How to Send Stock to Amazon FBA Australia: The Send to Amazon Workflow, Labels, Carriers and Tracking

To send stock to Amazon FBA in Australia, you create a shipping plan in Seller Central, say whether you or Amazon will prepare and label the items, print the Amazon shipment ID labels and send each shipment to the fulfilment centre named in the plan. Send to Amazon is the Seller Central workflow that runs those steps. This guide follows the workflow in order and states plainly where Amazon keeps the detail, such as carton and pallet limits, inside Seller Central.

What are the steps in the Send to Amazon workflow?

The order below follows Amazon's public description of a shipping plan and its Send to Amazon pages:

1. Choose products and quantities. Only listings set up as FBA appear. Enter the units you are sending per SKU.
2. Say who preps and labels. Choose yourself or Amazon. Amazon's optional services (bagging, taping, bubble wrap, labelling) are charged per unit.
3. Choose a placement option. This sets how many fulfilment centres your units are split across (see below).
4. Pack the cartons. Enter carton contents, dimensions and weights.
5. Choose a carrier. Your own carrier, an Amazon Partnered Carrier for eligible small parcel shipments, or Amazon SEND from China.
6. Print and attach labels. Each carton gets its own shipment label.
7. Ship and track. Follow the shipment in the Shipping Queue and on the Shipment Summary page.

Everything before step 6 can usually be corrected. After labels are printed and cartons sealed, changes are slow, so check quantities twice.

Which placement option should you choose?

Amazon's inbound placement service has been in Australia since 1 March 2024, first charged on 15 April 2024. An Amazon representative described three outcomes:

Source: https://sellercentral.amazon.com.au/seller-forums/discussions/t/f9677779-2a5f-42f6-8ffa-252f902e556d. The thread does not state a currency or the fee amounts, and Amazon publishes the amounts in Seller Central.

Here is the decision. For a small shipment of one or two cartons, an optimised split sends your cartons to several cities, which can mean several freight bookings for a handful of boxes. Minimal split usually wins on freight, even after the placement fee. For a pallet-scale shipment with a freight forwarder pricing each leg, the no-fee optimised split can win. Get the fee from Seller Central and a freight quote per leg, then compare totals. See Amazon fulfilment centres in Australia for the locations.

What labels does each shipment need?

Amazon's Australian forum guidance for cartons and pallets, which is not repeated on a public help page, says:

• each carton needs its own unique FBA Box ID label printed from the Shipping Queue;
• cartons need one address label with complete delivery and return details;
• where several case packs are in a larger box, the unique Box ID label goes on the outside of the primary box;
• each pallet needs four FBA Pallet ID labels, one on the top centre of each side, plus a unique Box ID label on every box;
• reused cartons must have old labels removed and old barcodes covered.

Treat this as guidance to check, not a rule to quote to your freight forwarder. The unit-level barcode and prep rules are separate and are on FBA prep and labelling in Australia.

What are the carton and pallet limits?

Amazon does not state carton weight, carton dimension or pallet height and weight limits on a public Australia page. Amazon's SEND page, which covers shipping from China, says only that small-parcel boxes must be individually labelled and that you enter box dimensions and weights in the workflow. A forum reply quotes carton limits in inches and pounds, and Amazon has not confirmed those figures for Australia, so they are not repeated here.

What to do:

• Open the packing requirements and carton limits help pages in Seller Central for the Australian marketplace.
• Enter the real weights and dimensions in the workflow. Wrong dimensions can change carrier charges and Amazon's receiving.
• Ask your carrier or forwarder whether they have delivered to Amazon Australia centres and which appointment or delivery rules apply. Many freight carriers require a delivery booking, and those rules are set by the carrier and site, not on Amazon's public pages.

Which carrier options does Amazon offer?

The Partnered Carrier fee is per box and the amount is not on Amazon's public page, so quote it from Seller Central.

How does Amazon SEND work from China?

Amazon SEND ships eligible stock from pickup locations in China to Australian fulfilment centres. You book through the Send to Amazon workflow, but a partnered carrier provides the shipping. The sequence:

1. Agree terms with a SEND carrier directly before the first booking.
2. Enter your ship-from address, products, box dimensions and weights in the workflow.
3. Choose Ocean Shipping LCL or Air Express, then confirm.
4. Print the box labels, attach them and complete the shipment so the carrier can schedule pickup.

The carrier handles pickup or drop-off in China, export and import customs and delivery to the centre, and may pay destination customs duty and bill you for it. Dangerous goods are prohibited. There is no minimum commitment, and Seller Central shows estimated costs by box weight, dimensions, category and billable weight, excluding value-added services and surcharges. Customs, GST and importer-of-record questions are still yours, covered on import GST and duty, importer of record and shipping from China to Amazon FBA Australia.

How do you track a shipment and what happens at receiving?

Use the Shipping Queue and the Shipment Summary page for each shipment. Amazon says inventory is typically scanned and made available for sale within three working days of delivery. Check three things after delivery:

• Received against shipped. Compare the units received for each SKU with what you sent. Discrepancies are raised from the shipment in Seller Central.
• Unplanned services. If cartons arrive unprepared, Amazon charges unplanned services fees.
• Stranded or unfulfillable units. Units with listing or barcode issues sit in inventory until fixed.

Can capacity limits stop a shipment?

Yes. Amazon may apply an inventory storage limit based on your selling plan and your Inventory Performance Index. If your limit is reached, the workflow may stop you adding more units. See Amazon FBA capacity limits in Australia and the storage rates on Amazon Australia storage fees.

FAQ

How do I send inventory to Amazon FBA in Australia? Create a shipping plan in Seller Central through Send to Amazon, choose prep and labelling ownership, pick a placement option, print labels, attach them to every carton and book your carrier. Then follow the shipment in the Shipping Queue.

Can I send FBA stock with Australia Post? Australia Post is one possible carrier for cartons. Amazon's Partnered Carrier is the Amazon-arranged small-parcel option, and your own carrier is allowed. Check box limits and the delivery address on each label before booking.

Do I need to split a shipment across several fulfilment centres? Not necessarily. A minimal split uses fewer locations and attracts a location-based fee, while an optimised split, generally four or more locations, has no placement fee.

How long until my stock is sellable? Amazon says inventory is typically scanned and made available for sale within three working days of delivery. Freight time to the centre comes before that.

Can I mix products in one carton? Amazon's rules for mixed cartons are in Seller Central. Mixed cartons raise the risk of receiving errors, so single-SKU cartons are a safer starting point.

Can I send hazardous goods through Send to Amazon? Amazon SEND prohibits dangerous goods, and they must go through your own carrier. Classification is separate. See Amazon dangerous goods in Australia.

Next steps

Send one small shipment first, read every screen of the workflow and save the labels and quantities as your template. Blooprint, an Amazon SPN verified partner, can plan inbound shipments with you through its Amazon FBA management service. The Amazon Australia hub and the FBA guide cover the rest of the process.