Frequently Asked Questions

If you are not an Amazon seller and you want to start using MCF, sign up here. If you are an existing Amazon seller and have a Seller Central account, there is no sign up required. Learn how to place your first order here.

No. MCF is open to all businesses, whether or not you sell on Amazon. If you do not have an Amazon Seller Central account, you can sign up for MCF here.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) allows you to fulfill orders placed on Amazon while Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) fulfills orders on any of your channels including your own website. Read more about the differences in our blog.

Yes. If you are an Amazon seller using FBA, your inventory can be used to serve both Amazon customers and customers from your MCF sales channels. Learn more about consolidated inventory and the other benefits that MCF provides for Amazon sellers.

MCF is a third-party logistics (3PL) service that fulfills orders for any off-Amazon channel, including brand websites, social media stores, and ecommerce marketplaces. If you’re selling on an ecommerce marketplace or social media store, we recommend that you check their guidelines to ensure you adhere to any 3PL requirements for that sales channel.

Using MCF together with FBA can help you grow your ecommerce business, on and off Amazon.com.

US sellers who use both FBA and MCF:

• Have increased their Amazon.com sales revenue by an average of 38%.
• Are able to reduce out-of-stock rates by 13% and improve inventory turnover by 24%, on average.
• Send 2.5x more inventory to Amazon, enabling faster delivery promises for their products on Amazon.com and increasing their chances of having products appear as featured offers on Amazon.com.

Learn more about how using MCF together with FBA can benefit your ecommerce business on and off Amazon.com.

The IPI score measures how efficient and productive you are in managing your FBA inventory. Multiple factors could influence your IPI score. However, an important one is your actions to maintain a balanced inventory level between sold and on-hand inventory and avoid excess inventory (overstock). Using MCF to improve sell-through can help avoid excess inventory, increasing your ability to achieve a strong IPI score.

Yes. One of Amazon’s businesses – Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) – is a third-party logistics (3PL) provider that offers best-in-class, reliable, and cost-effective order fulfillment solutions. MCF empowers businesses to leverage Amazon’s fulfillment network and expertise to power their growth beyond Amazon.com. To learn more, read our guide to 3PL services.

Yes. MCF is available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Yes. Public Sector customers are using MCF today. To receive more information about how public sector customers and partners can use MCF, contact us.

MCF is committed to maintaining the highest standards of data security for you and your customers. Learn more about how we prioritize security & compliance.

MCF, as a part of Amazon, is committed to building a sustainable business for customers and the planet. Amazon has eliminated 1 million tons of packaging since 2015, and plans to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2025. In 2019, Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040. To reach this goal, Amazon has undertaken initiatives targeting packaging, renewable energy, and transportation. Learn more about these and other initiatives.

MCF offers unbranded packaging and the ability to block Amazon Logistics to meet requirements for different ecommerce channels. If you come across a channel that blocks your ability to use MCF, we recommend you submit an appeal through their account manager, ecommerce Seller Performance Team (i.e. Trust & Security), or their leadership with the following:

• An overview of the benefits your customers are gaining from your utilization of MCF (such as fast fulfillment and reduced risk of stockouts).
• Proof (such as screenshots) of actions taken by you to ensure compliance with marketplace regulations including enrollment in unbranded packaging and blocking Amazon Logistics.
  
  • To get a screenshot of Amazon Logistics being blocked, click the gear icon in the top right corner of the Seller Central homepage. Then, select “Fulfillment by Amazon” which will bring you to your “Fulfillment by Amazon Settings” page. Find the setting under “Multi-Channel Fulfillment Settings.” Learn more about blocking Amazon Logistics here.
• Proof of other measures used to ensure compliance (such as a screenshot of the integration app that you use to connect MCF to that marketplace).

Yes, items that are enrolled in Small and Light are eligible to be fulfilled by MCF. Small and Light shipments will be charged based on the MCF rate card. Go to the pricing page to download the rate card.

Sellers can select from three click-to-delivery speeds: Standard (5 business days), Expedited (3 business days) and Priority (2 business days). No matter which speed you need, MCF will strive to ensure that you can deliver your orders on time. Learn more about how a 3PL like MCF can help your ecommerce business keep your delivery promises to customers.

_{Note: Click-to-delivery speeds apply to standard-size items that are already stowed within Amazon fulfillment centers, and shipped in the 48 contiguous states and Washington DC.}

MCF orders are automatically shipped in unbranded packaging at no additional cost to you. The packaging materials that we use – including boxes, tape, and polybags – do not contain any Amazon branding.

