{"id":159,"date":"2024-09-16T19:55:43","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T19:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/blog\/inventory-placement\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T06:39:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T06:39:01","slug":"inventory-placement","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/blog\/inventory-placement\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Amazon Inventory Placement Service the Right Choice for Sellers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

** Minutes<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

What is Amazon inventory placement? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Amazon\u2019s FBA inbound placement service work? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimal vs. partial vs. Amazon-optimised shipment splits <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are Amazon\u2019s inventory placement options right for you? <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pros and cons of Amazon\u2019s FBA inbound placement service<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skip the Amazon Inventory Placement fees with ShipBob <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inventory placement FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When you become an ecommerce seller, you quickly discover that there are many questions that you never thought about, but still must answer. For instance: What is the most efficient way to ship your inventory to a warehouse<\/a> or fulfilment centre<\/a>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Amazon sellers<\/a> leveraging the Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service, the default method of distributing and shipping inventory requires the merchant to ship portions of their inventory to different fulfilment centres so that it\u2019s spread out across different regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some merchants, this can be expensive and time-consuming. Fortunately, there is an alternative: Amazon inventory placement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll cover how Amazon inventory placement works, its pros and cons, and how ShipBob can provide ecommerce merchants with an alternative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Amazon inventory placement?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As of March 1st, 2024, Amazon\u2019s Inventory Placement Service has been deprecated (see note here<\/a>). Now, any inventory placement is encompassed and billed through Amazon\u2019s FBA inbounding program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon\u2019s FBA inbound placement service<\/a> is an inventory distribution service available to Amazon FBA sellers. It allows Amazon sellers to send their inventory to a single Amazon receiving or fulfilment centre, instead of having to send split shipments separately to multiple Amazon fulfilment centres in different locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, imagine you’re an Amazon seller with a new product line of eco-friendly water bottles. Without the Inventory Placement Service, you’d need to divide your inventory and send parts of it to several Amazon centres across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be time-consuming, complex, and expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the FBA inbound placement service, you can instead send your entire inventory to one central location. From there, Amazon handles distributing it to various fulfilment centres for you for a per-item fee.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can simplify your logistics, reduce the chances of errors and delays, and ultimately allow you to focus more on growing your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Amazon\u2019s FBA inbound placement service work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you use Amazon\u2019s FBA service, you can select one of three inbounding options: Partial shipment splits, Amazon-optimised shipment splits, or minimal shipment splits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partial and Amazon-optimised shipment splits require you divide your inventory into multiple portions and ship these portions to multiple different receiving hubs and\/or fulfilment centres for a reduced fee or no fee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea behind this default is to distribute your inventory across different regions, so that your orders are shipped out from the fulfilment centre nearest to their destinations, which allows your customers to receive their orders faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this default can sometimes force a merchant to ship inventory to Amazon facilities that are extremely far away, which greatly increases their inventory shipping costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, you can opt for minimal shipment splits. Using the minimal shipment splits option, you send your entire Amazon inventory to (typically) a single Amazon receiving hub, which may be a receiving centre or a fulfilment centre. From there, Amazon will decide how to strategically divide and distribute your inventory between different fulfilment centres, and do so on your behalf.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lets you enjoy the benefits of distributed inventory<\/a>, without having to distribute it across various locations yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this option is not free. Amazon will charge you a per-unit fee<\/a> based on each SKU<\/a>\u2019s Amazon sizing tier and weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every merchant will have to calculate whether or not Amazon\u2019s FBA inbound placement service is cost-effective for their unique business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, say you want to ship 1,000 units of inventory, each of which is large standard-sized and weighs less than 12 oz, through using the minimal shipment splits option to a distant West region inbound location. Amazon will change a $0.34 fee per item, which adds up to $340 in service fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as the cost savings you reap from shipping to a single location (rather than multiple locations) offset the extra $340 fee, using the the minimal shipment split FBA inbound placement service is a good idea \u2014 but only you could determine that for your business.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMost other companies like Amazon are structured in such a way that you don\u2019t have flexibility \u2014 you\u2019re just a small part of their business, so there\u2019s no patience for you. The amazing thing about ShipBob has not just been its flexibility and ability to customise, but also the support it’s given us whenever we\u2019ve faced problems. Having support through ShipBob has really allowed us to capture growth well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Patterson, COO of The Adventure Challenge<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Minimal vs. partial vs. Amazon-optimised shipment splits <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To help you determine which FBA inbounding option is best for your brand, here is a breakdown of the key differences between the three options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shipping<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Using the minimal shipment split, a seller ships all of their inventory to a single Amazon receiving hub or fulfilment centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the partial shipment split, a seller ships their inventory to 2 or 3 Amazon receiving hubs or fulfilment centres.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the Amazon-optimised shipment split, a seller ships to four or more Amazon receiving hubs or fulfilment centres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distribution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Under the minimal shipment split option, Amazon takes care of distribution for merchants; once your inventory reaches the designated receiving centre or fulfilment centre, Amazon\u2019s team divides it and ships units to other fulfilment centres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under partial and Amazon-optimised shipment split options, the seller is solely responsible for dividing up their inventory and shipping it to multiple fulfilment centres.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both cases, Amazon picks the location or locations to which a merchant will send their inventory. With minimal shipment split, Amazon chooses both the initial receiving hub or fulfilment centre, as well as the subsequent ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you opt for minimal shipment split, Amazon charges a per-item fee based on each item\u2019s sizing tier and weight. If your business sells and ships heavy or bulky items<\/a>, these add-on costs can easily add up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you opt for partial shipment split, you must still pay Amazon a per-item inbound placement service fee, but this fee is smaller than the minimal shipment split placement fee.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no fee for the Amazon-optimised shipment split option. However, this is because merchants are responsible for the entire cost of shipping inventory to four or more Amazon locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sizing Tier<\/strong> <\/td>Weight<\/strong> <\/td>Minimal<\/strong> <\/td>Partial<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Small Standard <\/td>16 oz or less <\/td>$0.21 – $0.30 <\/td>$0.12 – $0.21 <\/td><\/tr>
Large Standard <\/td>12 oz or less <\/td>$0.23 – $0.34 <\/td>$0.13 – $0.24 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>12+ oz to 1.5 lb <\/td>$0.27 – $0.41 <\/td>$0.15 – $0.28 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>1.5+ lb to 3 lb <\/td>$0.32 – $0.49 <\/td>$0.17 – $0.34 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>3+ lb to 20 lb <\/td>$0.42 – $0.68 <\/td>$0.23 – $0.48 <\/td><\/tr>
Large Bulky <\/td>5 lb or less <\/td>$2.16 – $2.67 <\/td>$0.55 – $1.48 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>5+ lb to 12 lb <\/td>$2.55 – $3.15 <\/td>$0.65 – $1.75 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>12+ lb to 28 lb <\/td>$3.19 – $3.95 <\/td>$0.81 – $2.19 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>28+ lb to 42 lb <\/td>$4.13 – $5.11 <\/td>$1.05 – $2.83 <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/td>42+ lb to 50 lb <\/td>$4.85 – $6.00 <\/td>$1.23 – $3.32 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Source: Amazon<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cIn the ShipBob dashboard we can view a breakdown of daily costs, which is also very different from other providers who just give you a big bill at the end of a month.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Coventry, Marketing & Partnerships Lead at Rugby Bricks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Exceptions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to create separate shipping plans for standard-sized products, non-standard-size products, and items in the following categories: <\/p>\n\n\n\n