As an Amazon seller, logistics is an important choice for sellers, whether to use FBA, self-fulfillment, or both. At this point, sellers need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of self-fulfillment and FBA, and then determine which delivery method to use based on their business scale and scope, products and other factors.
1. Advantages and disadvantages of self-fulfillment
Simplely speaking, self-fulfillment refers to the way in which sellers ship directly from their own homes, businesses or warehouses after receiving orders through the Amazon platform. This means that managing inventory, packaging, arranging delivery and customer service are all direct responsibilities of the seller.
The advantages of self-fulfillment are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
(1) There is a recipient, and the local area can assist in customs clearance
Self-fulfillment will have a specific recipient and contact information. When the goods arrive at the local area, the seller can contact the customer to assist in customs clearance.
(2) Direct communication with customers
Because it is directly connected with the customer, if there is a problem, you can communicate with the customer directly.
(3) Multiple logistics channels
Almost all channels are available, but not all channels are available for FBA.
(4) Can meet customers’ timeliness requirements
If you want to meet customers’ timeliness requirements, it is best to choose the four major express delivery companies (i.e. DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT). For goods shipped to the United States or Europe, DHL, FedEx and UPS can meet the fastest timeliness of 2 to 7 days, so if you want to ensure the logistics timeliness as much as possible, you can basically only choose the above four express delivery companies for self-delivery.
2. Advantages and disadvantages of FBA
As a full-process logistics service, FBA has its own advantages and disadvantages.