FNSKU Labels and UPC Barcodes 101 – Part 7
The 7th update is going to cover information regarding the labels and barcodes that your product needs to have so that you can send it to Amazon’s warehouse. I know when I started to read about the labels/barcodes that it was very confusing and that is why I wanted to dedicate a whole post to talk about it.
Before we dive into this post, make sure to check out the previous updates to the case study below:
All of my Amazon FBA Case Study Updates
- Introduction to the Case Study (Start here if you are new!)
- PART 2 - The Game Plan
- PART 3 - How to Find Profitable Products to Sell on Amazon
- PART 4 - How to Find Suppliers on Alibaba
- PART 5 - Info about my first order + How-to calculate Amazon fees
- PART 6 - How I Utilized my Product Sample
- PART 7 - You Are Here!
- PART 8 - I Placed my First Order + A Minor Setback
- PART 9 - How to Brand your Amazon FBA Business
- PART 10 - How to Setup your Amazon Sellers Account
- PART 11 - My Product Has Shipped + A Couple of Updates
- PART 12 - The Definitive Guide to Getting your Product Pictures Taken
- PART 13 - My Product has Arrived at Amazon + My Initial Launch Plan
- PART 14 - Results from my First Month Selling on Amazon
- PART 15 - Increased Rankings and Sales + Ordered a New Shipment
- PART 16 - Details of my First 90 Days Selling on Amazon
Now that you are all hopefully caught up, lets get right into the update!
What are UPC Barcodes and FNSKU Labels
UPC Barcodes: This is a barcode that every single item that is sold anywhere needs to have. It doesn’t matter if it is being sold in Walmart or on Amazon, it will need to have a UPC.
You may not have to actually apply the UPC to the product you are selling(more info later in the post) but you will need every product you sell to be associated with a UPC code.
FNSKU Label: The FNSKU label is for products being sold on Amazon only. It is a way for Amazon to track the product and identify it with a specific a seller. This way you can receive credit when the item sells.
No matter what, you are going to have a FNSKU label on each and every product that is sold on Amazon. I will discuss the options you have for applying this label below.
Why you Need UPC and FNSKU Labels
You need these labels so that Amazon knows that the shipment and products belong to you and that you get credit when the item sells. These labels help Amazon identify the items and ship them accordingly.
Like I said earlier, you will 100% need the FNSKU label on each item that you send into Amazon. You won’t always need the UPC code on each item, but you will always need to register the UPC code with your product.
Where to Get UPC Barcodes
There are a million places to buy UPC bar codes on the internet, some more expensive than others. Always try to buy cheap ones and I will give you all a reliable place to buy these bar codes in a second.
First, I want to explain why some are more expensive than others. The official place to buy UPC bar codes is from www.gs1us.org and it will cost you around $250 and a $50 renewal fee per year. DO NOT BUY FROM HERE.
You do not need an official UPC code to sell on Amazon. If you were planning on selling in retail stores then yes, you would need your own unique UPC code.
I am assuming most people will not be selling in retail stores so you do not have to buy from the official site.
If you are only going to be selling on Amazon then you can get them for much cheaper here – Speedy Barcodes
Here you can get them for $5 a pop(I bought 5 codes for $10) and they will be perfect for what we are doing.
Once you buy them, save the codes in a spreadsheet and make sure that you use one code for only one product.
That means if I am selling black snow gloves then I would have one UPC code for all of my black snow gloves. If you wanted to sell white snow gloves then you would need to use another UPC code.
So if you are starting to sell on Amazon with only one product you will only need one UPC code.
Make sure to keep track of these codes and don’t lose them. They are important!
How to get a FNSKU Label
Getting your FNSKU label is a little bit trickier than getting the UPC code. The reason for this is because you will need to have an Amazon seller account and create a new product listing within the seller account.
Once you create the new listing, you will be able to get your FNSKU labels from Amazon. Creating an Amazon sellers account is fairly straightforward but I will briefly walk you through how to get your FNSKU label once you have created an Amazon sellers account.
Brief Walkthrough of How to Get FNSKU Label
Add a Product from Sellers Account
From your sellers account homepage, scroll down and click "Add a Product" from the sidebar.
Pick Product Category
Pick the correct category for your product. I am not going to go into detail on how to do this in this post.
Once you pick the category, you will be taken to a page where you can fill out info about your product. That is where we want to be!
