Amazon discontinued its FBA prep services on January 1, 2026. FNSKU labeling, poly-bagging and bubble wrapping are no longer done at the fulfillment center. You have three options: prep at the factory, prep it yourself, or use a third-party prep provider before inbound. Nothing changed about what prep is required; what changed is that Amazon no longer catches it for you. At Marcana, standard prep runs $1.25 to $0.70 per unit and FNSKU label only $0.55 to $0.35, by volume.
What actually changed
Before 2026, a seller could send unlabeled or unbagged units and Amazon would apply the FNSKU label or poly-bag at the fulfillment center for a per-unit fee. That service is gone. Amazon's prep requirements themselves, which units need a scannable FNSKU, which need a poly-bag with a suffocation warning, which need bubble wrap or boxing, expiration formats, are unchanged. The difference is who does the work and what happens when it is not done.
Your three options
| Prep at the factory | Prep it yourself | Third-party prep center | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per unit | Lowest, often cents | Your time plus materials | $0.70 to $1.25 standard, by volume |
| Works when | Packaging and listing are final and the factory is reliable | Small volumes, you are in the U.S., product is simple | Volume, imports, multiple SKUs, packaging still changing |
| Risk | An FNSKU change or a listing error after printing wastes the whole run | Your weekends; inconsistency at scale | Per-unit fee |
| Also gives you | Nothing else | Nothing else | Receiving with photos, counts, reserve storage, forwarding to FBA in measured shipments |
Most brands importing from abroad end up with a mix: factory-applied bags and warnings where packaging is final, FNSKU labels applied at a U.S. prep center so a listing change does not cost a production run.
The prep checklist by product type
- Every unit: a scannable FNSKU or an approved manufacturer barcode, exactly one, covering any other barcode.
- Loose, powdered, granular, liquid, or with an opening over a certain size: sealed poly-bag or shrink wrap with a suffocation warning on bags above the size threshold.
- Fragile, glass, sharp: bubble wrap or boxing so the unit survives a drop test. Marcana's fragile prep with bubble is $1.75 to $1.20 per unit.
- Sets and bundles: "sold as set" labeling, one FNSKU for the set, sealed together.
- Expiration-dated: the date in Amazon's accepted format on the unit and the carton, with enough shelf life remaining at receiving.
- Cartons: FBA shipment labels on each box, weight and dimension limits respected, no mixed-SKU boxes unless the shipment plan says so.
Amazon's requirements page in Seller Central is the source of truth for thresholds and formats, and it changes. Marcana preps to Amazon's published requirements as they stand when the shipment is prepped.
What prep costs at Marcana
Published prep rates, per unit
| Volume tier | Standard prep (FNSKU + poly-bag) | FNSKU label only | Fragile prep (bubble) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 500 units | $1.25 | $0.55 | $1.75 |
| 500 to 2,000 | $1 | $0.50 | $1.50 |
| 2,000 to 5,000 | $0.85 | $0.42 | $1.35 |
| Over 5,000 | $0.70 | $0.35 | $1.20 |
Plus a plan from $89 a month that covers the Miami address, receiving allowance and storage days, and $25 per pallet received. A 1,000-unit shipment with standard prep is $1,000 in prep at the $1 tier; the FBA prep page has a calculator.
How the flow works with a Miami prep center
- Declare the inbound with carton count, SKUs and expected date; the factory or forwarder ships to your Marcana suite, DDP.
- Receive, count, photograph. Discrepancies go back to the factory the same day.
- Prep the allocation. Labels, bags, bubble, set labeling per your instructions and Amazon's requirements.
- Create the FBA shipment plan in Seller Central; Marcana boxes to the plan, applies shipment labels and hands to the carrier or your freight provider.
- Hold the reserve. The rest stays in Miami at flat pallet storage and goes out on the next replenishment, or fulfills your own store.
Questions founders ask
Amazon discontinued its own prep services on January 1, 2026, so it no longer labels or bags units for you. Improperly prepped inventory can face receiving problems and may not be eligible for reimbursement. Whether a specific shipment is accepted is decided by Amazon at receiving.
For eligible products, Amazon allows the manufacturer barcode (commingled inventory) instead of an FNSKU. Eligibility depends on the product and your settings in Seller Central; it is your listing decision, and prep is done to match it.
At Marcana, standard prep (FNSKU label plus poly-bag) is $1.25 per unit under 500 units, $1 from 500 to 2,000, $0.85 from 2,000 to 5,000 and $0.70 above. FNSKU label only is $0.55 to $0.35.
If the retail packaging and the listing are final and the factory is reliable, factory-applied bags and warnings are the cheapest option. FNSKU labels are the exception: applying them in the U.S. avoids losing a production run to a listing change.
No one outside Amazon can. Marcana preps to Amazon's published requirements as they stand at the time and documents the work with photos; what Amazon does at receiving is Amazon's decision.