Conquer Amazon Fulfilment: FBA vs FBM with the help of a 3PL

Amazon is a goldmine for e-commerce, and choosing the right fulfilment strategy on the platform directly affects your margins.

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Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) stores, picks, packs, and ships your products from Amazon warehouses, giving you access to Prime customers. FBM (Fulfilment by Merchant) means you handle fulfilment yourself or through a third-party logistics provider (3PL), which typically costs less and gives you more control over branding, packaging, and the customer experience.

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In 2025, Amazon generated $716.9 billion in global revenue (Macrotrends). In the UK, Amazon's net sales reached approximately $33.6 billion in 2023 (Statista), with revenue growing 12.7% in 2024 (Ecommerce News Europe). During peak sales like Prime Day and Black Friday Cyber Monday, Amazon remains the go-to destination for UK consumers.

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Order fulfilment and shipping can be complex. Amazon's multichannel fulfilment helps DTC and omnichannel brands grow by simplifying the process.

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This guide breaks down the differences between FBA and FBM, reveals the hidden costs within FBA fees, and explores why partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider can maximise your profits.

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What is Amazon FBA and what is Amazon FBM?

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When selling on Amazon, you have two main fulfilment options that determine how orders reach your customers.

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FBA stands for Fulfilment by Amazon. This is a service where sellers send their products to Amazon warehouses. Amazon then stores them, picks and packs them when someone orders, and handles shipping and customer service for those orders. It is like having Amazon act as your fulfilment centre.

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FBM is Fulfilment by Merchant. This means you handle everything yourself, or through a 3PL partner. You store your own inventory, package and ship orders, and deal with customer service inquiries. It is more hands-on, but it gives you more control over the entire process.

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You might also have heard of Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP). SFP is a programme that allows qualified Amazon sellers to sell products with Prime branding and offer fast, free shipping directly from their fulfilment centre. As of 2026, it is primarily available in the US.

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There are approximately 250 million Amazon Prime members globally (Backlinko, 2026). In the UK, Amazon Prime awareness is near-universal, though only 69% of respondents appreciated its subscription services as of Q2 2023 (Statista).

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SFP can help sellers reach more customers and potentially boost sales. There are strict requirements to qualify:

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• Account & address: You need a professional Amazon seller account with a domestic US address set as your default shipping address.
• Past performance (90 days): Your account must meet these benchmarks:some text
  • Fulfil at least 100 packages yourself.
  • Cancellation rate below 2.5%.
  • Valid tracking rate exceeding 95%.
  • Late shipment rate under 4%.

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Is FBA right for my Amazon store?

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FBA is a convenient fulfilment option. You send your products to Amazon warehouses, and they handle storage, picking, packing, shipping, and some customer service. For busy sellers, it removes a lot of operational burden, but the fees can add up.

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FBA fees are not always straightforward. Storage fees, pick and pack fees, and fulfilment fees can erode your profit margins, especially during peak season when surcharges apply.

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You also lose some control over packaging and branding. You cannot use custom boxes or choose specific shipping carriers. Not all products qualify for FBA storage either, so make sure yours comply to avoid surprises.

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Amazon has a fee calculator where you can estimate the fulfilment cost based on products already in the Amazon catalogue (search by SKU, title, ISBN) or by manually entering your product information (category, size, weight) and estimating products in bulk.

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Below, you can find an example of an estimation based on a product of 5x5x5 for a weight of 0.2kg.

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How much does Amazon FBA cost in the UK?

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Amazon FBA fees in the UK include multiple layers of charges. For 2026, Amazon implemented one of its largest-ever fee reductions, lowering fees by an average of £0.15 per unit sold across European stores (About Amazon, 2025). Here is the current breakdown according to Amazon UK Pricing:

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• Monthly inventory storage fees: These fees are based on the cubic foot size of your inventory stored in Amazon warehouses and fluctuate depending on the time of year (peak season surcharges apply from October to December).
• Seller plan fees: Individual sellers pay £0.75 (excl. VAT) per item sold (if you sell less than 35 items a month), while Professional sellers have a £25 (excl. VAT) monthly subscription fee on top of additional selling fees.
• Referral fees: Amazon takes a cut of your sales, a percentage of the total price (including item price, shipping, and gift wrap) or a minimum fee, whichever is higher. Referral fees range from a minimum of £0.25 per item to as high as 45.9% depending on the product category. Most categories fall within 8% to 15%. From December 2025, referral fees in key categories were reduced: clothing and accessories dropped from 8% to 5% for items priced at £15 or less (About Amazon, 2025).
• FBA fulfilment fees: This covers picking, packing, and shipping each order. Fees vary based on product size and weight. From late 2025, parcel fulfilment fees dropped by an average of £0.26 per unit across UK and European stores.
• Other potential fees: Be prepared for aged inventory surcharges, long-term storage fees, product return fees, and unplanned service fees for not following Amazon's guidelines.