Fill Out Required Fields and UPC Code
You need to fill out all of the required fields on the form, including the UPC field.
You will need to get the UPC code that you bought and input it into the intended field. The place where you put the UPC code is highlighted below.
The required fields that are marked with red are the bare minimum that you need to fill out to get your FNSKU label. You will want to go back through and fill out all of the rest of the info at some point before you start selling your product.
Save Listing and go to Manage Inventory
Once you have filled out all of the required fields and the UPC code, save the listing.
Next, you will want to go to the manage inventory page. You can find this page by clicking on the drop down menu. See below.
Once you click there, you should be taken to a page that looks like the one below. Don't worry if you don't see anything, you shouldn't see anything in the inventory page at this point.
Get your New Listing to Show Up
If your newly created listing is not showing up in the Manage Inventory page then you need to change the filter to show "inactive listings".
To do that, click on "Status" then check "all". Check out the image below for a reference.
Once you change the settings, you should see your listing show up. It will look like the image below(mine is blacked out for obvious reasons).
Select Listing for FNSKU Labels
Now that you can see your listing listed in the "Manage Inventory" page we can move onto the next step.
The next thing we want to do is select the little box on the far left side of the listing. See below.
Once the box is ticked, you want to click on the "Action" button. You will then see a drop down menu with a bunch of different options.
From the drop down menu, click on the "Print Item Labels". You can see where you should click in the picture below.
Save FNSKU Labels
You should now see a page like the one below:
The next thing we want to do is change the number of labels to match the amount of your first order. For example, if you are ordering 500 units then you want to change the number of labels to 500.
After you change the number of labels to match your first order, you can then save them to your computer. Click on the Print button to save them.
Save them somewhere safe on your computer and remember where you saved them. All of the FNSKU labels are saved in a PDF file.
Send FNSKU Labels to Supplier/Inspection Company
You are going to want to send this PDF file full of your FNSKU labels to whoever is applying the labels to your products.
This could be your supplier or an FBA inspection company, either way you are going to send the FNSKU labels to them and they will print them out and apply them.
That is how you get FNSKU labels for your product. You may not have to worry about getting them if you decide to let Amazon apply the FNSKU labels for you. That will cost you an extra $.20 per item if you let Amazon do it for you.
There are two different options that you can go with your UPC/FNSKU labels, in the next section of this post I will explain each one.
Two Different Options
You have two different options that you can opt to go with in terms of applying the labels to your product. Those two options are simplified below.
Option #1
Your supplier applies the UPC barcode to all of your products and sends it into Amazon.
Amazon will then place a FNSKU label over the UPC code for a fee of $.20 per unit.
Option #2
Your supplier or freight forwarder applies the FSNKU on each product instead of the UPC code.
This will save you $.20 per unit.
Option #1 Explained
A simple breakdown of the process of this option:
- Buy UPC code
- Send UPC code to supplier/freight forwarder/inspection company
- Supplier/freight forwarder/inspection company applies UPC barcode to each product
- Items get sent into Amazon’s warehouse
- Amazon applies FNSKU labels over the UPC barcodes
- You’re good to go!
The first option involves only applying the UPC barcodes to your products and then paying Amazon $.20 per item to apply the FNSKU labels for you when they arrive at their warehouse.
You will have to send your UPC code to your supplier and then they will print out the codes and apply them to each one of your products. Then when Amazon receives your shipment, they will apply their FNSKU labels over the UPC codes.
The good thing about this option is that it is a little bit easier for you since you won’t have to go through the trouble of getting your own FNSKU labels.
The bad part is that it is going to cost an extra $.20 per item, which can cut into the profit margins. If possible, I would not go this route and instead apply the FNSKU labels before you send your products into Amazon. I will explain that option below.
Option #2 Explained
A breakdown of the second option:
- Buy UPC code
- Create a new listing with this UPC code
- Get your FNSKU labels from Amazon(I walked through this whole process above)
- Send the FNSKU labels into your supplier/freight forwarder/inspection company
- They will apply the FNSKU labels
- Send items into Amazon
- Good to go!
The second option involves applying the FNSKU labels onto your products before you send them into Amazon.
To do this, you will still need to get a UPC code and use that code to get the FNSKU label. The entire process of getting the FNSKU labels was explained earlier in this post.
Your supplier or freight forwarder may charge you a small fee to apply the FNSKU labels for you. This small fee will be less than what Amazon will charge you, so it will be cheaper to go this route.
