So you have successfully navigated your way through the Amazon hoops of setting up your Seller Central account, you have spent an unimaginable amount of hours watching YouTube videos on how to source (check out the channels below if you are still in need of a few pointers!) and armed with an abundance of coffee, you are FINALLY ready to prep your first shipment for Amazon! (WAHOO!)
It seems only right what with us being an Amazon Prep Centre, to give a few simple tips and tricks for Amazon FBA Prep to make your life a little easier when starting your Amazon journey! So lets get to it...
Our first top tip is simple, yet effective!
Be organised! You wouldn't believe the difference it makes when you spend a short amount of time before prepping to get your space tidy and in order! By this, we mean have the equipment needed to hand so you're not running round half way through looking for more tape, or searching under the sofa for a product that you're sure was there a moment ago!
Leading on nicely from organisation would be STANDARDISATION! As humans, we are creatures of habit and we LOVE structure... Learn the ropes and standardise your own processes. Not only will this keep the processes efficient, but it will also minimise the potential of error and keep things flowing nicely.
(A top tip, on top of the top tip would be to look back on your prep/shipping plan process to think about how you could streamline, or improve going forwards).
'Time to put yourself in their shoes'... Take care in your work. If you were the Amazon customer, would you be happy to receive what you are sending?
(An Amazon account is like a pet... It is delicate and needs to be nurtured! Take care in the processes that you can control to keep your account in good health!)
This is where a few prep pointers come in to play!
LABELS
There isn't much involved in labelling products, but there are still a few important points to remember!
ALWAYS check that you are labelling the correct products! (It's good practice to cross reference the product titles/SKU against the product and label)
REMEMBER... If you have a label left over... IT'S GONE WRONG SOMEWHERE!
ALWAYS cover the original barcodes with your Amazon Labels
We personally use 44 labels per A4 sheet, as they are a better size all round (27 labels per sheet can be too large for some of the smaller items).
Keep hold of half used sheets, as these are used for blank labelling when poly bagging!
LIQUIDS
ALWAYS check the lid is tight and fastened (sometimes they work lose in transit from the suppliers)
Tape the lid to prevent the unwanted opening of the products
Blank label the original product barcode to prevent this being scanned in error
Take note of the expiry dates (you learn this lesson pretty quick otherwise!)
Polybag the liquid and tape to keep tidy if needed (we are fortunate enough to have an abundance of resources, but it is always useful to have a variety of different size polybags as this can save valuable time when prepping)
Make sure you either purchase polybags with suffocation warnings printed, or print and apply your own suffocation labels.
BUBBLE WRAP
There isn't a great deal to advise about bubble wrapping to be honest, except follow the Amazon guidelines. If you feel that it is fragile... Bubble wrap it!
BUNDLES
Bundles can be great for Amazon sellers, as they tend to have less competition!
When prepping your bundles the best advise we can give is to place the products back to back to save having to blank label prior to poly bagging them!
As mentioned before... Take note of the expiry dates before poly bagging!
FINAL TOP TIPS
Kite Packaging tend to be pretty good for their boxes, but you may be lucky and find a local company that sell used/recycled boxes!
If the boxes that your items arrive in meet the Amazon requirements, save yourself some money and RE-USE them!
ALWAYS keep hold of box void filler... It is unlikely that you will ever have to buy this to pack out your boxes again!
EQUIPMENT
AND THATS A WRAP!
Well, we hope these pointers help when you are starting out! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our team!
If you are at the stage where you can't keep up and looking to outsource. Please feel free to book a free consultation and we will see how we can help with your Amazon journey!
The Blue30 Team!
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