Pallets versus Cartons

You can request any hub to prepare a pallet of your products to be sent LTL into Amazon or withdrawn to another location.


Pallet preparation has a few stages:

1. Estimate the pallet configuration (size, weight, SKU’s and cartons), making sure to comply with any requirements for the receiver and/or the carrier (i.e. Amazon has very strict requirements about the condition &grade of the physical pallet, and international shipments require a heat treated pallet). Amazon and carriers vary in their weight and height limitations. So, all of this information has to be gathered from you before the pallet configuration can be determined.

2. Prepare the pallet - this process requires first and foremost any carton labels that must be applied before the pallet can be built. It is not possible to build the pallet before the carton labels are available. The warehouse requires 72 business hours after carton labels are received and accepted in order to then gather the materials, build, and wrap the pallets.

3. Receive the pallet labels (if any) and the Bill of Lading (BOL). Amazon requires the pallets to also have labels applied, as well as most carriers. The BOL is a mandatory requirement and must be forwarded to support@enzone.com the moment you receive it from your carrier. BOL’s are typically produced the day before or the day of the scheduled pick up, so this step is critical. No carrier will pick up a shipment without a BOL, and no warehouse will release a shipment without a BOL. The truck will be turned away if it arrives before the hub has the BOL. It’s a good practice to also cc the EnZone hub with the BOL since the timing is so critical, please request this information from support at the time you are making your pallet request.

The current pricing for pallet preparation can be found in the Pricing Guide. The pricing includes the pallet, shrink-wrap, labels, and labor associated with building each pallet.

Amazon has begun to limit the inward stock quantities, however, it still might be cost effective for a product with high sales velocity to send pallets instead of individual cartons. Below, you will find a document outlining how to compare the price of shipping a pallet to Amazon versus Cartons.

If you determine that a pallet is the best option, follow the Amazon Replenishment Pallet process:
- Member creates an inward (replenishment) order with Amazon selecting LTL and obtains the carton labels
- Member requests pallets via email to support, uploads the FBA carton labels from the inward shipment and provides warehouse a list of SKUs and cartons that will be on the pallet
- EnZone support creates a ticket request for the warehouse to build the pallet
- The warehouse works the project, prepping a pallet takes 2-3 business days to complete
- EnZone support notifies Member of project completion and pallet details

- EnZone Billing team issue your pallet prep invoice, this is required to be reconciled before dispatch.
- Member schedules pallet pick up for no less than 72 business hours in the future and sends the BOL (provided by Amazon) to support@enzone.com and cc’s the hub

You can also have pallets prepared to ship to destinations other than Amazon. In this case, it would be considered a Withdrawal Order.