Your supplier may not even charge you at all and do it for free. Just ask them!
I would advise using the second option and that is also the option that I am going to be using. I will explain the reasons behind this decision in the next section.
What Option will I be Going with?
Like I alluded to above, I will be going with the section option.
This means that I will be sending my FNSKU labels to my supplier and they will be applying the labels to my products for me. This means that I get out of having to pay the $.20 per item fee that Amazon charges.
Luckily, my supplier is going to apply the labels for me for free. So I get to save $.20 per item, or $200 on my 1000 unit order.
FAQ’s
I know that this whole process can be confusing and when I was going through this process myself there were a ton of questions that I had.
For that reason, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a list of common questions and I will answer them.
Is there a certain size the labels need to be?
No. There is no right or wrong size for the labels. I would just go with the recommended size of 1in x 2-5/8in.
Where should the labels be placed?
They need to be in a place that is easily visible and makes it so it can be scanned without any problems. For exact instructions, you can refer to this – http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200243200
Do I need a label for each product?
Yes. If you had an order of 1,000 units then you would need to label all 1,000 units with a label.
Do you need a UPC code if you use a FNSKU instead?
Yes. You will need a UPC code and FNSKU label no matter what.
How should I apply the labels?
You have a couple of different options. You can use your supplier, a freight forwarder, a FBA inspection company or you could do it yourself(not advised).
Resources
I have gathered some resources that I thought might be helpful if you were looking for more information. I didn’t cover every single aspect in this article and I would suggest you check out the resources listed below before you place any orders.
- Speedy Barcodes
- A ton of info from Amazon about labels – http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200243200
- Info about Amazon’s FBA label service(the $.20 per item) – http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_sib?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200685690
- Basic, but useful info about labels – https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/fba-help/QRG/ItemLabels.pdf
- A good video on how to get the FNSKU labels – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4DTuVm3vsY
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of the 7th update!
I have been getting a lot of different questions regarding labels and this post hopefully cleared up some of those questions. If there is something that you want answered that I didn’t cover in this post then let me know in the comments below and I will answer it.
Thank you all for reading, if you are new here then make sure you join our Facebook group full of people eager to learn how to sell on Amazon. You can join the group here.
Quick Question
Would you be interested in me hosting a webinar where I would walk you through how I look for products to sell on Amazon and answer any questions that you may have?
If you think that you would attend the webinar or that you would find this useful then let me know in the comments below. If I receive enough interest in a webinar then I will happily do it for you all.
So make sure to leave a comment below if want a webinar, thanks!
All of my Amazon FBA Case Study Updates
- Introduction to the Case Study (Start here if you are new!)
- PART 2 - The Game Plan
- PART 3 - How to Find Profitable Products to Sell on Amazon
- PART 4 - How to Find Suppliers on Alibaba
- PART 5 - Info about my first order + How-to calculate Amazon fees
- PART 6 - How I Utilized my Product Sample
- PART 7 - You Are Here!
- PART 8 - I Placed my First Order + A Minor Setback
- PART 9 - How to Brand your Amazon FBA Business
- PART 10 - How to Setup your Amazon Sellers Account
- PART 11 - My Product Has Shipped + A Couple of Updates
- PART 12 - The Definitive Guide to Getting your Product Pictures Taken
- PART 13 - My Product has Arrived at Amazon + My Initial Launch Plan
- PART 14 - Results from my First Month Selling on Amazon
- PART 15 - Increased Rankings and Sales + Ordered a New Shipment
- PART 16 - Details of my First 90 Days Selling on Amazon
Comments
81 Comments
Tried to reply to your email but it bounced. I’d be interested in a webinar if you do one.
Hi Uri,
Thanks for telling me you are interested and I am sorry that the email bounced. I must have forgotten to update it to the proper email when I switched domain names.
-Josh
Hi Josh,
Very very good write up ! love it.. thank you.
I am from Australia and still in selecting product & based (UK or US) phase. Hopefully i can get started and ship over my first product go-live soon.
Thank you again.
Cheers,
Hi jerry,
Glad you liked this article and I just realized I replied to one of your other comments and linked you to this article, oops. Anyways I wish you the best of luck looking for a product
-Josh
I think a lot of PL sellers actually just use the UPC and not the FNSKU at all. If you are the only seller on your product’s listing, you can use something called stickerless commingled inventory. In this situation, Amazon uses the UPC only to track the units rather than a FNSKU. Maybe it would be worth checking into this? Good luck!
