Amazon to store, ship goods for other merchants

Any mom-and-pop retail operation can now tap into Amazon's logistics and fulfillment expertise.

The Web's largest retailer has launched a fulfillment Web service. Fellow merchants can hire Amazon to store, pick and pack, and then ship products for fellow merchants, according to an announcement on Amazon's Web site. The service is free once a merchant signs up with Fulfillment By Amazon and pays the FBA fees.

Participating retailers use a Web interface to send inbound shipments to Amazon, post and track orders, and attach branding information. The service enables merchants to sell goods on Amazon or their own sites.

The real draw is that Amazon promises to handle the shipments of outside retailers the same way it handles its own.

"Amazon's technology results in your customers getting what they ordered, when they ordered it," Amazon said on its site.

[David Dudley]

Been done before

Sounds like Amazon is copying Shipwire.com. I'm sure they thoroughly researched Shipwire before creating their product. Competitive due diligence is always a good thing to do when replicating someone else's product and calling it your own.

[paulej]

But, it's Amazon!

Seriously, Amazon has an excellent track record. Over the years, they have grown substantially, but still provide excellent service.

Plus, the ability to sell directly to customers right from within the Amazon system is a huge benefit that nobody else can provide.

[Pixelslave]

One problem

There's one problem with service like this -- unless you are a big merchant, which you can leverage the volume to offset the cost of the additional shipping (you pay for the merchandises shipping to your location once, then tag your products and ship to Amazon for another time), you will be in a much less favorable position than your competitor. On top of that, if you sell thru Amazon, Amazon will charge the customer shipping (if the item is not qualified for free shipping), at the same time, Amazon will still charge you for shipping the item out.