FBA starter question
I am an FBM seller with decades of experience but am fed up with Royal Mail "losing" inventory or delivering late or not at all.
Therefore we have decided to go to the dark side ,FBA.
I have been looking at Seller University videos and reading as much as I can but there doesn't seem to be much guidance on how much inventory to send. Mine is simple, a small range of SKUs which can be boxed up easily to be sent in small boxes to Fulfilment centre.
By my reckoning sending a month's worth of product would seem a reasonable amount to send to FBA, is this right - too much or too little?
Any experienced answers appreciated.
Thanks in advance
FBA starter question
I am an FBM seller with decades of experience but am fed up with Royal Mail "losing" inventory or delivering late or not at all.
Therefore we have decided to go to the dark side ,FBA.
I have been looking at Seller University videos and reading as much as I can but there doesn't seem to be much guidance on how much inventory to send. Mine is simple, a small range of SKUs which can be boxed up easily to be sent in small boxes to Fulfilment centre.
By my reckoning sending a month's worth of product would seem a reasonable amount to send to FBA, is this right - too much or too little?
Any experienced answers appreciated.
Thanks in advance
6 replies
Seller_76AUwmqvSyRIM
A month's worth sounds about right, bearing in mind that your shipments can take a couple of weeks from shipment before being available for sale. Restock weekly or as frequently as you see fit..
You can use the "Restock inventory" function to get ongoing updates of quantities to send but like everything, sanity check what you are being told by it.
New ASINs are usually way out, asking to send way too much and also there can be a lag before recent sales are taken into account.
Use your own judgement.
Re Royal Mail "losing" or "delivering late". A lot depends on the service you are using. I've not had a real loss in over a year. I am sending with Tracked 24/48. Saying that, I did have 1 but it was clear to Royal Mail that it was delivered to the wrong address and I was reimbursed.
Late deliveries again are rare. The only ones I've had customers complaining about are Large Letters I send with RM48. And it's only because Amazon alerts them and I ask them to wait. I think I refunded 1 order out of 100s.
Seller_kKOdRZuhZIPPS
I aim to not let my stock fall below a months worth at any one time.
I agree with Disenchanted_Seller comments - the 'restock inventory' is useful but use your own judgement as well. I look at the 'days of supply' and send more inventory in when it gets to about 40 days - I don't tend to use the recommended replenishment amount because they seem to like 90 days worth.
You could have an FBM offer still available as well, at least at first, while you try it - that way you wont go out of stock.
Seller_w9VI3UyAR7oxH
if you are just sending a small box it only costs £2.50 so it's not expensive to send more stock every week if you need to .
that way you dont end up with too much inventory stuck in amazons warehouse if your sales take a drop from a bad review or someone undercutting you on price ( Amazon will charge you around 60p per item to return stock to you ) .
Seller_EkGoiphKgUnUI
If you're sick of Royal Mail losing stock, which for my Ebay business has only been a tiny fraction of a percent, get prepared for Amazon to lose far, far more, then insist you spend hours proving the stock you sent was your property.
I take photos of every shipment I send, and at the next warehouse will be installing full CCTV, as the amount that "goes missing" is quite substantial....
With regards to stocking levels, if you're sending in your own unique branded products, then you will very quickly be able to gauge how much you need to send in to keep at least a small surplus at any one time, and the more frequently you send smaller amounts, the better. If you're selling products alongside other sellers, be very wary of larger shipments, as at any moment there could be a crash in the markets and you could be left with aging stock you need to ditch, otherwise you will pay extra fees for aging stock, or you will have to sell out at the current lower price.
