FBA Prep for LATAM Sellers: Step by Step

For manufacturers and brand owners in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, selling on Amazon means getting product from a factory abroad into an Amazon fulfillment center in the US, with a prep step in between. If FBA is the channel (we cover whether FBA or a 3PL is the right channel separately), the prep step is where Amazon's packaging rules get met.

Amazon's packaging standards mean freight needs inspection and prep before it reaches a fulfillment center. Cartons shift, factory barcodes may not align with listing requirements, and packaging must meet domestic distribution rules. A prep center handling FBA prep sits directly between ocean carriers and domestic distribution networks to inspect, label, and repack items so shipments arrive compliant with Amazon's packaging requirements.

Step 1: your freight lands in Florida

Ocean containers arrive at Port Everglades and air cargo flights land at Miami International Airport. A Florida prep center coordinates with your freight forwarder and your customs broker. The prep center is not the customs broker and does not clear customs. Once the cargo is cleared and released, it moves to the Fort Lauderdale receiving dock.

Intake begins the moment the trailer doors open. The team unloads, counts cartons against your packing list, and photo-documents pallet condition, carton labeling, and any transit damage on the receiving floor. If the count or the product does not match the packing list, the discrepancy is recorded and sent to you. For a brand running LATAM fulfillment from another country, that photo and count are the first thing you see of your own freight.

Step 2: inspection and three defects to check for

Amazon's Product packaging requirements are public and specific. Three defects to check for on inbound freight:

1. No scannable barcode, or an old one still showing. Amazon requires each unit to carry an exterior scannable barcode with its human-readable number, and any other barcode on the outside must be removed, covered, or made unscannable. A factory barcode left exposed beside the FNSKU fails this rule.

2. A poly bag with no suffocation warning. Amazon's rule is that a poly bag with a 5-inch or larger opening, measured flat, must carry a suffocation warning printed on the bag or attached as a label, and that a missing warning may lead to the items being re-bagged.

3. A bundle with no "Sold as set" sticker. When two products sell together under one ASIN, Amazon requires a "Sold as set" sticker so the units are not separated, and each unit inside still has to meet its own prep rules. Without the sticker, the set can be split.

Step 3: FNSKU labels, poly bags, bundles, and expiration dates

FNSKU labels. An FNSKU must be unique per product and per variant such as size or color, per Amazon. The label carries the scannable barcode and the human-readable number. The prep team applies it and covers any other exterior barcode so only one is readable.

Expiration dates. Amazon requires the format MM-DD-YYYY or MM-YYYY. Factory date formats need to be checked before labeling; expiration dating in the required format is part of the prep.

Bundles. Units sold together are bagged or boxed so they cannot separate, each unit meets its own prep rules, and the "Sold as set" sticker goes on the outside.

Transparency labels. If your brand is enrolled in Amazon Transparency, the prep team applies the Transparency labels alongside the FNSKU before the units are cartoned.

Step 4: carton prep, palletizing, and the shipment plan

Say a container from Peru has cleared and the units are prepped. The seller logs into Seller Central from Lima and builds the inbound shipment plan: quantities and carton configuration. The seller creates that plan in their own Seller Central account and the prep center works to it. The prep center does not control which fulfillment center Amazon assigns.

With the plan built, the prep team packs the units into shipping cartons and applies the carton labels the plan generates.

When the plan calls for LTL, the cartons are palletized, wrapped, and labeled for the carrier. The carrier picks up at the Fort Lauderdale dock and delivers to the fulfillment center the plan names.

What a prep center in Florida changes for a LATAM seller

Most FBA prep centers sit inland, so freight that lands at a port needs a drayage leg before any prep starts. A Florida prep center minutes from Port Everglades and MIA shortens that leg to a local move.

If your prep center works in English only, every question goes through a translator. J.M. Field's account team is bilingual in English and Spanish, so inventory reports and the daily back-and-forth do not go through a translator.

When a product needs US-market packaging, English labels, FDA-format ingredient panels, inserts, or retail-ready packaging, J.M. Field prints them in the same building; a prep center without a print shop has to send that job out and wait.

Sellers who also sell off Amazon can hold reserve stock in the same building under 3PL warehousing.

What to send us to get started

Five things: your ASIN list, origin country, units per month, whether freight arrives by container or parcel, and the prep each ASIN needs. From that we can write a prep spec per ASIN.