# FBA – Getting Started ## Overview [FBA](https://sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon) (Fulfillment by Amazon) is a service that allows businesses to store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, where Amazon takes full control over the logistics of order fulfillment, including picking, packing, shipping, and customer service. You can manage your [FBA Inbound Shipments](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630837133244917471) and send inventory to FBA using Sellercloud, as well as use that inventory for [Multi-Channel Fulfillment](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630850904761723454) to ship your regular orders via FBA. Before doing that, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the requirements and settings for this workflow. Learn more about all FBA-related requirements below. Amazon does not allow an **Inbound Shipment** to be managed both directly on Seller Central and via API (i.e., through Sellercloud). You will see a Shipment note and a warning banner, informing you that the **FBA Inbound Shipment has been converted to "Send to FBA"** if a user has edited the Inbound Shipment directly on Amazon. ## Set Up FBA Warehouses **Prerequisite**: You must be enrolled in [Fulfillment by Amazon](https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/53921?language=en-US&ref=mpbc_200240350_cont_53921) before you can create an FBA Inbound Shipment. Sellercloud tracks inventory through warehouses, so you must set up a dedicated warehouse to track all FBA-related movements and quantity changes. When adding items to FBA shipments, inventory will be reserved from your regular warehouses. Once shipped, your inventory is moved to an interim warehouse until it is received in your FBA Warehouse. To ensure everything is handled properly, make sure to create an **FBA-type warehouse** and assign it under your **Channel Warehouses** following the steps below: 1. In Sellercloud, go to **Settings** > **Inventory** > **Add New Warehouse**. 2. Enter your warehouse name, for example, " **FBA Warehouse**", along with its address. 3. Select **FBA** as the warehouse type and click **Save**. 4. Next, go to **Settings** > **Companies** > **Manage Companies** > Select a company > **Toolbox** > **Channel Warehouse** > **Edit**. 5. Find the **FBA** channel row > select **FBA Warehouse** > **Save**. Typically, the FBA warehouse should be set as **Unsellable**, which allows [FBA Inventory](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630844415382729851) to only be used for FBA orders and not be considered available to other channels. If you want to ship orders placed on other channels via FBA, Sellercloud offers various generic [Ship via FBA](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630850904761723454) plugins that allow you to automate this process. In that case, the FBA warehouse must be set as **Sellable** while the plugin is running. Keep in mind that some channels (such as Walmart) may not allow this. ### Set Up the Interim Warehouse 1. Add another warehouse and name it **Interim Warehouse**. 2. Choose **Interim** as the warehouse type and click **Save**. ### Allow to Use Qty for FBA Shipments To create FBA inbound shipments using inventory from your regular warehouses, be sure to enable the option **Allow To Use Qty For FBA/AWD/WFS Shipments**. By default, you will be able to add items to your shipment even if they have no inventory in your catalog. This is sometimes done when you expect a purchase order to arrive shortly and would like to set up the shipment even before it arrives. - To validate inventory availability when adding a product to an FBA Shipment, enable the [Client Setting](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630835167106228692) **Enable Validate Inventory for FBA and WFS Shipments**. When enabled, the shipment will not **Preview** if the product has less inventory than the amount added to the shipment. Sub-setting **Validate FBA and WFS Shipment Inventory per warehouse only** can be enabled if you want to narrow the validation down to the **Ship From** warehouse. - The product must be from the same company as the company you are shipping from; otherwise, you will see an “Unknown SKU” error message when previewing the shipment. Additionally, the **Ship From** address on the FBA Inbound Shipment is pulled from the warehouse address, not the company address. Ensure that the warehouse address is filled in correctly. ## Set Up FBA SKUs Items added to an FBA inbound shipment must be **Fulfilled by Amazon** in your Amazon catalog. ### Update Fulfilled by Amazon Status Individually 1. Go to **Catalog** > **Manage Catalog** > open a product. 2. In **Toolbox**, select **Amazon Properties** page > **Actions** > **Change Fulfilled By**. 3. Select **Fulfilled By Amazon**. - If the product is posted on Amazon, click **Save**. The **Update on Amazon** box is enabled by default, and we will automatically notify Amazon of this change. - If the product is not posted on Amazon, uncheck the **Update on Amazon** box > **Save**. Next, [Launch the product on Amazon](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630834612052386974) as a new AFN listing. It may take up to 15 minutes before Amazon processes your product and puts it into FBA inventory. By default, new items created in Sellercloud will have a **Merchant Fulfilled** status, but you can control this at the company level for all products as follows: 1. Go to **Settings** > **Companies** > **Manage Companies** > Select a company. 2. In **Toolbox**, select **Amazon Settings** > **Product Defaults** > set the **Fulfilled By** field to **Amazon** > click **Save**. ### Update Fulfilled by Amazon Status in Bulk Go to **Catalog** > **Manage Catalog** > select products > click the **Action** button > **Switch to AFN**. This changes the status of the products in Sellercloud and also automatically updates it on Amazon, so it should only be done for the products that are already posted on Amazon. ### Get the Product's FNSKU When your products are set, make sure you have the correct FNSKUs assigned. An FNSKU (FBA SKU) is an Amazon product identifier used for FBA inventory. It's required for each product that you add to an FBA inbound shipment. Learn how to [get a product's FNSKU](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630844530136633471). ## Set Up Kits for FBA If you import a shipment with kits, you may want to enable **Auto Assemble Kit When Importing FBA Shipment** in the **Client Settings**. Learn more about [kit assemblies](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630853782418249007). When sending kits to FBA, the inventory quantity of the parent must be independent of its components to be handled properly. 1. Go to **Catalog** > **Manage Catalog** > open a product. 2. On the **Product Details** page, go to the **Kit** tab. 3. In the **Kit Details** panel, select **Independent** from the **Inventory Dependency On** dropdown list. ## Enable the FBA Workflow If your [Amazon Account Integration](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630832206946947991) is fully configured and you have an [FBA warehouse](https://help.sellercloud.com/sellercloud-knowledge-base/fba/fba-inbound-shipments/fba-getting-started~7630836422411875878#Set_Up_FBA_Warehouses) set, you can finalize the FBA workflow configuration by navigating to **Settings** > Select a company > **Toolbox** > **Channels** > **Amazon Settings** > **General Settings.** Click **Edit** and check the **Enable FBA Workflow** box. This enables the [FBA Inbound Shipments](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630837133244917471) feature, as well as the automatic download of [FBA Orders](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630850860343530090). Once enabled, the **Enable FBA Workflow** setting can only be disabled with the assistance of [Sellercloud Support](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630831494839563427). ## View Inventory Movements To view the inventory movements related to your FBA operations, open the **Inventory Movement** page for the desired product. The respective quantity is noted in the grid under the **FBA** movement types.