By Bernardo Campelo, Forbes Business Council E-Commerce Leader, Amazon SPN Certified provider, Amazon SP-API authorized partner, and Founder of PrepVia.
A head of operations opens last year's 3PL RFP, adds a sixth column to the pricing grid, and types one word at the top: Amazon. Since May 4, 2026, that column is open to any business, not only Amazon sellers: Amazon now sells its freight, storage, fulfillment and parcel network to all.
Then she tries to fill it in, and the grid stops working. Amazon's freight and parcel services have no public rate card. Many of the published lines are priced per box, per cubic foot and per pound, while the 3PL bids arrive per unit, per pallet and per order. And the row for prepping and labeling units has nothing to put in it at all.
I run a prep center in Miami, and I would rather see Amazon inside a well-built RFP than outside a badly built one. The thesis is short. Amazon Supply Chain Services belongs in your RFP as a bidder on the lots it actually runs. You price it against the same reference month as everyone else, and you fill the missing lines before anyone compares totals.
The 60-second version
Put Amazon Supply Chain Services in your RFP by lot, not as one more vendor column. Amazon opened ASCS to any business on May 4, 2026. Its pricing page is a contact form, so you get an Amazon number for freight and parcel only by requesting a written quote. On October 1, 2026, the ASCS site listed freight, storage, fulfillment and parcel, but not unit prep or labeling. Amazon itself stopped prepping US FBA units on January 1, 2026. Normalize six cost lines, send every bidder the same reference month, and fill the prep line wherever a bid leaves it blank.
What Amazon Actually Put on the Table
Per Amazon's launch release of May 4, 2026, ASCS extends its freight, distribution, fulfillment and parcel portfolio to businesses of all types and sizes. You no longer need to sell on Amazon: the release says "regardless of where they sell." Peter Larsen, vice president of Amazon Supply Chain Services, compared the move to what Amazon Web Services did for cloud computing.
The release names four early customers. Procter & Gamble uses Amazon freight for raw materials and finished goods, and 3M uses it from manufacturing sites to distribution centers. Lands' End fulfills several sales channels from one inventory pool, and American Eagle Outfitters uses the parcel network for online orders. Read that as scope, not scale. The release gives neither their volumes nor their terms.
On June 10, 2026, Amazon expanded its less-than-truckload service beyond inbound-to-Amazon freight to any destination, including third-party warehouses, distribution centers and retail partners. Typical loads run one to six pallets, or 150 to 15,000 pounds. You get next-day live pickup for orders placed by 5 p.m., a drop trailer option, GPS tracking and EDI integration.
Now open the ASCS pricing page. On October 1, 2026, it carried no rate table: it says you pay only for what you use and ends in a sales contact form. Three pieces publish tables in Seller Central: Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD), Multi-Channel Distribution (MCD) and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). For freight, parcel and everything else, the Amazon bid does not exist until you ask for it in writing.
You may have read that ASCS is becoming the "reference bid" in 3PL procurement. That phrase traces to a September 8, 2026 piece from the MarketScale Newsroom suggesting ASCS could become the reference bid in specific lanes and service levels. That is one outlet's reading, not a survey of buyers. My recommendation is narrower: treat Amazon as a bidder, lot by lot, pricing the same work as everyone else.
Where Amazon Supply Chain Services Wins
Be fair to this bidder. On several lots it is hard to beat.
- Owned assets. The launch release cites more than 80,000 trailers, 24,000 intermodal containers and 100 aircraft, a fleet Amazon's launch blog calls owned. Ask every bidder, Amazon included, whose trucks and drivers sit behind the freight quote.
- LTL to any destination. Since June 10, 2026, pallets can move between your own facilities or to a retail partner, with automated appointment scheduling and electronic proof of delivery.
- Prime on your own site. On September 24, 2026, Amazon announced that MCF merchants can add Prime delivery to their own websites at no cost beyond standard MCF fees. It also launched the MCF Preferred Pricing Program for FBA sellers: savings of 15 to 25 percent on fulfillment fees for the first six months, from an MCF discount plus FBA credits.
- Published delivery speeds. The MCF page lists Standard delivery in 3 business days and Expedited in 2.
- Retail purchase orders from bulk. Through MCD, AWD can fill your purchase orders for retailers such as Target, Chewy, Home Depot and the TJX brands. It handles retailer-provided GS1-128 labels, EDI 940, 945 and 997 for participating retailers, and bring-your-own-carrier. Amazon says to confirm your retailer with your Account Manager.
