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

Shipping label specifications

You can call the GetUniquePackageLabels operation of the Fulfillment Inbound Shipment API section to get shipping labels that are ready to be printed and affixed to each package in your shipment. If your workflow requires you to generate your own shipping labels, use the following guidelines. For more information about the GetUniquePackageLabels operation, see GetUniquePackageLabels.

The shipping label that you place on the outside of each package must include the following information:

  • Seller name.
  • "Ship to" address (the fulfillment center address that Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) provided to you).
  • "Ship from" address.
  • FBA shipment identifier (the barcode that identifies a package in a shipment). For Small Parcel shipments, the shipping label for each package should have a unique barcode. This helps ensure that your shipment is processed in a timely manner when it reaches Amazon's fulfillment network. To construct unique barcode values for each package in a shipment, do the following:
    1. Start with the Shipment ID value and append "U" and "000001" to get the barcode value for the first package in the shipment.
    2. To get the barcode values for each successive package in the shipment, (1) increment "000001" by one, and then (2) append "U" and the incremented number to the Shipment ID value. Do this for each package in the shipment.

    Example: If you have three packages in a shipment with a Shipment ID value of FBA1MMD8D0, your three barcode values would be FBA1MMD8D0U000001, FBA1MMD8D0U000002, and FBA1MMD8D0U000003.

    Note: A box label identified with its own unique numerical identifier must follow the 6-digit number format after U, printed and affixed to each carton you send to a fulfillment center (for example, U000001, U000002, U000003, etc.).
  • A section clearly marked Internal Use Only.

    On the right side of the Internal Use Only section, do the following:

    • For a package that contains units all of the same SKU, indicate the quantity of units.
    • For a package that contains units with different SKUs, indicate "Assorted SKUs".
    • For a master carton (a box made to contain a certain number smaller boxes) that is not full, indicate "Partial case".

    On the left side of the Internal Use Only section, indicate any preparation that is required at the fulfillment center. For example, if you require labeling, indicate that as follows:

    FC Prep Required - LABELING
  • A section clearly marked Seller Use Only, below the Internal Use Only section (optional). Use this if you want to provide any seller-specific information.
  • An indication of whether the shipment contains media or non-media items. Provide this in the top right corner of the label by indicating "Media", "Non-Media", or leaving it blank. See the following descriptions:
    • "Media" - Indicates that the shipment contains only Books, Music, Video, DVD (BMVD) items.
    • "Non-media" - Indicates that the shipment contains only non-BMVD items.
    • blank (no text) - Indicates that the shipment contains a combination of BMVD and non-BMVD items.

Shipping label example

Shipping label

Shipping label print specifications

Specification Description
Label color White
Font See the Label font specifications.
Label size Amazon recommends that you use a label with a height by width dimension of 4" x 6" (10.2 cm x 15.2 cm). However you can use a label size up to 6" x 8" (15.2 cm x 20.3 cm).
Label type Permanent adhesive

Shipping label barcode specifications

Specification Description
Format Code 128A
Height Greater than 0.5" (1.3 cm), or 15% of the barcode length
Narrow barcode element Greater than 0.0075" (.19 mm)
Wide-to-narrow element ratio 3:1
Quiet zone (sides) Greater than 0.25" (6.4 mm)
Quiet zone (top and bottom) Greater than 0.125" (3.2 mm)