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Blue30 Amazon FBA Prep Centre

Frequently Asked Questions
 

  • Who are Blue30?
    We are Blue30, an Amazon FBA prep centre based in Essex. Our company has been built by experienced sellers, who recognised an opportunity to provide a greater service to Amazon sellers than what is out there at present.
  • What is a prep centre?
    A prep centre is a business that offers a product preparation service to Amazon FBA sellers, saving them valuable time and energy so that they are able to focus on other aspects of the business. As a prep centre, we recieve your products, quality assure them, create the shipping plan, prepare them to the Amazon requirements and dispatch them to the relevant Amazon fulfilment centres.
  • Is there a minimum number of units that I have to be selling to use your prep centre?
    No, there is not a minimum number of units that we require you to sell to be able to use our services like other prep centres. We look at the bigger picture and the long term prospects, so will support you in your growth to develop an amazing company that is sending thousands of units per month!
  • What do you charge for the prep services?
    As a company, we pride ourselves on our transparency, so all of our pricing plans can be found above on the website.
  • Is there a minimum contract length?
    No, there is no minium contract length, we do just have a 14 day cancellation notice period.
  • Do you provide prep services for wholesale and private label sellers?
    Yes, our services are suitable for wholesale and private label sellers. If you have specific needs that are not reflected in our pricing online, please book a free consultation so that we are able to discuss a bespoke structure.
  • How do I sign up to your services?
    Please book a free, no obligation consultation with a member of our friendly team via our booking system. In this consulation, our team will discuss the best options for you and establish how we can help your business going forwards.
  • What happens if my products arrive damaged from a wholesaler or a retailer?
    Here at Blue30, we pride ourselves on our processes and attention to detail. Every product receives a 360 degree inspection when being checked in. If there is a disrepency in quantity of units sent, or damage to an item, the check in staff will take photographic evidence and send this across to you via your Slack channel, so that you are able to raise this with the retailer. With damaged stock, we provide you with the option of having the good sent back to the retailer, to your home address or destroyed.
  • Who creates the shipping plans?
    We have taken the decision to create all shipping plans for our clients. This speeds up the process and removes further leg work from our clients, as we are able to manage the inventory to hand in a systemised and efficient approach. This reduces the communication and admin hours required from yourself and maximises the box weight and sizes that are sent to Amazon.
  • Do you need access to my Amazon account?
    Yes, to manage your shipping plans we do require restricted access to your seller central account. This allows us to effectively create and dispatch the shipping plans on your behalf.
  • What happens if my items do not arrive at your facilities?
    You are able to monitor your inbound orders via your personal inventory tracker.
  • How can I track the progress of my orders?
    You are able to track the progress of your orders in real time via your personal inventory tracker. Once an order has been checked in, the check in date and quanitity will be updated. Once an item has been dispatched to Amazon, your montly expense tracker will be updated with a comprehensive shipping plan breakdown
  • Why do you charge a monthly fee?
    We charge a monthly fee to secures your place with us. We only have a certain capacity and we need to insure that the space is used as other will be waiting for a space to become available. It also covers all of your communication channel and software needed to provide the service. We also offer a high level of service that we can not deliver solely based on prep fees alone. As these fluctuate and we need some consistency to be able to staff and manage our service. We feel that it is fairer to our clients if we charge a fixed and transparent monthly fee, rather than inflated prep costs that would cost more in the long run.
  • I have just started selling, should I use a prep centre?
    As standard, the majority of sellers will prep in house to start with to gain an understanding of the process and to grow their capital, however, each persons situation is different, so the right time to join a prep centre differs from one person to another. Our best piece of advice on this would be to make sure you have analysed your figures and incorporated your prep fees, so when you do take the leap, your margins are not heavily impacted.
  • Why should I use a prep centre instead of Amazon's prep service?
