FBA prep in Germany: prices, minimums and container intake

What does FBA prep cost in Germany?

The published entry point is FBA Prep Complete from €0.45 per unit. That from-rate belongs to the small size class — items under 30 cm and under 1 kg — and is tied to the per-SKU minimum described below. Larger items are rated by size class; the standard class, items under 45 cm and under 5 kg, is published at €0.62 per unit. All prices are net, from prices, and the rate that applies to a concrete shipment is fixed in the written quote after the shipment documents have been reviewed.

Two minimums frame every prep order. First, at least 150 units per SKU must be sent, because the from-rate is calculated for homogeneous batches rather than mixed handfuls. Second, there is a €75 minimum order value per prep order: if the prepared quantity would bill below it, the difference appears as a visible minimum-order line on the estimate instead of a hidden surcharge. Both minimums are published next to the price, so a small test shipment can be costed honestly before it is dispatched.

The account setup is a one-time €95 and is credited against the first €500 of invoiced services, so it does not raise the cost of a working relationship. Monthly inventory reports are included. There are no further recurring management charges published on top of the service lines.

Why does container intake belong in the same conversation as FBA prep?

Many prep services start at the pallet gate. ImportPrep starts at the container: palletised intake is published from €145 for a 20 ft and €250 for a 40 ft container, subject to the published base conditions — a booked slot in staffed hours, customs-cleared non-hazardous goods, and the included pallet counts of up to 11 pallets on a 20 ft and 25 pallets on a 40 ft box.

The operational chain is continuous: the container arrives, is devanned and unloaded, the goods are counted and a damage report is drawn up, FBA prep follows on the same floor, and the outbound leg is prepared as a palletised delivery booking. Because the count happens before preparation, discrepancies against the packing list surface while the container is still a live topic with the supplier or forwarder, and the damage report records the physical condition of the goods at handover — evidence that is difficult to reconstruct once units have been labelled and shipped.

Running intake and prep in one location also removes handovers: one receiving record, one stock position, one team that has seen the goods from the container floor to the wrapped pallet. The customer or its forwarder arranges drayage and terminal collection; ImportPrep's scope begins when the customs-cleared box reaches the ramp in Schorfheide.

Where is the warehouse — and why does the location matter for FBA sellers?

The warehouse is in Schorfheide, Landkreis Barnim, Brandenburg, north of Berlin, directly on the A11 motorway — about 50 km from Berlin and about 83 km from the port of Szczecin. For sea freight discharged in Szczecin, the drayage leg to the ramp is short, and for Amazon destinations in Berlin and eastern Germany the warehouse sits between the coast and the delivery region instead of at the far end of it.

The facility provides around 1,400 m² of warehouse space for receiving, preparation and buffer stock, so a container load does not have to be pushed out the same day it arrives to make room for the next one.

Coordination runs in English, German and Chinese, with Arabic available through management — useful when the supplier relationship and the Amazon account sit in different languages. The regional context of the location is documented separately for route planning.

What has to be cleared and agreed before the goods arrive?

Goods must arrive customs-cleared. ImportPrep is B2B only and never acts as importer of record, so clearance is completed by the customer or its forwarder before delivery; uncleared shipments are not auto-priced and go to manual review, which costs time that a fixed arrival plan rarely has.

The documents that unlock a confirmed slot are the container and seal numbers, the packing list, the presentation (palletised or loose), and a credible arrival window. Dangerous goods are outside the published container base price and are not auto-priced; they require review before any commitment is made.

Staffed hours are Monday to Friday 09:00–18:00 and Saturday 10:00–14:00, and slots are confirmed in writing. The published service rule is that final confirmation is provided within 12 hours after reviewing the shipment documents — a commitment about the answer, not a promise about the physical work, which is quoted according to the agreed scope.

What happens after prep — storage and the delivery booking?

Prepared stock does not have to leave the warehouse immediately. The first 14 days of storage are free, which is normally enough to bridge the gap between a completed prep order and the available Amazon delivery appointment; after that, the published storage positions apply.

The delivery itself is booked in the seller's Seller Central account, and the warehouse hands the goods over as appointment-ready pallets; outbound pallet handling is published from €14.50 per pallet. Keeping the booking in the seller's account means the inbound plan stays under the seller's control while the physical work stays with the warehouse.

Taken together, the published figures let a seller budget the whole chain before dispatch: prep from €0.45 per unit with its minimums, palletised container intake from €145 or €250, and the outbound handover from €14.50 per pallet — every line net, every line traceable to the published price list.

FAQ