The 3PL to FBA Transfer: Where Units Go Missing Between Two Buildings
Moving stock from a storage 3PL through a prep center into FBA: the four custody handoffs, who counts at each, which rules and clocks apply, and what to audit.
By Bernardo Campelo, Forbes Business Council E-Commerce Leader, Amazon SPN Certified provider, Amazon SP-API authorized partner, and Founder of PrepVia.
As of October 29, 2026, Amazon's FBA inventory reimbursement policy covers an item you send to FBA that is "lost or damaged at a facility or by a carrier operated by Amazon or on behalf of Amazon." One of its eligibility conditions is that "the item is registered in FBA at the time it is lost or damaged." Another is that "you have sent us the exact items and quantities stated in your shipping plan."
Many brands keep bulk stock in a storage 3PL, often the one that runs their DTC or wholesale orders, and send it to a separate prep center for Amazon. That flow has two buildings and at least one truck between them.
Amazon's policy does not describe the leg between your storage 3PL and your prep center, and neither does the Inventory Ledger.
The 60-second version
When storage and Amazon prep sit in two buildings, the unit passes through four handoffs, and Amazon's reimbursement policy starts with the shipment from the prep center into Amazon. Everything before that shipment is governed by your storage agreement, your carrier contract and your prep center's terms, so each handoff needs its own count and its own document. In Florida, a warehouse owes the care "a reasonably careful person would exercise," but the storage agreement can cap its liability and set a reasonable time for claims. The federal Carmack rules for motor carriers cover most interstate moves, and a transfer inside one state or one city's commercial zone may fall outside them. Amazon stopped offering prep and labeling for US FBA shipments on January 1, 2026, and unprepped or unlabeled shipments created after that date are not eligible for reimbursement if damaged or untraceable. A shipment-to-Amazon claim is due within nine months of verified delivery, one claim per shipment, and it needs proof of ownership and proof of delivery.
Every date and name below was checked on October 29, 2026 against Amazon's Seller Central help pages, the 2026 Florida Statutes and Title 49 of the US Code and the CFR, linked where they first appear. Amazon edits its help pages without notice, so recheck a rule on the day you rely on it. None of this is legal advice: read your own contracts with counsel.
Four Handoffs, Four Contracts, One Amazon Policy
A transfer from a storage 3PL through a prep center into FBA looks like one move on a planning spreadsheet. Physically, it is four changes of custody. At each one, a different party holds the goods, a different document is supposed to record the count, and a different rule decides who pays if the count comes up short.
| Handoff | Who holds the goods after it | The record that should carry the count | The rule that applies | The clock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Storage 3PL releases the load | The carrier on the transfer | Release count and the bill of lading for the transfer | Your storage agreement and the state warehouse law | Whatever the storage agreement sets for claims |
| 2. Carrier delivers to the prep center | The prep center | Delivery receipt and the prep center's receiving count | The carrier contract; federal Carmack rules only if the move is interstate | Set by the carrier contract (under Carmack: no less than nine months unless expressly waived in writing) |
| 3. Prep center hands the FBA shipment to a carrier | The carrier into Amazon | Box content, labels, and the Amazon bill of lading or tracking IDs | The prep center's terms and, if it stores goods for hire, the state warehouse law; Amazon's prep, label and box content rules; the carrier terms; Amazon's shipment claim for the leg into Amazon | The 45-day auto-close (domestic) starts at shipment creation |
| 4. Amazon receives | Amazon | Amazon's receipt, the shipment Contents tab and the Inventory Ledger | Amazon's FBA inventory reimbursement policy | Nine months after verified delivery for a shipment claim |
Amazon's records cover rows 3 and 4. Rows 1 and 2 reach Amazon only as a result: units expected from your plan against units located. If that number is short, Amazon cannot tell you which building lost the unit. Only your records from the earlier handoffs can, which makes this a systems problem more than a warehouse problem. In a Forbes Business Council article about what customers do not see, I put the general version this way:
"What they don’t see is the infrastructure underneath: logistics, manufacturing workflows, warehouse processes and software."
Bernardo Campelo, in a Forbes Business Council article, March 16, 2026
Definitions of the three kinds of warehouse are in 3PL vs Prep Center vs Fulfillment Center: What the Words Mean.
Handoff 1: What the Storage 3PL Owes You
While your inventory sits in the storage 3PL, the relationship is a bailment: the 3PL holds goods it does not own and has agreed to give them back. Most US states have adopted Article 7 of the Uniform Commercial Code for this. Florida's version of UCC 7-204 is section 677.204 of the 2026 Florida Statutes.
