FBM Onboarding
Portland Prep Center Can easily handle your Fulfilled by Merchant business. By utilizing us as your FBM partner we give you clarity into your inventory and an easy process to update product inventory levels once we receive your deliveries.
What to understand first:
All of your FBM shipments on Amazon must now go through Portland Prep Center: If you elect to use our FBM services. You cannot fulfill items yourself or a separate service provider due to there being no way to delineate which shipments are which. You can still sell FBA alongside FBM.
You will need to update your inventory stock levels on Amazon yourself: Our software does not update your inventory levels for you. Once Portland Prep Center has received your inventory you may then
Portland Prep Center only uses Free Economy & Standard Ground Shipping(Other options to come in the near future). You will be using our discounted rates(up to 86% off carrier rates) Click here for our rate chart.
Portland Prep Center will fulfill your orders within one business day(most same day if the order is placed before 12PM)
We can handle your FBM returns for you: This is an easy automated process, find out more here (we recommend doing this guide first)
How to Start FBM With Us
Setup - Creating a New Default Shipping Template for Ground only
1. Head into Seller Central and click the settings cog on the top right of your screen
2. Click on Shipping Settings
3. Click on General Shipping Settings and hit edit on Default Shipping Address. This is your ship from name. Click add new address and add Portland Prep Center as an address. For the name you can place your own business name, a general name like Orders, Fulfillment or ours(Portland Prep Center)
4. Save the information, and scroll down to Handling time, click Edit
5. For handling time select one business day.
6. Click save, head into the Shipping Templates tab
7. Select Create New Shipping Template on the left.
8. Select the ship from Address (Portland Prep Center)
9. Click next and select the following Shipping Services.
USPS Ground Advantage, USPS Ground Advantage Heavy & Cubic, UPS Ground, Fedex Home Delivery, Fedex Ground, UPS Ground Saver and Fedex Smartpost
10. Scroll down and select "I want Amazon to dynamically choose one of my above shipping services that creates fastest possible delivery time estimate based on customer locations"
11. Click next and on the Premium Shipping Selection Page click next, we won't be using this. On the next page click confirm
12. Back to the Shipping Template Page - Uncheck Expedited Shipping and Two Day Shipping
13. For shipping pricing this is up to you. We recommend offering free shipping for all items. Hit Save.
14. On this next page click on the top right dropdown menu and select Set as Default Template. This will make it so your items will automatically use this shipping template for FBM while you are adding them to your catalog.
Your shipping settings are now configured for Portland Prep Center
Portland Prep Center Software Account creation and Workflow
Step 1: Understanding What can be sent to Portland Prep Center
DO SEND
DON'T SEND
Shoes, Apparel, Accessories
Grocery(unless requested)
Kitchenware, Home Goods
Anything over 50 lbs
Toys, Legos, Baby, Electronics, Pet Supplies, Beauty
Anything over 50 Inches
Sports & Outdoors, VIdeo Games, Tools and Home Improvement
Furniture
Used Books
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us! :)
Step 2: Rules for sending product to our warehouse
DO
DON'T
Use inbound shipment 4 letter codes on your deliverys and inbound shipments to PPC
Leave out the suite number of our address
Let us know if you are sending us over 4 Pallets or a Container full of product
Send us products without UPCs unless previously communicated about(Like stray plastic ketchup bottles or plastic bowls)
Discuss Amazon Removal Requests through instant chat
Send any product without a 4- letter code on the delivery address
Wait up to 1-2 Business days for receivals to check in after delivery
Step 3: Register on our Software
1. Head to our software by clicking the button below or by opening a new tab at https://www.dashboard.portlandprepcenter.com
*By making an account on our portal you acknowledge you have read and understand our terms and conditions and shipping guidelines.*
2. Hit Register on the top right and enter your information
3. Click create new merchant and add your business name and email
4. Account registration is complete! You now have a login with Portland Prep Center. Please continue learning through this onboarding to avoid any unnecessary fees
Step 4: Adding your inventory from Amazon to PPC
Once you have connected your Amazon Store to the software your Amazon inventory will automatically populate after 24 hours. This can be found on the "Inventory" page in the software.
The video below explains how to add new inventory to your PPC portal. Note: this is after your initial product auto-upload from adding your Amazon account to our software.
Note: This video also explains how to send products for ungating to Portland Prep Center as well.
Step 5: Inbound Shipments - Sending Product to PPC
Inbound shipments are product you are sending to PPC from your suppliers. Each inbound shipment requires a 4 letter code as the name and a 4 letter code on the physical package being delivered to PPC. Inbound shipments can be monitored in the "Inbound Shipments tab"
Inbound shipments must include FBM before the 4 letter code!
Use a new 4-letter code for each new day of buying. Multiple suppliers can be on one inbound shipment.
Inbound shipments must include FBM before the 4 letter code!
An inbound shipment lets us know what is heading to Portland Prep Center from your suppliers. We receive units to these inbound shipments and you will be able to see live updates as we process your inventory.
PORTLAND PREP CENTER ADDRESS
YOUR NAME *4-Letter Code*
3342 NW 26th Ave
Ste 14 or Ste B *4-Letter Code can also go here*
PORTLAND, OR 97210
IMPORTANT: ONLY PLACE ITEMS IN STOCK ON SELLER CENTRAL ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY PORTLAND PREP CENTER
Orders and order statuses will show up on the "Orders" page. You can also view tracking numbers within each order.
By clicking on orders you can see the Shipping address, tracking status, and every step from the point the order was created in the software to when it was fulfilled by the Fulillment Team
And that's it! If you would like us to handle your returns the process is quite easy.
Head here for information on how to do start using our returns service
Happy Growing!