Well, here we are in a whole new year, 2026! Isn’t it amazing in this day and age how we have all new ways to earn a living, build a business, and have a whole lot of freedom in doing it?

That is why I love building a business on Amazon. Sure they are a massive corporation that doesn’t care much about my business, but the opportunity they make available for little guys like us is not something to ignore.

Speaking of Amazon not caring much about our businesses, one way they show they don’t care is how they handle the products we send into their warehouses for Amazon to fulfill orders in our behalf. They seem to act like our products are bouncy balls, carelessly trying to bounce them off the ground. So we need to be sure we prep our products with this kind of treatment in mind.

Whenever I am researching potential ASINs to test, one thing I always like to check before prepping them for shipping is the customer reviews. Customers will ALWAYS give a review, many times with pictures, when orders arrive damaged. This lets me see how other sellers are prepping those items and how effective their prepping methods are.

This can give you a GREAT opportunity to stand out from the competition. Customers will get frustrated receiving damaged products due to sellers being cheap and lazy in the prep process, and Amazon will see trends in those sellers when it happens too frequently. If Amazon sees your one seller consistently giving a better experience to the customer, with less complaints, returns, and problems with the products getting there safely, Amazon will reward that seller with more attention, even if their price is a little higher.

In this edition, we will be taking a deeper dive into how we can make sure our products make it to the customer safely, keeping them and Amazon happy.

Make sure you read to the end. I found you a deal you DON’T WANT TO MISS!!!

Here is one example:

In this image, you can that the seller only put a small amount of bubble wrap to protect 2 glass jars of jam. The result was a bad experience for the customer; broken glass, jam everywhere, and pure disappointment.

Put yourself in the customers’ shoes. How would you feel if this was delivered to you? I know I would be upset. I would be quick to try prying my money back and leaving a bad review. So I know customers are right when they do just that.

Looking at this image, I know that I would need to do more to make sure it will get to the customer safely. What could I do? A few extra squares of bubble wrap goes a long way. I would also wrap each one individually as letting the glass jars bounce off each other is asking for breakage.

When you find ASINs like that jam above with a lot of complaints about the products arriving damaged, you have found a gap with a problem that needs to be solved. Rather than looking at the situation as impossible, to difficult to deal with, look at it as an opportunity to stand out above the competition.

The other sellers are clearly having a bad experience with that product, and if they are having a lot of refunds, they may not want to deal with it anymore and just give up on it. If you can successfully solve the problem of getting the fragile product to the customer in tact, you will become the go-to seller that people will want to buy it from.

This knowledge and way of thinking will open up a whole lot of ASINs that many sellers just walk right past because they don’t want to deal with it.

You don’t need a big prep warehouse to have what you need for high quality prep. Here is a list of what I like to have on hand:

For a deeper dive into shipping supplies and how to save on them, check out my YouTube video HERE!

I would rather spend a couple extra moments and a few extra pennies on prepping each product than deal with the refunds, returns, and negative reviews that come with under prepping.

Understanding the right balance will come with time. When determining how to prep something, just remember what kind of treatment it will receive in the process. UPS will be rough on the boxes, Amazon will be rough on the products, and will not ship them in a well protected box.

Prep it to be able to withstand plenty of abuse. Expect them to try breaking it, and plan for it. As you do, you will save a lot of money and frustration as you deal with fewer returns, fewer refunds, and more positive experiences from customers.

Even if you do have a negative review, many times you can still have it removed. As long as the complaint is regarding the fulfillment process, and it was fulfilled via FBA, you can request that Amazon remove that review from your account. The vast majority of the time, they will strike it and add a note that it was an FBA issue, not an issue with the seller.

Keep an eye on your reviews and be quick to request removal whenever you do receive a negative review.