This is by far the best information on the web wow This is Step by Step AWESOME YES on a webinar
Hey Dwayne,
Thank you for that, that is my goal. I want to provide the best resource on the web for getting started selling on Amazon and I will do it for free. Thank you for leaving a comment and letting me know you want a webinar! I am working out how to get a webinar setup and I should have a daye real soon for the webinar and I hope to see you there!
-Josh
Josh – Have you ever looked into getting the FNSKU labels printed directly onto the box/product if you are designing your own packaging? I am thinking about the packing right now for my product and was wondering if it would be alright if I just had the UPC and FNSKU printed directly on the box itself. Thanks!
hmmm that is a very good idea that I have never have thought of, the only concern I would have would it still be scannable? This is a great idea, thanks for bringing this up. I have never heard of anyone doing this before and I am not sure if this is possible. I will look into it! Thanks for the comment Ashley
-Josh
Hi Josh & Ashley,
It’s definitely possible to have your FNSKU designed into your packaging so that you’re not having to stick it on later 🙂
There are free barcode generators out there that you can use to turn your Amazon FNSKU number into a barcode that you can then add into your packaging design.
Thanks Emma!
I never knew that and I appreciate you helping out. I might have to look into doing that at some point down the road
-Josh
Thanks Emma! I started to look into it as well, but decided to go the polybag route with minimal packaging as it was $.50 more for the box packaging. I may change it down the line, but wanted to try and get this out ASAP.
Have you gotten any closer to placing your order yet?
Hey Victoria,
Yes, matter in fact you can read more about my first order here – Update #8
-Josh
Hi Josh
Thank you so much for sharing your step by step journey into Private Label. I am new to Amazon FBA and right now I only resell, but I have been doing lot of research about PL and I came across ypur website at the right time. One question I have is about the Logo to your product. Did you make one ? Where ? How much did it cost ? Did they charge you print the logo on the package ? I have been reading your updates, bit so gar didn’t find anyone talking about that. Thanks !
Hi Charlene,
Glad you found my site and I am hoping that it has been helpful to your learning!
About your question, I had a logo created on Elance and it cost me around $30. My supplier did not charge me extra to apply it to my package or my product.
-Josh
Hi Josh,
First of all congratulations on this beautiful blog and on the great, layman English, no jargon, step by step instructions.
I was told that each product has to have a “Made in China” label on it. Is that true? Has that been your experience?
Also, My first order is as follows: each piece comes in one box, each 10 boxes come in one carton, each ten cartons are one cubic meter (CBM) i.e. one pallot.
Do the cartons have to be labeled too? If so, what label goes on it? I’m assuming it can’t be the FNSKU!
Do the pallots have to be labeled as well? If so, is there any particular way to do that? Does it have to indicate the number of pallots? (e.g. 1 of 4)?
Also, have you received your order yet (I read your update # 8 about the 25 day set back). That kinda sucks but I hope you have your product by now and that you didn’t encounter any issues getting that to the fulfillment center : )
Did you get it shipped by air or by sea?
Thanks again
Thanks Josh. Very simple.
What about this 3rd option for private label FBA:
– I order UPC code to associate with product
– My manufacturer sends products to Amazon, with their original UPS
– Amazon puts the FNSKU label on each item, even though the UPC on each item is the original manufacturer but in the system I associated a new UPC code
Does Amazon scan each UPC before putting the FNSKU, or they will know from the shipping case that it belongs to me, then start applying the FNSKU?
This 3rd option is best if my manufacturer is not willing to change UPC or apply Amazon’s label, because I requested to try a small unit minimum.
Thanks
Yev
Hello Yev,
That option works as well. Amazon will scan one UPC code out of the shipment and then know it is all from you. Then they will apply the FNSKU labels for you if pay them to.
Best of luck with your order and I hope you find some success!
Josh
Cheers for the article – I couldnt make head nor tail of Barcodes, UPC´s and FNSKU´s – what a complicated bloody mess!
I´m going to have Amazon label them and pay for it. Cant generate the FNSKU – just throws up an error message and decided against printing on the box as it does state in Amazon T&C that the FNSKU should be removable by the buyer (no idea why.) So would rather have them do it so I know its done properly just in case manufacturer makes a balls up of adding the stickers.