- No all-or-nothing contract. Amazon's launch blog says ASCS does not mean long-term contracts or all-or-nothing commitments: a business can adopt one, some or all of the services.
Outside voices are more measured. Derek Lossing of Cirrus Global Advisors, a former Amazon logistics leader, said in a May 7, 2026 Supply Chain Dive article that no single component is transformational alone. The value, he said, is in the bundle. In the same piece, LTL consultant Scooter Sayers said Amazon could not yet match FedEx Freight or Old Dominion in LTL. That was before the June expansion. Weigh both as dated opinions.
Say your inventory arrives FBA-ready, and your problem is parcel speed on your own site, long-dwell bulk storage, or retail orders from one pool. Amazon may be the right answer for that lot. No prep center should tell you otherwise, including this one.
Scope the RFP by Lot, Not by Vendor
A single-column RFP forces every bidder to price everything, and a bidder that does not run a step prices it at zero or leaves it blank. Break the work into lots, invite each bidder to the lots it runs, and compare combinations instead of vendors.
| Lot | What ASCS lists (site read October 1, 2026) | What every bidder must state in writing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Inbound freight to the first node | Ground freight (truckload, LTL, intermodal), air, and China-to-US cross-border with customs clearance | Origin, mode, transit days, who books the appointment |
| 2. Receiving and verification | Verification not listed; AWD bills inbound processing per box | Count method (carton or unit), photo evidence, discrepancy report timing |
| 3. Unit services: FNSKU, polybag, bundle, kit, relabel | Not listed; US FBA prep ended January 1, 2026, and MCD offers no unit-level services | Price per unit per service; who fixes a noncompliant unit |
| 4. Reserve storage | AWD, sortable items only since July 31, 2026 | Billing unit and method, dwell, where oversize units go |
| 5. Replenishment to FBA | AWD replenishment into FBA | Handling and freight basis; who creates the shipment |
| 6. Off-Amazon outbound | MCF, Prime delivery, MCD from AWD, parcel | Per-order or per-pound basis, surcharges, peak rates, delivery promise |
Stare at row 3. Amazon's FBA Prep Service page says that since January 1, 2026, Amazon no longer offers prep and item labeling for US FBA shipments. That includes inventory from AWD, AGL, SEND and Supply Chain Portal when it goes through FBA. Later shipments that arrive without proper prep are not eligible for reimbursement if damaged or untraceable. The MCD help page adds that MCD offers no unit-level services such as labeling, relabeling, kitting or bundling. It tells you to relabel before AWD, or to ship out through MCD to a 3PL that offers them. I am not saying Amazon cannot do unit work. It is not on the menu Amazon published, so your RFP has to ask. The background is in FBA prep services ending in 2026.
For the record, PrepVia would bid on lots 2, 3, 4 and 5 from our Miami warehouse. We would not bid on lot 1, because we are not a freight forwarder. On lot 6 we would quote only what our published scope covers, and state in writing that EDI and ASN transactions to retailers are not offered. A bidder who names what it will not run is easier to compare than one who says yes to everything.
24 to 36h prep. 35-hour end-to-end guarantee or the prep is free. Net-30 terms. From 50 units to full truckloads.
The Normalization Sheet: Six Lines, One Unit Each
Every price has to land in the same unit. Here is the sheet I would attach to the RFP, with the Amazon column filled from the AWD fee table effective January 15, 2026.
