Deliverr vs Amazon FBA – Everything You Need to Know!

A Comparative Analysis of Deliverr and Amazon FBA – Which is Better and Why?

So, what's better for your eCommerce business: Deliverr or Amazon FBA? Hang tight and read on!!! 😉

Hi, this is Vova Even, a veteran Amazon FBA seller working in the field since 2016.

It's been many years now, and over time I've learned a lot of trade secrets and handy tips on making sales on Amazon.

Now, I want to share them with you all! You can catch me on my YouTube channel as well as my blog.

Or, if you are interested in taking courses, I have plenty on Udemy.

In this article, I will do a comparative analysis of Deliverr vs Amazon FBA.

I have been receiving the request for many days. So, finally, here is a chance for you to know everything about the two companies.

A video for this article is also available below. My guest is Tim from Deliverr. Great dude!

Deliverr Free Trial and Discount

Click here to get a free Deliverr account and $100 of free credits for your first shipments.

If you want to read more about the offer, please refer to my article here.

Deliverr vs Amazon FBA: Introduction

Deliverr is a fulfillment network specializing in a 1-2 days delivery method. The company promises to accelerate overall eCommerce sales with its fast fulfillment and modern logistics solutions. On the other hand, Amazon FBA is a fulfillment network by Amazon that also delivers in the similar speed, if not faster.

For the expert side, my guest is Tim McDonnell, the sales team lead at Deliverr. Let’s get some hot questions ready and make him answer them!

Now let's head over to Tim and grill him about Deliverr.

What is Deliverr?

Hi Vova! Thank you for having me today. Let me formally introduce Deliverr, especially if it’s the first time you hear about it.

So, Deliverr is a fast and affordable eCommerce fulfillment solution for Shopify stores, Amazon, and other online sellers.

Deliverr directly works with merchants to distribute their inventory.

They work in at least four locations doing the last mile work like Amazon FBA.

For instance, if you receive an order from Chicago, it may already be available in your nearby warehouse. Likewise, if the order is in Los Angeles, it will save you cost and time if your order is available in the nearest warehouse.

What makes Deliverr exciting?

Buyers love receiving their orders super fast, and Deliverr promises you that!

The company offers to deliver your order to the end consumer the next day or in two days. What’s your gain? A chance to augment sales and increase customer loyalty towards your brand!

In essence, Deliverr is a modern FBA model that uses a distributed network of warehouses, ensuring your inventory is carefully managed and the order reaches your customer most responsibly.

Deliverr has more than 45 warehouses in its distribution network and plans to introduce more warehouses for seamless services.

Amazon FBA, on the Contrary!

I'd like to talk about Amazon FBA myself. I'll share my story as an example here! I have been selling on Amazon for over six years and using Amazon FBA for fulfillment purposes. Honestly, it’s excellent, and the shipment timing is good; however, I have often faced negativities.

For instance, recently, Amazon took quite a lot of time to check my shipment, which impacted my stock and inventory. I was unable to process any orders, and my sales plummeted! And this wasn’t the first time. So, I – too – started searching for alternatives that wouldn’t affect my margin and help me boost my sales all year round.

There are many third-party warehouses, but Deliverr has a fulfillment network that specializes in managing the whole supply chain distribution system for eCommerce sellers only.

Process of Working with Deliverr

This is critical to know, and being a seller, I am sure you would love to learn about it. The working process for an eCommerce network often needs to be clarified as early as possible because even a single mismanagement can damage everything, from your inventory to a waste of money and time.

(Tim breaks in here to remark on how Deliverr stands out…)

Deliverr follows a self-service system. The merchant or the seller has to sign up with the platform and proceed. However, the most recommended action is to converse with a Deliverr representative to learn more and get better assistance.

Even though it’s a self-service system and you can proceed without guidance or assistance, having someone who understands the model and process beforehand will never harm you.

In this way, you can also understand the full advantage Deliverr can provide.

1. Channel Confirmation

The process of working with Deliverr starts when you sign up. The next step is the seller must confirm which channel they use to sell their products. Is it a Shopify store? Walmart, eBay, or Amazon? Deliverr directly integrates these channels and helps you reach the target audience better.

2. Pulling Listing into Deliverr Portal

This step is similar to the Amazon Seller Central account, where you will allow the Deliverr portal to pull your listing data. The seller will now create an inbound shipment, more like a step-by-step process that doesn’t take more than 15 minutes. By the end of the process, you will have a packing list and a box content label. That’s it!

Isn’t it super easy to follow?

Within 30 minutes after the whole process, every piece of information would be with Deliverr. All you need to do is route your inventory to the designated warehouse. Now here’s the fun part! You can also send your inventory to multiple warehouses nationwide for better and faster coverage and response time.

