Operationally, you need four things in the U.S.: a physical address where inventory, Amazon removals and customer returns can land; someone to receive, count and prep units to Amazon's or Walmart's requirements; a way to fulfill Shopify or marketplace orders domestically; and a team you can talk to in Spanish during your business hours. A Miami 3PL provides all four. What it does not provide is the legal and tax setup: importer of record, customs clearance, an LLC, sales tax. Those belong with a licensed customs broker, an accountant and an attorney.
What you actually need in the U.S.
| Need | Why | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| A receiving address | Factories, forwarders and Amazon removals need a real dock and a real suite, not a P.O. box | A 3PL. Marcana gives every plan a Miami warehouse address with its own suite after approval |
| Receiving, counting, prep | Since January 1, 2026 Amazon does not prep units; someone in the U.S. has to label and bag before inbound | A 3PL or prep center. Marcana: prep from $0.70 to $1.25 per unit |
| Domestic fulfillment | Shopify, TikTok Shop and Amazon FBM orders ship from the U.S. at domestic rates and speeds | A 3PL. Marcana: $1.95 per order plus carrier |
| A returns and removals destination | Without one, a return means refunding the customer and losing the product | A 3PL. Marcana receives returns and removals; you decide what happens next |
| Customs clearance and duties | Goods do not enter without an importer of record and a broker | A licensed customs broker and freight forwarder. Not Marcana |
| Entity, tax and bank setup | Whether you need a U.S. company, how sales tax works, how to get paid | Your accountant and attorney. Not Marcana |
What the Miami address is, and what it is not
The address that comes with a Marcana plan is a commercial warehouse address with a unique suite number assigned to your business after approval. It is where your inventory is received, where Amazon sends removal orders, and where customers return products. It is listed on your shipping labels and in Seller Central as a ship-from and return address.
One membership is one verified business. Suites are not shared, sublet or resold, and every inbound shipment is pre-declared: carrier, tracking, box count, contents and expected date.
How the first shipment flows
- Your forwarder ships DDP to your Marcana suite. Duties, taxes and clearance are paid by you or your forwarder through your broker before delivery. Marcana does not advise on HS codes or duty rates. See the first-shipment checklist.
- You declare the inbound in Marcana Flow, in Spanish or English: what is coming, how many boxes or pallets, when.
- Marcana receives, counts and photographs. You see the photos and the count before anything else happens.
- Prep and forward to Amazon or Walmart in a measured allocation, and hold the reserve in Miami. Or connect Shopify and start shipping domestic orders.
- Returns and removals land in the same suite. You are told what arrived before anyone touches it, then you decide: inspect, relabel, restock, destroy.
What it costs from Latin America
Illustration: a Colombian skincare brand's first quarter
1,200 units arrive by air in 40 cartons, 800 go to Amazon FBA with standard prep, 400 stay as reserve and fulfill 150 Shopify orders a month.
| Growth plan × 3 months | $179 × 3 = $537 |
|---|---|
| 40 cartons received | 30 included per month; 10 extra × $5 = $50 |
| 800 units standard prep at $1 | $800 |
| 450 Shopify orders × $1.95 | $877.50 |
| Quarter, before carrier shipping, freight and duties | About $2,265, in U.S. dollars, on a published rate card |
International freight, customs duties, Amazon's fees and domestic postage are separate. Plans are paid by card through Stripe in USD, monthly, with no lock-in.
Why the language matters more than the map
The operational failures we see with brands entering from abroad are rarely about distance. They are about a factory email that was never answered, a receiving problem explained in English to a founder at 11 p.m. in Santiago, or a return that sat for three weeks because nobody asked what to do with it. A team that reads your declaration in Spanish, calls you back in Spanish, and writes the invoice in a format your accountant in Bogotá understands removes most of that. Marcana's team in Miami is bilingual in-house, Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 5:30 ET, and the founder himself came up through 20 years of imports and logistics.
Questions founders ask
That is a legal and tax question for your attorney and accountant, not for a warehouse. Operationally, Marcana verifies your business during onboarding (KYC) and assigns a suite; the membership address is for commercial logistics use only and is not a legal or fiscal domicile.
No. Marcana is not a customs broker and does not act as importer of record. Shipments must arrive DDP, with duties, taxes and clearance handled by your freight forwarder and a licensed customs broker. Marcana can receive from any forwarder once the goods are cleared.
For seller-fulfilled orders, Amazon expects a way to handle returns from U.S. customers; options include a domestic return address, prepaid international return labels, returnless refunds or approved providers, depending on the situation. A Miami address is the practical option for most brands because it also receives inventory and FBA removals.
Yes, if the units are fully prepped and labeled at origin and your forwarder can deliver to Amazon's fulfillment centers with an appointment. The risk is that a labeling or packaging problem is discovered inside Amazon, where it is hardest to fix. A Miami receiving point catches it first and holds the reserve.
Any country whose goods clear U.S. customs. The largest groups of Marcana members are in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Spain, and the Spanish-language site, onboarding and support exist for them.
Plans are paid by card through Stripe in U.S. dollars, monthly. Warehouse work is billed as it happens at the published rates and appears on the same invoice.