If you’re an Amazon seller who used FBA prep services before this year, the math you used to run your shipments is wrong. On January 1, 2026, Amazon ended in-house FBA prep — and the defect-fee schedule that replaced it is brutal enough that professional prep is no longer optional.
We’ve spent the last four months onboarding sellers who got blindsided by the change. Here’s the actual cost picture, and what to do about it.
What changed, exactly
Two things, on the same day:
- Amazon’s prep service (you ship unprepped, they prep at the FC) is no longer offered for new shipments.
- Defect fees for unprepped units increased from $0.02–$0.07 per unit to $0.32–$1.74 per unit, depending on category.
Together those changes turn what used to be a small operational tax into a margin-killer. A 1,000-unit shipment with a 4% defect rate (perfectly normal for amateur prep) used to cost you $2.80 in defect fees. Now it costs $69.60 — on a single shipment.
Why this is a structural change, not a one-time fee bump
Fee changes happen. Amazon does them every year. This one is different because Amazon also removed the safety net. Previously, if you shipped unprepped units, Amazon would prep them for you and charge a per-unit fee. You paid, but your inventory still ended up in the FC and was sellable.
Now there is no safety net. If a unit arrives unprepped, you get charged the defect fee and the unit may be refused at receive. That means your shipment is short, your listing goes out of stock, and you owe Amazon money on top.
What you should do this month
- Pull your last 90 days of FBA chargebacks and count how many were prep-related. If the answer is ‘more than five’, this is now an urgent problem.
- Decide whether you’ll prep in-house or outsource. In-house works at small volumes (under 500 units/mo) if your operator is well-trained. Above that, outsource — the per-unit cost of professional prep is lower than the all-in cost of one chargeback.
- If you outsource, look specifically for a 3PL that does photo documentation on every prep batch. Without photo evidence, you can’t dispute a chargeback.
How iShipTo handles this
We’re a California-based 3PL. We prep on standard Amazon spec — FNSKU labeling at $0.45/unit, poly bagging at $0.65, bubble wrap at $0.85, bundling at $1.25 per bundle. Every batch is photographed. When a chargeback hits, we have the evidence on file within 18 months.
If you want the math on whether outsourcing pencils out for your specific shipment volume and defect history, send us your last three months of FBA statements. We’ll model the breakeven and tell you honestly whether we’re a fit.