there are no large empty gaps.

• Fill spaces with kraft paper, bubble wrap or other protective material.

• Make sure heavy items don’t crush lighter or fragile ones: heavy at the bottom, delicate on top and properly cushioned.

If the box rattles when you shake it, it’s not packed well enough.

Step 4: Box labels and carrier coordination

Once you know how many boxes you’re sending and what goes in each one, go back to the Send to Amazon flow:

1. Enter the number of boxes and the content of each (units per SKU).

2. Amazon will generate box labels (one per box) as a PDF.

3. Download and print them.

Important points when applying them:

• One label per box, on a large flat side, no folds and no tape over the barcode.

• Don’t place the label across the seam where the box closes or on corners.

• If the box is particularly heavy, add any required “heavy” warning labels as well.

Next:

• Choose your shipping method: small parcel delivery (individual boxes) or pallet / LTL.

• Confirm the pickup with the partnered carrier (for example UPS) or drop the boxes off at an authorised location, depending on what’s available for your account.

Step 5: Where an FBA prep center fits into this process

If you look back at all the steps, you’ll notice:

• What you do in Seller Central is decisions and clicks.

• What you do in your house or warehouse is hours of physical work: sticking labels, bagging, packing, weighing, measuring, printing, repacking…

This is exactly where an FBA prep center in Spain, such as FBA Pinatar, comes in:

• Your supplier ships the goods directly to the prep center.

• The team receives, counts and inspects the units and lets you know if there are any issues (with photos or videos).

• They label every unit with the FNSKU, bag and seal products where needed, and cover the original barcodes.

• They prepare the shipping boxes according to Amazon’s size and weight rules, with proper packing material and solid cartons.

• They print and apply the box labels that you send them as PDFs from your Seller Central account.

• They hand the boxes over to the carrier within the agreed time frame (for example, 24–48 hours after receiving the goods), and you can follow everything in a shared control sheet.

In practice, you keep the strategic part:

Choosing products, negotiating with suppliers, optimising listings and advertising.

And the prep center takes the operational burden:

Turning pallets and supplier boxes into FBA-ready shipments that arrive at Amazon without problems.

Final checklist: is your shipment ready for Amazon FBA?

Before you close the last box and call the carrier, run through this quick checklist:

• Your products are set up as FBA in Seller Central.

• You’ve created the shipment with Send to Amazon and know which warehouse each box is going to.

• Every unit has a clear, scannable FNSKU label.

• No other barcodes are visible on the packaging.

• Products that need it are bagged or otherwise protected.

• Your boxes are strong, not oversized and not pushed to the limit on weight.

• There are no big empty spaces inside the boxes and nothing moves around.

• Amazon box labels are correctly applied and easy to scan.

• Pickup or drop-off with the carrier is confirmed.

If you can tick everything, your Amazon FBA shipment is in good shape.
And if every time you send inventory you feel you spend more time with tape and labels than analysing products, it might be the right moment to let a prep center like FBA Pinatar handle the physical side, so you can focus on growing your business.