Seller Fulfilled Prime: EVERYTHING Amazon Sellers Need To Know [INFOGRAPHIC]

• Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime allows Merchants to fulfill orders themselves, giving customers free 1 and 2-day shipping with their product listings having the Prime eligible badge.

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• Merchants can achieve Seller Fulfilled Prime through successfully completing a 90 day trial period.

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• ?This is EVERYTHING Amazon Sellers need to know to determine if you are qualified for Seller Fulfilled Prime and if Seller Fulfilled Prime is a good fit for your business.

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What is Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime?

Seller Fulfilled Prime is the program for Amazon Seller Central Sellers using Merchant Fulfillment to offer free 1 and 2-day shipping and get the Prime badge on their product listings.? To get Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime, Amazon Seller Central Sellers simply register?with Amazon and then enroll in a 90 day Trial Period.? Once the trial period is successfully completed, you are in Seller Fulfilled Prime and the Prime badge appears on your listings.

Selling on Amazon Seller Central with Merchant Fulfilled listings competing against Amazon FBA Prime Eligible listings is certainly an uphill battle

As someone who provides top-rated Amazon Consulting services with 10+ years of experience, I’m going to break down everything you need to know about Seller Fulfilled Prime (Amazon SFP) so you can decide if Seller Fulfilled Prime is right for you.

Seller Fulfilled Prime is one of the most frequently brought up topics by my clients because it’s so intriguing.

The Prime badge on listings skyrockets click-throughs and conversion rates, significantly improving Amazon Listing Optimization so the power in this program is obvious.

What is Seller Fulfilled Prime?

What is Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime?

Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime allows Amazon Seller Central Sellers to offer free 1 and 2 Day Shipping to their customers and get the Prime badge on their listings when using Merchant Fulfillment instead of Amazon FBA via the SFP program.

Amazon FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) is the Amazon program offered to Seller Central Sellers where sellers send their inventory into fulfillment centers across the country and when they sell products, depending on where the customer is located, it is sent from the fulfillment center closest to them.

This allows Seller Central Sellers to get the Prime badge on their listings and offer Free 1 and 2 day Shipping.

How Amazon FBA Works:

1. You create or have product listings on Amazon
2. You send the inventory into Amazon Fulfillment Centers
3. A customer places an order
4. Amazon picks, packs & fulfills the order to the customer
5. Amazon also handles the customer service
6. Returns are facilitated through Amazon

If you want an in-depth break down of Amazon FBA and Amazon FBA Fees and if it is a great fit for your business, you can check that out here:? How Does Amazon FBA Work

How Seller Fulfilled Prime Works:

1. Either as a new seller or established Seller Central Seller, you register for Seller Fulfilled Prime
2. You complete a 90 day trial period.? (more on this later)
3. You are eligible for the Prime badge and offering free 1 and 2-day shipping to customers
4. Customer places an order
5. You fulfill the order from your warehouse
6. Amazon handles most of the customer service, you handle some
7. Same return process as Amazon FBA

By now, you may be wondering: “Do I qualify for Amazon SFP?”

Seller Fulfilled Prime Requirements & Qualifications

Here’s how to qualify for Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime:

You simply register for the Amazon SFP Program, meet the qualifications during the 90 day?trial period and you’re off to the races.

Seller Fulfilled Prime Requirements:

