Split Amazon shipments can be frustrating, but they have a reason for doing so! When creating a shipment on Amazon, the way it splits the inventory is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re gonna get. While it might seem totally random and out of your control, there are a few reasons why the inventory is split the way it is.
Amazon’s Algorithm:
Amazon’s algorithm looks at where each particular item has sold best in the past to determine where it will sell best in the future. This benefits both Amazon and yourself – by sending your units where they’ve sold best in the past, you are more likely to make sales. However, we understand it can be painful to pay the shipping to send them across the country.
Hazmat, or other special items are included in the shipment:
If you have Hazmat items, they will always be split. This is because you cannot use Amazon’s preferred partner to ship them, and must be packaged alone. You will have to generate the shipping labels yourself for these items. There are certain Amazon facilities that will process Hazmat items, and many that will not. It can be hard to know what will be considered hazmat up front.
You get lucky:
Because we are located in Oregon, a LOT of the shipments from our facility get routed to California, where Amazon has multiple large warehouses ready to receive you items and forward them to eager customers. This is one of the many reasons our clients like to work with us – we are in a convenient location.
Some things that may help:
Did you know that you can pay for Inventory Placement Service?:
It won’t solve everything, but it will ensure each shipment is all sent to one location (unless there are Hazmat Items. Those will be split
no matter what).
There is also a program you can check out through Amazon called “Small and Light.”
This program is available on select categories and has certain eligibility criteria:
- The product must be three pounds or less
- It must cost $12.00 and under for your customer
- The dimensions cannot be larger than 18” x 14” x 8”
- Only NEW items are eligible
- It CANNOT be part of a restricted category
- And if the ASIN for this item already exists on Amazon, it has to have sold 25 or more units in the past month
Here is a great resource with more information. As you can see, it depends on the products you’re selling, but if it is something you can take advantage of, you should!
As always, please reach out if you have any questions for us!
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