Amazon FBA Prep, Run From a Real 3PL Network

FBA prep at ShipCube isn’t a bolt-on — it’s part of the same fulfillment stack that handles your D2C and wholesale volume, so marketplace stock and store stock stop living separate lives.

Why prep and fulfillment belong together

Most FBA prep centers do one thing: receive, label, forward. The problem appears when the same SKUs also sell on your own store — now two providers hold your inventory and neither sees the whole picture. ShipCube receives your inventory once, then serves Amazon and your direct channel from the same pool. Demand forecasting (built into every plan) watches both channels, and stock rebalances before either side runs dry.

Receiving follows the published rate card — case/box receiving at $1.00–$1.50 per box, pallet unloading $10–$15, and 20-ft/40-ft containers at $275–$650 depending on plan. Prep work itself is billed as work-order labor at $30–$38 per man-hour, with packaging materials at actuals.

Where FBA prep runs

Three US facilities — East Coast, West Coast and central — part of ShipCube’s 500,000 sq ft network, so inbound freight lands close to wherever it arrives.

Related services

FBA sellers usually combine prep with warehousing (holding reserve stock outside Amazon at $17–$25 per pallet per month), D2C fulfillment for their own store, and kitting for multipacks and bundles.

Reserve storage: the quiet FBA cost saver

Amazon storage gets expensive precisely when you need it most, so most sellers want a reserve pool outside FBA. At ShipCube that pool costs $17–$25 per pallet per month in climate-controlled space, and it lives minutes from the prep bench — drip-feed Amazon on your schedule while bulk stock sits at warehouse rates, not marketplace rates. Demand forecasting (included in every plan) watches sell-through and tells you when the next replenishment shipment should leave.

Seasonal sellers use the same mechanics in reverse: build inventory ahead of Q4 in reserve storage, then release it into FBA in waves as capacity limits allow.

Getting started

FBA prep onboards on the standard ~12-day arc: connect Amazon (and any other channels) on days 1–2, receive inventory on days 3–7, run QA on days 8–12. Prep requirements — labeling, bundling, packaging specs — are captured as work-order templates during setup, so repeat shipments run without re-briefing. Month-to-month terms and no minimum volume mean seasonal-only prep is a perfectly good way to use the service.

FBA prep FAQ