• Packaging Costs Profit

    By ZonSupport | Posted on February 6, 2018| Blog

    There are some that say packaging decisions are even more important that product selection and I tend to agree!

    An average product presented well often sells in huge volume whereas a great product poorly presented sits on the shelf.

    We have noticed a trend with packaging growing in size which can cost you all your profit. Some clients have only realized this as they filled out their final weight and dimension on their listing by which time it is often impossible to change anything. Remember, every time you move your product it costs money. Weight and dimension are the deciders of just how much that will be so you need to look at this as closely as the product itself.

    Begin with the end in mine. Find out just how much will it cost you to deliver your final product from Amazon to your customer and then work backwards.

    The first data you need to understand is the Amazon Product Size Tiers . These weights and measures dictate how much margin you will lose on customer deliveries so be very clear on these.

    It is our strong recommendation that you keep well within these limits wherever possible. As with any boundary, the closer you get to the line the more chance you might step over.

    If you use a plastic bag outside your product, be very aware that their measure is to the outer edge of the bag. No, they won’t fold it over or tuck in a stray corner. Most often if they are checking they put it in a cubiscan machine that measures and weighs in a nanosecond. If you look closely at the Product Size Tiers above you can see the cost of moving from one tier to the next can be very expensive!

    Always have your product in its final packaging measured and weighed and the process photographed at your QA inspection stage. Then, if at some time in the future Amazon do a measure that is outside what you know is correct, then you have the data and images to support any appeal.

    So, now you have that step worked out, you want to ensure your package will fit efficiently into export cartons you use (that must conform to Amazon’s limits) and that you can stack these on a pallet that conforms with Amazon’s limits eg it cannot exceed 72 inches in height if shipping direct into Amazon from your supplier.

    Go here to learn more on this: Amazon FBA Shipping Requirements

    It costs money to ship volume as well as weight, so you want to ensure you can get as much product onto a pallet as possible. If you are shipping to a 3PL (3rd party warehouse) then of course you can ship much higher pallets. However, on the final shipment from your 3PL to Amazon their limits apply of course.

    Only now do you know what size and weight each product can be as you calculate your profit. Sure, you want to make it look appealing but remember you are in business to make money so make sure you don’t give away any margin that you don’t have to!

    As always, ask us anything. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll know someone who does!

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