Amazon FBM Vs. Amazon FBA: Which fulfillment method is best?
Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) means Amazon stores your inventory, then picks, packs, and ships your orders and handles customer service and returns. Amazon FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant, also called the Merchant Fulfilled Network or MFN) means you do all of that yourself, or hire a 3PL to do it for you.
FBA usually wins on Prime eligibility, delivery speed, and hands-off convenience. FBM usually wins on control, lower Amazon fees, and flexibility for bulky or slow-moving products. Many sellers use both. This guide compares the two on fees, Prime, the Buy Box, control, and branding, then helps you decide and explains how to move products from FBA to FBM.
For the full picture of how FBA works and what it costs, see our Amazon FBA guide.
Which should you choose?
- Choose FBA if you sell small, fast-moving products with healthy margins and want Prime eligibility without running a warehouse.
- Choose FBM if you sell bulky, fragile, slow-moving, or low-margin products, or you want control of packaging and customer contact.
- Use both if you sell a mix. Many sellers send best sellers to FBA and fulfill the rest themselves.
Amazon FBA vs FBM at a glance
| Amazon FBA | Amazon FBM | |
|---|---|---|
| Who stores and ships | Amazon | You, or a 3PL you hire |
| Prime eligibility | Automatic for eligible products | Only through Seller Fulfilled Prime, which has strict delivery standards |
| Buy Box | Fulfillment by Amazon is one of the factors that helps you win | Harder to win unless you qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime and compete on price and performance |
| Main costs | Selling plan, referral fee, fulfillment fee (plus a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge), storage, and inbound fees | Selling plan and referral fee, plus your own storage, packing, and shipping costs |
| Customer service and returns | Handled by Amazon | Handled by you |
| Packaging and branding | Amazon-branded packaging | Your own packaging and inserts |
| Control over inventory | Limited. Stock sits in Amazon’s warehouses and storage limits apply | Full control in your own warehouse |
| Best for | Small, fast-moving products | Bulky, fragile, slow-moving, or low-margin products |
What is Amazon FBA?
With FBA, you send inventory to Amazon fulfillment centers. When a customer orders, Amazon picks, packs, and ships the order and handles customer service and returns. FBA products can be Prime eligible. You can also use Multi-Channel Fulfillment to ship orders from your own website and other channels using FBA stock. See the Amazon FBA guide for how the program works step by step.
What is Amazon FBM?
With FBM, you create the listing, store the inventory, and pick, pack, and ship each order yourself. You are also responsible for:
- Storing stock in your own warehouse or another facility
- Packing orders with your own staff and materials
- Shipping to customers and handling late, damaged, or missing orders
- Customer service, returns, and exchanges
You don’t have to do it all in-house. Many FBM sellers hire a 3PL to store and ship their orders. Our comparison of Amazon FBA vs 3PL explains how that works and what to look for.
Advantages of Amazon FBA
Prime eligibility
FBA products are eligible for Prime shipping and the Prime badge, which many shoppers filter for, and can be included in Prime promotions.
Hands-off fulfillment
Amazon stores, picks, packs, and ships, and handles customer service and returns. That frees your time for sourcing, marketing, and growth instead of packing boxes.
Better odds in the Buy Box
Fulfillment method is one of the factors Amazon weighs when it chooses the Buy Box winner, so FBA offers often have an edge over FBM offers at a similar price. Only Professional sellers can win the Buy Box. See our guide to winning the Amazon Buy Box.
Multi-Channel Fulfillment
MCF lets you use FBA stock to fulfill orders from your own website and other marketplaces, so one pool of inventory can serve several channels. MCF has its own fees, and Amazon applied its 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge to MCF from May 2, 2026.
Room to handle spikes
Amazon’s network absorbs sales spikes without you adding staff or warehouse space, which helps around peak season. Peak-season fees do apply, so check them before you send stock.
Disadvantages of Amazon FBA
More fees
FBA costs include a referral fee, a fulfillment fee, storage fees, inbound fees, and removal and disposal fees. Amazon raised fulfillment fees on January 15, 2026, and added a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge to fulfillment fees on April 17, 2026. See Amazon FBA fees explained for the full breakdown.
Limited access and storage limits
Your inventory sits in Amazon’s warehouses, and storage limits apply if your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score falls below 400. Our guide to FBA inventory management explains how to keep it healthy.
Prep requirements
Amazon stopped prepping and labeling inventory at US fulfillment centers on January 1, 2026, so you or your supplier must prep and label units correctly. Mistakes can mean rejected shipments.
An unbranded experience
Orders arrive in Amazon packaging, which limits your branding and your direct contact with customers.
Returns and platform risk
Easy returns can raise your return rate. Relying on one platform also means an account suspension affects fulfillment and sales at the same time.
Advantages of Amazon FBM
More control
You decide how products are stored, packed, and shipped, and you can check the quality of each item before it leaves. You can reach your inventory whenever you need it.
Fewer Amazon fees
There are no FBA fulfillment, storage, or inbound fees, and no 3.5% surcharge. You still pay your selling plan and the referral fee, plus your own fulfillment costs.
