In an online arbitrage business model, nothing can save you more time than utilizing a prep company to receive, prep, repackage and fulfill your inventory to Amazon FBA warehouses or buyers. They are also handy for receiving and repackaging private label and wholesale inventory.
How Amazon Prep Center Companies Work to Help Online Arbitrage Businesses
For online arbitrage sellers, prep companies generally work like this:
- You ship products to the prep company that you purchase on retail websites. Each prep company will give you a shipping address when you create an account with them.
- The prep companies receive your products.
- An admin assistant (or you) works with the prep company to create shipment batches to send the received products to Amazon FBA warehouses. Some prep companies help you create the shipments via Amazon’s website, and others you create the shipment yourself and forward the shipment information to the prep company.
- The prep company inspects, repackages, and labels all products with a specific Amazon product barcode that is generated when you create the shipments via Amazon’s website or Inventory Lab.
- The prep companies package all products into specific boxes based on warehouse locations dictated by Amazon and ships them to Amazon FBA warehouses.
- You can track the shipments via Amazon’s Seller Central website under Inventory > Manage FBA shipments.
All prep companies vary, but most of them charge a set fee (usually $.75 to $2.00 per item they receive and prep for you. Some prep companies also charge extra for packaging materials, including boxes, bubble wrap, and more. Usually, the higher volume you send to the prep company, the cheaper the unit cost becomes.
10 Established FBA Prep Services for Online Arbitrage Businesses
EZ Prep
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Tax Free? No
- Turnaround Time: 24-72 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $1.25 – $2.25. There is a box fee on top of these service fees if needed.
- Services: OA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label
- ez-prep.com
Prime Zero Prep
- Location: Hudson, NH
- Tax Free? Yes
- Turnaround Time: 24 Hours to 12 Days Based on Pricing
- Price: Price per Unit $1.20 to $2.15 Based on Shipping Speed
- Services: OA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label
- Primezeroprep.com
FBA FLEXPREP
- Location: Texas & California
- Tax Free? No
- Turnaround Time: 24 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $0.80 to $1.20
- Services: OA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label, Product Photos
- fbaflexprep.com
Selltec Prep
- Location: Roundup, MT
- Tax Free? Yes
- Turnaround Time: 24-72 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $0.75 to $1.65
- Services: OA, RA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label, Process Returns, Product Photos
- selltecprep.com
eFulfillment Service
- Location: Traverse City, MI
- Tax Free? No
- Turnaround Time: 24-48 Hours
- Price: Contact for Pricing
- Services: OA, RA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label, Used Books, Ship Directly to Customer, Return Processing
- efulfillmentservice.com
Prep Ninjas
- Location: Springfield, OR
- Tax Free? Yes
- Turnaround Time: 24-72 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $1.15 to $2.50
- Services: OA, Wholesale, Private Label, Process Returns
- prepninjas.com
Pacific Prep Services
- Location: Hillsboro, OR
- Tax Free? Yes
- Turnaround Time: 24-48 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $1.75 for OA
- Services: OA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label
- pacificprepservices.com
One Prep Direct
- Location: NY, NH
- Tax Free? Yes
- Turnaround Time: 24-48 Hours
- Price: Contact for Pricing
- Services: OA, RA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label, Product Photos
- oneprepdirect.com
My FBA Prep
- Location: Sunrise, FL. Has warehouses in lots of other states.
- Tax Free? Yes
- Turnaround Time: 24-48 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $0.95 to $0.90. Also offers custom pricing.
- Services: OA, RA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label, Used Books
- myfbaprep.com
Flat Rate Prep
- Location: Madison, WI
- Tax Free? No
- Turnaround Time: 24-48 Hours
- Price: Price per Unit $1.50
- Services: OA, RA, Wholesale, Imports, Private Label, Used Books, Hazmat
- flatrateprep.com
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