FBF, or Fulfilment by Flipkart (sometimes written Flipkart Fulfilment), is the Flipkart counterpart of Amazon's FBA. You send stock to a Flipkart fulfilment centre; when an order comes in, Flipkart picks, packs and ships it, manages delivery and takes the return back into its warehouse. The other Flipkart models are Non-FBF (you pack, Flipkart's logistics arm Ekart collects and delivers, the default for most sellers) and Smart Fulfilment, where your own warehouse operates to Flipkart's processes and earns similar delivery promises without moving stock.
How FBF works and what it costs
In Seller Hub you create an inbound consignment, choosing FSNs and quantities, label units and cartons to Flipkart's specification, and book delivery to the warehouse Flipkart assigns. Flipkart receives and checks the stock, after which it becomes live inventory. Orders then flow without you touching them, and settlement follows the normal cycle for your seller tier.
FBF orders pay the same commission as any other Flipkart order. The differences are in the other fee heads, and here Flipkart is less transparent than Amazon: the public rate card describes FBF as attracting "relevant FBF fees" that replace the standard shipping fee, and the exact amounts appear only in your own Seller Hub rate card as of September 2026. The published structure is:
- Fixed fee: the per-order fee, which is lower for FBF orders than for self-fulfilled ones.
- Shipping fee: by weight slab and zone (local, zonal, national), as for Non-FBF orders.
- Pick, pack and handling: a per-unit warehouse charge that third-party guides put roughly between ₹12 and ₹50 by size slab; confirm your own rate.
- Storage fee: charged on inventory that stays beyond Flipkart's free storage window, rising for ageing stock.
- Returns handling: a processing charge on units that come back into the warehouse.
Worked example, with illustrative rates: a ₹1,299 saree, 400 g, sold zonally. Commission at 12% = ₹156; fixed fee say ₹20 (FBF slab); shipping ₹60; pick and pack ₹20. Total ≈ ₹256 before GST, against roughly ₹275 on Non-FBF where the fixed fee is higher but there is no pick and pack charge. The gap is small; the real difference is the delivery promise and the badge.
Why FBF matters for sellers
The main reason is Flipkart Assured. The Assured badge, shown on listings that meet Flipkart's quality and speed bar, lifts click-through and conversion and is a filter shoppers use. FBF is the most reliable path to the badge because Flipkart controls the delivery experience end to end, though Smart Fulfilment and consistently strong self-fulfilment metrics can also qualify. FBF also removes daily packing, protects seller tier metrics such as ready-to-dispatch breaches (Flipkart, not you, is late), and makes fast delivery in Flipkart Minutes-style promises possible. The trade-offs are the same as FBA: capital locked in stock you cannot sell elsewhere, storage charges on slow movers, and returns being inspected and graded by Flipkart rather than by you, which matters in fashion where the SPF process replaces your own inspection.
How to run FBF well
- Put hero FSNs in FBF, keep the tail Non-FBF. The badge pays for itself on fast movers and costs storage on slow ones.
- Send four to six weeks of cover ahead of events; Flipkart caps inbound near Big Billion Days and warehouses fill early.
- Reconcile stock monthly and raise non-order SPF claims for units lost or damaged in the warehouse within the window.
- Watch the ageing report and create removal orders before storage fees on dead stock outrun its margin.
- Get the rate card in writing. FBF fees are account-specific; base pricing on your own Seller Hub figures, not a blog table.
Blooprint manages FBF inbound planning and rate-card negotiation for clients under Flipkart account management. The Flipkart seller fees guide walks through each fee head.