FBA Prep & First-Leg

Under-receipt, missing shipments, damage and over-receipt are four different queues. The nine-month claim window, the two documents that decide an approval, and the 2025 and 2026 changes to recovery routes.

Non-partnered carriage from China, the ten-day check-in chain, the 90-day plan closure and the undelivered-defect clock, worked backwards against Amazon's published 2026 holiday arrival deadlines.

The FBA spec read as three physical objects instead of one long list: the unit label, the bag and the carton, with the published size and weight ceilings, the handling-mark bands, and the one figure two official pages disagree about.

Amazon's bulk storage programme, the Shenzhen version announced in April 2026 and a Chinese preparation warehouse solve three different problems. A comparison worksheet built on the published 2026 rate sheet.

The inbound placement fee, the 15 January 2026 schedule changes and per-unit defect charges now decide most of what a FBA shipment really costs. Here is the cost shape, the split arithmetic and the six questions to ask a prep partner.

Amazon ended its own prep and labeling service on Jan 1, 2026. This survival guide covers FNSKU vs UPC decisions, quantified rejection scenarios, 2026 carton rule changes, and first-leg shipping options from China.