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: 3 verified centers as of 2026-05-14 (San Marcos CA, Santa Ana CA, Ortonville MI). California is the only state with more than one published center today. UK, Germany, and Canada are now open for applications; international centers publish only after the same 5-check verification clears in each region.
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.
- Atlanta, Savannah, New York, Miami
- Savannah (SAV), New York / New Jersey, Charleston
- 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.
- Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Chicago
- Houston (HOU)
- 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.
- Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Reno
- Long Beach (LGB), Los Angeles (LAX)
- ONT (Ontario), LGB (Long Beach), PHX (Phoenix)
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.
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.
6 recently verified.
Ordered by recency of last verification check. Stale and flagged listings appear on profile pages; archived listings keep their URL but are marked.
Urva Prep Center
Urva Prep Center is a multi-service Amazon FBA and Walmart WFS prep operation in tax-free Newark, Delaware, running a primary 25,000 sq ft facility at 301 Ruthar Drive plus a 10,000 sq ft site in Bear. FBA and WFS prep is the productized core, with wholesale prep from $1.00 down to $0.55/unit by volume and online-arbitrage prep from $1.50 down to $1.00/unit. Alongside prep it offers FBM and DTC order fulfillment (same-day before the 7am EST cutoff), two-step dropshipping, FTL inbound consolidation at $0.20 to $0.50/lb, shrink-wrap, and a software dashboard. Storage is free for 14 days then $0.01/unit/day. Hazmat is accepted. Because it runs fulfillment alongside prep, confirm scope directly if you want a prep-only relationship.
Delta Prep Solutions
Delta Prep Solutions is a family-operated, home-based FBA prep service in Northern California. Prep runs in a dedicated climate-controlled structure of about 1,200 sq ft on the operators' residential property, with locked access and security cameras (operator-confirmed by email, 2026-08-15). The rate card is one of the more transparent we have reviewed: a flat $1.50 per unit covering FNSKU labeling, standard polybagging, expiration-date labeling, 2-3 item bundling, and a final quality check, with no order minimums and a stated 1-2 day turnaround. The stated specialty is online-arbitrage sellers shipping roughly 1,000-1,500 units per month, which fits the operation's scale. What a buyer should weigh: the business is young (operating since mid-2025 by domain evidence), we could not find customer reviews or any third-party footprint for it, and contact runs through a Gmail inbox and a single phone line. The website's warehouse imagery is stock photography, not the facility itself.
FBA Champs
FBA Champs is a New Jersey prep center handling Amazon FBA inspection, FNSKU labeling, polybagging, bundling, bubble wrap, and box packing, located about 35 minutes from Amazon's ABE8 warehouse in Florence, NJ. Per-unit prep runs $0.45 to $1.00 by volume with no contract, no sign-up fee, and no minimums, and they accept new sellers with low quantities. They also offer FBM multi-channel pick-and-pack, FBA returns processing, box and pallet forwarding, and monthly storage; FBA prep is the core service and these are add-ons. Turnaround is stated at 24 to 72 hours.
Express Prep and Ship
Express Prep and Ship is a family-scale FBA prep operation in Columbus, Montana, a sales-tax-free state, operating since late 2022 (domain and site history) and registered as Express Prep And Ship LLC (Montana SoS C1405820, Active-Good Standing, agent Sandra June Croft, registered December 2023). The card is published and per-unit: $1.25 per unit received, including inspection, label removal, damage photos, and FNSKU, fragile, and suffocation labeling; books $2.00 with poly bag; shoes $2.50; oversize $4.00; bundles $1.25 per item for the first two items, $1.00 at three or more. A $50 one-time registration fee applies, with billing on the 1st and 15th. Onboarding runs through Seller Central user permissions (Inventory and Shipments). Cautions, plainly: the ship-to address sellers are given is a residential property with no outbuildings on record, and the state registry lists no principal business address at all (mailing address only), so where the work physically happens is unconfirmed (the common Montana cottage-operator pattern), the published phone is a personal mobile line, the signup page shows two different Gmail addresses (the homepage address is canonical), and third-party reviews are absent beyond one dated on-site testimonial.
Express Prep Center
Express Prep Center is a New Jersey Amazon FBA prep service in Pennsauken. Per-unit prep runs $0.65 to $0.85 per unit by volume and covers receiving, exterior inspection, FNSKU labeling, poly bagging, dunnage, barcode removal, and ship-to-Amazon in 24 to 48 hours, with 14 days of free storage included. It also offers FBA returns processing, longer-term storage ($15/box or $50/pallet per month), and freight forwarding with optional inspection. Domain registered May 2024; listed as accepting new clients.
WestFBA
California-based FBA prep service specializing in West Coast port intake from China-origin container freight. 12+ years operating an e-commerce warehouse, 5+ years FBA-specific. Self-described positioning: importer-friendly prep for sellers landing inventory at LA / Long Beach or San Diego. No minimum-volume requirements per their stated terms, which is rare for the category. Published per-unit pricing on the site (also rare). Photography service available. Offers WhatsApp contact at +1-858-527-8197 in addition to phone and email.
Common questions on US FBA prep.
What is an FBA prep center in the USA?
Do I need a US-based prep center if I sell on Amazon US?
Which US states have no sales tax on inventory?
Where are the largest Amazon fulfillment centers in the US?
How much does FBA prep cost per unit in the US?
Is it cheaper to use a Chinese prep center or a US one?
What changed with Section 321 and de minimis in 2025?
Which port is best for FBA imports: LA / Long Beach, Savannah, or NY / NJ?
Amazon FC directory
86 major US Amazon FCs grouped by region. Where your inbound actually lands.
Open the directory →
Amazon IXD directory
The 5 inbound cross-docks for palletized freight, with the downstream FC clusters each one feeds.
Open the IXD list →
Tax-free states pillar
The 5 sales-tax-free states (NH/OR/DE/MT/AK) plus the full sales-tax-nexus argument for FBA inventory.
Read the pillar →
FBA prep coverage by state
Which states we have verified centers in right now, and what to do about the ones we do not.
View coverage →
What we track and verify
The live count of tracked entities, published centers, and the verification status behind each one.
Open the coverage report →
What FBA prep actually is
The plain-language definition, the work involved, and why Amazon sellers outsource it.
Read the primer →