Amazon FBA Prep Services — Compliant FNSKU, Polybag & Bundle Prep
What changed at Amazon in 2026
On January 1, 2026, Amazon stopped prepping seller inventory at its U.S. fulfillment centers. FNSKU labeling, polybagging, bubble-wrapping, and bundle and kit prep are no longer offered at the FC (Supply Chain Dive, August 2025). Amazon told sellers to handle prep themselves or through a “third-party service provider,” framing the change as a way to let FBA “focus on faster fulfillment.”
The work now lands on you. Every FBA-bound unit has to reach the fulfillment center already FNSKU’d, polybagged where required, and bundled where required. Units that arrive non-compliant get charged prep fees and can lose reimbursement eligibility.
Simpl is one of the third-party service providers Amazon’s announcement pointed you to.
2026 FBA prep compliance checklist
Amazon won’t prep your units anymore, so getting them compliant is your job before inventory ships. Miss a step and the fulfillment center can charge prep and non-compliance fees, or refuse the shipment outright. Here is what every FBA-bound unit needs in 2026. Simpl handles each item below as part of standard prep, so your inventory arrives ready to sell.
- FNSKU item labeling. Every unit needs its Amazon-issued FNSKU barcode so the FC can match it to your listing.
- Polybagging. Leak-prone or loose items need a poly bag with a suffocation warning, opening 5 inches or wider.
- Bubble wrap and fragile prep. Glass, ceramics, and electronics need bubble wrap or dunnage rated for FBA conveyor handling.
- Bundle and set creation. Multi-unit sets get one FNSKU and a “sold as set, do not separate” sticker.
- Expiration date and FIFO. Consumables need a legible expiration date on the outside; Simpl rotates stock first-in, first-out.
- Carton and pallet labeling. Every inbound carton needs an FBA shipment ID label; pallets need labels on four sides.
FBA Prep Made Simple with Simpl Fulfillment
How Our FBA Prep Service Works
Send your inventory to Simpl.
We'll receive your containers, pallets, or cartons, and they'll be received in immediately. You'll have complete visibility into all of this through our software, and our success team will be in touch if we have any questions.
We begin prepping your products.
If the items are going back out, our dedicated team will immediately begin prepping items ensuring we follow both your and Amazon's requirements. If you want us to store the items, we'll move them into the perfect storage spot and update your inventory.
We'll create the shipping plan and send it off to Amazon!
Once everything is ready, our team will create the shipping plan, box everything up and move it to our docks for either UPS or freight pick-up, depending on the size. You'll see all this live in our software and the shipment info in Seller Central.
Create an Inbound & Send Your Inventory
All you have to do is create an Inbound in our software so we know what you're sending. Next, ship your products to our warehouse and our team will efficiently receive. Our user-friendly software provides real-time visibility into inventory levels as it arrives. If we have any questions, our dedicated success team will contact you promptly. You can reach our team anytime via live chat or email.
For shipments heading to Amazon, we will begin prep per your requirements and Amazon's guidelines. For storage, we move inventory to optimal storage locations and update quantities in the software.
Our experienced team carefully counts, inspects, labels and does any additional prep as needed to your products per Amazon's expectations. We bundle items efficiently to save you money on shipment costs. Our quality control ensures we meet FBA requirements to prevent violations.
We Prep Your Products for FBA
We Handle the Shipping Process End-to-End
When the prep is complete, we'll create the shipment to Amazon and ship it out. For small shipments, we utilize UPS. For larger volumes, we coordinate cost-effective freight transport. You'll have visibility into the entire process in real-time through our software and your Seller Central account.
Save time, lower costs, and efficiently scale your Amazon business with our fast, reliable FBA prep solution. The key benefits include:
- Expertise & Quality Control: Our experienced team meticulously inspects, measures, labels and packs your products following Amazon's strict guidelines.
- Rapid Processing Times: With our warehouse near FTW1, most prep orders ship to Amazon within 1-3 days. We expedite prep to get your inventory to FBA faster.
- Total Compliance: Our rigorous QA checks and processes ensure your shipments meet all FBA requirements, helping avoid issues.
- User-Friendly Software: Our platform makes order submission, tracking shipments, monitoring inventory, and account management easy 24/7.
- Inventory & Supply Chain Management: Our software seamlessly syncs stock between our warehouse and Amazon. We'll store extra units and help manage reorder points.
- Cost-Effective Growth: Our flat-rate pricing allows you to accurately forecast and control FBA costs as your business scales on Amazon.
- Exceptional Support: Our U.S. team is available via chat, email, and phone to quickly answer questions and assist with any needs.
Outsource the details to our FBA experts so you can focus on growing your Amazon business. Contact us today to learn more!
Need full Amazon order fulfillment instead of FBA inbound prep? See Amazon Fulfillment Services.
The Advantages
of Our
FBA Prep Service
Choosing the right FBA Prep center—and the 3PL partner behind it—is an incredibly important decision for any eCommerce brand and we don't take that lightly! Our team will work with you to see if we are the right fit and how we can help you continue to scale your brand.
Full End-to-End FBA Prep Services
Flat-Rate Pricing.
Standard Prep Includes...
We have a $40 minimum charge per inbound shipment which covers the services above. This is not a fixed fee, but a minimum - we'll never charge you less than $40 per shipment.
