Amazon To Reopen Seller Fulfilled Prime Enrollment 2023
Amazon has announced it will be reopening enrollment for new sellers into the Seller Fulfilled Prime program in 2023 after pausing new enrollments due to issues with sellers "not providing the high quality experience customers expect from Prime."
We are excited to announce that we will reopen new seller enrollment for the Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) program later this year.
We first launched SFP in 2015. Our goal was to allow sellers to independently handle the fulfillment of their products while also making them available to Prime customers with the same fast, free delivery they have come to expect.
As the program grew, we unfortunately realized that SFP was not providing the same high-quality experience that customers expect from Prime. As a result, we paused new seller enrollment while we worked to make sure we had more support for sellers and clear standards in place for the SFP program to ensure it provides customers a great Prime experience. We appreciate the sellers that have helped us work through this, and we are excited to be at the point where we will soon reopen enrollment.
We will update you in the coming months with enrollment details and updated requirements to ensure that it meets Prime customers’ high expectations. We look forward to the improved customer experience that these changes will bring. For those of you that have been interested in joining SFP and waiting, we thank you for your patience.
Join the waitlist:
To help avoid the issues Amazon previously had with the program, new sellers wishing to enroll will have to go through a trial period - though Amazon does not say for how long.
What is the trial period?
Before enrolling in Seller Fulfilled Prime, you must complete a trial period to show that you are able to meet the requirements for Prime fulfillment excellence and customer satisfaction.The Prime badge will not be displayed on items enrolled in Seller Fulfilled Prime during the trial period, however you must process the orders with a zero-day handling time.
Once you successfully complete the trial period, you will automatically be enrolled in Seller Fulfilled Prime and your enrolled ASINs will be eligible to display the Prime badge to customers.
Sellers were directed to the Seller Fulfilled Prime Help page for more information.
Maintain enrollment in Seller Fulfilled Prime
In order to maintain the Seller Fulfilled Prime status, you must continually satisfy the following criteria:
- Maintain a Professional selling plan: You must have an account with a Professional selling plan, and the account must be active and in good standing.
- Purchase shipping labels from Buy Shipping services: You have to purchase a minimum of 99% of all shipping labels through Buy Shipping services, either through the Buy Shipping tool on the Manage Orders page or through the Merchant Fulfillment API.
- Carrier Pickup Time: Use at least one of the approved Buy Shipping service carriers UPS, USPS, OnTrac, or FedEx. Order cutoff times must be set to 2:00 P.M. or later local time.
In addition, sellers must meet strict metrics in order to maintain eligibility for SFP - including shipping 6 days a week with 1-2 day delivery promises and buying shipping labels on the platform for 99% of orders.
To remain eligible for Seller Fulfilled Prime, you must meet the following performance metrics on Seller Fulfilled Prime orders:
- On-time shipment rate of at least 99%
- Use of Buy Shipping for at least 99% of orders
- A cancellation rate of no more than 0.5%
- An on-time delivery rate of at least 97% on Prime orders when shipping is purchased outside of Buy Shipping services
- Nationwide delivery coverage for all standard-size products on Prime-enabled shipping templates.
- Weekend operation six days a week, including either Saturday or Sunday operation.
- Weekend delivery for standard-size Prime products six days a week, including either Saturday or Sunday delivery.
- Delivery speed targets for One-Day and Two-Day delivery promises.
Performance is measured over 7- and 30-day timeframes. If seller performance metrics fall below requirements during the last seven or 30 days, SFP eligibility may be suspended.
At least one member of the Amazon Seller Community isn't thrilled with the opportunity, saying the supposed benefits of Seller Fulfilled Prime don't outweigh the costs.
SFP is not worth the hype. Unless you are located in the center of the country the 2-day shipping costs are steep. and then they try to push 1 day shipping. Remember this is Amazon and Amazon will only do something that will benefit Amazon.
Amazon has been consolidating their warehouse space, so by opening up SFP the burden now falls on third party sellers. Don't fall for the BS
Will you sign up for Seller Fulfilled Prime? Already enrolled? Let us know how it's going in the comments below!