• Sellers register for a?90-day?trial period.
• Sellers listings?DO NOT have prime badge during this trial time period.
• Sellers need to complete?200 orders in 90 days.
• Sellers need to use?the free Prime shipping template and provide 2-day shipping to Prime members.
• Sellers must use shipping services that offer Saturday Pickup & Delivery.
• Sellers need to provide FREE 2-day shipping to ALL customers nationwide (lower 48 states only) for Standard Size Products.
• Sellers need to offer?1-day shipping to at least 30% of page views of potential buyers for Standard Size Products.
• Sellers need to offer 1-day shipping to at least 17% of page views of potential buyers for?Oversize Products.
• Sellers need to offer 2-day shipping to at least 74% of page views of potential buyers for Standard Size Products.
• Sellers need to offer 2-day shipping to at least 63% of page views of potential buyers for?Oversize Products.
• Sellers need to maintain?99% on-time shipment rate.?(1 out of every 100 can be late)
• Seller answers?pre-sale and?product support related questions.
• Sellers need to use?Amazons Shipping Service for 95% of orders.??
  • Sellers need to purchase shipping using Amazon’s “Buy Shipping Service”
  • Sellers CAN link their own UPS account which will allow them to use any previously negotiated rates?they already have.
  • While shipping is discounted, it isn’t as deeply discounted as sellers receive when shipping products to Amazon fulfillment centers in Amazon’s FBA program. Third party shipping software & apps can still use the Merchant Fulfilled API.
• Orders need to be shipped the same day. Orders need to ship from the seller’s location by 2 pm local seller time.
• The seller can?choose which products they want to include in the Seller Fulfilled Prime program.
• Sellers need to have LESS than 1% cancellation rate. (seller cancels the order — not the customer)

What if My Business Doesn’t Meet ALL of the Qualifications & Requirements During The 90 Day Seller Fulfilled Prime Trial?

• You start over again from day 0.

It’s not a 1 and done scenario, you can try again, over and over.

The biggest one for some folks is:

What if My Business Doesn’t Get 200 ORDERS During The 90 Day Seller Fulfilled Prime Trial?

• You start over again from?day 0.
• If you’re struggling here, I recommend focusing on Amazon Listing Optimization, adding A+ Content, Amazon Product Listing Video and an Amazon Storefront to help you hit the 200 sales minimum.
  • These are all benefits of being part of the Amazon Brand Registry.
  • Recruit an army of Amazon Influencers to drive OFF Amazon Traffic onto Amazon to increase your Amazon SEO, lower your ACoS in Amazon advertising & more.
    • You can find the right Amazon Influencers for your business easily with tools like Referazon.

Fair enough?? In my experience, one of the biggest questions about Seller Fulfilled Prime is how do returns work?

How Do Returns Work For Seller Fulfilled Prime?

Good news!

As it turns out, they’re the?same as the Amazon FBA program returns.

The Seller Fulfilled Prime Return Process:

• Returns are?auto-authorized.

SELLER PAYS FOR RETURNS WHEN:

• The box or envelope isn’t damaged, BUT the item is damaged
• Missed delivery date
• Missing parts & pieces
• The box or envelope AND the item are BOTH damaged
• The wrong item is sent
• Item is defective or does not work
• Extra item arrives that was NOT ordered
• Unauthorized purchase
• The product description on Amazon was not accurate
• Item was damaged during shipping
• Item was damaged due to ineffective packaging

BUYER PAYS FOR RETURNS WHEN:

• Accidental order by the customer
• Better price available elsewhere
• No longer needed or wanted by the customer
• The performance or quality not adequate to customers expectations
• Incompatible or not useful for the intended purpose of the customer
• Item or part not compatible with the existing system
• Excessive installation deemed by the customer or the customer did not install

CATEGORIES IN WHICH SELLER PAYS SHIPPING NO MATTER WHAT:

• Apparel
• Jewelry
• Loose stones
• Luggage
• Shoes
• Watches
• Baby items

My experience is that some clients have seen more returns when they use FBA.? However, they also?see more sales when they use FBA.

That being said, you’re probably crunching numbers as you read this and thinking to yourself:? “Is Seller Fulfilled Prime worth it?”

Is Seller Fulfilled Prime Worth It?

Short answer:??If the numbers make sense, a resounding?YES.

Why is Seller Fulfilled Prime Worth It?

Have a look at this:

These are the top 2 organic listings for the term “survival gear”.

Notice the “Prime” badges?

The Sponsored Listings above them which you can’t see and also the Amazon’s Choice listing for the Life Straw which is cut off also are Prime.

My point?

Amazon Prime gets?more clicks & more sales.

Most customers search on Amazon and filter for Prime, meaning they filter?OUT? any?Merchant Fulfilled listings.

When talking about how to reduce your ACoS on Amazon I highly recommend using Amazon FBA for Prime.? ?Your Amazon Sales Rank will thank you for it.

