How to Confirm Shipping in Amazon's Send to Amazon Workflow
Covers the confirm shipping step in Amazon's Send to Amazon workflow, including plan dates, shipping modes, carrier selection, labeling, and inbound placement fee options that directly affect FBA costs.
Overview
The "Confirm Shipping" step is the second stage of Amazon's Send to Amazon workflow, where sellers finalize shipment details before sending inventory to fulfillment centers. This step covers reviewing your shipment contents, selecting a plan date, choosing your shipping mode, and configuring carrier information. Getting this step right is essential to avoiding delays, unexpected fees, and inventory receiving issues at Amazon's warehouses.
Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know
- Plan date selection — Sellers must set a plan date indicating when they expect to ship their inventory. This date helps Amazon prepare for incoming shipments and allocate receiving capacity at fulfillment centers.
- Shipping mode options — You'll choose between small parcel delivery (individual boxes shipped via carriers like UPS or FedEx) and less-than-truckload or full truckload pallet shipments, depending on the size and volume of your inventory.
- Inbound placement choices — Amazon may offer the option to ship to a minimal number of inbound locations or to distribute inventory across multiple fulfillment centers for a reduced fee or no fee. Your choice here directly impacts inbound placement fees.
- Partnered carrier program — Sellers can use Amazon's partnered carriers for discounted shipping rates, or arrange their own transportation with a non-partnered carrier.
- Box content information required — Before reaching this step, sellers must have already provided accurate box content details for every SKU in the shipment.
How the Confirm Shipping Step Works
After completing Step 1 (packing individual units and providing box content information), sellers move to the shipping confirmation page. Here, you'll review the full details of your planned shipment, including which SKUs are included, how they're packed, and where Amazon intends to route them. You'll then select your plan date, which signals to Amazon when to expect your inventory. Choosing an accurate plan date is important because shipments that arrive significantly before or after the stated date can cause processing delays or be flagged for investigation.
Analysis & Recommendations
Why This Matters
Understanding the confirm shipping step helps sellers optimize their inbound placement choices and carrier selections, directly reducing FBA shipping costs and preventing inventory receiving delays.
Key Takeaways
- Sellers choose between small parcel and pallet shipping modes based on shipment volume
- Amazon's partnered carrier program offers discounted rates compared to arranging your own freight
- Inbound placement options let sellers trade convenience for lower fees by shipping to more locations
- Accurate plan dates and correct labeling prevent processing delays at fulfillment centers
Recommended Actions
- →Review Amazon's inbound placement fee structure before choosing minimal vs. distributed placement
- →Use Amazon's partnered carrier rates as a baseline to compare against your own carrier quotes
- →Always verify box labels and pallet labels are correctly printed and applied before shipping
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