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USA index · Geography · Updated 2026-10-11

FBA prep USA: the 2026 landscape.

Verified US FBA prep centers grouped by coast, port proximity, and tax-free state strategy. With Amazon's in-house FBA prep service ended (Supply Chain Dive, 2026), the entire third-party network is now load-bearing. This page is the canonical map.

Honest scope: 354 verified US centers as of 2026-10-11, published only after clearing the 4-point operator standard. The complete typed list, filterable by state and price, is the FBA prep center list. UK, Germany, and Canada are open for applications; international centers publish only after the same standard clears in each region.

Sister pages: Search by city or ZIP · Ranked shortlist · Tax-free states.

Regional grouping

The US prep landscape by coast.

Pick your prep center by what is closest to the right Amazon fulfillment center, not what is closest to you. Amazon's Inbound Placement Service Fee (IPSF) charges sellers when their shipments need redistribution across FCs. A prep center near the East Coast FC cluster reduces IPSF for East Coast demand; West Coast for West Coast demand. The IPSF delta on a national shipment can exceed $0.30 per unit.

East Coast

Highest Amazon FC density in the US. Atlanta is the Southeast routing anchor. Savannah is the port-of-entry for China inbound destined east of the Mississippi. NJ/PA cluster serves the Northeast metro.

Metros
Atlanta, Savannah, New York, Miami
Ports
Savannah (SAV), New York / New Jersey, Charleston
Amazon FC clusters
ATL (Atlanta), EWR (Newark), PHL (Philadelphia), JFK8 (Staten Island)

Central

Dallas and Houston serve south-central FCs. Tennessee is a sleeper play for east-of-Rockies distribution. Michigan is a smaller hub but has working FBA prep capacity.

Metros
Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Chicago
Ports
Houston (HOU)
Amazon FC clusters
DFW (Dallas), MEM (Memphis), ORD (Chicago)

West Coast

Highest concentration of mid-tier prep centers in the US. LA / Long Beach is the port-of-entry for the bulk of China-origin inbound. Ontario CA is the inland routing hub. Phoenix is hazmat-friendly.

Metros
Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Reno
Ports
Long Beach (LGB), Los Angeles (LAX)
Amazon FC clusters
ONT (Ontario), LGB (Long Beach), PHX (Phoenix)

Tax strategy

The five tax-free states.

New Hampshire, Oregon, Delaware, Montana, and Alaska have no statewide sales tax. Storing inventory in any of them avoids triggering sales-tax nexus in that specific state. Oregon and Delaware are the practically useful options given proximity to West Coast and East Coast Amazon FCs respectively.

Why US prep matters in 2026

Section 321 changes shifted demand to US prep.

In 2025, US Customs ended the Section 321 de minimis exemption for direct China imports. Shipments under $800 that previously cleared customs duty-free now require formal entry. The shift removed the structural advantage of China-direct fulfillment models.

Two consequences: first, China-origin inventory now benefits from consolidation at the container level (single customs entry vs many) instead of per-order imports. A US prep center is the natural consolidation point. Second, with Amazon's in-house FBA prep service ended on January 1, 2026 (Supply Chain Dive), every seller who previously relied on Amazon for prep now needs a US-based third-party prep center.

Net result: a US prep center is no longer optional for most FBA sellers operating in the US market. The question is which US prep center, not whether to use one.

Recently verified US centers

6 recently verified.

Ordered by recency of last verification check, except that a Featured (paid) center is shown first and labeled. Stale and flagged listings appear on profile pages; archived listings come off the directory.

PrepShipping

Tucker, GA

Reviewed · 2026-10-15

PrepShipping is a fulfillment and freight company with an Amazon FBA prep line, working from a warehouse at 2189 Flintstone Drive, Suite A, in Tucker, Georgia, in the Atlanta metro. Its FBA page lists FNSKU and barcode labeling, bundling and kitting, poly-bagging and shrink wrap, sticker removal, adult-product prep, photo documentation, and shipment creation with carton labeling, and says prep orders are processed within 24 hours of receipt. Around the prep line it sells e-commerce order fulfillment, warehousing, returns, cross-docking, LCL, LTL and FCL freight, air shipping and customs clearance support. The business dates to late 2019: its domain was registered that October and its original Georgia LLC was formed in January 2020. In 2025 Assertive Industries acquired it, and it now operates as PrepShipping Group, Inc., a change the site discloses. Before you send inventory: its Pricing page shows an embedded table of four monthly plans from $247 a month plus per-service usage fees, but the table does not name PrepShipping and we could not confirm the plans are its current terms, so ask for a written quote. The '#1 Amazon FBA Prep Center' title, the 11 million shipments and the customer counts (9,000 on one page, 10,000+ on another) are the company's own figures.