Deliverr vs Amazon FBA – Differentiation on Processing Channel

If you are an active Amazon seller, you can relate to this! The FBA provides the same process; for instance, printed labels are supplied by FBA, and then we send them to the supplier to put them on the boxes and then ship them to Amazon. Instead of sending to FBA, you are shipping to Deliverr warehouses. So, what’s the difference?

The most significant difference is that Amazon FBA specializes in delivering orders to Amazon customers. They offer Amazon MCF (Multi-Channel Fulfillment) option but are not specialized in it.

They charge higher compared to Deliverr. I’ll cover this in detail later on, so stay tuned!

But with Deliverr, the options are amazing! When a business scales up, sellers want to expand to other channels like eBay or Walmart, create a Shopify store, etc. And Deliverr wants to help sort this out cost-effectively. They deliver your orders across every eCommerce platform without asking you to break the bank! 😉

All you need to do is register once to Deliverr to get access to all the different channels and manage your eCommerce businesses through a single fulfillment service.

Deliverr wants to optimize how fast your order can reach your customer, augmenting sales. However, the mission of Deliverr is not to replace Amazon, as it’s a tremendous professional line. But instead, use Deliverr as a redundancy tool. It can protect the business and maintain the flow of the smooth delivery process.

Prime Tag

Now you might be wondering what about the prime tag service? Amazon does provide a prime tag service where the seller can display their Prime Badge to get their orders delivered within two days at no additional charges. However, Deliverr doesn’t provide you with this service. But there are certain other things that Deliverr does provide, for instance:

Deliverr can work as a backup providing FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) access. So, you can always continue to sell with Amazon FBA if you have an FBM backup with Deliverr.

Amazon sellers believe distributed inventory is an investment. So, with Deliverr, you can use this investment while backing your inventory and hooking up distributed inventory to multiple channels.

Deliverr keeps your Amazon inventory live, allowing you to monitor the stock quickly.

Shipment with Deliverr – What Makes it Unique?

Let's have a clearer picture of Deliverr and their shipping time. So, with Deliverr, you can experience different shipping speeds and service levels. Standard delivery offers the option to transport your order to the customer in three to seven days.

The best thing about Deliverr is that almost 40% of the country gets covered in their next-day delivery system. It happens due to near warehouses and easier reaching to customers delivering the order. So, Deliverr’s delivery and conversion rate make them superior and far more trustworthy than other competitors.

Different Types of Channel & Delivery

Deliverr offers a customized plan for different channels as well. Each channel has a unique feature.

Walmart

Deliverr has a "Walmart Two Day Service" plan optimized for a single-unit purchase if you want to deliver your order to a Walmart customer. Deliverr is also linked with Walmart's dynamic tagging. Hence the plan is great for the seller.

If you want to learn more about selling on Walmart, please refer to my article about selling at Walmart with Helium 10 tools.

There Carrie Miller from Helium 10 and I explain how to do so with the help of Helium 10 suite of tools.

Shopify

For Shopify customers, the plan is known as "Shopify Two Day Service," where the price is optimized for multiple unit orders. When a customer shops directly from the store, Deliverr understands they might purchase numerous units instead of one.

There are other channel types on Deliverr, such as Wish, Instagram, Facebook, BigCommerce, etc., with similar delivery times.

Badges

There are badge systems for your products and the channels you use. It's a conversion tactic used by Deliverr to increase your sales. For example, there are two badges with Walmart, a Three Day and a Two Day badge.

So, if the customer is at a nearby location to a warehouse, the badge will automatically display with items of purchase.

However, if the customer is outside the region of product availability, the Deliverr system will automatically pull the badges down.

It means no miscommitment and a simple delivery system that will augment the seller's business sales. These delivery types and badges are conversion tactics, driving more traffic and a unique offering by Deliverr to the merchants.

Price Comparison with Amazon FBA

So, which fulfillment service offers the best price, either Amazon FBA or Deliverr? Upon asking this question, Tim McDonnell shared his viewpoint that it depends on which channel you're using to sell your products.

Do you need clarification? Let's simplify the comparison for you!

Undoubtedly, the prices offered by Amazon FBA are the best!

They offer the lowest and most conflated referral fee in general. However, Deliverr charges a flat fulfillment fee. For instance, the merchant must pay shipping and marketing fees if there's an order through the Shopify channel. There is no referral fee option available.

What makes Deliverr different in fulfillment service is that they can help with marketing expenses by offering next-day or two-day delivery badges. It leads to effective selling and improves margins compared to the Amazon FBA route.

Another thing to remember is that Amazon FBA is fantastic if you are looking for the best prices and products to be delivered to Amazon customers only.

Deliverr is competitive only when customers come through multiple channels and platforms. Deliverr's next-day delivery model makes them unique and better than FBA as it augments your conversion rate and customer loyalty.

