AWD Transportation Fee... Too good to be true?
I've been researching more and more about Amazon Warehousing and Distribution, and the further I dig, the more it seems very appealing. I've heard some horror stories from a few individuals, mainly regarding their inventory being delayed for months when either receiving in AWD, or transferring to FBA. Aside from this, I just wanted to make sure I absolutely understand the fees. Here is how they break it down as of today:
Storage: Based on daily usage and charged only per cubic foot of space used. $0.42 per cubic foot per month.
Processing: Charged only once per box and covers all operational activities related to your goods while in AWD. $2.00 per box.
Transportation: Charged when your goods are replenished and transported to the Amazon fulfilment network from AWD. $1.00 per cubic foot.
Storage and Processing fees seem fairly inline with other 3PL services out there, but the Transportation fee is what really stands out to me. If you currently have a 3PL service that stores your inventory, you need to create an FC shipment to send your inventory into Amazon for FBA via UPS. These shipment costs are significantly affected by the volume and weight of your carton, as well as the distance it needs to travel.
With AWD, volume is the only factor. Am I understanding this correctly? I'm running the numbers, and the AWD Transportation fee comes out to 5%-30% of the cost of my current FC shipments, depending on the weight-volume ratio of my carton. Seems too good to be true, so I was curious if there were any hidden fees I'm overlooking.
Any insight appreciated!
AWD Transportation Fee... Too good to be true?
I've been researching more and more about Amazon Warehousing and Distribution, and the further I dig, the more it seems very appealing. I've heard some horror stories from a few individuals, mainly regarding their inventory being delayed for months when either receiving in AWD, or transferring to FBA. Aside from this, I just wanted to make sure I absolutely understand the fees. Here is how they break it down as of today:
Storage: Based on daily usage and charged only per cubic foot of space used. $0.42 per cubic foot per month.
Processing: Charged only once per box and covers all operational activities related to your goods while in AWD. $2.00 per box.
Transportation: Charged when your goods are replenished and transported to the Amazon fulfilment network from AWD. $1.00 per cubic foot.
Storage and Processing fees seem fairly inline with other 3PL services out there, but the Transportation fee is what really stands out to me. If you currently have a 3PL service that stores your inventory, you need to create an FC shipment to send your inventory into Amazon for FBA via UPS. These shipment costs are significantly affected by the volume and weight of your carton, as well as the distance it needs to travel.
With AWD, volume is the only factor. Am I understanding this correctly? I'm running the numbers, and the AWD Transportation fee comes out to 5%-30% of the cost of my current FC shipments, depending on the weight-volume ratio of my carton. Seems too good to be true, so I was curious if there were any hidden fees I'm overlooking.
Any insight appreciated!
1 reply
Topher_Amazon
Hi there @Seller_DPetgMN6a9UZU, while I think you'll get great feedback from others who may be enrolled in AWD, I'll step in to answer what I can.
While unit weight comes into play once in the FBA channels, for upstream AWD processing the Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) fee reports help page breaks it down as follows:
Transportation fees
Transportation fees are charged when a replenishment order is successfully delivered to the Amazon fulfillment network. The fee is calculated by multiplying the applicable transportation rate by the total volume of boxes in cubic feet that were delivered as part of the replenishment.
Calculation example:
Transportation fee per cubic foot: $1
Total volume of the boxes in the replenishment order: 100 cubic feet
The transportation fee is calculated as follows:
$1 x 100 = $100
The Monthly Transportation Fee report collates the transportation fees for the entire month across all replenishment orders.
You can view the transportation fee transaction in the Payments dashboard. Once you download and open the report, the transaction type will appear as Service fees and the product details will appear as AWD transportation fee.
While that matches your interpretation, if you'd like to reach out to the AWD team directly to confirm as well you can do so via the contact us button at the bottom of the program page with this same question. Please note: Be sure to include “AWD” or "Upstream storage" or “Amazon Warehousing and Distribution” in your case.
Have a great weekend!
Topher
