Your First FBA Shipment from India: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Getting your first shipment from an Indian factory into Amazon's US fulfillment network involves more moving parts than most guides admit: prep, freight, customs, a US receiving address and compliant inbounding. Here is the whole path in order.
The path is: finalize your listing and FNSKU, get product prepped and labeled, book air or sea freight from India, clear US customs with your LLC and EIN as importer, land at a US warehouse, and inbound compliant, shelf-ready stock to FBA. Since Amazon stopped prepping in 2026, the prep must happen before FBA, which is why sellers route through a US warehouse.
What's in this guide
Before you ship
Two things must exist first: your Amazon listing (so you have an FNSKU to label against) and a US company to import under. If you do not have the company yet, see US LLC for Indian sellers and EIN without SSN.
Prep and labeling
Every unit must arrive at Amazon shelf-ready: FNSKU label, poly bag or bundle where required, compliant packaging. Since Amazon stopped prepping in 2026, this happens before FBA, either at origin or, more reliably, at a US warehouse after freight.
Air vs sea freight
Air is fast and expensive; sea is slow and cheap. For a first shipment, many sellers air a small batch to test the listing and sea-freight the bulk behind it. The full trade-off is in air vs sea shipping.
Customs and importer of record
Your goods clear US customs with your LLC and EIN as importer of record. Duties depend on your product's classification, see the customs duty guide and customs clearance. This is the step where a US receiving partner matters, because Amazon will not clear customs for you.
US warehouse receiving
Your freight lands at a US warehouse that receives the container, counts and inspects against your PO, and holds the stock. This is your control point: problems surface here, at your dock, not inside Amazon where they hurt your reviews.
Inbounding to FBA
Finally, the warehouse preps (if not already), builds the FBA shipment with optimized splits, and inbounds shelf-ready stock. From there you can send everything or drip-feed to control storage fees, see drip-feeding. We run this whole path from India to FBA through our owned Texas warehouse. See our India-to-USA service or get a quote.