Amazon FBA
A customs broker for Amazon FBA sellers
You are the importer of record for your FBA inventory, never Amazon. A formal entry at Borderless is a flat $149 with the ISF bundled, and $99 for a new importer's first one. You see the draft entry and confirm the duty number in the portal before anything reaches CBP.
The three questions
What FBA sellers actually ask us
Who is the importer of record?
You are. Never Amazon. Amazon's own staff guidance says it will not act as the IOR for FBA inventory at any shipment size or value, and inventory that arrives naming Amazon gets rejected. That means your company holds the importer number, the bond, and the liability, and it signs the power of attorney directly with the broker who files.
What does an entry cost?
A formal entry is a flat $149 with no monthly fee, ISF bundled, up to 5 HTS lines and one partner-agency filing included. Your first formal entry as a new importer is $99. Duties and government fees pass through at cost with no disbursement percentage on top. A 12-month agreement takes every entry to $79 with no monthly fee.
What happens before anything is filed?
You upload the commercial invoice and packing list in the portal. We build a draft entry from them, with a classification proposed for every line. You review it, ask questions in the same thread, and confirm the duty number. Nothing goes to CBP until you have seen the draft and the duty total.
Importer of record
Amazon says the same thing we do
Amazon staff, posting on Amazon's own seller forums:"Amazon will not act as the IOR for your FBA inventory, regardless of the shipment size or value."The same post tells sellers to engage a licensed customs broker directly. There is no arrangement, plan tier, or freight service that changes this. Your company is the importer, and the entry is filed in your name.
That has a practical consequence worth saying out loud. If your supplier quoted DDP, someone is acting as importer of record on your goods and it may not be you. Ask who is named on the entry. If a China-side forwarder put a power of attorney in front of you for a broker you have never spoken to, that is the arrangement CBP has been tightening around. A broker has to execute the power of attorney directly with the importer of record rather than through a forwarder (19 CFR 111.36(c)(3)).
The rest of the picture, including the September 18 importer-number accuracy check and the four things FBA sellers commonly believe that are not true, is in ourAmazon FBA import guide.
Pricing
What a formal entry costs
| Rate | Per entry | Monthly | Built in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay as you go | $149 | $0 | ISF, 5 HTS lines, 1 partner agency, no disbursement fee |
| 12-month agreement, under 80 a month | $79 | $0 | 5 HTS lines; ISF $20 when we file it, partner agencies $35; bond $500 a year |
| From 80 a month | $55 | $0 | $45 from 250 a month. Set from the volume you expect and checked each quarter; bond included |
| 500 and up, quoted | from $39 | quoted | Quoted to your book on committed volume |
A new importer's first formal entry is $99 all-in. Extra partner-agency filings beyond the included count are $35 each. Duties, the merchandise processing fee and the harbor maintenance fee are set by CBP and pass through at cost, and we never take a percentage of your duty bill for advancing it. Pay CBP directly by ACH, which we set up free, prepay by wire, or let us pay it on net terms and bill you at cost. The rate is $79 an entry from your first one on a 12-month agreement. Brokerage fees are on net terms on approval. New accounts are billed twice a month for the first three months, then monthly.
The portal
Nothing gets filed until you have seen it
Sellers who have imported before usually describe the same experience: documents go into an email thread, and the next thing they hear is an invoice. That is the part we replaced. Your Borderless account holds the whole file.
- 1. Upload. Commercial invoice, packing list, and anything the product needs (test reports, certificates, supplier declarations). They stay attached to the shipment.
- 2. Draft entry. We read the documents and build the entry. Every line gets a proposed HTS classification, and AI-assisted classification is checked by a licensed broker before anything is filed.
- 3. Review. You see the classification line by line and the duty each line carries. Message us in the same place if a line looks wrong. Disagreements get settled before the entry exists, not after.
- 4. Confirm the duty, then we file. You confirm the duty total, and only then does the entry go to CBP. Status, invoices and monthly statements stay in the portal afterwards.
Before you ship
What you need on hand
An EIN and a clean CBP Form 5106 record
Your importer record has to carry your own physical address, email and phone, not a forwarder's or an agent's. CBP begins voiding inaccurate importer numbers on September 18, 2026.
A bond decision
Single-entry or continuous. Continuous covers a year of shipments and is included for your own entity from 80 entries a month. Bring your duty exposure to that conversation, because CBP sizes bonds against it.
The commercial invoice from your supplier
Seller, buyer, terms of sale, currency, unit price, quantity, and country of origin. This is the document the entry is built from, so a vague one costs you time.
A packing list
Cartons, weights, and what is in each. It is also what your prep center and Amazon will reconcile against.
HTS candidates for each SKU
You do not have to arrive with the right code. Bring a description, the material breakdown and the intended use, and run the product through the free tariff simulator first if you want a number before you buy.
CPSC certificate data where the product is regulated
For regulated finished consumer products, the certificate data elements are filed with CBP at entry, not held on file. Have the testing lab report and the certifier details ready.
FDA or other partner-agency data where it applies
Food-contact goods, cosmetics, lasers and radiation-emitting products each carry their own filing. One agency filing is included on pay as you go; on the agreement each is $35.
Not sure what a product will cost to land? Run it through the freetariff simulatoror look the code up in theHTS duty-rate reference.
