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Amazon continues to enhance its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service with new, flexible options aimed at improving the returns process for sellers and customers alike. These updates reflect Amazon’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and customer satisfaction. The latest features are designed to streamline Amazon returns management for both shoppers and sellers.

Grade and Resell

The Grade and Resell program represents a major advancement for sellers managing returned items. This optional service allows for the resale of returned inventory through Amazon, following a thorough inspection. Each returned product undergoes a detailed evaluation, including testing and, for electronics, power-on tests and factory resets. Items are categorized into one of four conditions: “Like New,” “Very Good,” “Good,” or “Acceptable.”

Previously exclusive to Retail brands, the Amazon Returns Management solution of Grade and Resell is now available to all FBA sellers in the U.S. This expansion follows a phased rollout and extensive feedback collection, aimed at refining the service. The program offers independent sellers a valuable avenue to recover value from returned products, while providing customers with an increased selection of pre-owned and open-box items.

Getting Ahead of Amazon Returns – Management of Product Support

Amazon is also bolstering its customer service with the introduction of enhanced Product Support. Both retail and FBA brands can now provide free support on eligible purchases, addressing setup, usage, or troubleshooting needs. Brands can offer comprehensive assistance through manufacturer contact details, detailed troubleshooting guides, instructional videos, or part replacement coordination. In 2023, this support helped prevent over 11 million returns in the U.S. and Europe, marking a 50% increase from the previous year and significantly improving customer experience and reducing return shipments.

FBA Returnless Resolutions

To further optimize the Amazon Returns Management process, Amazon has rolled out the Returnless Resolutions program. This feature enables U.S. sellers to issue refunds without the need for customers to return the item. Particularly advantageous for international sellers and those dealing with low-cost products, this program provides a more cost-effective and efficient solution for managing Amazon returns.

FBA Donation – A Sustainable Amazon Returns Management Solution

For items that cannot be resold but still have usable life, Amazon collaborates with the nonprofit Good360 to facilitate donations. The FBA Donations program allows sellers to contribute eligible products to families and individuals in need. This initiative not only supports communities but also helps minimize waste by giving products a meaningful second chance.

Amazon’s returns management innovation is clear in the range of solutions now available. These include the expanded Grade and Resell program, Returnless Resolutions, and FBA Donations. Each of these innovations is designed to enhance convenience. They also work to prolong the life of products and support charitable causes. Together, they benefit both sellers and customers. The result is a more streamlined and effective returns process.

Short Term 3PL Storage – Why Sellers Need It

The supplychain behind an online business can invarialbly confront sellers with hold-ups. And when your products get held up, they need temporary warehouse storage. Let’s look at some of the situations where a seller might need short term 3PL storage.

Scenario 1 – LTL Shipping Delay: You’ve requested crossdocking services from a warehouse. And while your pallets got unloaded, the other trucking carrier never showed up for pick up. In fact, they’re delayed by a week. With pallets temporarily stranded, they need short term 3PL storage.

Scenario 2 – Amazon Listing Suspension: Your newest re-up on inventory just arrived to your third party prep center. You intended to get the cartons turned around as quickly as they were received. However, Amazon flagged your listing for some unforseen error. With parcels temporarily stranded, they need short term 3PL storage.

Scenario 3 – Customs Paperwork Delay: You mapped out a plan to launch products into a new marketplace – let’s say Canada. Your listing is ready. A team prepped your products. However, you forgot to complete the correct customs paperwork for the LTL pick up. Now you’ll need to wait a couple weeks to get it up to speed. With product temporarily in limbo, you need temporary 3PL storage.

You may or may not fall into one of the scenarios above. But regardless, you will encounter a situation where you need a quick solution to store products on short notice. So let’s look at what short term 3PL storage offers.

What is Temporary Warehouse Storage?

Short Term 3PL storage is a stop-gap solution that brick and mortor warehouses offer when sellers need help holding onto shipments. Every sellers wants their products on doorsteps and in homes, instead of warehouses. However, supplychain delays can put shipments into a holding pattern. That’s where a warehouse steps up to offer help.

Defining Short Term 3PL Storage

Temporary warehouse storage can be defined as a warehouse holding product as little as one day to up to 90 days. Typically, any inventory stored in excess of 90 days is considered long term storage. There’s not much in the way of mid-term storage between these definitions.

How Does Short Term 3PL Storage Work?

Short Term Storage services vary based on the 3PL provider. Warehouses use several variables when caculating short term storage rates. Let’s take a closer look at each:

1. Carton Dimensions
2. Pallet Dimensions
3. Inventory Quantity
4. Storage Time Requested
5. Dates Product is Received and Released

Consider the following. A warehouse received 10 pallets, oversized at 7ft tall, midway through the month. The seller needs storage for two weeks. A warehouse could prorate the storage dates to accomdate that window of time. In addition, they should upcharge on normal storage costs due to the extra tall pallets. Therefore, a custom quote would apply to this short term 3PL storage request.

Alternatively, assume you are moving half a pallet of product. However you are struggling to get you product listing active. You’ll be requesting storage for the near future until that’s work out. Your products would most likely be registered at normal rates with that warehouse. In fact, you might pay for a full pallets storage regardless of your half pallet total.

What is the Cost of Short Term 3PL Storage?

Short Term Warehouse Storage prices vary based on provider. However, you should expect to see prices range between $20/pallet – $49/pallet. Different 3PL’s offer different rates at different points in their business model. For example, a warehouse may front load clients with software subscription costs, monthy minimums, while offering cheaper rates for their actual services. Other 3PL’s like Momentum Warehousing offer a middle ground of $29/pallet/month and no additional charges. Simple, clean short term 3PL storage.

