Amazon's FBA Inbound Placement Service: Navigating Fees

Amazon customers expect fast and free shipping, and Amazon takes that expectation very seriously. However, shipping items across the United States certainly isn’t cheap.

That’s why Amazon is focusing on placing inventory in multiple fulfillment centers across the country to deliver fast and at a lower cost. In a recent announcement to sellers, it introduced the FBA inbound placement service. Standard and large bulky-sized products are subject to the FBA inbound placement service fee as of March 1, 2024. We’ll explain how it works in this article.

FBA Inbound Placement Service Options

When creating a shipping plan for inbound FBA products, you’ll have two options: premium or discounted service.

Premium service allows you to send inventory to a single receive center or fulfillment center. Then Amazon will distribute inventory across its fulfillment network on your behalf, for a fee. The fee will vary depending on location.

With Discounted service, you’ll send inventory to multiple inbound locations yourself for a reduced fee, or no fee. If you're wondering how to avoid Amazon placement fees, it's important to know that the amount of the discount depends on a few factors including the number of shipments you’re sending and the inbound locations you’re shipping to.

Amazon FBA Inbound Placement Service Fee Factors

Amazon will determine your fee based on the following factors:

Item size: small standard, large standard, or large bulky
Weight: measured as unit weight for small standard; greater of dimensional weight or unit weight for large standard and large bulky
Selected inbound placement service: Premium or Discounted
Inbound location: location of the receive or fulfillment center

The fee doesn’t apply to extra-large-sized products. See Amazon’s product size tiers for more details on size. Inbound placement service fees will typically be higher for inbound locations in the western part of the country.

Related reading: Amazon FBA Fees Guide

FBA Inbound Placement Service Availability and Fees

Inbound placement service options will be available based on product types, quantities, existing inventory levels across the Amazon Fulfillment Network, and customer demand location. When creating your shipping plan, you’ll see a cost estimate for each available inbound placement option. The FBA inbound placement service fee will be charged 45 days after the shipment is received.

The Premium FBA inbound placement service fee for a small standard product (maximum size 15x12x0.75 inches, weighs 16 oz or less) ranges from $0.21-$0.30. The fee for a large bulky-sized product (maximum size 59x33x3 inches, weighs up to 50 pounds) ranges from $4.85-$6.00. You can see the full fee rate card in Seller Central.

If you’d prefer to use an end-to-end solution, Supply Chain by Amazon will place products within Amazon’s network on your behalf. If you’re using Amazon Warehousing & Distribution (AWD), managing inventory placement within Amazon’s network is an included service, so you won’t be charged the inbound placement service fee.

Inbound Defect Fees

You may be charged inbound defect fees if your shipments are misrouted and/or don’t arrive within the timeframe specified by Amazon’s inbound policies. This charge covers the additional costs of redirecting, receiving, and processing your shipment. Shipments sent using the Premium or Discounted inbound placement service that don’t arrive at the correct locations or become abandoned are also subject to increased rates based on the actual inbound location(s) and the number of shipments received.

Amazon requires domestic shipments to arrive within 45 days of shipment creation. International shipments must arrive within 75 days of shipment creation. If you’re shipping to multiple locations, additional shipments must arrive within 30 days of the first shipment.

You can track your shipments on the Shipment Performance Dashboard and see additional details on the Inbound Performance Report in Seller Central.