What is FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant)?
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) is the fulfillment model where Amazon sellers manage their own inventory storage, order picking, packing, and shipping directly to customers. Unlike FBA, Amazon does not handle any logistics. The seller is responsible for meeting Amazon’s shipping speed and customer service requirements.
Why It Matters
FBM is the right choice for certain products and business situations — particularly high-margin, oversized, heavy, slow-moving, or hazardous products where FBA fees would be prohibitive. It gives sellers complete control over packaging, shipping speeds, and customer experience. Some premium brands also prefer FBM to maintain branded packaging and fulfillment experience.
How It Works
FBM sellers manage inventory at their own warehouse or third-party logistics (3PL) provider, receive Amazon orders through their Seller Central dashboard, pick and pack items, ship with tracking information uploaded to Amazon within the required window, and handle customer inquiries and returns directly. Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) is a subset of FBM that allows qualifying high-performance sellers to offer Prime shipping from their own warehouses — retaining the Prime badge without using FBA.
Real-World Example
A seller of large, heavy cast iron cookware finds FBA fees would eat 35% of their margin. Instead, they use FBM with their own storage and a discounted shipping contract with UPS. Without the Prime badge, their conversion rate is lower than FBA competitors, but their superior margin per unit makes FBM significantly more profitable for their specific business model.
