[mountainb]

What people kind of miss is that outside of FBA it's the actual logistics companies that are handling the logistics for all merchant fulfilled Amazon sales. The normal logistics companies are also handling a ton of the work involved with getting goods to FBA. There are lots of 3PL solutions that can deliver FBA style performance at a lower cost to the seller. There are other advantages to not using Amazon as a seller or just using Amazon as one additional channel among multiple ones.

[dv_dt]

I've seen at least one other comment saying this, and not that I don't believe you, but can you name several companies that do that and come within say 150% of Amazon? Last time I really dug into this was years ago and nothing was really close then, maybe it's better now?

My other question to comments : > What are the Amazon level logistics and delivery service that is available to a smaller retailer? I see some nascent choices but they really aren’t that close.

[awillen]

I've priced out several and all are within 150%. Shipbob is the closest at 10-20% more expensive than FBA, but depending on your product it may actually be more cost effective. I need them to pick and pack several items, since I sell my stuff individually as well as in kits (boxes of multiple items, which are vastly more popular than people buying individual items), and they include most of the cost of building out those kits in their shipping fees.