Amazon seller fulfillment in Chicago for orders that skip FBA
Plenty of Amazon sellers assume everything has to go through FBA. It doesn't. Some products are too big or too slow to make sense in an Amazon fulfillment center. Some sellers want a backup when inbound shipments get delayed. And some just want more control. Our Amazon seller fulfillment in Chicago covers that second path: merchant-fulfilled orders (FBM), shipped from our warehouse at 5673 W Howard St in Niles.
In plain terms, your inventory sits on our shelves instead of Amazon's. When an order comes in, we pick it, pack it, put on the shipping label and hand it to the carrier. The customer still buys on Amazon. They just receive a box that left our building rather than one of Amazon's.
Quick note before we go further, because people mix these up all the time. This page is about shipping Amazon orders to customers. If you want inventory labeled, bagged and boxed so it can be sent into Amazon's warehouses, that's Amazon FBA prep, a different service with its own page.
FBA prep vs. Amazon FBM fulfillment: which one you actually need
Both involve Amazon. Both happen in our building. But they solve opposite problems.
FBA prep is inbound work. Your products arrive here, we apply FNSKU labels, poly bag or bubble wrap what needs it, build cartons and send the shipment to Amazon. After that, Amazon stores the units and ships orders to customers. We're done once the cartons leave.
Amazon FBM fulfillment is outbound work. Your products stay here. Each order gets picked, packed and shipped by us to the end customer, one parcel at a time. Amazon never holds the inventory.
Most sellers who talk to us end up using both, which is kind of the point of having them under one roof. The same cartons that arrive from your supplier can be split on day one: some prepped for FBA, the rest kept here for merchant-fulfilled orders. Nothing has to move between two different warehouses, and you don't pay twice to receive the same stock.
Not sure which side your product belongs on? Tell the team the dimensions, weight, price and how fast it sells. That usually answers it.
Running FBA and FBM side by side
Here's how sellers typically split the work. None of these are rules, just patterns we see a lot.
Backup inventory when FBA runs low
Inbound shipments get delayed. Restock limits change. When your FBA units sell out, a few hundred units sitting with us can keep the listing live as merchant-fulfilled while the next FBA shipment works its way in. Follow Amazon's current rules for running both fulfillment methods on the same product.
Oversize and heavy products
Big, bulky items can be expensive to store in FBA. Shipping them yourself from our warehouse is often the more sensible option, and we price heavy items with a clear surcharge (+$2.00 for 21-30 lb orders, +$4.00 for 31-50 lb, with anything heavier quoted separately).
Slow movers and long-tail SKUs
A SKU that sells four units a month doesn't need to sit in an Amazon fulfillment center racking up aged inventory charges. Keep it here in a bin, ship it when it sells.
Overflow storage
Pallets that are waiting for their turn to go into FBA can sit in our warehouse storage and get prepped in batches as you need them. Some sellers call this their Amazon warehousing buffer. Whatever you call it, it beats a rented storage unit.
How Amazon order fulfillment works from our warehouse
Four steps, same as every account. The Amazon-specific details live inside them.
- 01
Share your catalog and volume
Which SKUs ship merchant-fulfilled, rough monthly order count, product sizes and weights, and any packaging rules. Mention whether you also need FBA prep for the same stock.
- 02
Confirm the work order and order handoff
Packaging, carriers, storage and how orders reach the team get defined during onboarding. We don't advertise software integrations, so the handoff method is agreed with you directly.
- 03
Send inventory to Niles
Cartons and pallets are received, counted and stored. Anything heading to FBA can be split off at this point.
- 04
Pick, pack, label and ship
Each order is picked, packed, labeled with your legally purchased shipping label and staged for scheduled carrier pickups, Monday through Saturday.
Please don't ship stock until onboarding is approved and you have inbound instructions. We'll need verifiable U.S. company information first.
Shipping speed, carriers and your seller metrics
Amazon tracks how fast merchant-fulfilled orders ship and how reliably they arrive. That makes speed on our side genuinely important, so here's what's real.
Scheduled pickups run Monday through Saturday for GOFO, UPS, USPS and FedEx. Same-day fulfillment is available for qualifying orders, and the team confirms what qualifies based on your order profile during the quote. Orders that come in after cutoff can be rushed for +$1.00 per order when capacity allows.