By category
Where the compliance work usually lands
Most FBA catalogs sit in a handful of categories, and each one drags a different agency into the entry. This is the short version of what to expect. It is not a substitute for looking at your specific product, which is what we do during onboarding.
| What you sell | Agency on the entry | What it means at filing |
|---|---|---|
| Toys and children's products | CPSC | A Children's Product Certificate backed by third-party testing, and since July 8, 2026 the certificate data goes to CBP electronically with the entry. |
| Juvenile products (strollers, cribs, high chairs) | CPSC | Same eFiling requirement, plus the specific durable-goods safety standard for the item. These are the categories CBP looks at hardest. |
| Kitchen electrics and small appliances | CPSC, FCC | Anything that emits radio frequency energy needs a valid FCC equipment authorization before it can be marketed (47 CFR 2.803). UL and ETL listing come from retailers and insurers rather than from CBP. |
| Food-contact goods (drinkware, utensils, storage) | FDA | Materials that touch food without having a technical effect in it are food contact substances under 21 U.S.C. 348(h)(6) and are regulated as food additives, so FDA data typically rides with the entry. |
| Apparel and textiles | CPSC, FTC | Clothing textiles fall under the flammability standard at 16 CFR part 1610, and the label has to carry fiber content, the producer's name or registered number, and the country of manufacture (16 CFR 303.16). |
The CPSC change is the one that caught sellers off guard this year. Certificate data for regulated finished consumer products has been filed electronically with CBP at entry since July 8, 2026, under the Certificates of Compliance rule at 90 FR 1800. OurCPSC eFiling guide walks through what the filing contains and how to get the data from your testing lab.
Two rule changes
Why every shipment needs an entry now
The $800 de minimis exemption that used to let small parcels arrive duty-free with no entry at all is suspended across every mode. Low-value shipments now need a real entry at ordinary HTS rates. There is a sharper edge regardless of origin: informal entry is generally available up to $2,500, but for goods carrying Chapter 99, Subchapter III and IV provisions, where Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs live, the informal ceiling drops to $250 (19 CFR 143.21). Most Chinese-origin FBA freight is over that line, so formal entry with a bond arrives far earlier than sellers plan for. Consolidating into fewer, larger entries usually beats a stream of small ones. The detail is in ourlow-value shipment guide.
If any part of your inventory still moves by post, October 22, 2026 is the date to watch. From that day, mail shipments subject to partner-agency requirements, Chapter 98 or 99 duties, or a free-trade-agreement claim have to move from the postal informal process to formal entry. That is a licensed-broker job. If you have been running samples or replenishment parcels through the mail, plan the switch now rather than after a shipment sits.
Foreign sellers
Foreign importers are reviewed in the order applications arrive
This page is written for sellers importing under a U.S. company: a U.S. entity, its own EIN, its own bond, and its own accurate importer record at CBP.
If you are a foreign seller, talk to us before you ship rather than after. With the new procedural requirements for importers of record, Borderless reviews each foreign importer of record in the order applications arrive. We will look at your structure and tell you honestly whether we can file for you. No promises before that conversation.
Questions
FBA sellers ask us
Is Amazon the importer of record for my FBA shipment?
No. Amazon staff say it plainly on Amazon's own seller forums: Amazon will not act as the IOR for your FBA inventory, regardless of the shipment size or value. You import under your own company, with your own importer number, your own bond, and a power of attorney you sign directly with a licensed broker. Shipments that arrive naming Amazon as importer get rejected.
What does a formal entry cost for an FBA seller?
A flat $149 per entry with no monthly fee, and that price includes the ISF, up to 5 HTS lines, and one partner-agency filing. A new importer's first formal entry is $99 all-in. There is no duty-disbursement fee, so you pay CBP directly for duties at cost. Sign a 12-month agreement and every entry is $79 with no monthly fee, with ISF at $20 when we file it.
Do I need a customs bond to send inventory to FBA?
Yes, for any formal entry. The choice is between a single-entry bond that covers one shipment and a continuous bond that covers a year of them. Continuous almost always wins once you are shipping regularly, and on a 12-month agreement it is included for your own importing entity from 80 entries a month. We size the decision against your actual duty exposure during onboarding.
I sell toys. What changed on July 8, 2026?
CPSC's Certificates of Compliance rule (90 FR 1800) took effect that day. Certificate data for regulated finished consumer products now has to be filed electronically with CBP as part of the entry, rather than kept on a PDF you produce on request. Having a valid Children's Product Certificate is no longer enough on its own; the data elements have to reach CBP when the entry is filed. We file them with your entry.
Can I still bring small parcels in duty-free under $800?
No. The $800 commercial de minimis exemption is suspended across every mode of transport, so low-value shipments now need a real entry at ordinary HTS duty rates. There is a second trap regardless of origin: the informal entry ceiling drops from $2,500 to $250 for goods carrying Chapter 99, Subchapter III and IV provisions, which is where Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs live (19 CFR 143.21). Formal entry arrives much sooner than most sellers expect.
Sources
- Amazon Seller Central Forums, staff post "Importing 101 for FBA Sellers":Amazon will not act as the IOR for FBA inventory.
- CPSC, "Certificates of Compliance," final rule, 90 FR 1800 (January 8, 2025), effective July 8, 2026:Federal Register.
- CBP, international mail shipments interim final rule, FR Doc. 2026-12669 (June 24, 2026). Compliance date for 19 CFR 145.12(a)(2)(v) and (vi) is October 22, 2026:govinfo.
- 19 CFR 143.21(informal entry limits),19 CFR 111.36(power of attorney direct with the importer),47 CFR 2.803(FCC equipment authorization),16 CFR part 1610(clothing textile flammability),16 CFR 303.16(textile labeling),21 U.S.C. 348(h)(6)(food contact substances).
Written by Borderless CHB. A licensed customs broker (CBP filer code NQR) confirms classification before any entry is filed. Verified. Rates and rules change, and nothing here is legal advice for a specific business. See also our page fore-commerce importersand forfreight forwarders.
Ready for your first entry?
Set up your importer record, your bond, and a power of attorney signed directly with the broker who files. Your first formal entry is $99.