Properly packaging your products to ship to Amazon’s fulfillment centers is a crucial step in preparing inventory for the FBA program. Amazon has strict requirements for how items must be packaged to prevent damages, leaks, spoilage and other issues during shipment and storage.
Selecting the right packaging materials and methods ensures your products arrive safely at Amazon’s warehouses, are accurately received into their system, and remain protected while sitting in inventory waiting to be sold. It also prevents problems that could cause Amazon to deem your products “unsellable” and subject to disposal or returns.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the most essential packaging supplies and techniques FBA sellers need to safely prep retail-ready products for fulfillment by Amazon.
Bubble Wrap
Bubble wrap sheets, pouches and rolls provide cushioning to absorb shocks and impacts during shipping. The small air bubbles compress to cushion products when pressure is applied.
What to Look For
- Bubble size: 1⁄4”- 3/8” bubbles are the ideal size for most applications. Smaller bubbles don’t provide as much cushioning. Larger bubbles pop more easily.
- Bubble density: Look for bubble wrap with a high bubble count per square inch to maximize surface cushioning coverage. 50-100 bubbles per square inch is good.
- Puncture resistance: Durable bubbles made with high-grade polymers are less likely to pop and leak air when objects press against them compared to cheaper wraps.
- Perforations: Some bubble rolls come perforated between bubbles so you can easily tear off custom sheet sizes as needed during packing.
Best Uses
- Wrap fragile items: Wrap entirely around easily broken products or component parts that need protection.
- Line boxes: Cushion bottom and sides of boxes holding fragile contents with bubble wrap sheets.
- Wrap bundled products: Secure bundled multi-unit products together with a bubble wrap outer layer.
- Cushion inside polybags: Add small bubble cushioning pouches inside polybags to protect contents.
- Reduce empty space: Wads of bubble wrap can cushion empty spaces inside boxes around products.
Recommended Product
- Official Sealed Air Bubble Wrap – American Bubble Boy – High-grade puncture resistant bubbles with perforated sheets for easy custom sizing.
Paper Cushioning
Paper cushioning options like kraft paper, newsprint, tissue paper and more are lightweight, economical alternatives for padding boxes and filling voids.
What to Look For
- Cushioning ability: Look for thicker paper materials that compress well under pressure to absorb impacts. Avoid paper that’s too thin and dense to cushion properly.
- Cost: Paper padding tends to be very inexpensive, especially undyed butcher or kraft paper sold in bulk quantities. This can lower packaging supply costs substantially.
- Environmental sourcing: Many paper padding options are biodegradable and come from recycled or sustainably-sourced paper materials for reduced environmental impact.
- Custom sizing: Some paper padding comes in sheets with perforations so you can manually tear off custom sizes as needed during packing.
Best Uses
- Fill empty spaces: Loosely crumple sheets of paper to prevent shifting and fill voids around products inside boxes.
- Cushion layers: Use sheets of thick craft paper folded in layers to pad below and between fragile items.
- Wrap delicates: Tissue paper wraps delicately around fragile items and accessibly tears off.
- Protect surfaces: Line bottoms of boxes with kraft paper to prevent scuffing of product surfaces during shipping.
- Secure parts: Wrap small loose parts and pieces individually in tissue or craft paper mini bundles inside the main box.
Recommended Product
- BOX USA Moving Paper Rolls – Recycled Paper Roll for Packing, Shipping and Storage.
Air Pillows
Inflatable plastic air pillows offer excellent protection for fragile goods while taking up minimal storage and box space when deflated.
What to Look For
- High-quality materials: Durable vinyl and polymers resist punctures and retain air longer than cheaper plastic pillows prone to developing leaks.
- Reusability: Look for pillows designed for multiple uses by protecting the inflation valve. Avoid options that must be popped to deflate.
- Custom sizing: Some air pillow machines can produce different size pillows on demand to fit packaging needs. Others come in pre-set sizes.
- Ergonomic design: Curved and channeled pillows contour around products more ergonomically than flat basic pillows. This provides better immobilization.
Best Uses
- Immobilize products: Filling spaces tightly with air pillows prevents shifting and impacts during shipping.
- Cushion irregular shapes: Flexible air pillows conform around oddly-shaped products better than paper or rigid foams.
- Protect protrusions: Place pillows over parts and components that protrude from the main product body to cushion them.
- Layered cushioning: Use stacked layers of air pillows as surface cushioning below delicate products and between each nested item.
- Reduce box size: Allow using smaller boxes than with bulkier cushioning because pillows deflate for compact storage.
Recommended Product
- airDEFENDER air pillows – Reliable inflated pillows that resist deflation and punctures. Reusable.
