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Originally published on October 25, 2016, updated October 1, 2021
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This article has been updated to reflect changes to the Seller Fulfilled Prime program for 2021.
Every Amazon seller wants the coveted Prime badge and it's not just because of the optics. Having the Prime badge has been shown to increase sales and helps verify Amazon's trust in you, which is something that you certainly want. And ok, yes, it also looks pretty cool and has good PR attached to it!
In order to be Prime eligible, you must be able to get orders to customers quickly. Many sellers rely on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to get their products in front of Prime customers, but there's another option: Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP).
If you’re unfamiliar with Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime or want to learn more about it, below we explain everything you need to know, including eligibility requirements and upcoming changes to the program.
Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime is a program where Amazon sellers store and ship their own products but still follow the rigorous guidelines of Prime, including two-day delivery with Amazon-supported carriers. In a trial run of the program, merchants saw a 50% increase in sales right out of the gate!
The real appeal of Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime is that you can carry the Prime badge without paying FBA fees. Your Prime listings qualify for filtered results in Prime member searches, helping to increase their visibility and adding incentive to purchase thanks to the two-day delivery guarantee. Prime products have a greater chance of winning the Buy Box too, which is another big perk.
The downside is that you handle the entire fulfillment process yourself while following Amazon’s strict guidelines. That means storing your inventory, printing shipping labels, getting packages to the carrier, and confirming deliveries all fall on your shoulders.
We first must mention that at the time of this writing, Seller Fulfilled Prime temporarily put registration on hold. If you’re interested in the program, you can still join the waitlist to be first in line when they start accepting applications again.
That gives you extra time to get your account up to SFP standards, which aren’t exactly easy. You must have the following:
Clearly, Amazon is eager to uphold the reputation of its Prime membership, so they’re only prepared to accept the best of the best.
Some of the above requirements are quite new, as Amazon has been updating, revising, and postponing these policies for some months now. Here are the three main changes you should be aware of if you're a seller enrolled in Seller-Fulfilled Prime:
Amazon has added tools and features to help you achieve these delivery speeds. For example, you can set your order cut-off time with options to vary by day of the week and shipping service. You can also use Shipping Region Automation to set up delivery regions for 1-day and 2-day delivery based on the speeds of your shipping services and one or more of your warehouses.
The Seller Fulfilled Prime Performance page in Seller Central includes details about your current performance as well as the Delivery Speed metric target. You can quickly identify SKUs that are contributing to slower delivery speeds in the Delivery Speed report.
Amazon will automatically classify your products into standard-size or oversize based on package weight and dimensions. Manage SFP includes this information as well as SKU-level visibility into calculated Prime coverage for an assigned shipping template.
Delivery speed targets increased on February 1, 2021 and will increase again on June 1, 2021. SFP sellers must deliver standard-sized Prime items six days a week, including either Saturday or Sunday delivery. This essentially forces SFP sellers into a 6-day work week, which has drawn sharp criticism from the seller community.
Even though Amazon announced the changes to its SFP program back in August of 2020, most merchants were caught unprepared when they became effective on Feb 1, 2021.Manish Chowdhary
In Cahoot’s recent webinar, Meeting Amazon’s New SFP Requirements, we offer specific and practical tactics and strategies that sellers can apply to meet the nationwide 1-day and 2-day delivery speed metrics. This move by Amazon heralds a new era of nationwide 1-day delivery being the new normal for the eCommerce industry as a whole. While some may look at this as a threat, I believe this can be an excellent opportunity for many to get ahead not only on Amazon, but all their sales channels.
Another change you should be aware of involves seller-fulfilled order returns. Starting April 15, 2021, SFP customers will be offered returnless and free replacements on eligible items as part of the Prepaid Return Label program. Customers will only be offered a replacement if there's available inventory of the original item, but it means that you'll have to keep up with those deliveries, too.
If you want that Prime badge, the big question boils down to Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime vs. Fulfilled By Amazon. FBA is Amazon’s own program that handles both storage and fulfillment, but it certainly isn't free.
FBA has less strict eligibility requirements. It also handles all shipping responsibilities for you, so all you have to worry about is the sales side of your business. The downside for many sellers is all the associated fees. FBA charges a lot of small fees for aspects like product weight and how much cubic footage your products take up.
All in all, FBA tends to be more convenient and expands your delivery range, but that comes at a high cost. Still, FBA is the easiest route to get that Prime badge — FBA sellers only need to maintain performance status as a reliable seller to qualify. Considering the fees, though, if you sell heavy/large-sized products, operate your own warehouse(s), or work with a 3PL, it may be cheaper to fulfill them yourself.
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