Full 3PL

Simple Price Prep

St. Marys, GA

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

Simple Price Prep is an Amazon FBA prep center in St. Marys, Georgia, family-owned by Dustin and Brandy Buchanan and operating since 2015. It receives, inspects, preps, labels, photographs, and ships FBA inventory on a published per-service rate card, and also handles Amazon returns and used-item reprocessing, bundling and kitting, book prep, hazmat shipments, palletizing, and storage. Inspection covers the full exterior plus a sample of contents; unit and bundle prep are priced by volume tier.

$$ pricingHazmat

Warehouse Republic

Kernersville, NC

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

Warehouse Republic is an operator-led 3PL running two fulfillment centers, Ontario, California and Kernersville, North Carolina, on a single service agreement. The Kernersville building is 94,454 square feet with 12 dock doors, sited on I-40 at Union Cross Road in the Greensboro Triad. The FBA prep page is unusually specific about inbound work: per-unit FNSKU label application, UPC sticker placement, suffocation labels on poly bags and Amazon prep-type matching; multi-unit polybags, gift bundles, multipacks and shrink wrap, with bundle SKUs kept separate from individual SKUs so the inbound does not conflict with the listing; and case-packing to Amazon's case quantity with outer carton labeling, pallet-build photography and direct inbound to the assigned fulfillment center, tracking and bill of lading filed against the shipment ID. Inbound SKUs are matched to the FBA shipment ID created in Seller Central, and carton dimensions and weights are logged back to the Seller Central inbound. Both founders were FBA sellers first. Cautions. No prep rate card is published, only a commitment that per-unit, per-bundle and per-case line items are shown before the work. No phone number appears on the site. The three customer quotes are attributed only to "Verified customer", so we have not reproduced them, and the accuracy and volume figures are self-reported.

Full 3PLHazmat

3PL Fulfillment Prep

Dallas, TX

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

3PL Fulfillment Prep is a Dallas, Texas 3PL running inventory management, e-commerce order fulfillment and Amazon FBA prep from a stated two facilities in the city, registered in Texas as 3PL Fulfillment & Prep LLC since June 2021. The prep line is specific about what it does to a unit: FNSKU labeling, poly bagging, shrink wrap, bubble wrap and fragile wrap, bundling, hazmat labeling, retail sticker removal, palletization and pallet labeling, and repacking. Their stated workflow starts with checking that cartons contain what the supplier claims, then labeling with FNSKU, FBA, UPS and hazmat labels as required, wrapping to instruction, and handling returns with either re-prep or a ship-back. Prep pricing is by quote rather than a published rate card, which makes it harder to compare against centers that post per-unit rates. Two cautions. The About page says the company's journey began 15 years ago, while the Texas record for 3PL Fulfillment & Prep LLC shows a 2021 charter and the domain dates to 2021; the same page attributes 15 years of prior SAP experience to the founder, which is where that figure appears to come from. And the address on its Texas franchise-tax record is a residential one in Wylie, separate from the Grader Street warehouse that is the operating address.

Full 3PL

Fulco Fulfillment

Dover, NJ

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

Fulco Fulfillment (FFI) is a general warehousing and fulfillment company in Dover, New Jersey, about 40 minutes from New York City near the I-80 and I-287 interchange. It runs a 143,000 square foot facility it says it owns rather than leases, and sells 14 service lines, among them warehousing, e-commerce fulfillment, sales-force and sample distribution, literature fulfillment, kitting, hand assembly, direct mail, polybagging, shrink wrapping and trade show asset management. Amazon prep is one of those lines, not the core business. The FBA page is specific about the work: case and pallet labeling, Amazon ID and SKU labels, checking each unit carries a scannable barcode, sold-as-set multipacks, fragile-item prep, polybagging, bundling, and compliance markings for suffocation, choking hazard and expiration dates. Shipments are split across fulfillment centers by small parcel or LTL. New Jersey records list the entity as active since 2002 and the domain dates to 2004. Cautions: no published prep rate card, everything is quoted, and its pricing explainer article gives no per-unit figures to compare. The management page says the team was founded in 2001, a year earlier than the state incorporation record, and names Jennifer Marcello and Tony Rossi as co-founders.