Hey Andy,
Tell me about it, it is a confusing topic and I tried my best to explain it in this article. I agree with having Amazon do it just so you know it will be done properly, that is smart!
Let me know how it goes and keep me updated on your progress, I love hearing from fellow private labelers
Josh
Do you put the FNSKU’S on top of the UPC CODE?
Hi Shahvaiz,
If you have the FNSKU label then you do not need a UPC code anywhere on the product, so no I do not put it over the UPC code. Hope this makes sense!
Josh
Dude, you just saved my day with this post (found it via Google a few minutes ago). I’m just about to ship my first private label order to amazon and was getting totally confused about these number. The way you explained everything step by step was EXACTLY what I needed! Will now dig into your other content and join the facebook group. Thanks for being so detailed, I feel like most “amazon teachers” skip over these points.
Thanks again!
All the best from Germany!
Hi Daniel,
That is awesome! I am so glad I was able to help you out and clear things up for you. I know when I was going through this myself it was confusing so I figured there were other people out there that had the same questions as me. I am glad that this was useful! Glad to have you on the site and I will see you in the Facebook group 🙂
Josh
Hi,
Am I correct in thinking that if I case pack my products they don’t need a FNSKU label? When I go thru the whole FBA process it only states I need to label my products when I select individual products, but when case packed I don’t need to label them.
Hi Danique,
Good question and yes you will need an FNSKU label for each product still. You can read more here – http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200243250
Josh
hi,josh.
please kindly assist me to clarify below things.
1.its seems like if my product has 3 different color, i should buy 3 different barcode for each one.(is it right?!)
2.if i don’t have any barcode on my product now, and i plan to sell the product only on amazon. I still need to buy ucp barcode for my product. and after i get the ucp barcode i need to affix the ucp barcode and affix the FNSKU on ucp barcode before i ship to fba ware house
(it seems like i don’t need to buy ucp barcode, cuz its will cover by FNSKU in the end)
i really need your help. Thanks in advance.
Hi Ellen,
1. Yes, for each variation of your product you will need a new UPC code and FNSKU code
2. You need to register your product with a UPC code and then use that UPC code to get FNSKU labels from Amazon. Put these FNSKU labels on your product, not the UPC codes
Hope this makes sense
Josh
Thank you
You’re welcome 🙂
Hi josh,
two more questions.
if i want to sell on amazon in us and amazon in jp,do i need to register upc and ean for one product? or i just need to register only one of them?
Do you have any recommend website for buying cheap ean barcode?
Thanks in advance.
You will only need one UPC code for the product but I am not sure about the EAN, it will probably be the same thing as the UPC though. I have not bought EAN codes before so I can’t recommend any sites from experience, but this site looks good – http://eanbarcodes.com/
Josh
Josh, you write very well and set out everything in a logical manner. So far, I’ve just ordered my product yesterday and I’m right at this step now to organise the shipment, listing, packaging and so on … and I’m pleased to say your explanations 100% match my experiences and thoughts. It gives me great hope that the rest of your content will be just as applicable and easy-to-follow.
You have a fan here, that’s for sure! Thanks a lot.
Hey greg,
That’s awesome! Good luck with your own product and if you ever have any questions you can ask me
Josh
Hey Josh, noticed you changed the post to take out the part about the FNSKU label matching the product title. Is this no longer relevant?
Thanks
Hi Joel,
I was mistaken when I wrote that you had to match the titles, I have recently learned that this is not true. My apologies
Josh
Thanks Josh, for giving us all this invaluable clear info.
I have one question – How do I get the Shipping Labels to put on boxes which my supplier has asked for. Are they different from FNSKU labels on my products.?
Best regards, Mary
Hi Mary,
Yes, the shipping labels are different than the FNSKU labels. You can get your shipping labels within the shipment creation process. Download these labels and send them to your supplier!
Josh
hey Josh,
what if i had 10000 units but i was to sell them in packets of 100, would therefore have 100 packets to sell. i would surely need 100 upc and FNSKU labels. wouldn’t I? plz clarify
Hi,
If they are all the same exact product then you will only need one UPC and FNSKU code. It doesn’t matter if they are in 100 packets or not. Hoped this helped
Josh
Hi, Thank you for explaining the FNSKU label proces so thoroughly, i followed the steps and it worked perfectly.