Flexibility
You can list products without sending inventory to Amazon first, and you can fulfill custom, bulky, or fragile items that FBA handles poorly.
Room to build your brand
Custom packaging, inserts, and direct customer contact help you build a brand that isn’t tied to Amazon.
Prime is still possible
Qualified sellers can offer Prime through Seller Fulfilled Prime without using FBA, if they meet Amazon’s delivery performance standards. See our guide to Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements.
Disadvantages of Amazon FBM
More work and responsibility
Storage, packing, shipping, customer service, and returns all fall to you, including weekends and holidays. That is manageable at low volume and gets harder as orders grow.
Not automatically Prime
FBM offers don’t carry the Prime badge unless you qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime. Shoppers who filter for Prime won’t see them, and you may lose sales.
A harder Buy Box
Fulfillment method counts, so FBM sellers often need a lower price or stronger performance metrics to win the Buy Box.
Overhead costs
You pay for your own space, labor, packaging, and carrier costs, and those costs often rise before your volume does.
How to compare FBA and FBM costs
Compare profit per unit, not fees alone.
- FBA: the sale price minus the referral fee, FBA fulfillment fee, 3.5% surcharge, storage, inbound costs, and prep.
- FBM: the sale price minus the referral fee, your pick and pack labor, packaging, shipping, and the time you spend on customer service.
Use the FBA Revenue Calculator to see FBA costs for a specific product. Include storage on slow movers, because fees on stock that sits can erase the margin on an FBA product.
Should you use FBA, FBM, or both?
- Send to FBA: small, light, fast-moving products with healthy margins.
- Fulfill yourself or through a 3PL (FBM): bulky or oversized items, fragile products, slow movers, low-margin items, and anything that needs custom packaging or kitting.
- Review seasonally: peak-season products may suit FBA, but check storage and peak fees before you send stock.
A hybrid approach also spreads your risk, because an account problem or fulfillment delay doesn’t stop every order.
If you also sell on your own website or other marketplaces, splitting stock between FBA and your own warehouse makes accurate counts harder. Linnworks connects to 100+ native channel integrations and syncs stock across them in under 10 minutes, and rules can route orders to FBA, your own warehouse, or a 3PL. See how multichannel selling works with Linnworks, and read about selling on Walmart in Walmart WFS vs Amazon FBA.
How to move products from FBA to FBM
Moving some or all products out of FBA takes planning, mostly around the stock you already have in Amazon’s warehouses and keeping your delivery speeds up.
Decide what to do with your FBA stock
- Let it sell through. This is the simplest option, but you keep paying storage fees until the stock is gone.
- Create a removal order. Amazon charges a per-unit removal fee, and processing can take weeks, so check Seller Central for current fees and timing.
- Pause FBA and keep the stock for later. Watch aged inventory surcharges and any expiration dates.
Set up merchant fulfillment
Add a merchant-fulfilled offer, which is a separate SKU, for the same ASIN so you can switch fulfillment without losing the listing. Then decide whether to ship from your own warehouse or hire a 3PL. Look for fast shipping, integration with your sales channels, warehouses near your customers, and clear pricing. Linnworks shipping management handles carriers, labels, and tracking for orders you fulfill yourself.
Protect your delivery speed and Prime badge
Shoppers expect fast delivery, and slower shipping can cost you sales and reviews. If you want the Prime badge on FBM orders, apply for Seller Fulfilled Prime. If you don’t qualify yet, set realistic handling times and ship quickly.
Manage FBA and FBM in one place
Linnworks keeps stock, orders, and shipping for FBA and FBM in one place. It syncs stock across channels, routes orders with rules you define, and helps you avoid overselling when stock is split between locations. See how Linnworks works for Amazon FBA sellers.
Get a Linnworks demo: manage FBA and FBM stock in one place
See how Linnworks keeps stock and orders accurate across Amazon FBA, your own warehouse, and every other channel you sell on.
Frequently asked questions
With Amazon FBA, Amazon stores your inventory, ships your orders, and handles customer service and returns. With Amazon FBM, you store, pack, and ship orders yourself, or through a 3PL, and handle customer service and returns.
It depends on your product’s size, price, margin, and turnover. FBA adds fulfillment and storage fees but can lift sales through Prime eligibility and a better chance at the Buy Box. FBM avoids those fees but adds your own fulfillment costs. Compare profit per unit for each product.
Yes. You can split by product, sending fast sellers to FBA and fulfilling bulky or slow-moving items yourself. You can also offer the same product with both an FBA offer and an FBM offer.
Yes, through Seller Fulfilled Prime. Sellers must meet Amazon’s delivery performance standards before the Prime badge appears on their offers.
FBM services are third-party logistics providers (3PLs) that store, pick, pack, and ship your Amazon FBM orders for you. You keep control of your seller account and listings while the provider handles the physical fulfillment.
Decide what to do with the stock in FBA (let it sell through, remove it, or pause FBA), add a merchant-fulfilled offer for the same ASIN, set up your own fulfillment or a 3PL, and plan for delivery speed and Prime eligibility.