The Untold Truth: What Amazon Fulfillment Center Doesn’t Handle & Why 3PLs Do It Better

With millions of orders processed daily, fulfillment centers, commonly known as Amazon FCs, are the backbone. But while it might seem like these facilities are the pinnacle of distribution and customer service, the reality is more nuanced. For growing brands looking beyond Amazon, to retail, international markets, or their own web stores, Amazon Fulfillment Center often fall short. 

This is where third-party logistics providers (3PLs) like Forceget come in. While Amazon FCs specialize in servicing Amazon customers, 3PLs are built for flexibility, multi-channel integration, and personalized support. 

If your brand aspires to scale beyond Amazon, understanding the limitations of Amazon FCs and the advantages of 3PLs is important. 

What Is an Amazon Fulfillment Center?

To best answer what is an Amazon fulfillment center? An Amazon Fulfillment Center is a massive logistics hub where products are received, stored, picked, packed, and shipped by Amazon on behalf of sellers who use the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service. 

These facilities are highly automated and strategically located to reduce delivery time for Amazon customers. 

When sellers opt into Amazon FBA, they send inventory to these centers and allow Amazon to handle the operational burden. However, the experience is largely standardized. Amazon FC is designed to process orders with machine-like precision, rather than tailoring fulfillment strategies to meet unique brand needs. 

What Does Amazon Fulfillment Center Do?

To best answer what does Amazon Fulfillment center do? Amazon FCs are highly efficient but operate within a rigid framework. 

Receiving 

When inventory arrives at an AmazonFC, it’s scanned into Amazon’s system, inspected for compliance, and then shelved. 

Sellers need to ensure packaging, labeling, and prep meet Amazon’s requirements, or face delays and fees. Unlike 3PLs, Amazon doesn’t offer much flexibility in how inventory is received. 

Packing 

Amazon automates the packing process. Items are picked from storage and packed using algorithms that minimize material use and shipping cost. 

This helps scale, but there’s no room for branded packaging or inserts. If you want to delight customers with personalized unboxing experiences, Amazon FC won’t deliver. 

Shipping 

Amazon fulfillment centers coordinate with various shipping carriers, selecting routes and service levels to optimize for speed and cost, mainly for Amazon Prime orders. 

However, they only ship to customers who buy through Amazon. 

If you’re looking to serve customers via Shopify, Walmart, or TikTok Shop, a 3PL can handle all channels through a single inventory pool. 

Customer Service 

One of the key selling points of FBA is that Amazon handles inquiries and complaints. This includes shipping delays, returns, and replacements. 

While this reduces workload, it also means losing control over customer interaction and brand experience. 

Returns Processing 

Returned items are routed back to Amazon FCs for inspection. 

Depending on the condition, they’re restocked, discarded, or returned to the seller. 

But the seller has limited visibility or control over these decisions. With 3PLs, you can set your own rules for returns and product refurbishment. 

How Do Amazon Fulfillment Center Work?

Amazon FCs operate with a blend of human labor and robotics. Sellers create a shipping plan in Seller Central, prep inventory according to Amazon’s standards, and ship to a designated fulfillment center. Upon arrival, goods are scanned and stored. 

Once an order is placed, the FC picks the product, packs it, and ships it to the customer. 

Technologies like handheld scanners, smart shelves, and autonomous robots accelerate this process. Still, the system is built for Amazon orders alone. 

If you’re hoping to diversify your sales channels, this single-platform setup becomes a limitation. 

How Much Do Amazon Fulfillment Center Charge?

The costs associated with using an Amazon Fulfillment Center depend on several factors, including product size, weight, category, and the length of time the inventory remains in storage. 

Amazon primarily charges sellers through its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program, and the fees are broken down into several categories. These typically include a per-unit fulfillment fee that covers picking, packing, and shipping; monthly storage fees based on the volume occupied by the product; and additional costs for long-term storage, labeling, or handling non-compliant inventory. 

Sellers may also incur return processing fees if customers return items, as well as removal fees for inventory they wish to have sent back. 

While these services offer immense convenience, they can become costly, especially for low-margin products or sellers with slow-moving inventory. 

Unlike some 3PL providers who offer customizable pricing models or discounts based on volume, Amazon’s structure is fixed and often lacks the flexibility that growing brands require. 

How Many Fulfillment Centers Does Amazon Have?

As of the latest data, Amazon operates more than 110 fulfillment centers within the United States and over 195 globally. 

These fulfillment centers are strategically distributed across major regions to ensure rapid delivery times and to support the company’s two-day (and in some cases, same-day) delivery promise. 

While this vast network allows Amazon to offer logistical superiority and wide geographic reach, it’s important to understand that sellers do not get to choose which fulfillment centers their inventory is sent to. 

Amazon uses its proprietary algorithms to allocate inventory across its network based on anticipated customer demand, internal efficiencies, and delivery routes, meaning that even if you know how many distribution centers Amazon has, you still have limited  

How to Find the Closest Amazon Fulfillment Center

To locate the nearest Amazon warehouse near you, you can start by reviewing the shipping details on your Amazon order confirmations. 

Often, this information includes the city and state of the fulfillment center that processed your order. Another method is to examine the tracking data provided by Amazon once an item ships; it typically reveals the shipment’s origin. 

Searching online for Amazon fulfillment centers by region or using the query “closest Amazon warehouse to me” may also yield location-specific results. 

Additionally, local business news often reports when a new Amazon facility opens nearby, and these sources can be helpful in identifying active centers in your area. However, even if you find the closest fulfillment center, as a seller, you cannot direct your inventory there manually, Amazon decides where your products will be stored based on its own internal logistics network. 

How to Ship to an Amazon Fulfillment Center

Shipping products to an Amazon Fulfillment Center involves a multi-step process that starts within the Amazon Seller Central portal. First, sellers need to ensure that their inventory complies with Amazon’s strict requirements for packaging, labeling, and product preparation. 

After confirming that the products are ready, sellers create a shipment plan through the “Send to Amazon” workflow. 

This plan outlines the source, location, type of packaging (individual units or case-packed), and quantity of items. Once the plan is approved, Amazon provides shipping labels that must be printed and affixed to each box. 

Sellers can choose between using Amazon-partnered carriers for discounted rates or third-party logistics companies. 

After the boxes are prepared and labeled correctly, they are handed off to the carrier for delivery to the designated fulfillment center. 

Upon arrival, Amazon checks in the inventory and makes it available for customer orders. The entire process must be followed meticulously; otherwise, Amazon may reject the shipment or apply penalties for non-compliance. This shipping protocol is efficient but rigid, 3PL providers often offer more flexibility and hands-on support through the same stages. 

Conclusion

Amazon Fulfillment Centers operate within a rigid framework tailored exclusively for Amazon’s ecosystem. 

While they efficiently manage receiving, packing, shipping, and returns for products sold on Amazon, they fall short in areas like multi-channel fulfillment, branded packaging, and strategic inventory control. 

For sellers aiming to scale beyond Amazon, whether into retail stores, DTC websites, or global markets, Amazon FCs present more limitations than solutions. 

This is where third-party logistics providers (3PLs) like Forceget step in, offering the flexibility, customization, and broader reach that Amazon cannot provide. By using a 3PL, sellers gain control over how their brand is presented, where inventory is stored, and how it’s distributed across all sales channels.