I have a question though, i now have FNSKU labels on which the title of my product is printed…
What happens if i decide to change the product title in my seller account at a later point in time?
will the labels become useless or is it only the actual number that is important?
It;s my first shipment ever so i have no clue yet,
Thanks,
Hi Mario,
Awesome, glad it worked perfectly!
I had the same question as you and the answer is that you can change your title whenever you want. Your FNSKU labels will still be valid.
Josh
Hi Josh,
I had a quick question. If you are bundling products and have two different products per package do you need 2 different UPC/FNSKU codes? Great write btw
Thanks,
Louis M
There are a number of reasons not to buy cheap barcodes if selling in the UK or EU. Yes you can get away with using them on Amazon but I have read many a problem with this method.
1. The start of the barcode number is unique to the business – this shows that you own everything, the product, the trademark and it’s barcode.
2. Many sellers repeatedly sell the barcodes over and over. I’ve seen a big company that should know better try and list a product that had already been printed onto their packaging with a barcode only for Amazon to think it was something else – as someone else got there first – OUCH
3. Some of the really cheap barcodes are not even barcodes, just randomly generated numbers.
4. After speaking to GS1, the official barcode register, there is a loophole in the US for barcodes. and indeed people can sell them on legally. In the UK and EU however, this is strictly forbidden.
Just thought I’d let you know.
Thanks Jono
Hey,
Great points! Thank you for leaving this comment and I will update the post to match what you said. I had no idea that this was the case for Amazon UK. Thank you for your comment
Josh
Hi Josh,
Thanks for the great article! This is exactly what I was looking for.
However I’m kind of lost when it comes to creating the shipping plan (after completing the labeling). Can you please do a quick video on Shipment Creation Workflow as this is the only thing I can see that is missing?
It would be great to have the two options explained, one that the seller ships to amazon directly or it goes through a prep company.
I’m waiting to complete this step for my very 1st product so I would really appreciate your prompt reply Josh 🙂
Hi Pash,
I am so sorry about getting back to you so late, your comment must have been accidently looked over. My bad!
I will try to make a video on this when I can but in the meantime, you can check out Amazon’s guide on how to create your shipment workflow here – http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=201171220
Have a look through those articles and it will help you out!
Josh
Hi Josh – wow…a wealth of information! One questions: If I bundle a product ie. 3 different products bundled and sold as one unit, does this require 3 different UPC & FNSKU codes or just ONE? Yikes…I think I just confused myself.
Hi Dee,
I do not have a lot of knowledge or experience with bundles, BUT I think you only need one UPC or FNSKU label per bundle.
Josh
Hi Josh,
Thanks for the article. Very informative !!
I do still have a doubt though.
I am shipping my first product directly from supplier to Amazon. I am planning to use Option 1 i.e. pay amazon to apply FNSKU labels. HOWEVER, I have told my supplier that we dont need any labels printed on the product(because I am paying amazon to do that).
Now after reading your article; I am a bit scared as your above article says that even with option 1 I still need to have atleast a UPC barcode printed on my product ?
Can I do away without having any barcode on my product ?
Hey Jack,
Glad I could help!
When you send in your products you need to have at least a UPC barcode on each product, without one Amazon won’t be able to determine who the shipment belongs to. There may be a way around this but I am pretty sure that you either need an UPC or FNSKU on your products when you ship into Amazon.
I am hoping you can figure this out and that you don’t have any problems
Josh
Great article and a great series overall……..question…….maybe I missed it, but have you by chance discussed your process of going from the manufacturer in China to Amazon? Are you shipping directly to Amazon or are all shipments coming to you directly and then you turn around and ship to Amazon? And do you have any FBA inspection companies that you recommend? I’m still researching my first product and I’m trying to understand the various parties involved once the product is ready to leave the manufacturer…..for example, who manages the steps to get through customs……thanks!
Hey Jeff,
I do cover your question in one of the updates but, to answer your question I send my products straight from China to Amazon. I do not use an inspection company either. The only parties involved with my product is my supplier and my freight forwarder, that’s it! My freight forwarder handles the customs for me as well. Hope this helps
Josh
Hey Josh
I have been following your article lately and its been such a helpful tool.
I just have doubt whether I, sitting in Mumbai, India, can successfully run this entire process and supply in the US ?
