Lesson 1 of 10

Tools and Resources

The printers, labels, scales, tape and boxes an FBA seller needs, with the sales rank guidelines and the supported store list.

This lesson is the equipment list. Below it are the specific products used in the course, for the United States and the United Kingdom. This part explains what each group of items is for, which of them Amazon actually requires, and which you can put off buying.

Read it before spending anything. Roughly half the list is optional at the start, and two of the items have requirements that will get a shipment refused if you get them wrong.

The two reference documents first

Before the equipment, there are two things at the top of the list that are not equipment at all.

The sales rank guidelines. A table of what counts as a good sales rank in each category. This matters because a rank of 100,000 is excellent in a large category and poor in a small one, so there is no single number to buy against. The Sales Rank Overview lesson explains why. Keep the table open while you source.
The supported store list. Which retailers Arbitrage Hero covers in your market. Useful for deciding where to look first.

Printer: the one piece of equipment you cannot work without

What it is for. Every unit you send to Amazon needs a barcode label on it. Amazon generates the labels as a PDF when you create a shipment, and you print them.

What to look for. The only thing that matters is that the barcode comes out crisp and scans first time. A label that will not scan at the fulfilment centre becomes a unit Amazon cannot check in.

A laser printer is the right tool. Toner does not smear, does not run if the label gets damp, and costs far less per page once you are printing hundreds of labels. That is why the list is laser printers rather than inkjets.

Can you start with an inkjet? Often yes, and it is worth trying before you spend anything, because most people already own one. Print a sheet and scan it with your phone. If it reads cleanly and the ink does not smudge under a thumb, it will do until volume makes a laser worth buying. If it is fuzzy or the ink is wet, do not risk a shipment on it.

Labels: the item with a specification

What they are for. One per unit, carrying the code that identifies your specific stock inside Amazon's warehouse.

Why you cannot improvise. Amazon specifies a size range for these labels, and the sheets in the list are the standard formats that fit it: 30 labels per sheet in the US, 27 or 44 per sheet in the UK. When you create a shipment, Amazon asks which format you are using and generates the PDF to match. Choosing a format you do not own produces labels that print at the wrong size and will not scan.

Buy these. This is the one item where cutting corners does not work. Printing onto plain paper and sticking it down produces labels that fall off, wrinkle and fail to scan.

Two rules when applying them:

Cover every other barcode on the item completely. A scanner reads whatever it finds first, and a visible manufacturer barcode means your unit can be logged as somebody else's stock.
Stick it on a flat surface, not over a seam, an edge or a curve, where a scanner will struggle.

Scales: needed for a step you cannot skip

What they are for. When you complete a shipment, Amazon asks for the weight of each box before it will price the carrier and produce the labels. There is no way past that screen without a number.

What to look for. A digital shipping scale that covers the box weights you will actually send. The ones on the list handle around 50 kg or 110 lb, which is well beyond the limit for a normal box.

Why not guess. An inaccurate weight means the carrier charge is wrong, and it is corrected later against your account. Consistently wrong weights cause queries. Kitchen scales work for small boxes if you already own some; they will not handle a full one.

Tape and a dispenser

What it is for. Sealing boxes so they survive a courier network that is not gentle.

What to look for. Strong clear packing tape, around 2 inches or 48 mm wide. Seal along the centre seam and across both edge seams, which is the arrangement that stops a box bursting open under weight.

Is the dispenser optional? Yes, and it stops feeling optional quite quickly. Tearing tape by hand is slow and produces a poor seal. It is a small purchase that saves time on every single shipment, so it is a reasonable early upgrade rather than a day-one buy.

Boxes: the item you should not pay for

What they are for. Getting your stock to the fulfilment centre.

Why they are on the list anyway. Because you need to know what a suitable box looks like: sturdy, double or single wall corrugated, and within Amazon's size and weight limits. As a general rule a standard box should stay under about 25 inches on any side and under about 23 kg or 50 lb, with exceptions for single items that are genuinely larger. Check the current limits before sending anything unusual.

How to avoid the cost. Ask at any large shop. Supermarkets and department stores take deliveries daily and break down the boxes for disposal, so most will hand them over. Two conditions: the box must be strong and undamaged, and every old shipping label and barcode on it must be removed or covered completely, or the wrong label gets scanned on arrival.

Poly bags: the item with a legal requirement

What they are for. Protecting items whose own packaging will not survive, and covering anything that must not be exposed. Some categories require bagging.

The requirement that catches people out. A poly bag with an opening of 5 inches or more must carry a suffocation warning. This is a safety requirement, not an Amazon preference, and bags sold for FBA have the warning printed on them. That is why the list points at specific bags rather than any plastic bag.

Bags should also be transparent, sealed rather than folded over, and of a reasonable thickness. If the bag hides a barcode, the label goes on the outside of the bag.

Optional at first? Mostly yes. Buy them when you first buy something that needs one, which will happen sooner than you expect.

Bubble wrap and other protection

What it is for. Fragile items, and anything whose retail box would arrive crushed.

The rule worth knowing now. Amazon does not accept loose fill packing material in FBA shipments: no polystyrene peanuts, no shredded paper, no loose foam. It gets into the machinery and onto other people's stock. Use bubble wrap, air pillows or paper padding instead.

Optional at first? Yes, if you begin with the durable items the earlier lessons recommend. It becomes necessary the moment you buy something breakable.

What to buy before your first shipment

Putting the list in order:

Labels. Required, and the one thing you cannot substitute.
A printer. Required. Try the one you own first.
Scales. Required, because the shipment screen asks for a weight.
Tape. Required.
Boxes. Required, and free if you ask.
A tape dispenser. Buy it after the first shipment, when you understand why.
Poly bags and bubble wrap. Buy when a product needs them.

Ignoring the optional items, the genuine outlay before your first shipment is labels and tape, plus a printer if you do not own one. That is the whole equipment cost of starting.

About the links below

The lists that follow are the specific products used in the course, split by market. They are examples of the right kind of item, not the only acceptable ones. Anything meeting the requirements above will do, and prices and availability change, so treat them as a description of what to look for rather than a shopping list to copy.