| Cost line | Amazon's published basis | Common 3PL basis | Normalize to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | AWD inbound processing, $1.40 per box outside the West Coast Palletizable region | Per container, per pallet, per carton or per unit | Per unit received |
| Unit prep and labeling | No line: not listed on the ASCS site | Per unit, per service | Per unit, added to every bid that lacks it |
| Storage | AWD base rate, $0.48 (East Coast, South East, South Central) to $0.57 (West Coast) per cubic foot per month | Per pallet per month, or per cubic foot per month or per day | Per unit per 30 days, at your cube and dwell |
| Outbound handling | AWD outbound processing, $1.40 per box | Per carton, per pallet or per order | Per unit shipped |
| Freight into FBA | AWD transportation, $1.40 per cubic foot | Partnered carrier, where Amazon's terms make you the shipper of record with the risk of loss, or the 3PL's own freight | Per unit delivered to FBA |
| Off-Amazon outbound | MCF rate card fees plus a 3.5% surcharge; MCD per-pound freight by distance plus AWD storage and processing | Pick fee per order plus packaging and postage | Per order delivered, by channel |
Amazon's AWD fee definitions explain the mechanics: storage is billed on the average volume used over the month, processing per box at inbound and again at outbound, and transportation per cubic foot delivered. So run one illustrative carton through the Amazon side: 24 sortable units, 18 by 14 by 12 inches, or 1.75 cubic feet, stored two months in an East Coast AWD region at the base rate, then replenished to FBA:
- Inbound processing: $1.40
- Storage: 1.75 cubic feet x $0.48 x 2 months = $1.68
- Outbound processing: $1.40
- Transportation into FBA: 1.75 cubic feet x $1.40 = $2.45
- Total: $6.93 per carton, or about $0.29 per unit, before any prep (the MCD page says there are no unit-level services at AWD)
At 84 cents per carton per month, AWD storage is low, and for inventory that sits for months it is the number to answer. But about three quarters of this carton's cost is handling and transport, so a short dwell does not make AWD proportionally cheaper.
Then run the same carton through each 3PL quote: receiving divided by 24, storage converted to cubic feet and 60 days, outbound handling, and freight into FBA on the bidder's proposed path. We quote container unloading from $400 per palletized container, with floor-loaded containers quoted by carton count, and either number needs the same division before it sits next to a per-box fee.
Treat FBA inbound placement as its own line. The placement fee page says AWD pricing covers FBA inbound placement, so the AWD path pays no separate fee. A standard-size shipment sent direct to FBA pays it per unit unless it qualifies for Amazon-optimized splits, which need at least five identical cartons or pallets per item. The AWD fee table adds a second credit: SKUs auto-replenished at least 70 percent through AWD over 90 days skip the FBA low-inventory-level fee, the storage utilization surcharge and the 181 to 365 day aged inventory surcharge.
Where the Comparison Lies
A normalized sheet still misleads when the lines describe different work. Five places where it happens:
The prep line one bid leaves blank
A bid with no prep line looks cheaper by exactly the cost of prep. Whatever that costs from any vendor (our FNSKU labeling starts at $0.40 per unit), it belongs in the Amazon column too, with the freight to wherever the prep happens. For a new supplier, the line also covers inspection. Inspection is cheapest before inventory enters AWD, where, by Amazon's own MCD guidance, fixing a unit means shipping it out to a 3PL.
Receiving is not one service
AWD bills inbound processing per box. A 3PL may bill per pallet or container and count cartons, or per unit and count units: different services at different prices, as we explain in real counts versus said-to-contain receiving. Make every bidder state its count method, damage photos and discrepancy timing, and ask Amazon the same in writing. Its MCD page routes missing units on an MCD shipment to a Seller Central support case.
A storage bid that covers half the catalog
Since July 31, 2026, AWD accepts only sortable items, smaller than 18 by 14 by 8 inches and under 20 pounds; larger items go straight to the fulfillment network. If part of your catalog is oversize, the AWD storage number covers only the rest, as the AWD size limit post details. Billing method matters as much as rate: a day-one peak, a monthly snapshot and a true daily average price the same pallet differently.
Outbound to other channels runs on different clocks
MCF promises Standard delivery in 3 business days and ships in unbranded packaging by default. Since May 2, 2026, a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge applies to US MCF fulfillment fees. Holiday peak fees run from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, with the surcharge on top, per the 2026 US FBA fulfillment fee changes page. MCD runs on a different clock: an average of 14 days from an AWD center to the destination, no cancellation or re-addressing after submission, and commercial addresses in the contiguous 48 states only.
The MCD transportation fee, effective January 15, 2026, runs from $0.50 to $1.26 per pound for boxes and from $0.11 to $0.42 per pound for pallets, by distance, on the greater of actual or dimensional weight. MCD orders also pay AWD storage and processing. Compare a 3PL's retail outbound quote against the per-pound rate alone and you have dropped two of three lines.
One vendor, one queue
Single-vendor dependency is not an argument against Amazon. It is a line to price. Supply Chain Dive reported in May 2026 that experts found it unclear how Amazon will allocate capacity between marketplace inventory and logistics-only customers. An Amazon spokesperson told the outlet that the company ensures all customers have options to maintain healthy stock levels. The spokesperson also said Amazon prohibits using ASCS customers' sales data for sourcing, inventory level or pricing decisions in its own store. Ask for both in your contract, not in a press quote.
