For an FBA seller, freight strategy is inventory strategy. Ship everything by air and margins bleed; ship everything by sea and one delay empties your listing. The sellers who stay in stock cheaply almost all converge on the same playbook.
The split-shipment core
Divide each production run into two legs: a fast portion (air or express) sized to bridge the gap until the slow portion lands, and a bulk portion (sea, or rail where the lane offers it) carrying the economics. One supplier pickup, one consolidation, two departures, documents aligned across both. Your listing never depends on the slowest boat.
Timeline math that actually works
- Work backward from the stockout date, not forward from cargo-ready
- Add production time, freight transit, clearance, and FC check-in — then buffer for peak season
- Remember Chinese New Year: factories close and capacity tightens well before the holiday
- Transit ranges are planning guidance — cargo type, route, customs inspection, and carrier schedule all move them
Compliance is cheaper in China
Fulfillment centers reject freight that breaks the rules: carton weight and size limits, FNSKU and carton labels, pallet specifications, delivery appointments. Fixing a labeling mistake at our warehouse in China costs minutes; fixing it outside an Amazon FC costs weeks and third-party fees. Our FBA workflow verifies labels, cartons and pallets before departure — because prevention is the entire game.
Importer of record: know your role
Amazon is not the importer of your goods — you are, with whatever registrations, bonds or tax accounts your marketplace country requires (customs bonds and ISF in the US, EORI in the UK/EU, CARM in Canada, and so on). We flag the requirements for your destination at quotation so clearance is planned, not improvised.
One more lever: consolidation
Multi-SKU sellers restocking several products should combine them into one consolidated shipment per destination — paying international shipping's fixed costs once and often unlocking better rates. Send us your shipment plan and stockout dates, and we'll map the cheapest way to never run dry.
