An FBA shipment has two journeys. The first is the physical one, from your supplier in China to an Amazon fulfilment centre. The second is the receiving process inside that centre, where your cartons are scanned, checked and either accepted into sellable inventory or set aside.

Most FBA problems that cost sellers money happen in the second journey — and they are almost always caused by something that could have been fixed before the first one started.

What actually gets shipments rejected

In practice, rejections and delays cluster around a handful of causes:

  • Labels that cannot be scanned. A barcode that is wrinkled, covered by tape, printed too small, or placed on a curved surface is a barcode that does not read.
  • Cartons that exceed the receiving limits for weight or size, which then have to be handled separately or refused.
  • Mixed SKUs in one carton without the labelling the marketplace expects, which forces a repack.
  • Documents that do not match the shipment — a packing list that disagrees with what is in the box, or a commercial invoice that does not describe the goods.
  • Unsellable packaging — the product arrives intact but in a box the customer would not accept.

Every one of those is preventable at the packing table in China. None of them are fixable once the container or the air pallet has left.

The prep checklist

Before goods are packed for an FBA shipment, these should be settled:

1. Product labelling. Each unit carries the identifier the marketplace requires, applied so that it is flat, unobstructed, and printed at a scannable size. If your supplier applies labels, check a sample physically rather than trusting a photo.

2. Carton labelling. Each carton carries its own label, on a flat face, not over a seam or an edge where it will crease. Carton labels typically need the shipment ID and the carton number — confirm the exact required format for your shipment type.

3. Packing spec. Units protected well enough to survive handling, with a carton that holds its shape. A carton that bulges or collapses in transit can be refused regardless of what is inside.

4. Weight and dimensions. Measured, not estimated. These drive both the receiving compliance and the freight cost, and a surprise on either is expensive.

5. Packing list. What is in each carton, by SKU and quantity, matching what a receiving centre will count.

6. Commercial invoice. An accurate description of the goods and a defensible declared value, consistent with what you actually paid and what you will sell for.

Why consolidation matters for FBA

Most sellers do not buy from one factory. A typical order is three or four suppliers, each producing one part of the range, each wanting to ship on their own schedule.

If each supplier ships directly, you pay for three or four separate export processes, three or four sets of freight minimums, and you receive three or four shipments into Amazon at different times — each one carrying its own risk of a rejection.

Consolidating in China instead means collecting from each supplier, checking the goods, packing to the FBA spec, and sending one shipment under one set of documents. It is less expensive per unit and it eliminates most of the ways a multi-supplier order goes wrong.

Where the freight decision fits

FBA sellers generally choose between air and ocean based on one trade-off: speed against cost per unit.

  • Air freight gets inventory into sellable stock quickly, which matters when you are testing a product or trying to avoid a stockout on something already selling.
  • Ocean freight costs far less per unit and makes sense for replenishment of products with proven demand, where a longer transit is acceptable.

The mistake to avoid is treating this as permanent. A product can start on air while demand is unproven and move to ocean once the numbers are steady. What should not change is the prep — the labelling, packing and documentation are the same either way.

What we need to quote an FBA shipment

Send us the supplier locations, the carton count, weights and dimensions, the SKU list, and the destination fulfilment centre. With that we can plan consolidation, prep, and the freight mode, and tell you what is outside the rate before you commit.