Unbranded packaging is the default option for MCF orders, except in cases when it may result in longer shipping and delivery times. To ensure that all of your orders are shipped in unbranded packaging, select “Only ship with blank boxes” under the “Add items” section of the quick order form. Note that MCF’s unbranded packaging feature does not support items that exceed 56 inches for the longest side or are heavier than 49.9 lb.

Locate your MCF orders via the “Orders” tab in Seller Central. If the order has been placed but has not been shipped, there will be a “Latest ship date” and “Latest delivery date” under “Order Details”. Once the order has been shipped, the status of the order will change to “Shipped”, and you will be able to see a “Ship date” and a “Carrier estimated delivery date”. You will also be able to see the tracking number associated with the shipment, along with a link to the tracking website that contains real-time updates on the shipment, regardless of carrier. Once the order has been delivered, the status will be updated to “Delivered” and the “Delivery date” will be displayed. Learn more about tracking your MCF order.

You can cancel any MCF order until the shipping label has been generated. Click the “Cancel” button in the Order Details page for the order. You are not charged for MCF orders that are successfully canceled before they ship. If some of the items in an order have shipped, charges for the shipped items apply. If you need seller support with order cancellation, contact us. Learn more about cancelling your MCF order.

You can check order delivery, request reimbursement, or report other issues with your order here.

MCF has the largest fulfillment network in the world, with 150 fulfillment centers in the US and over 200 globally. Currently, MCF only supports international fulfillment for media products (books, music, videos, and DVDs). Note that export orders have separate fulfillment fees. Please see FBA Export fees to learn more.

You can choose to handle returns in one of two ways: you can use your own returns solution to return items to your own warehouse or you can ask the customer to return them the Amazon fulfillment center. In either scenario, you can now benefit from the use of ReturnGO, which integrates seamlessly with MCF to handle returns to Amazon fulfillment centers or to your own warehouses. Using ReturnGO you can also manage your returns and exchanges all in one place and offer your customer different refund alternatives with the MCF ReturnGO integration. See how the process works here.

To initiate a return to Amazon:

• Go to Manage Orders in Seller Central. In the Order ID search box, enter the MCF Order ID and click Search. Click the Order ID hyperlink under Order Details column.
• On the MCF Order Details page, click on the “Return” tab.
• Select the return quantity for the item(s) your customer wants to return.
• Indicate the return reason for the item(s).

Once complete, a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) form will be generated. The form contains two sections:

1. Return Mailing Label: This contains the address of the Amazon fulfillment center that will receive and process the return. Ask your customer to stick the label on their package to return back to Amazon. Note: Postage is not provided on the return mailing letter. You or the customer must purchase and produce the return label back to Amazon.
2. Return Authorization Slip: contains a barcode and item description for the products being returned. The slip must be included inside the return package alongside the items.

Additional details on MCF returns can be found here.

Once the return is received, our associates validate the state of the product. If it’s deemed to be in a sellable condition, the unit is added back into your Amazon inventory. If the unit is unsellable, you must follow Amazon removals procedure to receive the defective product. Read more about the required removal process here.

Customer Refund

For MCF orders, because order placement and payment occurred outside of Amazon, you are responsible for handling customer refunds.

Checking Return Status

After initiating a return, you can check the “Return Status” tab on the Order Details page to view details on the return, or view the customer returns report by entering the MCF Order ID in the Amazon Order ID attribute and setting the Event Date as last 365 days. The page will indicate if the return has been received by Amazon, and what the condition of the item is.

No. It’s your responsibility to provide customer service for your MCF orders. This includes handling delivery inquiries and requests for replacements, refunds, and returns.

If an order is not delivered, and:

• You are an Amazon seller - Contact Seller Support to initiate a reimbursement for the lost item. The reimbursement amount is calculated according to the FBA inventory reimbursement policy.
  
• You are not an Amazon seller - Submit a claim for reimbursement of the lost item through the Contact Us page in the Supply Chain Portal (login required). The reimbursement amount is calculated according to the MCF inventory reimbursement policy for Supply Chain Portal customers.

In both instances, Amazon reimburses you, not the customer. It is your responsibility to refund the customer and resolve the issue. To send a replacement item from your inventory, submit a second MCF order for a replacement order.

The reimbursement process varies depending on who was at fault:

Amazon and carrier at fault:

You have up to 90 days after the promised delivery date to submit your claim for any lost or damaged items on your MCF orders. If you process the return yourself, provide photos of the damaged item when you submit your request. If Amazon processed the return, you will be reimbursed in accordance with our MCF inventory reimbursement policies.

