How we verify FBA prep centers.
This page explains how we keep listings fresh for buyers. Every published prep center has passed five checks within the last 30 days. If a listing's most recent check falls outside that window, it shows a stale badge until we re-verify. If a check fails, the listing is flagged with the failure reason visible on the profile page.
Every listing clears all five, or it doesn't get published.
- 01
Business operating > 12 months
State business registry confirms the legal entity. LinkedIn-confirmed founders. First public listing on prepcenter.com or amzprep.com no later than 12 months prior to our verification date — we want a track record, not a one-month-old shop fishing for inbound leads.
- 02
Phone answered live within 2 rings
A real person, during stated business hours, on the listed phone number. Voicemail counts as a fail. Three consecutive call-fails archives the listing. We log the call timestamp and the name of the person who answered.
- 03
FDA registration confirmed via fda.gov
Only required for centers that claim FDA registration (mandatory for supplements). We cross-check the registration number against the FDA establishment database. Unverifiable claim = listing flagged or excluded, depending on the rest of the profile.
- 04
Website returns 200 + matches Amazon FBA keywords
The domain resolves. HTTP 200 from / and at least one contact page. The site prominently mentions Amazon FBA, FNSKU, prep services, or 3PL — we don't accept centers that bury their FBA capabilities behind a contact form.
- 05
Manual editor review every 30 days
A human re-reads the listing, cross-checks the center's name against Amazon-seller forums, Reddit r/FulfillmentByAmazon complaints, and BBB. We re-confirm pricing notes and update retrieval dates. At the first credible red flag, the listing is flipped to flagged.
We name names — including listings we've removed.
When we exclude a center, we don't quietly drop it. The exclusion is logged on our top-list page with the date and reason. We preserve the archived URL so the page doesn't 404 — anyone who linked to or bookmarked the listing still lands on a page explaining what happened.
The most common exclusion reasons we've seen: phone unanswered on three consecutive checks, domain expired without renewal, claimed FDA registration not verifiable, or persistent seller-forum complaints we couldn't resolve via the center's stated process.
What you can expect.
- Labeled featured listings. Rankings on our top-list are editorial. If we add a featured slot in the future, it will be clearly labeled on the entry itself and at the top of the page — never mixed in with editorial picks.
- No fake ratings. Our
LocalBusinessJSON-LD never includesaggregateRatingunless real reviews exist. We won't pad SERP rich results with fabricated star scores. - Verification stays verification. The 5-check battery above is run on every published listing regardless of featured or sponsor status. Failures are visible on the profile.
- No tax advice. Pages about tax-free states explain mechanics. They do not substitute for a CPA.