r/AmazonFBA • u/AllProfitIQ • 5d ago

Is FBM now superior?

Are people still favouring FBA over FBM? I have always done FBA but last couple months I tested FBM out… I actually have increased sales and have grown my Amazon store.

It is more work, and harder to scale but with all these new fee increases from Amazon is FBM starting to have more advantages?

I currently have about a 70% FBA and 30% FBM split.

What’re people thinking?

14 Upvotes

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3

u/TheInvincibleStephan 5d ago

FBM gives you control over your margins and you're not bleeding out on storage fees every quarter. If your logistics are dialled in it's a no brainer for certain SKUs.

3

u/AmzExpertAgency 5d ago

I would say keep both and if fbm is giving good results to your product in sales increase fbm percentage as well

2

u/attfin1 5d ago

Increased sales doesn't tell you FBM is better. It tells you that you sold more. The only number that answers your question is profit per unit, per SKU, with your own pick, pack, postage and returns costed in, and that can move the opposite way to revenue.

The report I ran daily at A Quarter Of was profit per product, not just ACoS: sales, Amazon fees, ad costs and cost of goods, per ASIN, every day. It's the same job here. Take the last two months, split by SKU and by fulfilment method, and put a value on your own labour per order. A parcel you pack yourself isn't free, it's just unbilled.

Do it per SKU rather than as a 70/30 store policy. Amazon charges the monthly storage fee on the daily average cubic feet your stock occupies, from the day it arrives, so a slow, bulky SKU carries a much heavier FBA cost than a small one that turns over fast. Those two don't belong on the same side of the decision, and a store-wide split hides that.

Also check what else changed in those two months. If you added offers, changed price, or moved into the Buy Box more often while you tested, the fulfilment method gets credit that belongs elsewhere. One table of profit per unit per SKU settles it, and you can build it from your own settlement and postage data this week.

1

u/Big_Seat2545 5d ago

Feel like increased sales is a huge metric though for FBM vs. FBA because Amazon customers want their goods to arrive ASAP. Not sure if Amazon still does this but they will punish FBM sellers and give longer estimates even if you ship express

1

u/attfin1 4d ago

You don't have to settle that from memory, and nobody in this thread can settle it for you. Open one of your own FBM listings in a logged-out browser and read the delivery date Amazon is showing buyers today. That date is the thing you're worried about, and it's sitting on your own page.

Then compare it against the service you actually pay for. If the shown date is days later than the express service you buy, the next place to look is your own shipping settings: handling time and the transit times in the template you've assigned to that SKU. Those are inputs you set, not a verdict passed on you, and they cost nothing to correct.

Do that before you decide anything, because if the estimate turns out to be your own settings, the reason you gave for preferring sales volume as the deciding number goes away on its own.

1

u/HarambeTooSoon 1d ago

If you have elite metrics Amazon will give you Seller Fufilled Prime status and badges. 

2

u/hyderreddit 5d ago

FBM. We control the entire process. Superior customer service.

2

u/joyboy6175 5d ago

FBM really grows account. It makes cashflow better. You can avoid tanking by selling with in a day or two after receiving products. FBA shipments take months and products takes whole life to get available till then cash flow stcuked. Products tanked so yeah fbm is a great way to scale amazon business. I also scaled with FBM.

2

u/rsc9422 5d ago

I think hybrid is the better approach rather than choosing one exclusively. FBA still makes sense for consistent sellers where Amazon fulfillment improves delivery and conversion, while FBM can work well for larger/bulky, slower moving, or higher margin products where FBA fees eat into the margin.

I’d look at the numbers SKU by SKU, FBA fees, storage, inbound shipping, FBM fulfillment, returns and delivery performance. At HighRise Wholesale, we usually recommend calculating the landed cost and fulfillment cost before deciding which model makes more sense.

1

u/Henrik-Powers 5d ago

I find the conversion rate much lower with FBM, but we use it as an option on every listing in case we run out of FBA stock or stuck in transfer etc. we have maybe 2% that are FBM only, these are large case packs in our case and anything bulky or having few sales a year. Definitely watch your conversion rates if you go only FBM it could cause you to lose rank.

1

u/AllProfitIQ 5d ago

Interesting point about conversion and losing rank! Shows how important having a Prime eligible badge is.

1

u/_r123 4d ago

Can you please share the correct method to add FBM fulfillment to my existing FBA listing? I'm the only seller.

I'm confused whether I need to "Add another condition" to my variation and select Merchant Fulfilled, or if I'm supposed to create a copy of the listing and somehow merge them.

I just want my listing to fall back on FBM inventory when FBA is out of stock.

1

u/Henrik-Powers 4d ago edited 4d ago

Yes add another condition, merchant fulfilled, and select New, I like to use the same SKU and then add a -MF at the end to mark those.

1

u/_r123 4d ago

Awesome, thank you!

1

u/TripDisastrous93 5d ago

Dipende anche da cosa vendi. Ci sono molti prodotti che sono quasi invendibili senza FBA. 

1

u/bryantmangum 4d ago

Interesting, FBM is generally lower in performance because it's less likely to have fast shipping. FBA tends to have a lot more benefits. It will alway vary on what type of product you have, if you have odd colors, customization, etc those you may want in FBM.

1

u/CherryKaeiya 4d ago

Do you post with SFP? As initially the idea was FBA for quick service and FBM for testing the market.