Poly Bags
Clear poly plastic bags provide light waterproof protection and surface scratch prevention for products like books, cards, apparel, toys and more.
What to Look For
- Puncture resistance: High-gauge polyethylene and vinyl materials resist accidental tears and punctures more reliably than very thin budget bags.
- Sealability: Well-designed press closure zip strips create an air and water tight seal while allowing easy opening for product insertion.
- Clarity: Crystal clear transparent bags allow easy product viewing without distortion. Avoid opaque or fuzzy bags.
- Strength: Reinforced bags have added durability from stitching, thicker selective areas or multi-layered materials to prevent rips.
Best Uses
- Waterproofing: Protect products vulnerable to water damage like books, cards and electronics inside water-resistant poly bags.
- Surface protection: Prevent scuffs, scrapes and scratches to product outer surfaces during shipment inside poly bags.
- Tamper evidence: Any opened or damaged bags indicate possible tampering. Use for high-value inventory susceptible to theft.
- Reduce contamination: Poly bags provide a clean moisture barrier between dusty warehouse environments and products like clothing or food.
- Display enhancement: Clear poly bags help displayed products stand out on Amazon’s virtual shelves while keeping items clean.
Recommended Product
- Spartan Industrial Crystal Clear Resealable Poly Bags – Super transparent with secure adhesive closure. Puncture and tear resistant.
Adhesive Packaging Tape
High-quality tape keeps packages sealed securely to withstand the impacts and abuse of Amazon’s fulfillment and shipping process.
What to Look For
- Strong adhesive: Industrial-grade natural or acrylic adhesives form the strongest bonds with corrugated cardboards when applied with pressure.
- Reinforced backing: Woven fabric or fiberglass mesh reinforcements prevent tape from stretching, tearing or splitting open when pulled and stressed.
- Wide rolls: 2 and 3 inch tape rolls seal boxes faster and with fewer passes than narrow widths. Wide tape also fully covers box seams better.
- Printable options: Some tapes come in printable versions compatible with thermal label printers. Use them for taping and labeling in one step.
Best Uses
- Seal bottom box seams: Run strips along the sealed underside bottom flaps and edges to prevent bursting open.
- Seal side seams: Securely bond side box seams and flap joints together with 2”+ wide tape strips covering each edge entirely.
- Wrap bundles: Encircle groups of products tightly together into secured bundles by wrapping tape around them several times.
- Prevent tampering: Use printed security tape to seal boxes in a branded, authenticated manner to indicate tampering if the tape is cut.
- Reinforce weak areas: Add extra tape over punctures, holes, rips or high-stress areas on boxes to prevent further damage.
Recommended Product
- Packstrong Industrial Grade Clear Packing Tape – Decent adhesion and break resistance for light and heavy packages. Good value.
Expanded Foam
Blocks and sheets of rigid expanded polystyrene or polyethylene foam provide extremely impact-absorbent cushioning for expensive, fragile products.
What to Look For
- Cushioning ability: Higher density foams absorb more shock impacts before compressing fully than low density, easily crushed types.
- Sheet thickness: Thicker foam sheets offer more spacing between products and box walls or other items. They cushion greater impacts.
- Conforming ability: Foams that slightly bend without breaking allow wrapping around curved products better than completely rigid types.
- Perforated sheets: Segmented sheet foams tear apart into customizable sizes along perforations between blocks when needed.
Best Uses
- Separate fragile items: Place foam blocks or sheets between easily damaged products to keep them securely divided and protected.
- Immobilize loose parts: Cut spaces into foam to hold individual loose parts and pieces securely separated from each other.
- Wrap irregular shapes: Bendable foams contour around oddly-shaped products that standard materials can’t conform to as easily.
- Fit inside boxes: Layer foam sheets along bottoms and sides of boxes to completely fill interior space around products.
- Cradle products: Cushion delicate products on all sides by placing inside carved-out foam block cradles sized to the product shape.
Recommended Product
- UBOXES Foam Wrap Roll – Dense sheets with perforated cut lines for easy sizing to application.
The Right Materials for Safe FBA Shipping
Amazon’s high standards for properly packaged FBA products means investing in high-quality packaging materials tailored to your specific product needs. The small upfront cost brings big returns by ensuring inventory arrives undamaged and ready for immediate sales.
Test different materials with your products during shipment preparation to determine the ideal combinations of cushioning, immobilization, protection and display enhancement appropriate for each item you sell. Invest time upfront in packaging testing to save on frustration and lost profits later from repeat damages.
With compliant prep and the best packaging supplies suited to your products, you can ship your FBA inventory with full confidence it will arrive safely and sell successfully on Amazon’s marketplace. Take the time to optimize your packaging process and enjoy your products sailing smoothly through fulfillment.