On Amazon, the big fork in the road is FBA versus FBM: Fulfilment by Amazon, where you send inventory to their warehouses and they pick, pack and ship, or Fulfilment by Merchant, where you handle every order yourself. They're different businesses in terms of shipping, and the labelling requirements are different too, so it's worth understanding both before you commit.
What FBA means for shipping
With FBA, you don't ship individual orders at all. You ship bulk inventory to Amazon's fulfilment centres, and Amazon handles the picking, packing and delivery to the customer. Your shipping work is inbound and consolidated, which is a completely different rhythm from FBM's one-order-at-a-time dispatch.
What FBM means for shipping
FBM keeps the shipping in your hands. When an order comes in, you print the label, pack the parcel and dispatch it, exactly like eBay or Etsy. It's more work per order but you keep the margin and the control, and for sellers with an established dispatch setup, it's often the more profitable route.
FBA labelling: box and FNSKU labels
FBA's labelling is about inbound shipments. Each unit needs an FNSKU barcode identifying the product, and each box needs an FBA box label with the shipment ID and destination. Get these wrong and Amazon's fulfilment centre rejects the shipment. Our FBA box label guide and FBA labelling guide cover the specifics.
FBM labelling: standard shipping labels
FBM labelling is the familiar 100 × 150mm shipping label you print for every order, bought through Amazon's Buy Shipping tool or your own carrier. There's no FNSKU or box label, just the standard parcel label, which is why sellers with a thermal printer find FBM straightforward. Our Amazon FBM shipping guide covers it.
Cost comparison
FBA charges fulfilment and storage fees that scale with your inventory, while FBM's costs are your own postage and packing. FBA looks expensive until you factor in that it includes picking, packing and delivery, at which point it's often competitive for small, fast-moving items. FBM wins when you already have cheap postage and a smooth dispatch routine.
Control and Prime eligibility
FBA's big advantage is Prime eligibility, which drives a meaningful share of Amazon's sales. FBM can be Prime-eligible through Seller Fulfilled Prime, but that has strict shipping requirements. If Prime matters to your category, FBA or SFP is the route; if you sell niche items where Prime matters less, FBM keeps you in control.
Which should you choose?
FBA suits fast-moving, small, lightweight products where Prime and Amazon's logistics are worth the fees. FBM suits slower-moving or bulky items, and sellers who already run a tight dispatch operation. Many sellers split the difference, FBA for the winners and FBM for the long tail, and the labelling for both runs off the same thermal printer setup.
The printer that serves both
Here's a useful overlap: whether you're printing FBA box labels or FBM shipping labels, a 4x6 thermal printer handles both. The FBA box label and the FBM parcel label are both barcode-driven, and a clean thermal print keeps every scan working, whether it's Amazon's inbound scanners or the carrier's.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between FBA and FBM? FBA means Amazon stores and ships your products. FBM means you fulfil orders yourself, printing labels and dispatching each parcel.
Does FBM need the same labelling as FBA? No. FBM uses standard 100 × 150mm shipping labels. FBA needs FNSKU product labels and FBA box labels for inbound shipments.
Can I use a thermal printer for both FBA and FBM? Yes, a 4x6 thermal printer handles FBA box labels and FBM shipping labels alike, so one printer serves both models.
Labels for Amazon, either way
FBA box labels or FBM shipping labels, both run on a 100 × 150mm direct thermal printer, so your Amazon fulfilment prints clean no matter the model.
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