7 Hidden Benefits of Using an Amazon Prep Center

A prep center is a facility that can receive, store, prepare, and ship products for you. Specifically, an Amazon prep center will inspect, prepare, and pack your inventory following the platform’s packaging guidelines.

Proper packaging and labeling of the products ensure accuracy of your inventory shipment. Once checked in at the fulfillment center, they’ll be ready to be sent to buyers.

You might be wondering, “How will using a prep center benefit me when I can do all those myself?”

Whether you’re a new or seasoned seller, you will enjoy the benefits of getting the services of a prep center. In this post, we’ll tackle all the pros that come with using one so read on!

Streamlined Order Processing and Fulfillment for FBA and FBM

There are two main fulfillment methods: FBA and FBM.

FBA means Fulfilled by Amazon. In this method, you ship your products to Amazon and let them handle everything else.

Meanwhile, FBM is the method where the seller fulfills the orders.

Either way, both will need time, energy, space, and resources. Amazon has specific labeling and packaging requirements. 

So you need polybags, bubble wrap, stickers, and boxes of various styles and sizes. Don’t forget the printer and the heat gun for removing stickers.

And if you’re one of the 38% of all Amazon sellers that work a full-time job, then, that translates to you working on your business during off hours.

With the little time that you have juggling a full-time job with the rest of your life, how else will you rest?

That’s when working with a prep center comes in. Delegate that aspect and all your order processing and fulfillment in one place.

You can also strategize how many units you can ship to Amazon and how many units you can leave and store at a prep center. It will help you get on board with both FBA and FBM.

You will also be able to save from Amazon storage fees which are always changing and affecting your profitability. Using a prep center to store units also helps you deal with Amazon storage limits.

Professional Packaging and Presentation

A good customer experience will increase the chances of having a good review. Having good reviews is always good for a thriving business – to establish good seller authority leading to more sales.

Whether you’re doing arbitrage, wholesale, or private label, you will need each product to be well-packed and as presentable as possible. This will lessen the risk of getting damaged while in transit to Amazon and to your customers, too. Therefore, you avoid negative reviews.

At the same time, especially if you’re a private label seller, you can customize your product packaging. A good product presentation will lead to an enjoyable unboxing experience. This gives rise to a higher chance that your buyers will campaign for your brand. 

If you want to put an insert, a prep center can also do that for you. If you have bundles that have supplies coming from different sources, the prep center can put together each pack for you, too.

Inventory Management and Organization through the Prep Center

When you’re just starting, you may still have some spare room at home to use for your Amazon business. But as you start to scale, you will quickly realize that the constant receiving and prepping of new products and inspecting and tracking of returns both from Amazon and from customers could be overwhelming.

Why endure the stress? Delegate it to a trusted prep center.

One can manage an Amazon business remotely. If you’re a remote seller, you can manage your inventory using a prep center in the country you’re selling in while traveling the world.

At the same time, if inventory management is not your thing, then, you will greatly benefit from using a prep center. It will help you focus on things that you enjoy doing more, making you more efficient and your business more streamlined.

Reduced Shipping Costs from a Prep Center to Amazon

This applies not only to local shipping, but also to international shipping. If you’re shipping products from China like many private label sellers do, you will find that the shipping costs are way cheaper if the destination is in the West Coast like California.

At the same time, there is a higher chance that Amazon will assign you a fulfillment center near your chosen prep center when creating a shipment if the ship-from address is a US address, not from China.

The nearer it is, the faster your shipment will be checked in, the sooner you can start selling. And the shorter the distance means cheaper shipping costs.

You can also maximize your shipping through the use of higher but fewer pallets. But since shipping pallets have height requirements when sending to Amazon, you can employ a prep center to repalletize these products first.

With the fluctuating shipping costs, especially international shipping, you will appreciate how using a prep center can greatly improve profitability.

Enhanced Seller Account Health

Your account health is the lifeline of your Amazon business. If you have poor account health, you’re risking having your account suspended.

Account health involves a lot of selling aspects under customer service performance and policy compliance. But another metric is the shipping performance especially for seller-fulfilled orders.

The target is to keep late shipment rate and pre-fulfillment cancel rate to a minimum while maintaining the valid tracking rate high.

With all these aspects of account health to consider, get all the help you can get from a prep center to ship your FBM orders on-time and accurately.

At the same time, you can maintain your IPI (inventory performance index) score by timely replenishments of your inventory through the help of a prep center.

Time and Stress Savings

Having so much stuff around your house could induce stress, not just for you, but for the rest of the people (and probably pets, too) who share your home with.

And if you have suppliers who you trust will pack the items for shipping to Amazon to keep them in pristine condition, know that some of your items may still get damaged along the way.

One way to ensure that your products will be in good condition, you can have them re-packed or re-palletized at a prep center first before shipping them to Amazon.

Having somebody do the leg work of preparing everything that you’re sourcing to be sent to Amazon will save you time which you can use in other business activities that matter more.

It will give you peace of mind that your products are handled well by properly trained staff. No more need to train your own staff. No more waiting for when you can be free to do the prepping itself.

Cost-Effectiveness for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Getting the services of an established prep center is more cost-effective than setting up your own in-house operations. The hiring and training process of your own staff itself will cost you time and money. Not to mention the space and resources needed to get your own prepping stations, storage racks, and equipment.

While you can have everything sent to Amazon and have them do the packing and labeling, it is way cheaper to outsource through an efficient prep center.

A prep center will have professionals taking care of your inventory for you without you lifting a finger. They will be your partners in scaling your business without breaking the bank.

You can even start with minimal inventory and make your way to hundreds and thousands of units a month without having to invest on your own space rental, manpower, equipment, and consumables.

Get All These Benefits From Working With Fast and Forward Prep Center

You now know the benefits of working with a prep center to the scalability and profitability of your Amazon business. Perhaps your next question is, “Is there a prep center near me?”

If you’re looking for one in Florida and California, Fast and Forward Prep Center got you covered. With two branches, our company is continuously growing and improving to serve our clients better.

We cater to all kinds of sellers, even those that sell on other e-commerce platforms other than Amazon. May it be online arbitrage, wholesale, private label, or even dropshipping, expect to get optimum results through our fast and reliable prep center and storage services.

Interested? Sign up with us now!