When you expand your business to an Amazon marketplace outside your home country and fulfill with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or a third-party fulfillment provider, you'll need to understand your obligations in the import/export process. Although you may want to handle some or all of these import/export steps yourself, it can be easier to hire a logistics provider such as a customs broker or a freight forwarder to handle the process for you. These providers may have the expertise and the time to make sure your inventory moves from one place to another in a timely and secure manner.
If you engage the services of a customs broker or a freight forwarder to help you move inventory from one country to another, you must engage them directly. You must also directly make the arrangements for establishing the importer or exporter of record. Amazon cannot act in that capacity or make these arrangements for you.
Before you engage a customs broker or freight forwarder to help you move your inventory from one country to a fulfillment center in another country, you will need to decide who will take on certain responsibilities:
Generally, the shipper is the exporter of record. Amazon will not act as the exporter of record. You may be able to contract with your customs broker or freight forwarder to act as the EOR.
The importer of record is responsible for ensuring that the shipment is successfully imported into the destination country. Responsibilities include filing legally required documents and paying assessed import duties and taxes. It is important to note that Amazon, including the fulfillment centers, will not serve as the importer of record for any shipment of FBA inventory. Any FBA inventory shipment attempting to make entry with Amazon as the IOR will be refused and returned at the shipper's expense—no exceptions.
In some countries, a nonresident (foreign) IOR can arrange entry of goods. To become a nonresident IOR, please contact your customs broker or carrier for details.
A customs broker or freight forwarder may require you to complete the following forms:
When you sign a Power of Attorney, the customs broker or freight forwarder is authorized to act as your agent to get your inventory moved through the customs process.
Register as an IOR with customs authorities in the country where you are importing inventory. Amazon, including our fulfillment centers, will not serve as an IOR for any shipment of FBA inventory. This applies to shipments of any size or value, regardless of origin and product. Any FBA shipment attempting to make entry with Amazon as the IOR will be refused and returned at the shipper's expense—no exceptions.
The customs broker should spell out terms for you to help you understand who is responsible for the goods at every step of the shipment process.
Amazon will not be responsible for or collect any duties, taxes, or shipping costs associated with FBA inventory. All shipments are required to use Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) shipping terms. Any shipment arriving at an Amazon fulfillment center with collect charges, including any duties, taxes, or shipping costs, will be refused without further concession.
An Amazon fulfillment center may be listed as the deliver-to party on your shipping documentation. Here are some examples of how this should appear on the shipping documentation:
Example 1 | Example 2 |
---|---|
Amazon.com.kydc | Amazon.com.dedc |
[Seller Legal Name] c/o FBA | [Seller Legal Name] c/o FBA |
1850 Mercer Drive | 500 McCarthy |
Lexington, KY 40511 USA | Lewisberry, PA 17339 USA |
Although Amazon will not serve as Importer of Record, it may be listed as ultimate consignee on your shipping documentation—but only if in care of is listed before the name of the Amazon entity.
If you list Amazon as the ultimate consignee, your customs broker must contact Amazon at sellerimports@amazon.com in advance of shipping any inventory to obtain the EIN or Tax ID # required for customs clearance.
When your products are ready for shipment from the manufacturer or distributor, the shipper prepares the commercial invoice. It's critical that the commercial invoice be accurate to avoid delays clearing customs. The following information should be included on the commercial invoice:
Amazon fulfillment centers have requirements for the shipments they receive, including the size of the pallets and the type of truck that can deliver to the fulfillment center. The Truckload delivery to Amazon help page provides the information you need for preparing your shipment to an Amazon fulfillment center. Paying attention to these requirements and best practices will help avoid delays in getting your inventory to the fulfillment center and into your customers' hands.
Arrange to have your shipments palletized before they arrive at the fulfillment center whenever possible. Amazon's fulfillment centers will accept floor-loaded shipments but only if you request it in advance when you set up your shipment to the fulfillment center. Additional charges may apply if the floor-loaded shipment requires extensive handling.
Make sure that your shipments comply with Amazon's policies regarding inbound shipments. If Amazon refuses to accept your shipments, you are responsible for removing the shipment from the fulfillment center. For shipments that are less than a half pallet of loose cartons, each of which weighing less than 15 kilograms, you may find it better to ship your products through a courier service. The carrier you use may depend on the destination country because carrier services vary. If you do choose to ship your inventory to a fulfillment center via a carrier service, you should check with the carrier to verify that it can clear your goods through customs based on the commercial invoice you provide. If the carrier cannot clear your goods based on the commercial invoice, then you may need to contact a customs broker.
There are many online resources that can help sellers determine rates and that can make shipping easier. The following are links to some companies some sellers have found useful. Visit their websites directly to calculate the approximate shipping charges you can expect when fulfilling orders for the Amazon marketplaces in which you would like to list:
We suggest you contact your freight forwarder or courier in advance of shipping any inventory to understand its fees and requirements.
Amazon is unable to return inventory stored in Amazon's fulfillment centers to an address outside of the original import country. Further, FBA does not support pick-up options for sellers at Amazon fulfillment centers. If you wish to have FBA inventory returned to you, you must supply a return address in the country of import in the Create Removal Order form.