Vendors can earn increasingly greater incentives by: 1) preparing their product to ship without additional packaging by passing ISTA 6A testing and receiving a Ship in Own Container (SIOC) certification, 2) reengineering their packaging to reduce the overall volume, and 3) achieving FFP certification by ensuring their packaging is fully recyclable and easy to open.
Vendors will receive financial incentives per certified unit shipped between October 1, 2021, and December 31, 2023 for one year following enrollment. The incentive per unit is the cumulative sum of three components of the program: 1) SIOC certification incentive, 2) cube (box volume) reduction incentive, and 3) the FFP incremental incentive, if applicable. This incentive program is currently only applicable for items packed in rigid packaging (e.g. 6-sided carton boxes). Items packed in flexible packaging (e.g. paper mailers, carton envelopes, bags) are not eligible for incentives at this time. Amazon reserves the right to modify the program at any time.
As you design your packaging, keep in mind it will have to meet the requirements of the certification you choose, either Tier 1 FFP or Tier 2 SIOC. Learn more about certification requirements. For help with designing for certification, find a packaging design agency in the Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier (APASS) network.
Finally, enter your certification status (FFP or SIOC) and dimensions into the calculator below. Further, if the item is currently incurring prep charges or a chargeback from the Non-Sortable program for not being SIOC or FFP certified, enter these charges as well. Then add the annual sales volume of the product (and any family of similar products that you would certify with it). The output will calculate an estimated incentive amount (assuming 12 months) you would be eligible to receive following certification within the incentive payment timeline. Please note, the window for vendor incentive payments is between October 1, 2021 and December 31, 2023 and incentive payments are only for one year. The calculator below illustrates SIOC or FFP conversions for previously non-certified products. Values below are for reference only; actual values may vary.
Without primary packaging, this plush toy previously had a volume of 374 cubic inches. With some minor compression in an appropriately sized box, the vendor was able to certify it as FFP and reduce over half of the original volume. These packaging changes resulted in the following vendor savings: FFP incentive ($0.162) + cube reduction incentive ($0.227) = $0.389 per unit received for one year. The ASIN ships 100,000 units in the next 12 months, so the vendor earns a $38,860 incentive.
Applying this certification across 10 similar ASINs in the vendor’s portfolio netted over $350,000 USD in year one.
This broom required packaging that was at least 60 inches long (classified as Non-Sortable because at least one dimension exceeded 18’’ x 14’’ x 8’’). By making the handle collapsible, the vendor was able to fit the broom into a box one-third of the previous size and also made it easier for the customer to store. With an FFP certification, this packaging redesign resulted in the following vendor savings: FFP incentive ($1.090) + cube reduction incentive ($1.152) + chargebacks avoided ($1.99) = $4.232 per unit received for one year. The ASIN ships 100,000 units in the next 12 months, so the vendor earns $423,200 incentive.
Applying this certification across 10 similar ASINs in the vendor’s portfolio netted over $4,000,000 USD in year one.
The retail packaging for these screwdrivers spread them out to advertise their features for retail display. By simply condensing them together in an appropriately sized box, this vendor eliminated over half the volume. With an FFP certification, these packaging changes resulted in the following vendor savings: FFP incentive ($0.162) + cube reduction incentive ($0.179) = $0.341 per unit received for one year. The ASIN ships 100,000 units in the next 12 months, so the vendor earns a $34,075 incentive.
Applying this certification across 10 similar ASINs in the vendor’s portfolio netted over $300,000 USD in year one.
