Workflow for Split Shipments

The only source of knowledge is experience.

-Albert Einstein

A common question for new sellers: Why are they splitting my shipment? Amazon wants me to send my shipment to three different fulfillment centers!

Screeech....Halt!

Yesterday, I was packing boxes for three different fulfillment centers when I had a thought. How does Amazon decide where each of my items will go?

Never mind. That's too complicated for me to even contemplate. They have engineers and data analyzers and computer whizzes to set all of that in motion. I just need to pack it and send it. They have their reasons, and hopefully their reasons will equal faster sales for me. That's all I need to know.

But what if I only have a few items to send? The shipping will eat my lunch and my profits too! 

When I first started selling on Amazon, I averaged sending in 15 to 20 items per week (and that was an accomplishment in my book). I certainly didn't want to have those few items split into several shipments, so I elected to go into settings and turn on inventory placement. Now I could send everything in one box to one fulfillment center (with the exception of oversized items that were directed to a different fulfillment center). Inventory placement was a beautiful thing. Until the bill hit.

I was aware that I would be charged 0.30 cents per item. I was aware that the charges would show up on my account in about a month and a half. I was warned that they would add up fast. And they did. My payout was obliterated.

I don't regret it. It worked for me, but by the time this happened, I had a few things figured out, and I was buying more, so I dove in head first, turned off inventory placement and allowed Amazon to tell me where they wanted my stuff to go.

IMPORTANT: 

• You can continue adding to a shipment until you're ready to ship, but do NOT hit the approve button until you're finished adding to the shipment (when you're boxes are basically full). 
• Make sure you check "add to an existing shipment", then use the drop down arrow to select the shipment. 
• If you create a new shipment every time you enter a new item, you'll end up being directed to a dozen fulfillment centers instead of 3 or 4. 
• You can also click on "review shipment" to see how many items are being directed to a specific fulfillment center. This will allow you to estimate how much more you need to add to fill your boxes. Sometimes you keep adding, yet one fulfillment center only has one or two things. If you don't have anything else to add, you can remove those items and wait until your next shipment. Try to avoid removing an entire shipment. It is said that Amazon frowns on this, but most especially if you've already approved the shipment. 
• Also, be sure to actually ship the boxes the same day or within a couple of days after you've approved the shipment. I often finish a shipment on Saturday night, and drop the boxes off at UPS after work on Monday afternoon. 

WARNING: Continue checking your "review shipment" after adding new items. Check it again after you click approve. Before you click approve, Amazon might move your items around!

Phew! That was the hard part.

Now onto a workflow. 

The majority of the time my products are split to the same three fulfillment centers (FC). I bought three medium sized clear plastic boxes. I wrote the names of the FC's on removable labels, and placed them on the boxes. I also numbered the boxes: 1, 2, 3. After I add a product, I click on "review shipment" to see which FC Amazon wants me to send it to, then I place the product in the appropriate box.

Once my three boxes are full (or even overflowing), I estimate which sized shipping boxes I will need (sometimes I need two boxes for one fulfillment center), approve my shipment, double check the packing list, then begin labeling and packing. This helps me to keep everything organized and  acts as a way to double check myself before I place even one item into a shipping box.

When I first turned off inventory placement, I had about 30 items to send. I mostly used 12 x 12 x 12 boxes. Today, I dropped off 5 boxes with 63 products headed to three fulfillment centers! I'm always working to improve my workflow. Next on the wish list is a Dymo LabelWriter 450 Turbo Label Printer!