Now the honest part. We don't claim Seller Fulfilled Prime eligibility or any Amazon program status. We support the FBM workflow; we're not an Amazon partner, and nothing on this page implies endorsement by Amazon. Your handling time settings, shipping templates and account health stay in your hands. Once a parcel is with the carrier, delays or damage are on the carrier's side, not ours. And labels must be legally purchased and valid every single time.
What we can control is the packing floor. Right item, right box, labeled and on the truck when it's supposed to be.
Packing Amazon orders so they show up in one piece
A merchant-fulfilled order lives or dies on the review it gets. Buyers don't know or care that the parcel came from a third-party warehouse. They just know the corner of the box was smashed and the product inside rattled around like a loose marble.
So the packing station matters. Fragile items get bubble wrap or extra padding. Small items don't go into a box three sizes too big. Multi-unit orders get checked against the order before the tape goes on, because two of the same color is a very different order from one of each. And if a product shows up from your supplier already damaged, we flag it instead of quietly shipping it to someone who'll leave a one-star review.
A few things also cost a little extra, and we'd rather say so now. Ready-to-ship products that only need a label are picked at $1.25 per order. Printed packing slips are $0.30 per order. If a shipping address needs correcting after the label is already printed, re-labeling is $2.00 per order. International orders that need a basic commercial invoice are $3.00 each. No surprises later.
Amazon 3PL services that support your FBM orders
Merchant-fulfilled orders are only part of the picture. These services usually come up in the same conversation:
- Amazon FBA prep for the share of your stock that goes into Amazon's network.
- Returns and removals for FBA removal orders sent back here, plus grading and restocking returned units so they can sell again as FBM.
- Inspection and quality control when a supplier batch looks questionable.
- FBM and DTC fulfillment for the full rate breakdown that applies to every channel, Amazon included.
Selling on other marketplaces with the same stock? The same shelves can ship Walmart Marketplace orders, eBay orders and Shopify orders. The fulfillment and dispatch overview has the full channel list.
Who uses us for merchant-fulfilled Amazon orders
A pretty specific crowd, honestly.
Private-label sellers with oversize products that cost too much to store in FBA. Wholesale sellers who want a backup stock position so a late inbound doesn't kill their ranking. Sellers with a wide catalog of slow-moving SKUs. Brands selling the same inventory on Amazon and their own store. Sellers whose FBA restock limits are tighter than their sales. And a few who simply got tired of packing orders in their basement every night after work.
If your products are on our prohibited list (hazardous materials, chemicals, canned soda, anything counterfeit, stolen or unsafe), we can't take them. Dietary supplements need U.S. sourcing invoices, and supplements shipped directly from overseas suppliers aren't accepted. Better to know that now.
Based in Niles, shipping Amazon orders nationwide
Our warehouse is in Niles, just across the northwest edge of Chicago. Chicago-area sellers can drop off stock, check how orders are packed or swing by when something needs a look (Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM Central). Read more on our Chicago 3PL page.
For sellers elsewhere, Amazon seller fulfillment in Chicago works the same way. Ship inventory in, send instructions, and the team handles orders from here. The building processes approximately 1,000+ parcels a day, so a busy week on Amazon isn't going to throw anybody.
We also maintain up to $5 million in insurance coverage for qualifying warehouse operations, subject to policy terms and claim eligibility. Ask the team to confirm coverage before you ship.
Amazon FBM rates
Here's what merchant-fulfilled orders cost. The first-item rate drops as monthly volume grows. Full details are on the pricing page.
- 1-250 orders/month
- $2.75 first item/order
- 251-500 orders/month
- $2.35 first item/order
- 501-1,000 orders/month
- $2.10 first item/order
- 1,001-5,000 orders/month
- $1.85-$2.00 first item/order
- Additional item / pick
- $0.50/item
- Standard box / bin storage
- $4-$6/month
- Standard pallet up to 72 in.
- $35/month
- Amazon/Walmart removal processing
- $2.50/unit
Postage is separate. Send your SKU list and monthly order count through the quote form for a number based on your actual products.
