Provide box content information

Amazon requires accurate box content information for each box sent to a fulfillment center. This information allows the fulfillment center to receive your shipment more quickly and make your inventory available for sale sooner. .

You can provide box content information to Amazon during the shipment creation process either through Seller Central or Amazon Marketplace Web Service.

How to provide box content information

Use web form (recommended)

When choosing this option, you will initially be presented with one box configuration. A box configuration is made up of the number of units, expiration dates (if applicable), box weights, and box dimensions. If you have many boxes with the same configuration, enter the box information once and then specify how many boxes match this configuration.

If any of your boxes have a different number of units, expiration dates, box weights, or box dimensions, add another box configuration. For shipments with only one SKU per box, click Add another box configuration at the bottom of the form to create a new row. For shipments with multiple SKUs per box, you can add boxes to the shipment as needed and use the Add another box size option to specify different box dimensions.

If you aren't sure how many boxes will be in your shipment, you can enter box content information for two boxes initially, then enter information for additional boxes one by one until your shipment is completed.

After making sure the information is correct, click Confirm to move to the next step. You can also click Save for later if you want to complete your shipment later.

Upload file (Excel format)

1. Under File format, select Excel (.xlsx) template from the drop-down list.
2. Enter the number of boxes in your shipment.
3. Click Download pack list template to download your pack list. Open the file with Excel.
4. For each box, enter the number of units per product, expiration dates (if applicable), and the box weight and dimensions. After making sure the information is correct, save the file.
5. Once your pack list is complete, you can upload it in the Upload your completed pack list section.
   Note: If using an Excel template, make sure your uploaded file is in .xlsx format. File upload verification may take several minutes to complete. Please check to make sure your file uploaded without errors. If errors occurred, see the processing report for more information.

Upload file (.tsv format)

1. Under File format, select Tab-delimited (.tsv) template from the drop-down list.
2. Enter the number of boxes in your shipment.
3. Click Download pack list template and open the file in any spreadsheet program (or copy and paste the text into a spreadsheet).
4. In the box [Shipment ID] U001 – Unit Quantity column, enter the quantity of each product that you have packed in the first box (for case-packed shipments, the column header will read Case Quantity instead. Enter the number of cases). For example, if the shipment ID is FBA2HCHGWK, box 1 is appended with U001 (FBA2HCHGWKU001), box 2 is appended with U002 (FBA2HCHGWKU002), and box 3 is appended with U003 (FBA2HCHGWKU003).
5. Add expiration dates in the [Shipment ID][Box number] – Expiration Date column for products that require them. If an expiration date is not required, you will see "Not Needed" in the field.
6. Save the file in a tab-delimited or tab-separated format (.tsv or .txt).
7. Once your pack list is complete, you can upload it in the Upload your completed pack list section.
   Note: If using the tab-delimited template, make sure your uploaded file is in .tsv or .txt format. Do not modify any of the column headers. File upload verification may take several minutes to complete. Please check to make sure that your file uploaded without errors. If errors occurred, see the processing report for more information.

Use Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS)

To indicate which method you're using to provide box content information, call CreateInboundShipment or UpdateInboundShipment and set the IntendedBoxContentsSource of the InboundShipmentHeader to one of the available options: NONE, FEED, or 2D_BARCODE. The default option is NONE. If the value of IntendedBoxContentSource is NONE at the time a shipment is confirmed, the manual processing fee will be assessed when the fulfillment center receives your inventory. If FEED or 2D_BARCODE is selected but box content information is not provided, your shipment will incur a manual processing fee.

For more information, see the Amazon MWS documentation and the forum announcement.

Skip providing box contents

If your shipping processes do not support providing box content information, you can choose to skip this step and have Amazon manually process your shipment for a fee.

How do I enter box content information for oversize units that I place directly on a pallet?

If your shipment contains oversize products that you place directly on a pallet instead of in a box, consider each oversize unit a single box with one unit. If your shipment also contains boxes, continue to label those boxes as you normally would. Place a pallet label on each of the four sides of your pallet so your shipment is received properly.

What if I have date-sensitive products but the option to enter the expiration date is not available?

Sometimes a product is not yet registered as date-sensitive in the Amazon system. In this case, select one of the multiple-box options and then Skip providing box contents when asked how you would like to provide box content information. Amazon will then manually assess the contents of each box and determine the appropriate product allocations.

What if my shipping process does not support listing the contents in each box?

Modifying your inventory fulfillment process to provide box content information would allow fulfillment centers to receive your shipments more quickly and make your inventory available for sale sooner. However, if your shipping process doesn’t support providing this information, select one of the multiple box options and select Skip providing box contents when asked how you would like to provide box content information.