    By using Amazon, you will still have to handle the products, create the shipping plans, box the products (un-prepped) and ship them into Amazon in hope that the goods arrive in one piece, before then waiting for Amazon to prep these products on your behalf. With Blue30, we take all of the stress and the leg work out of the prep element of the business, by providing a premium start to finish prep service. Our prices may look higher than what Amazon charge for the prep, however the Amazon charges would not take into consideration the cost of boxes, void filler, tape and the time spent on labour.
  • Do you offer bundling and multipack prep?
    We do offer bunlding and multipack prep as a standard service. The pricing can be found via our homepage for each band.
  • What would stop you from selling the same products that I have sent in?
    It is no secret that the majority of prep centres are owned by active sellers, mainly due to their love and passion for the industry, however we do understand and appreciate why this may cause some concern. Blue30 is a professional organisation and is a seperate entity to our other businesses. You can rest assured that all product and client information is strictly confidential as outlined in our terms and conditions and agreement between Blue30 and their clients. Putting the agreements and terms and conditions aside, this industry is built around a great community of people and trust plays a massive part.
  • Do you accept pallets?
    We do accept pallet delivery and have sufficient space, resources and equipment to handle and manage your pallet deliveries effectively and efficiently.
  • Do you accept shipping container delivery?
    We are fortunate to have the space and resources availble to take delivery of shipping containers. This service would be on a bespoke pricing structure, so please feel free to contact us for a quote.
  • Do you provide long term storage?
    We do provide long term storage for our clients. This service would be pre agreed with your Blue30 account manager prior to the shipments being accepted. We charge £3 per square meter per week for long term storage.
  • Do you reuse boxes?
    Unfortunately we are not able to offer this option. This is due to the storage that would be required for the boxes and keeping track of who's boxes are for who. Also not all boxes that are received arrive in good condition and are not doubled walled so can not always be used.
  • Do you offer a FBM service?
    At this moment in time, we do not fulfill FBM orders. We are currently in the process of analysing suitable WMS systems to support 3PL services that would suport FBM.
  • Do you offer 3PL fulfilment?
    At this moment in time we do not offer a 3PL fulfilment service, however we are currently in the process of anaylising suitable WMS systems. Once we have the infastructure in place, we will provide a 3PL service for FBM, eBay and shopify sellers.
  • Do I have to live in the UK to use your services?
    No, that is one of the great parts about using us as a prep centre. We have the systems and infrastructure in place to support sellers from all around the world.
  • What happens if you damage one of my items?
    At Blue30, being open, honest and trust worthy is one of our core values and something that we truly value. Accidents can happen and if they do, we will contact you to inform you of the damages caused. Once we receive the invoice from you showing the cost of goods, we will reimburse the cost of goods.
  • What is your turnaround time on products?
    Product dispatch will not exceed 72 hours, however our experienced teams consistently reach and exceed our KPI of 48 hours.
  • How do I pay for the prep service provided?
    The billing month runs from the 1st day to the last day of the month. Payments are due 10 days after the invoice date.
  • Can I visit your prep centre?
    Of course, we always enjoy meeting clients face to face as it is a great opportunity to provide a greater understanding of what we do. We hope you can appreciate that there will be areas that you are not able to visit, due to the privacy and sensitivity of client stock, but do not worry, there will still be plenty for us to show you!
  • How do we communicate?
    As a client of Blue30, you will be able to contact our teams and they will also be able to contact you within our working hours on a pretty live chat basis.
  • How secure are my products in your facilities?
    Our facility is secured with full CCTV and a Grade 2 security and alarm system. This alarm system includes: - Shock sensors - Motion sensors - 24/7 Arc monitoring - Direct link to the Police - Guard response - NSI Gold Certified Our clients and their stock are our priority and as a company, we strive on always developing and evolving the ways that we can tbest protect their stock.
  • Do you insure my stock?
    Yes, your stock is insured by us whilst in our facilities.
  • Do you handle Hazmat items?
    Yes we do provide a Hazmat service. However we do not handle any type of paint.
  • Do you offer a forwarding service?
    Yes we do offer a forwarding service are really competitive rates so please drop us a message and we will be able to provide you with a quote.

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Blue30 Amazon FBA Prep Centre
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