The default is a duty of care. In the statute's words, "a warehouse is liable for damages for loss of or injury to the goods caused by its failure to exercise care with regard to the goods that a reasonably careful person would exercise under similar circumstances." The next sentence adds that, unless otherwise agreed, the warehouse is not liable for damage that the exercise of that care could not have avoided. Florida's definitions section calls a warehouse "a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire," which covers most storage 3PLs.
Subsection (2) lets the warehouse receipt or storage agreement limit liability, "setting forth a specific liability per article or item, value per unit of weight, or any other negotiated limitation of damages." It also says the owner can ask, in a record, for a higher limit at the time of signing the storage agreement or within a reasonable time after receiving the warehouse receipt, and that "increased rates may be charged based on an increased valuation of the goods." Subsection (3) lets the agreement include "reasonable provisions as to the time and manner of presenting claims and commencing actions."
- The cap. If the storage agreement limits liability per item or per pound, a short count at release may be worth far less to you than the units' cost. The statute does not let the cap limit the warehouse's liability for "conversion to its own use."
- The claim window. The storage agreement's clock can be much shorter than Amazon's nine months, and it runs against a different party.
- The release count. The 3PL's own outbound record is your evidence of what left. Ask whether it is a unit count, a carton count, or a book quantity pulled from the system.
The model text of UCC 7-204 is close to Florida's but not identical, so for a 3PL elsewhere, read that state's version. The insurance side is in Certificate of Insurance, Bailee Coverage and Stock Throughput.
Handoff 2: The Truck Between the Buildings
For interstate moves, 49 U.S.C. 14706, the Carmack Amendment, says a motor carrier "shall issue a receipt or bill of lading for property it receives," and that its liability "is for the actual loss or injury to the property," unless the shipper agreed to a released rate that caps it. Subsection (e) bars a carrier from giving "a period of less than 9 months for filing a claim against it under this section and a period of less than 2 years for bringing a civil action." The scope comes from 49 U.S.C. 13501, which covers transportation between "a State and a place in another State" and a few other cross-border cases. Moves inside one city's commercial zone can be exempt even across a state line (49 U.S.C. 13506(b)(1)). New York's zone runs 20 miles past the city limits and into New Jersey (49 CFR 372.235).
Say a brand stores in a 3PL in New Jersey and preps in Florida: the transfer is interstate, and the federal floor applies unless a written contract expressly waives it under 49 U.S.C. 14101(b). Say both buildings are in the same state, such as two warehouses in Miami: the move is intrastate, the federal Carmack rules may not apply, and the carrier's contract and state law decide. Ask counsel before the first load. Released value is covered in Released Value on LTL, Read From a Real Tariff, and the two claim clocks in Partnered Carrier or Own Carrier: The Reimbursement Rule.
The freight itself is a cost Amazon will not give back. When Amazon reimburses a unit lost before a customer order, it pays the sourcing cost, and the policy says sourcing cost "excludes costs such as shipping, handling, customs duties, or other costs."
"When your storage 3PL and your prep center sit in two buildings, there is a truck between them that Amazon's reimbursement policy does not cover. If nobody counts on both ends of it, nobody owns the gap."
Bernardo Campelo, Founder of PrepVia
Amazon's own bill of lading rules for LTL and FTL deliveries into its network are a useful template for this leg too. Its seller requirements page asks for the handling unit quantity, "correct pallet and box count quantities," and the note "Shipper load and count" or "SLC" when the trailer is "loaded, locked, and sealed without enabling the driver to count or inspect the shipment contents." SLC means the driver did not count. The count that matters is the loading party's, and a count at the receiving end is what tests it. Release checks at the dock are in Fictitious Pickups at Peak.
Handoff 3: The Prep Center, Where a Unit Becomes an FBA Unit
Before the prep center, the unit is stock in a warehouse. After it, the unit carries the barcode FBA requires, sits in a box with declared contents and belongs to an Amazon shipment.
Amazon's FBA Prep Service page says: "Starting January 1, 2026, we'll no longer offer prep and item labeling services for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) shipments in the US store." The change applies to "all inventory that is sent to our US FBA service," including inventory from Amazon Warehousing and Distribution when it goes through FBA. The same page attaches a consequence: "Shipments created after January 1, that arrive without proper prep and item labeling won't be eligible for reimbursement if damaged or untraceable."
Amazon's prep requirements page says that determining the prep a product needs "is your responsibility, even if prep guidance for your specific products is not available," and that a product delivered with inadequate packaging, prep or barcode may be refused, returned or repackaged at your expense. A unit that arrives without a correct label can be received, according to Amazon's shipment reconciliation page, as "non-labeled inventory for the same ASIN with merchant SKU as Amazon.Found.Bxxxxxxxxx," which shows up as stranded until you list it.
