Amazon FBA stands for Fulfilment by Amazon. It is a logistics service that lets you sell products on Amazon without managing your own warehouse, packing operation, or courier accounts. You send your stock to one of Amazon's fulfilment centres across the UK, and whenever a customer places an order, Amazon picks the item from the shelf, packs it, and dispatches it — usually with Prime same-day or next-day delivery.
How FBA works in the UK
The basic flow is straightforward:
- You source a product to sell
- You create a product listing on Amazon.co.uk
- You label your units with an Amazon FNSKU barcode and ship them to the assigned Amazon UK fulfilment centre
- Amazon stores your inventory
- When a customer orders, Amazon picks, packs, and ships the item
- Amazon handles any returns and buyer enquiries
- Amazon disburses your earnings (minus fees) every 14 days
Your role is to manage product selection, pricing, stock replenishment, and any advertising you choose to run. Everything physical is handled by Amazon.
What does FBA cost in the UK?
Amazon FBA fees in the UK have three components:
Fulfilment fee — charged per unit shipped, covering pick, pack, and delivery. Fees are based on the size and weight of the item. A small standard item under 150g costs approximately £2.70 to fulfil; larger items cost more.
Storage fee — charged per cubic metre per month for space your inventory uses. Standard rates apply January–September; rates jump significantly in October–December (the Q4 peak).
Referral fee — Amazon's sales commission, typically 15% of the selling price, though it varies by category.
FBA vs managing your own fulfilment
Without FBA, you are responsible for storing products, processing orders, packing boxes, booking couriers, and managing returns. FBA removes all of that in exchange for the fees above.
For most UK sellers, especially those starting out or scaling, the trade-off strongly favours FBA: you get access to Amazon's Prime delivery network, a significant advantage in winning the Buy Box, and the trust customers place in Amazon-branded fulfilment.
Who uses Amazon FBA in the UK?
FBA is used across a wide range of seller types:
- Retail arbitrage sellers — buy clearance or discounted products and resell via Amazon
- Online arbitrage sellers — find underpriced items online to flip through FBA
- Wholesale sellers — buy branded goods in bulk from distributors and list them
- Private label sellers — source generic products, brand them, and sell under their own name
All of these models work under FBA. The service is purely a logistics layer — it is neutral to how you source your products.
Is FBA available for all product categories in the UK?
FBA is available for the vast majority of categories on Amazon.co.uk. A small number of product types have restrictions — certain hazardous materials, some perishables, or items requiring special handling — but for mainstream categories (home, toys, sports, health, pet supplies, electronics accessories) FBA is fully available.