If you are looking for a handling and shipping company as a seller to ship your products and services, then FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon can be an excellent choice for you. Sellers can get all kinds of warehousing and fulfilment solutions under one roof with Amazon as they can get storage, packing, and shipping services within their marketplace.
What is FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon?
Fulfillment by Amazon or FBA is a 3rd party service that provides on and off logistics to the sellers from the platform of Amazon. After going through the Amazon packaging design process of your product and getting them shipped to your customer’s country, your orders will be picked up, packed, and shipped by Amazon for warehousing for Amazon FBA.
But we understand that many businesses do not want to use FBA due to the crazy high fees and lack of control over your inventory. The fees and costs charged by FBA can be astronomical for certain products which makes it irrelevant especially for new and small businesses.
Some of the Amazon FBA alternatives are briefly reviewed below to help you in choosing the most suitable one for your business.
1. Rakuten Super Logistics
It is one of the outstanding logistics that ensure to provide 100% accuracy in their services. They offer three separate systems to check the quality of their services. They assure you to provide you services for free if any error is detected by you. They guarantee to provide excellent services to their customers.
Cons
- The control of the process of fulfillment will be with Rakuten Super Logistics. Your business will have to trust them fully with the services provided.
- Moreover, you will have to bear any cost of mistakes committed by the logistic service provider.
Pricing
Rakuten Super Logistics prices differ every month depending upon the volume of your orders and seasonality. You will have to provide at least 250 orders every month to get enrolled with them. They can be the best choice in terms of pricing if you have more than 10,000 orders every month.
2. ShipBob
For the merchants in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York this logistic service is recommended as the best and most affordable for the area. Mainly they offer two types of services – order fulfillment and physical logistics for an inventory of warehouses as well as free software to the sellers to manage their inventory, orders, and communication with their customers.
Cons
- You may not be able to personalize the packing after hiring this logistic service as they will control every aspect of fulfillment
- Their cost can increase with a low number of orders as well as the add-ons that you choose
Pricing
Pricing of ShipBob can vary with the type of services you want to them to avail like shipping, storage, order management, and inventory management, etc. Those add-ons can really add up in the long run.
3. Shipwire
It is one of the best Amazon FBA alternatives for the businesses supplying their products and services worldwide as they offer warehousing services in Europe, the US, China, Australia, and Asia, etc. They offer a sophisticated system of warehousing to store, handle, and ship your products and services on time and safely.
Cons
- They can charge higher for the shipment of low amounts of orders even without telling you in advance.
- They may not respond to your queries well in time so that things can be managed accordingly.
- You are not fully covered for the mistakes committed by them.
Pricing
The pricing of Shipwire will be billed based on demand but you will have to spend at least $500 per month. It can vary based on order storage, handling, support, and shipping. Based on the volume of orders the pricing can be customized with discounts.
5. FulfillmentCompanies
Another option seller can use is FulfillmentCompanies.net. It acts as a free logistic service for the fulfillment of the orders for the vendors in Canada, Europe, and the US. The way that make money is by matching a customer with the supplier to make money. They can help you in finding the right vendor for the fulfillment of your requirements for outsourcing services.
Cons
- Their pricing policy can be higher than your expectations as they can charge based on the services availed by you
- Moreover, you will have no control of the packaging and handling of your order
- If any mistake is committed by them you will have to bear the cost.
Pricing
The pricing of FulfillmentCompanies.net is suitable for most of the users. They provide matchmaking service for order fulfillment free of cost whereas other service providers charge from $50 to $100 for similar services.
6. Red Stag Fulfillment
For the products that need light customization or assembly before shipment as well as oversized items, fragile and high-value items, and items weighing more than 5 pounds, this fulfillment company is the best Amazon FBA alternative. They provide a 100% guarantee for the accuracy of the inventory, accuracy of the order, speed of the order, and on-time delivery within 48 hours.
Cons
- For the sellers of low priced and high volume orders, they may not be an ideal fulfillment service.
- They do not provide shipping services on an international level.
Pricing
The pricing of RedStag Fulfilment for receiving per pallet can be $13.25 whereas for storage of one bin in any of their warehouses can be $2 and for storing on a pallet for one month can be $15. The cost of picking and packing for the first time can be $2.25 to $2.65 and for every additional item, 30 cents will be charged.
7. IDS Fulfillment
Those who want to ship their products quickly to their local customers in the US, this can be an ideal fulfillment service provider. They claim to take 2 days to reach almost 95% of the population of the US with the help of the latest technologies used at their centers throughout the US.
Cons
- They may not fit in your budget as the ultimate cost of their services can be higher than your expectations as compared to others
- You may not be able to customize the packing and branding of your order
- You will be responsible for any mistake done by the company in packaging, and shipping of the order
Pricing
The price for their services for picking, packing, and inventory storage of one item can vary from 23-75 cents, per order price can be from $1.25 to 2.50 and per pallet from $12.50 to $40.
8. Fulfillify
They have shipped over 75 million items all over the world annually. It is a free platform where you can sign up easily to avail of its fulfillment services even without entering into a long-term contract. It will allow you to switch to some other service provider anytime. It is a fully functional platform that you can use to manage all the details of your set up.
Cons
- It may not be suitable for the businesses shipping large online orders
- They may not handle and ship large and heavy items
Pricing
The monthly price for pick and pack services can start from $12.50 per pallet for at least 6,000 items. For every additional item, 50 cents will be charged extra. Monthly storage charges per pallet can start form $12.50 and monthly receiving charges per pallet or stock per unit can be $12.
9. Ships-a-lot
They assured customers that they can provide fulfillment services with up to 99.8% accuracy due to the computer tablets, scanners, and barcodes used at their centers. They also assured customers that they provide accountable and secure services by using these technologies. Their shipment turnaround rate is an impressive 24 hours timeline.
Cons
- They can be costly for your small or new business
- You may lose your control over the packaging and shipment of your order.
Pricing
Their monthly rate for stock storage of unlimited numbers of items can be $35 as their pricing list is not available on their website. This fee can be customized based on volume and item to be shipped.
10. Logisticsff
They can effectively manage your inventory, order fulfillment, and the process of the supply chain wholewide. They have improved the accuracy of their services by automating all of the processes for order fulfillment. They use a custom API to manage over 60 marketplaces and shopping carts.
Cons
- They can be an expensive service provider for small businesses as their fee depends upon the volume of order.
- You will be responsible for the mistakes committed by them
Pricing
The monthly fee per order can be from $2 whereas picking fee per order for the first time can be $2 for up to 500 orders and 50 cents for every additional order. For 500-1000 orders it can be $1.80. Their subscription fee is $1.50 per month per order.
Conclusion
So that’s it! Whether if you are looking for another option other than sticking to Amazon FBA to help you fulfil your orders or just a warehouse to store your inventory, you can be sure to contact these companies to aid you. You can find several Amazon FBA alternatives to replace warehousing for Amazon FBA to meet the requirements of your business.