- Which count the shipping plan uses. Amazon's eligibility condition is that you sent "the exact items and quantities stated in your shipping plan." A plan built from the storage 3PL's book quantity carries every error of handoffs 1 and 2 into Amazon's records. A plan built from the prep center's receiving count starts from what is physically there.
- When the shipment is created. Amazon's shipment tracking page says a shipment closes when Amazon has confirmed all units received, or when it "has been open for more than 45 days (domestic shipment) or 75 days (international shipment) since shipment creation, whichever is first," and "you cannot ship additional units for a closed shipment." Creating the shipment while stock still sits at the storage 3PL starts that clock before the transfer truck has left.
- Box content. Amazon's box content page says it "requires accurate box content information for each box sent to a fulfillment center," provided through Seller Central or the Selling Partner API, and that without it FBA "will assess a fee to manually process the contents of each box." The box content is the prep center's count, written down in a form Amazon reads.
Carton counts against real unit counts are covered in Real Counts vs Said-to-Contain.
Handoff 4: Amazon's Receiving and the Claim Clock
The shipment to Amazon claims page says you can file once a shipment shows as eligible for investigation, and "you must submit your claim no later than nine months after the verified date of a shipment delivery to an Amazon fulfillment center or to a third-party facility operated on Amazon's behalf." It also says: "You may file only one claim per shipment. Additional claims for the same shipment will be declined."
- Proof of inventory ownership. For example, a supplier invoice that shows the date of purchase, product names matching the missing items, and quantity. The reconciliation page adds that Amazon does not accept pro forma invoices, and does not accept documents "in Excel, Word, or other editable formats."
- Proof of delivery. For LTL or FTL, a document "showing the number of boxes in the shipment and the total weight when it was picked up by the carrier," which "must be stamped by Amazon." For small parcel, "the active tracking ID."
That proof covers only the leg from the prep center to Amazon. A transfer that went short earlier appears on no document Amazon asks for.
Before a claim, the shipment goes through reconciliation. The reconciliation page says the shipment's Contents tab shows "the difference between the units expected and the units located," that reconciliation "usually takes 2 to 30 days" and "in some cases, it will take up to 60 days," and that a shipment "can only be eligible for reconciliation when the status is Closed." When a product shows "Investigation completed - shipment contents counted and confirmed," Amazon has matched the boxes and physically counted the units. Those products "are no longer eligible for research," and unless the units are located, Amazon will "deem the units short-shipped and a reimbursement cannot be issued."
If Amazon counted and confirmed, it treats the shortage as upstream, and the conversation moves to the prep center, the transfer carrier or the storage 3PL, backed only by the counts from handoffs 1 to 3. The audit of a shipment showing missing units is in Amazon Says FBA Units Are Missing? Check This First.
Two more numbers: "the maximum reimbursement amount for a single unit of any FBA eligible item is $5,000," and a loss inside a fulfillment center after receipt has a shorter window, per the fulfillment center operations claim page, "no later than 60 days after the date the item was reported as lost or damaged."
Why the Inventory Ledger Cannot Find a Unit Lost Before Amazon
Amazon's Inventory Ledger page describes the report as "like a bank statement for your inventory." Its Receipts column counts "units that were received in shipments to fulfillment centers," and in the detailed view the Reference ID is a "transaction ID, such as a shipment ID or adjustment ID." Its "Warehouse transfer in/out" column is the "aggregated number of units that have been transshipped into and out of fulfillment centers": Amazon moving stock between its own buildings, not your transfer from 3PL to prep center.
A unit that never reached Amazon has no event, no Reference ID and no disposition. The Ledger can show you that Amazon received 2,376 units on a shipment where your plan said 2,400. It cannot show you whether the missing 24 were never released by the storage 3PL, lost on the transfer truck, or set aside at the prep center.
The month-end close is in Three-Way Inventory Reconciliation, and the Amazon-side paper trail in BOL, POD and the FBA Paper Trail.
The Audit: What to Ask Each Building Before the Next Transfer
If a building cannot answer, its handoff has no owner.
