For Amazon, FBA is the soul of Amazon. If you do Amazon without FBA, it means you are giving up the most classic feature of Amazon. However, not all products are suitable for FBA, because for some products, you may lose money if you do FBA, or it is prohibited to do FBA.
1. Products that are too cheap
Products with a retail price of less than $7 are not suitable for FBA. The reason is simple. FBA charges several basic fees for each transaction, which greatly increases the costs for sellers. Products that are too cheap will not be profitable. If your product retails for less than $7, it’s best to ship it yourself.
2. Products that are too big and too heavy
Amazon frequently adjusts FBA fees, and careful sellers will notice that fees for large and heavy products are constantly increasing. If your product is large and heavy, or is a disposable product, it is not suitable for FBA.
3. Products with particularly strong functionality
After you ship the goods, Amazon will complete the after-sales service. In this case, the return rate of highly functional products will be very high.
4. Unpopular Products
FBA has storage fees. Although they are not high, they are still a considerable expense over time. Industry insiders said that starting from August 15, Amazon will make further adjustments to its logistics warehouses. Sellers need to note that if some products have been stored for more than 6 months, Amazon will charge ten times the storage fee.
So Amazon cannot be treated as a warehouse. It still needs to store things that can be sold.
5. Products with strong seasonality
It is not recommended to use FBA for seasonal and festive products. This is because FBA basically relies on sales volume forecasts. If a product is too seasonal, it will be difficult to predict sales. If the inventory is low, the impact will be huge if it is out of stock. If there is too much inventory and it is unsaleable, we can’t wait until next year to fight again, right? Of course, if your inventory management is strong, you can completely ignore this.
6. Dangerous items that are expressly prohibited
Certain products may be eligible to sell on Amazon but not eligible to use FBA. The following are prohibited products from Amazon Logistics:
* Any product that cannot be legally sold or distributed in any U.S. jurisdiction
* Alcoholic beverages (including non-alcoholic beer)
* Kongming Lantern or Water Lantern
* Car tires
* Gift cards, gift certificates and other stored value instruments
* Products with unauthorized marketing materials (such as brochures, price tags, and other non-Amazon stickers)
* Items that are larger than 144 inches by 96 inches by 96 inches or weigh more than 150 pounds
* Products that require preparation but have not yet been prepared according to Amazon Logistics packaging and preparation requirements
* Loosely packed batteries
* Damaged or defective products
* Products whose labels were not properly registered with Amazon before shipment or whose labels do not match the registered products
* Products that do not comply with any agreement between Amazon and the seller
* Products that have been illegally copied, reproduced or manufactured
* Products that Amazon has determined to be unsuitable for sale
In summary, not all products are suitable for FBA. For unsuitable products, you can choose to ship them yourself or ship them from overseas warehouses, which may also sell well.