Then price the exit. One published route from AWD to your own or a third-party warehouse is MCD, at MCD rates, on an average 14-day clock. Put that next to every other bidder's offboarding terms, using exit terms before you sign.
The Reference Month: A Protocol You Can Send Tomorrow
Our 3PL RFP template for Amazon sellers covers the questions. This protocol covers what makes an Amazon bid comparable: the workload.
- Write one reference month from your own data. Containers or pallets in, cartons, units per carton, carton dimensions, SKUs, oversize share, dwell days, and units by channel. Illustrative only: two 40-foot containers, 3,000 cartons of 24 units, 40 SKUs, 10 percent oversize, 45 days of dwell, 70 percent to FBA, 20 percent to your own site and 10 percent to two retail purchase orders.
- Write a peak version. Holiday peak fees apply from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, so a November month at September rates is fiction.
- Assign lots. Invite Amazon to the lots on its published menu and each 3PL to the lots it runs. Ask Amazon in writing whether it can quote receiving verification and unit services, and where.
- Request the Amazon quote through the pricing page contact form, and price the AWD, MCD and MCF lines from the Seller Central tables, dated the day you read them.
- Require every price in the normalized unit, with the conversion shown. A price you convert yourself is a price you will convert wrong.
- Require a written exclusion list. A blank line is not zero: fill it with the lowest real quote for that line.
- Compare combinations. Amazon on lots 4 to 6 plus a prep center on lots 2 and 3, against one 3PL on lots 2 to 6, and any other mix. The metric is cost per unit delivered to each channel.
- Score the non-price lines on the same sheet: peak capacity in writing, discrepancy process, data-use language and exit cost.
- Pilot the winner before you move the catalog, with the method in our test shipment guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon Supply Chain Services publish prices I can drop into my RFP?
Only in part. On October 1, 2026, the ASCS pricing page showed no rate table and led to a sales contact form. AWD, MCD and MCF publish fee tables in Seller Central, so price those lines from the tables and request a written quote for the rest.
Do I need to sell on Amazon to use Amazon Supply Chain Services?
No. Amazon's May 4, 2026 launch release says ASCS serves businesses regardless of where they sell. Some offers are narrower: the MCF Preferred Pricing Program announced September 24, 2026 is for FBA sellers, so check eligibility before modeling a discount.
Will Amazon prep and label my units if I use its storage and fulfillment?
Do not assume it. On October 1, 2026, the ASCS site did not list unit prep or labeling. Amazon stopped offering prep and item labeling for US FBA shipments on January 1, 2026, and the MCD page says AWD offers no unit-level services. Ask Amazon in writing and price the prep line separately meanwhile.
Can Amazon's LTL deliver to my 3PL or to a retailer?
Yes. Since June 10, 2026, Amazon's less-than-truckload service ships to any type of destination, including third-party warehouses and retail partners, typically one to six pallets or 150 to 15,000 pounds.
What surcharges should I load into the MCF line for the fourth quarter?
Two. A 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge has applied to US MCF fulfillment fees since May 2, 2026. Holiday peak fees apply from October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, with the surcharge on top. Price a peak version of your reference month so the MCF line captures both.
Where does a prep center fit if Amazon wins my storage and fulfillment lots?
Upstream. Someone still has to receive, count, photograph, prep and label the units before they enter AWD or FBA, because Amazon no longer preps US FBA units. PrepVia does that work in Miami and ships to Amazon. On the off-Amazon lot it would quote only what its published scope covers, and it does not offer EDI or ASN transactions to retailers.
Final Take
Amazon opening its logistics network to any business is good news for buyers. A credible bidder with owned trailers, published fulfillment speeds and Prime delivery on your own site makes everyone else sharpen the pencil. On long-dwell storage, parcel speed and retail purchase orders from one pool, it may simply win.
But a bidder only disciplines the market if its number is comparable. Put an unnormalized Amazon bid next to a full-scope 3PL bid, and the cheapest column will be the one with the most blanks. Do not be surprised if the winner is a combination rather than a single vendor.
So split the work into lots, write a reference month and a peak month, normalize six lines, fill the blanks, compare combinations, and pilot. That RFP will tell you exactly where Amazon wins, and exactly where it does not.
See how PrepVia handles receiving, prep and FBA replenishment in Miami →
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