| Ask | Who answers | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| What liability limit per item or per pound does the storage agreement set, and when and how can we raise it in writing? | Storage 3PL | A statutory duty of care can be capped by contract (Fla. Stat. 677.204(2)) |
| What is the time limit and the method for presenting a claim? | Storage 3PL | The agreement can set it (677.204(3)), and it is not Amazon's nine months |
| Is the release a unit count, a carton count or a system quantity? | Storage 3PL | It is the first building's own record of what left |
| Does the transfer bill of lading show pallet and carton counts, and was it SLC? | Storage 3PL and carrier | SLC means the driver did not count |
| Is the move interstate, who booked the carrier, and what does that contract say about liability and claims? | Storage 3PL and carrier, with counsel | Carmack covers most interstate moves; inside one state or one city's commercial zone it may not, and then the contract and state law decide |
| How is the transfer counted at receiving, and how fast is a discrepancy reported? | Prep center | The receiving count is the last chance to place a shortage before Amazon |
| What liability and claim window does the prep center accept? | Prep center | Units at the prep center sit under its terms, not the storage agreement |
| Which count does the shipping plan use, and when is the shipment created? | Prep center or whoever creates the shipment | The plan must match what was sent, and the 45-day window starts at creation |
| Who keeps the Amazon-stamped POD or the tracking IDs, and for how long? | Prep center | They are required for a shipment claim filed up to nine months later |
Test it on one past transfer. If the release, receiving and Amazon receipt counts can sit side by side for that load, the chain works. If one is a system number nobody counted, that is the gap.
Where a Prep Center Fits
A prep center can close handoff 3 and set up handoff 4: it receives and counts the transfer, labels and bags units, packs boxes with box content, builds pallets and creates the inbound shipment. It cannot fix a short release at the storage 3PL or the terms of a storage agreement it did not sign, and it is no substitute for counsel.
If storage and prep sit in the same warehouse, handoff 2 disappears: no transfer truck, no second bill of lading. The other handoffs remain, under one set of records.
At PrepVia, that is how the 3PL and FBA prep service works: storage and Amazon prep in one warehouse with 3 dock doors, at 8507 NW 72nd St, Miami, FL 33166. What we can say about the handoffs is limited to what we publish:
- Receiving. Receiving and inspection are included. Discrepancies are reported within 24 hours of arrival, with photos.
- Expected and received. The PrepVia app shows real-time tracking of expected versus received units.
- Shipment creation. Inbound shipments are created through Amazon's SP-API: the inbound plan, placement options, box content, partnered freight booking and receiving status.
- Freight. Amazon partnered LTL and FTL, and small parcel.
- Storage. Storage is billed daily, on the space used. Pricing is quoted per account on a free 15-minute call.
- Terms. No minimums, Net-30 available, Amazon SPN Certified, prep window 24-36 hours.
Prep channels are Amazon FBA, Walmart WFS and TikTok Shop. If your storage 3PL also runs your DTC orders, that part of the flow stays where it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon reimburse units lost between my 3PL and my prep center?
Amazon's FBA inventory reimbursement policy covers items sent to FBA that are lost or damaged at a facility or by a carrier operated by Amazon or on its behalf, while the item is registered in FBA. It does not describe the leg between your storage 3PL and your prep center. A loss there is a matter for your storage agreement or your carrier contract; once the prep center signs for the load, its own terms apply.
Who is responsible for inventory while it sits in a 3PL warehouse?
Under Florida's version of UCC 7-204, a warehouse is liable for loss caused by its failure to exercise the care a reasonably careful person would exercise under similar circumstances. The storage agreement can cap that liability per item or per unit of weight and can set reasonable terms for the time and manner of claims. Other states have their own versions, so read yours with counsel.
Does the Carmack Amendment cover a transfer between two warehouses?
49 U.S.C. 14706 covers motor carrier transportation within federal jurisdiction, which 49 U.S.C. 13501 defines mainly as moves between states. A transfer from New Jersey to Florida is interstate. A transfer between two buildings in the same state, or inside one city's commercial zone, may fall outside it, and then the carrier's contract and state law decide.
Can Amazon prep my units if my storage 3PL sends them unprepped?
No. Since January 1, 2026, Amazon no longer offers prep and item labeling for FBA shipments in the US store. Shipments created after that date that arrive without proper prep and labeling are not eligible for reimbursement if damaged or untraceable.
How long do I have to file a claim for a short FBA shipment?
A shipment-to-Amazon claim is due no later than nine months after the verified delivery date, once the shipment shows as eligible for investigation. Amazon accepts one claim per shipment and asks for proof of ownership and proof of delivery. For LTL or FTL, the proof of delivery must be stamped by Amazon.
Will the Inventory Ledger show my 3PL to prep center transfer?
No. The Ledger records events in Amazon's fulfillment centers, starting with receipts. Its "Warehouse transfer in/out" column is Amazon moving units between its own fulfillment centers, not your transfer between two outside warehouses.
Final Take
A two-building flow is four handoffs where Amazon's records start only at the shipment into Amazon. Everything before it runs on your storage agreement, your carrier contract, your prep center's terms and the counts you made at each door.
The fix is one count with an owner at each handoff, a shipping plan built from the prep center's count, and contract terms read before the first transfer. Or fewer handoffs.
See how PrepVia handles 3PL and FBA prep →
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