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FBM with a 3PL: a flexible alternative to Amazon FBA

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FBM paired with a 3PL provider is a fulfilment model where you list products on Amazon but a specialist logistics company handles storage, picking, packing, and shipping. This approach gives sellers the flexibility of FBM with warehouse-grade efficiency, often at lower cost than FBA and with full control over packaging and branding.

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3PL providers with Amazon Seller Central integrations, including Bigblue, ShipBob, and Fulfilmentcrowd, offer FBM fulfilment where orders flow from Amazon into the 3PL's system automatically. The warehouse team picks, packs, and ships to meet Amazon's strict delivery SLAs.

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Here is what a 3PL handles for Amazon sellers:

• Inventory management: 3PLs operate warehouse networks with automation and data analysis to improve your supply chain and avoid stockouts.
• Shipping cost reduction: They use partnerships with major carriers like Royal Mail, DPD, Evri, and Colissimo to offer cost-effective shipping, leading to faster and more affordable deliveries.
• Fulfilment expertise: 3PLs advise on packaging solutions, eco-friendly practices, and efficient order management, boosting customer satisfaction.
• FBA prep services: Some 3PLs handle FBA prep (labelling, poly-bagging, carton packing) from the same warehouse, so you can run FBA and FBM simultaneously without splitting inventory.

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The benefits for Amazon sellers:

• Scale smoothly: Flexible solutions adapt as your business grows.
• Faster deliveries: Multiple warehouse locations speed up shipping across the UK and Europe.
• Focus on selling: Free up your time to grow your business.
• Full branding control: Custom packaging, inserts, and branded tracking pages that FBA does not allow.

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Bigblue is the only 3PL in Europe with a fully integrated Amazon FBA labelling solution. Labels are auto-retrieved from Amazon's API every 30 minutes and matched to the correct package, reducing what used to take hours of manual work to minutes with near-zero label errors. Across its network of 600+ European D2C brands, orders fulfilled within 24 hours see a 26% higher repurchase rate within 90 days.

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ShipBob offers multi-carrier capabilities with UK warehouses in Manchester, Birmingham, and Wellesbourne, while Fulfilmentcrowd operates six warehouses across England.

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How do you connect your Amazon store to a 3PL?

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Getting started is straightforward. For example, connecting Amazon to Bigblue takes four steps:

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1. In the Bigblue Shop Integration tab, click Connect a Shop

2. Select the Amazon platform

3. Enter your shop's marketplace

4. Grant access to Amazon Seller Central and input your Seller ID and MWS Auth Token

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Your shop is now connected and you are one step away from shipping with a 3PL.

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FBA, FBM, or 3PL: choosing the right strategy for your Amazon store

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The best fulfilment strategy depends on your specific needs and resources. Here is a quick guide:

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A high-volume seller with tight margins? Consider FBM with a 3PL for potentially lower costs and full control over your brand experience.

Selling mostly on Amazon and prioritising convenience? FBA might be your best bet, especially for Prime eligibility.

Need custom packaging or specific branding requirements? FBM or a 3PL could be a better fit.

Selling across Amazon, Shopify, and wholesale? A multi-channel 3PL can unify fulfilment for all channels from one inventory pool.

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There is no one-size-fits-all solution. You can combine approaches: use FBA for Prime-eligible products and a 3PL for your direct-to-consumer and B2B orders outside of Amazon.

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Analyse your product mix, fulfilment needs, and desired profit margin. Compare costs across FBA, FBM, and 3PL providers for your products to make an informed decision. As your brand grows, adapt your fulfilment strategy to reduce shipping costs and maximise profits.

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Considering alternatives to FBA? Explore 3PL fulfilment for potentially lower costs and a wider range of services. Get a free quote from Bigblue today!

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