Read the full inventory reimbursement policy for Amazon sellers here.

Read the full inventory reimbursement policy for Supply Chain Portal customers here.

Amazon and carrier not at fault:

For any damage that occurs after an order is delivered, you must determine whether you will refund or exchange an item. Amazon does not take responsibility for defective items or items that are damaged when not under the control of the fulfillment center or the partner carrier. If an item is damaged and Amazon or the carrier is not at fault, you may want to have the merchandise sent to you directly, instead of back to a fulfillment center.

Note: Amazon does not reimburse for MCF fulfillment orders that were created to fulfill a non-customer order. For example, if you use MCF to ship inventory back to your own warehouse. To qualify for a reimbursement, create a standard removal order.

To learn more about the most common causes of damaged goods and packaging, and how a 3PL like MCF can help you prevent these issues from happening in the future, go to 5 most common causes of damaged packages and how 3PL can help you prevent them.

Fulfillment fees are based on product size, shipping weight, units per order, and delivery speed. For more information, see Fulfillment fees for Multi-Channel Fulfillment orders (login required).

Any orders shipped outside of the 48 contiguous states and Washington D.C. (such as Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) will incur a surcharge. The surcharge is 100% for standard sized items and 200% for oversized items. It is calculated after adding any applicable lithium battery surcharge and/or peak holiday fees.

Yes. Orders are discounted based on four tiers. Download our rate card to learn more.

Amazon charges monthly inventory storage fees for the space that your inventory occupies in fulfillment centers. Storage fees are based on product type, size tier, time of year, and storage utilization ratio. For more information, see Monthly inventory storage fees.

Use the product size tier table to determine your product’s size tier.

We are modifying some of our size tiers. We are introducing a new smaller size tier of 4 oz, as well as adding Large Bulky and Extra-Large size tiers to replace the current Oversize size tiers.

MCF uses a variety of carriers, including Amazon Logistics, to deliver products to shoppers. However, some ecommerce channels do not always allow orders to be delivered by Amazon Logistics. In these instances, MCF has added the option for merchants to block Amazon Logistics as a shipping carrier, which enables delivery through other carriers besides Amazon Logistics.

You can block Amazon Logistics in one of two ways. The first way is at the account level by going to your FBA settings, then scrolling down to Multi-Channel Fulfillment settings. Blocking Amazon Logistics at the account level will remove this shipping method from all MCF orders placed after the settings change. The second way is when placing individual MCF orders via Seller Central or API. Changes to your Amazon Logistics preference when placing an individual MCF order will override your account-level preference for those orders. Note that blocking Amazon Logistics at either the account or the order level will result in a 5% surcharge, which is calculated after adding any applicable lithium battery surcharge and/or peak holiday fees

No. Effective April 1, 2024, a low-inventory-level fee will apply to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) outbound units, but it does not apply to MCF outbound units. For more information, see FBA low-inventory-level fees.

Yes. The applicable fees to inbound or remove inventory to and from Amazon Fulfillment Centers for MCF are the same as Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).

Effective March 1, 2024, when you create an inbound shipping plan, you can select one of the following inventory inbound placement options:

• Minimal shipment splits: Send your inventory to a single Receive Center or Fulfillment Center and Amazon will spread inventory across our network on your behalf, for a fee.
• Partial or Amazon-optimized shipment splits: Send your inventory to multiple inbound locations yourself, for a reduced fee or no fee.

The availability of these inbound placement options will be available based on several factors including product types and quantities you have in your shipping plan, your existing inventory levels across our network, and the location of customer demand. For more information, see FBA inbound placement service fees.

Removal fees are charged per unit removed. For more information, see FBA removal order fees.

New Seller Incentives (NSI) is a curated suite of credits and discounts that new-to-Amazon sellers can take advantage of — with over $50K in potential benefits — to start their Amazon journeys with confidence.

As part of the 2024 NSI program, new US Professional sellers who send eligible products into the Amazon fulfillment network within 90 days of creating their first listing will automatically get 10% off fulfillment fees on their first 100 shipped units with Multi-Channel Fulfillment. For more information, go to this page.

Note: The MCF NSI benefit goes into effect on May 1, 2024. Eligible new sellers will not receive the 10% discount on any units that ship before May 1, 2024 and those units will not count towards their 100-unit benefit limit. To check your eligibility status view the New Seller Incentives dashboard (login required).