Amazon Services
Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) Documentation

Deprecation Notice:

Amazon Marketplace Web Service (MWS) will no longer be available after March 31, 2024. All MWS developers must migrate to Selling Partner API (SP-API) to avoid service disruptions. Refer to the Migration Hub for more information.

Amazon MWS Documentation

Step 2 - Create an inbound shipment plan

Create an inbound shipment plan by calling the CreateInboundShipmentPlan operation of the Inbound Shipment API section. An inbound shipment plan groups into discrete shipments the items that you want to send to Amazon's fulfillment network. For example, products that you prep yourself must be sent in a separate shipment from products that are prepped using the FBA Prep Service. Items that require special handling at an Amazon fulfillment center because of their size might need to be sent to a different fulfillment center than items that don't require special handling. By calling the CreateInboundShipmentPlan operation, you provide Amazon with key information about the items that you want to send. Amazon uses this information to create a shipment plan for your items, which is returned after Amazon receives the CreateInboundShipmentPlan operation. You use the shipment plan to group and send your items to the appropriate Amazon fulfillment centers.

Note: Amazon recommends that you create listings for all of the items that you want to include in an inbound shipment plan before calling the CreateInboundShipmentPlan operation. After you have created listings for the items that you want to include in the CreateInboundShipmentPlan operation, include only the SellerSKU and Quantity request parameters when calling the operation. Do not include the ASIN or Condition request parameters.

Label preparation preferences

A key input parameter that you include with the CreateInboundShipmentPlan operation is LabelPrepPreference. This parameter indicates your preference for label preparation for the items you are sending to Amazon's fulfillment network. The following are valid LabelPrepPreference values:

  • SELLER_LABEL - Indicates that for items that require item labels (items that are not stickerless, commingled inventory) you will label each item yourself.
  • AMAZON_LABEL_ONLY - Amazon attempts to label the items in the inbound shipment when labels are required. If Amazon determines that it does not have the information required to successfully label an item, that item is not included in the inbound shipment plan.
  • AMAZON_LABEL_PREFERRED - Amazon attempts to label the items in the inbound shipment when labels are required. If Amazon determines that it does not have the information required to successfully label an item, that item is included in the inbound shipment plan and the seller must label it.
Note: Unless you are enrolled in the FBA Label Service, SELLER_LABEL is the only valid LabelPrepPreference value. For more information about the FBA Label Service, see the Seller Central Help for your marketplace.

Amazon returns the LabelPrepType response element for each shipment in your shipment plan, which indicates the labeling requirements for the items in each shipment. The following are valid LabelPrepType values:

  • NO_LABEL - No item labeling is required for this inbound shipment because the items are stickerless, commingled inventory. This value cannot be returned unless your Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) account has been configured by Amazon for stickerless, commingled inventory. For more information about stickerless, commingled inventory and how to configure your FBA account for it, see the Amazon Seller Central Help for your marketplace.
  • SELLER_LABEL - Items in this inbound shipment must be labeled by the seller before sending the shipment to Amazon's fulfillment network.
  • AMAZON_LABEL - Label preparation by Amazon is required for this inbound shipment.
Note: AMAZON_LABEL is available only if you are enrolled in the FBA Label Service. For more information about the FBA Label Service, see the Seller Central Help for your marketplace.

For more information, see CreateInboundShipmentPlan.