FNSKU Labeling
$.90 per item
Polybagging
$.35 per item
Bubble Wrap
$.60 per item
Additional Labeling
$.25 per item
Large Items Surcharge
$.5 per unit
Boxing Individual Units
$.80 per item
Multipack + Bundling
$.25 per item
Oversized Items Surcharge
$2 per item
Volume Seller Pricing
Standard FBA prep runs on flat-fee per-unit pricing. Sellers processing over 2,000 units per month or with large one-off projects can contact us to discuss custom pricing. Email hey@simplfulfillment.com or chat live on our site to connect with an account manager. We offer discounted rates tailored to high volume accounts.,
Other Optional Services:
OA/RA/Removals
$1 per item
20' Container Unload
$300
40' Container Unload
$500
Ungating Photos
$15 per item
Product Inserts
$.20
Storage (monthly)
$50/pallet
Why sellers switch from Amazon’s prep to Simpl
DIY prep eats hours you’d rather spend selling, and the wrong 3PL adds surcharges and slow turnaround. Here is why sellers move their FBA prep to Simpl.
- U.S.-based prep, Austin TX. Inventory is received, prepped, and shipped inbound to Amazon U.S. fulfillment centers from our Austin, TX facility.
- A named account manager. Every client gets a dedicated account manager: a real person reachable by email, with same-day (often faster) responses. No Seller Central ticket queue.
- Real-time inventory and shipment software. You see what’s received, what’s prepped, and what’s inbound to Amazon, as it happens.
- 99.99% accuracy, flat fee per unit. When we make an error, we fix it at our cost: return shipping and re-fulfillment. Per-unit prep pricing is published below, with no hidden surcharges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon announced the change in July 2025, and it took effect January 1, 2026. Every FBA-bound unit now has to reach the fulfillment center already FNSKU'd, polybagged where required, and bundled where required.
Units that arrive non-compliant get charged prep and non-compliance fees, or get refused. Simpl preps your units to Amazon's spec and ships them in, usually within 1 to 3 days of receiving.
No. Since January 1, 2026, Amazon no longer preps seller inventory at its U.S. fulfillment centers. FNSKU labeling, polybagging, bubble-wrapping, and bundle prep all stopped at the FC.
You either prep units yourself or send them to a third-party provider before they ship to Amazon. Simpl is that provider: we prep your inventory and ship it in ready to sell.
Nope! We don't have any ongoing fees outside of our fees for each shipment we prep for you. It's completely free to sign up for our software and use us as needed!
You can! Check out our pricing for storage fees and reach out via our form or live chat to discuss further. We're generally cheaper than Amazon's storage fees especially in Q4.
We do! A lot of our clients use us for multiple services such as FBA Prep, FBM and eCommerce Fulfillment depending on their needs.
We work with very large, established sellers and also smaller sellers just getting started. In order to offer the service we do, we charge a $40 minimum per Inbound (project). We think this is incredibly low but helps cover our awesome teams time.
We do! Inventory tracking, shipment planning and more are all features of our awesome software. It's completely free as well so you can try it out without any obligations!
We do! We can support sub accounts as well so you can manage all of your clients under 1 login. Reach out for more information!
We work with tons of OA/RA sellers! We just have a small surcharge per unit to help cover the extra time it takes to process smaller shipments.
For our FBA Prep clients, we offer live chat and email support. You can email team@simplefulfillment.com or use the chat box on the bottom right to speak with the team!
Good question! We bill at the time of prep via Stripe. When you sign up for our software and begin sending us inventory, it'll prompt you to add a credit card which we'll use to bill you for each shipment as we prep them!
Amazon FBA prep is the process of getting your inventory ready to meet Amazon's requirements before it ships to an Amazon fulfillment center. It covers labeling, poly bagging, bundling, and packaging so your products pass Amazon's receiving checks. Simpl handles FBA prep so your shipments are not delayed or charged non-compliance fees.
Unless you're sending us thousands of units (we'll reach out to discuss if you do!), we generally turnaround shipments as soon as same-day of delivery and as slow as 3 business days. We aim to be as fast as possible so there's no delays in you selling!
It's totally free! It's one of the advantages of working with Simpl Prep. We've always working to improve it as well to make the experience even better. No more Google Sheets and sharing logins!
We can! Check out our fulfillment offerings. We work with tons of dropshippers to help repackage and relabel their shipments before they head to their customers.
We can! We work with tons of large, established sellers to help make their lives easier. We offer everything from shrinkwrapping, polybagging, transparency labeling, re-packaging, QA, etc. Just reach out and we'll get you in touch with an account manager who can help!
There isn't one! We don't believe in onboarding fees or startup fees. We want you to want to work with us and we'll only bill you for the work we do!
An FBA prep service receives your inventory, preps each unit to Amazon's specifications, and ships it to the assigned Amazon fulfillment center. That includes applying FNSKU labels, poly bagging, protecting fragile items, bundling multipacks, and boxing shipments to Amazon's standards. Simpl handles the full prep workflow so your inventory arrives compliant and ready to sell.
You can prep your own inventory, but a prep service saves time and reduces the risk of costly compliance mistakes as your volume grows. Amazon's prep rules are strict, and a rejected or mislabeled shipment can mean delays, fees, or held inventory. Many sellers hand prep to a provider like Simpl once the work outgrows their own space and hours.
Amazon requires every unit to carry a scannable FNSKU label, be packaged so it survives shipping, and be prepped according to its product type. That can mean poly bagging with suffocation warnings, protecting fragile goods, bundling sets so they scan as one unit, and meeting weight and dimension limits. Simpl preps your inventory to these specifications so it clears Amazon's receiving dock without non-compliance fees.
If your inventory does not meet Amazon's standards, Amazon can refuse the shipment, charge per-unit non-compliance fees, or hold the units until they are fixed, which delays your ability to sell. In some cases Amazon preps the units for you and bills you for it at a premium. Using a prep service like Simpl avoids this by getting your inventory compliant before it ever reaches Amazon.