We recommend looking for a warehouse provider that allows you to enter and leave their services at will. No contracts. No minimums. Just flat rates. This allows you the flexibility needed to make a move on shipping products once your bottleneck loosens up.

How to Shop for Short Term Warehouse Storage?

You as a seller should consider the following when shopping for temporary warehouse storage:

Warehouse Infrastructure

Does the facility have loading docks? A Fork Lift? Pallet Racks? Or will you need a lift gate to get goods off a truck? Will the staff be double stacking other pallets on your product? Make sure your 3PL partner has the neccesary warehouse infrastructure to effectively store and pull products on your behalf.

Turn Around Time on Requests

Once you get a green light to get goods moving – how long will it take a team to pull products from short term storage on short notice? Time is money, and you’ve already spent money storing goods. Make sure you find a team that can move quick when your time comes to ship. At Momentum Warehousing – we provide a 24 hour turn around time on any and all Small Parcel Delivery. Less-Than-Truckload shipments require 48 hours of prep time.

Warehouse Cost Structure

As alluded to before, short term 3PL storage prices vary. A good rule of thumb is to search for the following:

• No Subscription Fees.
• No Software Fees.
• No Startup Fees.
• No Minimums.
• No Contracts.
• Just Flat Rates.

Yes the warehouse rates might be a 20-30% more upfront, but that’s because your shedding the dead weight of back-end services on monthly invoices. And in this space – you get what you pay for. That is to say, cheaper services does not always provide better value. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Be leary of any warehouse that promises rock bottom storage rates.

Access to Account Managers

Along the lines of turn around request time – when you need products pulled from short term warehouse storage – you need someone to answer your request. Most larger warehouses offer an account manager to handle your requests. Some smaller warehouses offer a botique 3PL experience, where you’ll work directly with the owner. At Momentum Warehousing, clients work directly with the co-founders. In fact, they love the ‘owner-to-owner’ model of communication. It makes any seller feel invested in by a partner who cares and understand their needs.

Conclusion – Short Term 3PL Storage Summarized

First, make sure you are in good communication with your warehouse provider. This will help get ahead of any issues, delays, or set backs. Secondly, do not fall prey to predatory pricing structures. Lastly, due your due diligence and vet the location before sending product there. Ensure it is equipped with the infrastructure neccesary to move goods quickly, when your time comes to exit from temporary warehouse storage.

A 3PL’s Shipping and Receiving services offer unique advantages to retailers and online sellers who want to scale. Small businesses often start out of a gargare or shared warehouse space. Similarly, retail stores need to monitor how much money they spend per square foot on a lease. Shipping and receiving operations can eat up quite a bit of this space. Let’s look at how a 3PL’s Shipping and Receiving department can benefit folks without alot of operating space.

3PL Receiving

The receiving department of a 3PL serves to monitor and organize all inbound traffic. From parcels, to pallets a receiving agent will supervise the delivery of goods into the facility and sign any paperwork related to the delivery.

Parcel Receiving

Parcel Receving occurs when a shipping courier such as FedEx or UPS delivers a shipment of cartons to a 3PL’s receiving department. Shipping Marks help easily identify a parcel. Shipping Marks include the following info labeled on the side of a package:

• Company Name
• Product
• Product FNSKU
• Unit Count/Carton
• Weight
• Dimensions
• MADE IN CHINA

These shipping marks allow our staff to identify and organize cartons by SKU with speed and accuracy. If the client provides a Packing List, the receiving staff should check the carton quantities per SKU delivered. There is no BOL to be signed.

Pallet Receiving

In terms of 3PL shipping and receiving for pallets – it’s a different processing protocol. First, there is a BOL that is provided to the receiving agent by the delivery driver. Both parties need to sign a copy for the other party. Each party leaves with copy of the BOL signed by the other party confirming the delivery.

In addition, the receiving agent conducts a swift quality control inspection for any damage on the goods. The agent also confirms how many cartons per SKU were delivered and keeps them organized on corresponding pallets for storage. A 3PLs Shipping and Receiving protocol employs these measures to ensure quality control within the supplychain. No missing cartons. No damaged parcels.

Between 3PL Receiving and Shipping – The Storage Phase

In between 3PL shipping and receiving services is storage. As mentioned above, the staff take measures to account for received items, in order to plug the products into storage. Thereafter, a Warehouse Management System (WMS) coridnates storage organization. This allows the 3PL to monitor your goods and pull them at a moments notice, when a client requests shipping for a product.

3PL Shipping

Parcel Shipping

Warehouses ship parcels for a number of reasons to a number of destinations. Lets look at some examples:

• Business-To-Business Parcel Shipping: 3PL shipping and receiving can move products from suppliers directly to businesses by parcel
• Fulfilment Center Parcel Shipping: 3PLs often ship parcels to Amazon fulfilment centers for re-ups on inventory to prevent stock outs in their FBA program.
• Direct-To-Consumer Parcel Shipping: Often times customers buy in bulk. 3PL’s ship parcels directly to customers.

Pallet Shipping

Pallet shipping services serve sellers who move inventory in bulk. 3PLs Ship pallets by Full Trailor Load (FTL) or by Lessthan Trailor Load (LTL). Any shipments which do not require an entire trailor to load are reffered to as an LTL. On the other side of this definition, LTL loads share shipments stored in it.

Pallet ship starts by building cartons onto a wood pallet. If the pallet is “mixed” then, picking and packing the right cartons onto a pallet is important. If the pallet is destined to a fulfillment center for Amazon or Walmart, cartons need to be labled for check-in purposes. Afterwards, the 3PL shrink wraps the pallet and labels the shrunk wrapped pallet appropriately. From there, the pallet is ready for shipping. A 3PL will use a pallet jack and lift gate or fork lift and pallet jack to load the pallet onto a trailor.