How to Link and Manage Carrier Accounts in Amazon Buy Shipping
Amazon's Buy Shipping lets sellers link their own UPS and FedEx carrier accounts to access negotiated rates alongside Amazon's discounted rates when fulfilling merchant-fulfilled orders.
Overview
Amazon's Buy Shipping program allows sellers to purchase shipping labels directly within Seller Central, and a key part of getting the most from this feature is managing your carrier accounts. Sellers can either use Amazon's pre-negotiated shipping rates or connect their own UPS and FedEx accounts to access their personally negotiated rates when fulfilling merchant-fulfilled (FBM) and other non-FBA orders.
Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know
- Amazon's negotiated rates are available by default — Sellers using Buy Shipping can immediately access discounted rates that Amazon has negotiated with major carriers, without needing to link any external accounts.
- You can link your own UPS or FedEx accounts — If you have existing carrier accounts with negotiated rates that may be more favorable, you can connect them to Buy Shipping to compare and use those rates instead.
- Multiple accounts per carrier are supported — Sellers are not limited to a single linked account per carrier. You can connect more than one UPS or FedEx account depending on your shipping needs.
- Terms and conditions apply — Amazon requires sellers to review and accept the terms and conditions before linking any external carrier account to their Seller Central profile.
- API integration is available — Sellers who manage shipping programmatically can follow the same account-linking process when accessing Buy Shipping through the Merchant Fulfillment V2 API.
How It Works
Buy Shipping is Amazon's integrated label-purchasing tool that lets sellers buy and print shipping labels for merchant-fulfilled orders without leaving Seller Central. When you use Buy Shipping, you can choose from Amazon's negotiated rates with carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx. However, if you've negotiated your own rates directly with UPS or FedEx — particularly common for high-volume sellers — you have the option to link those accounts so your custom rates appear alongside Amazon's rates when purchasing labels. This gives you the flexibility to always select the most cost-effective option for each shipment.
Linking Your Carrier Account
Analysis & Recommendations
Why This Matters
Sellers who fulfill their own orders can reduce shipping costs by linking existing UPS or FedEx accounts with negotiated rates directly in Buy Shipping, avoiding the need to manage labels across multiple platforms.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon's negotiated shipping rates are available by default through Buy Shipping without linking any accounts
- Sellers can link their own UPS and FedEx accounts to access custom negotiated rates
- Multiple carrier accounts per carrier are supported for sellers with complex fulfillment operations
- The same linking process works through both Seller Central and the Merchant Fulfillment V2 API
Recommended Actions
- →Review your current UPS and FedEx rates and compare them against Amazon's Buy Shipping rates to determine if linking accounts would save money
- →If you have negotiated carrier rates, link those accounts in Buy Shipping settings to access them directly when purchasing labels
- →Consider using Buy Shipping even without linked accounts to take advantage of Amazon's pre-negotiated carrier discounts
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