Amazon Shipping Costs: The Must-Dos to Save More

Dos and don’ts in life often guide us. At home, our parents would always seem to have an invisible list of dos like “do the chores” or “do your homework.” When we go out into the world, you’ll see a lot of signs “do not cross,” “do not litter,” and more. Following them will be for our benefit. 

The same goes for Amazon shipping costs. If there are signs we could always see to remind us when we are already spending more than what we should, that would be nice. 

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Amazon FBA is an essential service you should take to succeed on Amazon. It allows you to appear on listings where Amazon Prime users are shopping. These buyers are gold, and there is a higher chance they will buy your products if you have the Prime badge. However, Amazon FBA isn’t that cheap. Hence, if you want to make the most of the service, you should be on top of your spendings. 

We have listed some dos and don’ts you can print in the corner of your office or know by heart. Like the signs we see everywhere, following these dos and don’ts will help your advantage. 

Must-Dos to Save Some Amazon Shipping Costs 

Suppose you do these things, we assure you that Doing the must-dos in this list will lessen, one way or another, your cost to ship to Amazon FBA. How much does shipping cost? The answer depends on how aware you are of your spendings and the steps you can take to minimize your costs. Here are the things you can do to enjoy Amazon FBA without losing a lot of money. 

Do sign up for a professional account once you have stabilized your store.

When you sign up for Amazon FBA, you will have two options--individual account and professional account. If you are still beginning in your business, but you already know the value Amazon FBA can bring, sign up for it. Nonetheless, we encourage you to sign up for the individual account yet because of the following benefits: 

• You can create an Amazon FBA individual account for free.
• Your cost to ship to Amazon FBA will only be the charge to the shipping company sending your goods, the fee per unit of sale you get, and the storage of your products.
• The Amazon FBA mark will help you rank on the listing, which is your primary goal when you begin a business on Amazon.

Once you have stabilized your business through steady sales and ranking on the first three pages of the listing, you can look into using the professional account. You will be charged USD39.99 monthly, but here are the advantages of using the Amazon FBA professional account: 

• You will have unlimited access to all the data you need to get a full view of your business. 
• You can manage your inventory since you have access to the seller central backend.
• You are eligible for different listing placement offers like appearing on Featured Offers.
• If you are shipping to the US, tax and duty rate calculation is available.
• If you are partnered with an Amazon management agency, you can grant access to them as users.

There is a perfect time for everything, they say. For the professional account, the ideal time is after all the steps to optimize your store are done. You will save on monthly fees with this strategy. 

Follow the Amazon packing and preparation guidelines.

You should not forget to follow the Amazon packing and preparation requirements. If you are a newly-opened Amazon store, packing fewer products according to the guidelines will be more comfortable. Nonetheless, once you go big, you might need help. Here are the choices you have:

• Know the packing rubies by heart and be hands-on in packing. Keep your products' dimensions and weight to a minimum to be charged less.
• If you do not have the time to do this, you can partner with a local shipping company to do the packing for you. These companies also know how to minimize the cost through efficient packing. 
• You can ship to Amazon, and Amazon will pack the products for you. This option is the most costly of all as Amazon charges fees. 

If you can manage to do the packing yourself, this is the most suggested strategy if you want to save. The packing regulations may be a bit complicated at first, but you’ll get the hang of it in the long run. Besides, the benefit of a decreased fee to pay will be your motivation. 

Invest in Sponsored Ads 

How much does shipping cost? Another factor that will affect this question is the amount of investment you allot for your Amazon Sponsored Ads. Amazon has several sponsored ad types you can maximize to make your product visible to your target audience and get a sale. Here’s a quick look at them:

• Sponsored Products: This is the type of advertisement to focus on selling a specific product. You can choose where your listing will appear and which product to advertise.
• Sponsored Brands: If you are after brand awareness, this is the ad type to take. Flaunt your brand logo and tag line, make buyers remember you, and click through the ad to lead to a compilation of all the products you sell.
• Sponsored Display: Do you want your ad to appear in and out of Amazon? The Sponsored Display allows this. 
• Amazon Stores: Create a website within Amazon at no cost, feature the products you sell, create informative content, and increase your product's credibility through Amazon Stores.

Strategize on which sponsored ads will give you the sales you need. Investing in the right sponsored ad will also allow you to save on the payment for cost to ship to Amazon FBA. Your products will be off the Amazon warehouses with effective ads in no time. Hence, you do not need to pay long-term storage fees. 

Think and plan wisely when shipping directly from China to Amazon warehouses

China is known to offer cheap manufacturing services. However, if you are still beginning your business and looking into this option to produce your goods, make sure to understand the ins and outs of the processes first. 

Note that you have at least three options if you want to ship directly to Amazon FBA. Each will produce different costs. We’ll explain them according to where you can save the most, both in time and money.

• Ship directly from the manufacturing factory to Amazon FBA - This type of shipment will save you time and money. The transfer from one service provider will be cut as the company who manufactured your goods will also be the one who will pack your items according to Amazon guidelines and ship them directly to Amazon. Your partner factory will add the additional job to the manufacturing cost. 
• Hire a freight forwarding company -  Hire a third-party carrier company - If you feel uncomfortable with the manufacturing company knowing that you sell on Amazon, you can hire a third-party carrier company. Stallion Express works with Amazon to provide high-quality and reliable shipping services. Stallion will ensure to handle your products safely until they reach the fulfillment center. The additional step will add time and money to your shipping costs. Hence, create a shipping calendar that will ensure you will deliver your products on the planned date. 
• Send the products to your address - The two options have a common disadvantage--you cannot check the products sent to Amazon warehouses. Hence, you can proactively work on minimizing Amazon.com return shipping costs.

If you are into quality checking first, you may choose to receive the products first, and you will be the one sending the packages to Amazon. 

The three choices can give you varying advantages and disadvantages. Your preference will be according to your priority. If you are after checking your products' quality, the third means is the best. If you are saving time and cost to ship to Amazon FBA, shipping directly from the manufacturing company is the best. 

Maximize Seller Central for your inventory monitoring

Once you are registered to the professional account, you can monitor your inventory. Once important information you can get here is your Amazon.com return shipping cost. You will know how many returns you get, the reasons for the returns, and the prices you pay for the processing of these returns. 

For the first two details, you can check why your products are returned. Some reasons are not within your control like but focus on the returns caused by your goods' quality. Ask yourself how else you can improve your products to avoid the same reasons for returns moving forward. 

For the cost details, you will see that Amazon charges for the returns as well as the repackaging of your working products. Numbers don’t lie. Hence, the information you will get from these data can guide you on the next steps you will take to make your Amazon business succeed. 

Final Thought

Amazon FBA is a worthy investment. It will make your products and listing appear on buyers, especially Amazon Prime members. These customers have a higher probability of buying. Having the Prime badge will make your product more attractive. However, this benefit comes at a cost. Nonetheless, by following these must-dos, you can minimize the cost. 

If you are looking for a partner shipping company that will complement your goal to cut the cost, Stallion Express can be your partner.

Stallion Express offers the cheapest Amazon shipping costs, even lower than National Carriers. How much does shipping cost? Stallion Express offers CAD20 for a 15” square box weighing 30lbs, with UPS label from Amazon seller central attached, to be sent from Canada to their warehouse in Newark, California.  Again, Stallion’s FBA service is just bringing across the border (but gives Canadian Amazon sellers the access to low-cost shipping to FBA fulfillment center).

Contact us at 877-863-7477 for inquiries. You can also visit our website to know us more.