Inventory configuration service is a new policy introduced by Amazon last year. FBA in the United States has added an inventory configuration service fee. According to previous regulations, sellers have three inventory configuration options: 1. Minimum shipment splitting: usually sending inventory to one location, with a fee system; 2 is partial shipment splitting: usually 2 or 3 locations, with a fee system; 3. Amazon optimizes shipment splitting: typically for 4 or more locations, free of charge.
Now, Amazon has made new adjustments. Starting from February 20, 2025, the "partial shipment splitting" option for standard size products will be cancelled and integrated into two storage options: "Amazon optimized shipment splitting" and "minimum shipment splitting". The "partial shipment splitting" option for large items will be retained.
The so-called "Amazon optimized shipment splitting" refers to the situation where sellers can package at least 5 identical cardboard boxes or pallets and send them to multiple Amazon US operations centers without paying for warehouse configuration service fees.
Compared with the past, the previous "Amazon optimized shipment splitting" may have sent goods to 4 locations, but now it is at least 5 locations, with more warehouses and difficult control of delivery time, resulting in an overall increase in shipping costs. Moreover, if the cargo booking fails, it may also result in storage configuration fees. Previously, a seller encountered a situation where they were divided into 5 warehouses. After the 5th shipment failed to be scheduled for delivery, they were delayed for 4 days, resulting in a check in time gap of more than 30 days between the last shipment and the first shipment. As a result, they were charged by the platform for the configuration and defects of the goods in the warehouse!