The truth is, it’s nigh impossible to compete with Prime listings / FBA listings / Vendor listings with Merchant Fulfilled listings.

Customers view non-Prime listings almost like EBAY or Facebook Marketplace.? 2nd place.

If the numbers make sense for your business and you can meet the requirements, you will see more sales.? Period.

The Amazon SFP Program makes even more sense for certain types of products.

For instance, if you have perishable goods that need to ship right away anyways, it makes sense to get the Prime badge and do Seller Fulfilled Prime.

Or, if you have certain products that CANNOT BE STORED IN FBA WAREHOUSES at certain times or at all, like certain vitamins & supplements for example.

If you didn’t know, FBA Warehouses get HOT, over 100 degrees Fahrenheit at times.? They are not climate controlled.

If the numbers don’t make sense on your end, but they DO for Amazon FBA.? I would give it a strong look.

Consider this:

How Seller Fulfilled Prime Boosts Sales & Clicks:

1. Seller Fulfilled Prime or Amazon FBA gives you the Prime badge on your listings.
2. The Prime badge gets more clicks and more conversions.
3. Prime Eligible listings win the buy box.
4. More conversions?get?you more organic visibility / Amazon SEO (I’m an Amazon Consultant that can make getting found on Amazon a lot quicker & easier)
5. More organic visibility gets you more sales.
6. Rinse & repeat.

On the other hand, you do give up a lot of control to Amazon and 200 orders in 90 days isn’t easy for everyone, especially new sellers.

Still, the sales volume and brand exposure can be significant.

There are many shoppers out there who won’t buy things UNLESS they are on Amazon and Amazon is the FIRST PLACE people go to make a purchase in some cases.

That being said, let’s make this a little easier.

The Pro’s and Cons of Seller Fulfilled Prime

When we’re looking at Pro’s and Cons it’s about Seller Fulfilled Prime vs. the alternatives.? The alternatives being, FBA By Amazon or traditional Merchant Fulfillment.

In my experience, the Prime badge makes all of the difference on listings in terms of getting clicks and getting sales.

There is an inherent trust that comes with having your products on Amazon as the end customer is not familiar with the inner workings of Vendor Central, Seller Central, Amazon FBA, Merchant fulfillment etc.

BUT

A customer can easily distinguish if a listing is eligible for free 2-day shipping with Prime or not and that DOES matter to them.? The Prime badge is like a badge of honor as well in that Prime-eligible products are viewed as superior to non-Prime.

There are still some other odds and ends though and the story isn’t complete.

Seller Fulfilled Prime FAQ

How Do I Tell as a Customer If a Seller is Doing Seller Fulfilled Prime (Amazon SFP) or Amazon FBA?

• You can’t.? They are indistinguishable from one another.

Does Seller Fulfilled Prime Work For Amazon FBA Small and Light (Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime Small and Light)?

• Yes!??Seller Fulfilled Prime Small and Light?allows you to ship FBA small and light products via the program.

Can Brand New Sellers Apply For Seller Fulfilled Prime?

• Yes they can.

Is The Amazon Request a Review Button Available For Seller Fulfilled Prime Orders?

• Yes, the Amazon Request A Review Button is available for Seller Fulfilled Prime orders.

Was Seller Fulfilled Prime Always Open To All Sellers?

• No, it started for select Vendor partners.
  • Then, it became invite only to select Seller Central Sellers.
  • Then it became available to all via a registration and trial basis.

How Many Times Is My Business Allowed To Keep Trying The Seller Fulfilled Prime Trial?

• As far as I can tell, indefinitely.? This may change.
• If you struggle to meet the 200 sales minimum during this time period, strongly consider Amazon Listing Optimization to drive those sales.

Having great products and not selling is agonizing, but dominating competitors and selling through inventory is intensely gratifying.

If you need help with anything you’ve read here, I’m a top-rated Amazon Consultant?&?eCommerce Consultant with 10+ years of experience.

I can make eCommerce your strength to get you where you want to go quicker & easier.

Click here for a free consultation.

AMAZON SELLER FULFILLED PRIME INFOGRAPHIC – Seller Fulfilled Prime Requirements:

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