Hey Chinmay,
Glad to hear that my blog has been of use for you 🙂
Barring any unknown restrictions for India that I am unaware of, you can 100% run an FBA business in the US. The only downside is that you will not be able to see your shipment before you send it to Amazon. Some people like to see their shipment first to make sure that it follows all of Amazon’s guidelines. However, I sent my shipment straight from China to the Amazon warehouse without looking at it myself. I could have been anywhere in the world and I would have been able to do everything that I have done so far with my business!
Josh
Hey Josh,
I am going to sell a private labelled product on Amazon. If I got a UPC code for my product from eBay, is that an official UPC code? If I use that bar code to register in Amazon and decide to sell to stores later can I register with the same UPC at http://www.gs1us.org. I was thinking I should put the UPC on the product right from the start. Secondly, I heard sometimes the supplier has a UPC on the product already. Should I ask the supplier to remove the UPC and apply my own?
Bob
Hi Bob,
Technically, the only “official” UPC codes are sold from gs1us.org. However, you are fine selling on Amazon with UPc codes from Ebay but, if you sell in retail stores you will need your own UPC code
Josh
If it is your first time, pay Amazon to apply FNSKU. What’s a few cents in smoothing the road ahead.
I got to step 6 and when I tried to click the box next to my product and then proceed to click ‘print item labels’ it takes me to the next page and says ‘no items submitted.’ I’ve filled out all the red marked boxes and given my upc code and its still not showing up on the next page. Do you know why this might be? my listing is currently inactive and my available items is at zero. thank you for the help.
Someone else recently had this problem! What you need to do is make sure that you convert your listing to FBA. Go to your “manage inventory” page within seller central and check the box next to your product. Go up to where it says “action” and select “convert to fulfilled by Amazon”. This will convert your listing to FBA instead merchant.You should then be able to select your listing
Hope this helps
This worked so fast! thank you!
You are welcome!
Thanks for the article. There are people selling UPC codes on eBay – 800 codes for $1. Are they legitimate? They offer certificates as well. Have you used that one?
I would be weary of buying of off ebay. I would suggest buying from someone like speedy barcodes
Josh
Josh
Thank you
You are welcome Daniel!
Josh,
hello again lol quick question
I have requested my supplier add my FNSKU to the back of my product but I am not certain after reading Amazons guidelines wether or not it has to be a certain within a certain dimension? from what I can tell there are specific guidelines and dimensions for stickers placed on a product but not for an FNSKU label if actually printed on the box? can you maybe shed some clarification. Thank you.
Hey William,
There is no right or wrong size for the labels. I would just go with the recommended size of 1in x 2-5/8in
Hope this helps
Josh
Hey josh thanks a lot for the information provided. If you can please help me with the above questions:1) if i order for example 10000 units of the same product but i want to sell those one on Amazon in packs of 10 together (shrink wrapped for the same product) do i need to apply a fnsku for every unit (each 10 of them) or is ok to place the fnsku on the shrink wrap.2) what do you think about stickerness commigled inventory? Again thanks a lot for the help you provide.
Hi John,
1) If all of your products are exactly the same then you will only need one FNSKU, even if they are in packs of ten
2) I would not suggest doing this for private label sellers because your product should not be exactly identical to other products.
Josh
Thank you very much for taking the trouble to explain with that level of detail, very very useful;
Hi Yasser,
of course, I am glad that you have enjoyed!
Josh
Hi Josh
Thanks for your help. Can I ask what I need to do when I have barcodes – I have 100 of them – do I just apply them to my products that I list on Amazon or do I need to register the products against the barcodes somewhere else?
Thanks
Tom
Hey Tom,
Are the barcodes you are talking about FNSKU or UPC? Depending on what type of barcode you are talking about will change what you need to do with them. So let me know what you are taking about and I will try to help you out
Josh
Wow, thank you for this! This is undoubtedly the most detailed tutorial on this subject that I’ve come across. Thanks for the write up Josh!
Thanks Vihang – I appreciate the comment my friend!
Josh
Great article that hit the spot to almost all of my questions.1was left u a seared tough.let’s say an item is a package (cardboard box orpolybag) that contains 10 marshmallow sticks for instance or 5 breast pads, so I need the fnsku on every one of them or just on the package?
Hope my question makes sense
Thanks a lot
Hi Ethan,
If you are selling all 10 marshmallow sticks as ONE product then you would only need one FNSKU
Josh
Just one word, THANK YOU.
You made my day.
Great job.
This is FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for putting all this together.
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