What is Amazon’s Partnered Carrier Program?
Amazon’s Partnered Carrier Program is a collaborative effort between Amazon and selected shipping companies. The program is designed for sellers enrolled in the FBA service, where Amazon takes charge of storage, packing, shipping, returns, and customer service for the products. Amazon has negotiated lower shipping rates with carriers, passing these savings directly to the sellers. It’s a win-win: sellers enjoy reduced shipping costs, and carriers get consistent business from Amazon’s vast network of sellers.
Advantages for FBA Sellers
Cost Efficiency: The bulk rates negotiated by Amazon are typically much lower than a small or medium-sized seller could negotiate independently.
Convenience: Booking shipments through Amazon’s platform is straightforward. This integration saves time and reduces the hassle of coordinating with multiple carriers.
Reliability: Amazon’s partnered carriers are vetted and reliable, ensuring that your products reach Amazon’s fulfillment centers safely and on time.
Tracking and Accountability: Through the program, sellers can track their shipments directly from their Amazon Seller Central account, offering peace of mind and improved planning for inventory management.
Potential for Faster Check-in at Fulfilment Centres: Amazon’s familiarity with these carriers can sometimes translate to quicker processing times once your products reach the fulfilment centers.
How It Works
The partnered carrier program is available for domestic shipments. In other words, shipments going to FBA from a location in the same country. It’s perfect for sellers who ship to FBA from their homes.
More recently, Amazon has added the option for shipments from China. However, this option is only for selected regions and is quite expensive. So, while the partnered carrier service for domestic shipments to FBA is much cheaper than regular shipping (i.e., not using a partnered carrier), the service for shipments from China is not. Perhaps it will get cheaper in the future, but when writing this article, it’s more expensive than using the Chinese suppliers’ own shipping options.
To use Amazon’s partnered carriers, select the option during the process of creating an incoming shipping plan in Seller Central. You’ll get a quote on screen, which you can accept or reject. If you accept it, you’ll be guided through the rest of the steps.
Tracking and Delivery: Once your products are on the way, track the shipment through Amazon Seller Central.