Full 3PL

TosPrep

Orlando, FL

Reviewed · 2026-10-14

TosPrep is the trading name of Tos Prep Service LLC, an Orlando, Florida operator working out of 8901 Boggy Creek Road near the airport freight corridor. It runs three lines: Amazon prep, warehouse kitting, and DTC ecommerce fulfillment. The prep line is the one with published numbers. FNSKU labeling runs $10 per order for 1 to 10 units per SKU, then $1.00 per unit down to $0.55 from 1,001 units per SKU, with bundles from $1.50, sets from $1.20, and flat $0.50 surcharges for glass and hazmat, so both are accepted. FBM orders are $2.00 and removal orders $1.00 to $2.00 per unit. Packaging materials are billed separately at itemized rates rather than folded into the unit price. Florida records the LLC as formed in January 2020 and the domain was registered the same month, so the site's 'over 5 years' claim lines up with the record. Two cautions. The site gives conflicting turnaround answers, promising same-day shipping in the homepage's Why Choose Us section while the FAQ on the same page says one business day for DTC and two for Amazon and Walmart. And the rate card has typos in its own tier boundaries, so confirm which band you fall into before sending inventory.

Multi-service$ pricingHazmat

Questions, answered

Common questions on US FBA prep.

What is an FBA prep center in the USA?
A US-based facility that receives your inbound inventory, applies Amazon's required prep (FNSKU labels, polybag, bubble wrap, expiration scans, hazmat docs), and forwards the shipment to a US Amazon fulfillment center. With Amazon's in-house FBA Prep service discontinued for shipments after January 1, 2026 (source: Supply Chain Dive), third-party US prep centers are the default path.
Do I need a US-based prep center if I sell on Amazon US?
Strongly recommended above 500 units per month. Domestic prep reduces customs friction, eliminates international shipping risk on prep, and shortens inbound time to the right Amazon fulfillment center. Sellers shipping from China to a Chinese prep center and then to Amazon US incur extra customs, freight, and IPSF cost.
Which US states have no sales tax on inventory?
Five states have no statewide sales tax: New Hampshire, Oregon, Delaware, Montana, and Alaska. Storing inventory in a tax-free state can reduce sales-tax nexus exposure in that state. See our tax-free-states pillar for the actual nexus argument and state-by-state prep center listings.
Where are the largest Amazon fulfillment centers in the US?
The biggest clusters: Atlanta (ATL FC cluster, southeast routing), Ontario CA / Long Beach (ONT / LGB, west coast), Dallas (DFW, south-central), and Newark NJ / Staten Island NY (EWR / JFK8, northeast). Prep-center proximity to the right FC drives Amazon's Inbound Placement Service Fee (IPSF).
How much does FBA prep cost per unit in the US?
Across the 44 verified US centers publishing per-unit rates in our FBA Prep Pricing Index 2026 (snapshot 2026-06-12), the median entry rate is $1.30 per unit, with the middle 50 percent of published cards between $0.99 and $1.66. Rates fall with volume on most cards, and add-ons (storage, returns, onboarding) stack on top. Every figure traces to a named, dated rate card; the comparator on our pricing page shows which centers will take you at your volume and the exact tier of their card you land in.
Is it cheaper to use a Chinese prep center or a US one?
Chinese-origin prep is cheaper per unit ($0.05 to $0.50) but adds customs broker fees, international freight, longer inbound time, and IPSF when the shipment lands at a US FC outside the right cluster. After totaling, US-based prep is typically cheaper per landed unit above 500 units per month. Below that volume, supplier-applied FNSKU at source plus direct-to-Amazon is the cheapest path.
What changed with Section 321 and de minimis in 2025?
In 2025, US Customs ended the Section 321 de minimis exemption for direct China imports. Shipments under $800 that previously cleared customs duty-free now require formal entry. The change shifted demand from China-direct fulfillment to US-based prep, since US prep centers can consolidate inbound and clear customs once at the container level instead of per-order.
Which port is best for FBA imports: LA / Long Beach, Savannah, or NY / NJ?
Depends on demand geography. LA / Long Beach is the default for China-origin volume and west-of-Rockies distribution. Savannah is the cheapest east-coast port for China-origin volume routed east. NY / NJ serves northeast metros and is the best port for Europe-origin volume. Pair your port choice with the prep center that sits closest to it.