FBA & FBM: Which Fulfillment Method is Right for Your Brand?

When you set up your Amazon Seller Central Account you can register for either Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM). Depending on your business structure and your goals one of these fulfillment options might be the best for your brand, in some cases, you may opt to use both FBA and FBM.

It is important to know the differences between these two fulfillment methods so that you can choose the one that aligns with your needs. Keep reading for more details on Amazon’s fulfillment options, FBA and FBM!

Fulfillment by Amazon

Fulfillment by Amazon otherwise known as FBA is an Amazon fulfillment method in which you store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Amazon then picks, packs, and ships your products directly to the customer.

Benefits of FBA

  1. Prime-eligibility: Prime allows you to offer your customers free same-day, one-day and two-day shipping. Many shoppers filter for Prime products because they trust the shipping and return methods that Amazon provides.

  2. FBA Subscribe and Save: This program enables you to sell eligible products to customers on a subscription basis at a discount of 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20%, and with free shipping. Subscribe and Save allows customers to select the product, quantity, and frequency of delivery.

  3. Returns and Customer Service: Amazon handles customer care and all returns on FBA orders. This provides a more “hands-off” experience for you and your team as you will not need to process returns and speak with the customers.

  4. Scaling Inventory: FBA provides flexibility allowing you to send large quantities of products at once or small quantities of inventory into their fulfillment center. This flexibility is useful when you are entering a new marketplace and plan to send a small sample shipment. Or during busy times of the year, such as the holiday season, when you need to double or triple your inventory.

Fulfillment by Merchant

Fulfillment by Merchant otherwise known as FBM is designed for brands and retailers seeking to maintain more control over their inventory and fulfill Amazon orders themselves. This means you will store products in your own warehouse or facility, then pick, pack, and ship the product to the customer on your own. You will also process returns and provide customer service for your orders.

The biggest drawback of FBM is the lack of exposure to Prime members, as these listings will not have the Prime badge.

Benefits of FBM

  1. Increased Control: FBM allows you to control your inventory, shipping and handling, packaging, delivery speed, and shipping carriers. You also maintain control of return methods and the customer service experience.

  2. Greater Margins: You can explore various options to cover your fulfillment costs and are not bound by FBA’s non-negotiable fulfillment and storage fees.

  3. Building Your Brand: It is more feasible with FBM to build an independent brand because you have more ownership over your relationship with customers.

  4. Multi-channel Fulfillment: Once you find a fulfillment model that works for your business, you can use this strategy across all of your marketplaces rather than having different means of fulfillment for off-channel processing.


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Adding FBM Offer to Listings

Many brands are adding FBM as an option on their listings along with FBA while Amazon’s shipping times are delayed due to COVID-19. Before you do this please make sure you have enough inventory outside of Amazon and have an efficient fulfillment process.  You can follow the steps below to add FBM as an option on your listings. This process needs to be done for each product one by one.

  1. Find the product in manage inventory

  2. Click the dropdown on the right side of the page

  3. Select "Add another condition"

  4. Enter SKU, Condition, Price, Quantity, Set fulfillment channel to "I will ship this item myself". Make sure FBM SKU is different than FBA SKU.

  5. Save and finish. You’re done!


It’s critical that you choose a fulfillment strategy that is specific to your goals on the Amazon channel. Launching a successful Amazon business comes with many tough decisions. If you find yourself lacking the information or time needed to make a killer Amazon strategy, please schedule a free consultation with us today! We will help your brand achieve wild success!

This graphic shows the steps taken for each Amazon fulfillment method to get the product to the Amazon customer!

This graphic shows the steps taken for each Amazon fulfillment method to get the product to the Amazon customer!


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