AWD is cheaper for some products and more expensive for others, and you cannot tell which from the fee schedule alone. The comparison needs real shipping quotes on both routes.
It takes an afternoon per product group, and it settles a decision worth thousands a year.
Prefer to watch? One hundred and twenty-three seconds on the five-step comparison, why units per case can decide it alone, and why the invoices are worth reconciling.
The five steps
1. Get your real product data
Dimensions and weight, from Manage All Inventory. Use Amazon's recorded figures, not your own measurements — Amazon charges on what it recorded, and the two are not always the same.
If those figures look wrong, that is a separate saving worth claiming — see Reducing FBA and Referral Fees.
2. Price the direct-to-FBA route
Create a dummy shipment into FBA, choose the cheapest option, and take the fulfilment centre address to your freight agent for a quote.
A dummy shipment is the only way to get the real destination, because Amazon assigns the centre and that assignment drives the freight cost.
3. Price the AWD route
Create a dummy shipment into AWD, same unit count, and get that shipping cost.
Get both quotes for the same volume. Different unit counts produce different rates, and comparing across them is the most common way this exercise goes wrong.
4. Put both into the comparison
You are comparing total landed cost into FBA, both routes, including:
Freight to the destination. Inbound processing (AWD only). Storage for the period you expect to hold. Outbound processing and transportation into FBA (AWD only). Placement fees you would pay going direct.
Use the rate tier you will actually qualify for — standard, Integrated, or Managed. See AWD Rate Tiers and Eligibility.
5. Decide per product group
The answer varies by product, so do not generalise from one. Small, dense, fast-moving products behave very differently from large, slow ones.
The lever most people miss: units per case
Savings rise substantially with how many units you fit in a case, because inbound and outbound processing are charged per case, not per unit.
Twice the units per case means half the processing cost per unit.
So work out the maximum that will physically fit, then have that conversation with your supplier:
1. Ask whether the carton size can change at all. Often it can; nobody has ever asked.
2. If yes, ask how many units fit in the largest workable carton.
3. Push toward the theoretical maximum, not just an improvement.
4. Then compare old units-per-box against new and price the difference.
This frequently changes the decision on its own. A product that is marginal on AWD at 24 units per case can be clearly cheaper at 48 — without renegotiating a single rate.
And it helps on the direct route too, since better-packed cartons reduce freight cost per unit regardless of where they go.
What tips the answer toward AWD
You currently use a 3PL, so AWD collapses storage and the transfer leg into one cost.
You pay placement fees regularly.
You can hit the Managed or Integrated rate.
Your product packs densely into large cartons.
You hold several months of cover, so storage efficiency matters.
What tips it against
You ship direct to FBA already and rarely pay placement fees.
Your product is bulky or light, so cases hold few units and processing dominates.
You hold little stock, so storage savings are small.
You cannot use Amazon's carriers, closing off both discount tiers.
Your product is not eligible — and since 31 July 2026 that excludes anything non-sortable.
Then keep checking the bills
AWD is a newer service and the fee reconciliation is worth doing rather than assuming.
Amazon provides reports covering inventory and fees charged. Reconcile them — check the cases you sent against the cases processed, and the storage charged against the volume you actually occupied.
Discrepancies happen, and they are claimable. This is the same discipline as reconciling inbound FBA shipments — see Reimbursements, COGS and FBA Capacity.
Common mistakes
Comparing fee schedules instead of getting real freight quotes.
Quoting different unit volumes on the two routes.
Using list rates when you would qualify for a discount tier.
Ignoring units per case, which is often the largest single lever.
Deciding once for the whole catalogue rather than per product group.
Never reconciling the invoices.
Related
- What AWD Is and When It Saves Money — the fees involved.
- AWD Rate Tiers and Eligibility — the rate to run the numbers at.
- Negotiating Lower COGS — the same supplier conversation, wider scope.