Same Price Than Why Choose Deliverr?

This is something that bugged me as well. Amazon FBA also provides an Amazon MCF option, so I can choose it as a seller to send my order. Even the pricing is similar. Then why Deliverr over Amazon?

For instance, I pay $15 to Amazon FBA for my fulfillment needs and the same fee to Deliverr for Amazon customers. How does it benefit a regular merchant?

As per Tim, when delivering an order to an Amazon customer, the prices are the same for fulfillment. Sometimes the price for Amazon FBA is lower, making it cost-effective over Deliverr.

It’s other channels that make them different. Amazon will deliver your order to Walmart or eBay customers; however, they will charge much higher than Deliverr. The reason is simple they don’t get a referral fee.

What if the Order Doesn’t Get Delivered on Time?

Amazon respects its customer and values their loyalty over everything.

Therefore, Amazon FBA delivers the order within the prescribed time frame. But what about Deliverr? What will happen if Deliverr fails to deliver the order on time? What do they do as a company?

To answer that, Tim shared the values Deliverr as a company binds with.

It’s their policy of remaining transparent that makes the process super clear. The team at Deliverr promises what they can do. The data tracks each order to confirm whether they can ensure next-day or two-day delivery or not. They never overpromise, like delivering an order in two days and later failing to do so.

Secondly, in case of unexpected events, holidays, rate surcharges, or USPS limiting parcel pickups, Deliverr focuses on changing its policy to become more strategic.

Deliverr provides a five-dollar credit to the merchant who offers it to the consumer as a guarantee to fulfill the promise.

So, if Deliverr misses SLA (Service Level Agreement) and the delivery is not on time, the consumer automatically gets a five-dollar credit for that merchant store.

Well, currently, as per the Deliverr track record, 98% of the deliveries are on time without a problem!

What Happens When Deliverr Delivers a Wrong Product?

Mistakes do happen, and Deliverr is not an exception at all!

Delivering the wrong product is expected, especially in the same category. For example, a customer ordered a "Kitchen Knife" but received a "Garlic Grater."

Such mistakes are familiar to Amazon FBA, and they have a policy in this regard. It is vital to know where Deliverr stands in this stance.

At Deliverr, missed picks do happen but only occasionally. They use a state-of-the-art barcode system to scan each order twice.

This minimizes the risk of wrong picks all the time. However, humans do make errors, and sometimes man-made systems also fail.

In such cases, the merchant has to file a claim to Deliverr, and the company refunds the manufacturer's cost and the fulfillment fee. Later, the team reschedules a new delivery timeline to resend the correct order.

To make the process faster, engaging a dedicated Deliverr representative is also a great idea!

Here's a tip: Get evidence from your customer on the wrong item that has reached them and share it with Deliverr instantly. It will eliminate waste of time and speed up the process.

Does Deliverr Take Responsibility if They Lose a Product?

If any package is lost, damaged, or misplaced during transit, Amazon takes full responsibility and reimburses the loss to the merchant.

So, if you are using Deliverr, it is essential to know about their policy in this regard.

At Deliverr, the team double-checks the products to avoid any issues in the first place. In case of discrepancy in terms of inbound, they do a complete check of where the problem happened. How did it get damaged or misplaced?

Simply put, Deliverr bears the loss and proactively ships a replacement with the same tracking code.

Are there any Storage Fees?

Amazon FBA charges specific storage fees from sellers. It is $0.15 per unit or $6.90 per cubic foot for long-term storage. The numbers might change with time. You can get updated right here on the right current rates.

To be honest, many sellers want to avoid this storage fee on FBA.

But there is nothing you can do about it, as Amazon is securely warehousing your inventory, and this security comes with a price. So, what about Deliverr? Do they charge any storage fee, or if yes, then how much is it?

Tim clarifies this ambiguity by confirming that Deliverr charges storage fees nearly the same as Amazon FBA. From Q1 to Q3, they charge 72 cents per cubic foot a month. However, in peak season, which is Q4, the storage rates escalate to $2.40 per cubic foot each month.

Are you interested in knowing about Deliverr fulfillment fees as well? You can get every bit of detail for pricing by clicking this link.

If you want to know about Fulfillment Costs as an Amazon seller, you can always find them through the Cost Calculator using your product ASIN. The system will automatically fetch the weights and dimensions from Amazon, making it easier to estimate the overall storage or fulfillment cost.

Marketplaces Supported by Deliverr

So far, we understand that Deliverr supports many marketplaces besides Amazon. But wouldn’t that be nice to list them all in a single place?

Deliverr directly connects with Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Wish, and BigCommerce. They are also planning to launch Amazon FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant).

There are nearly 13 integration tools that link the sales channels like Etsy and others. Deliverr is constantly adding new channels to streamline merchants' sales and helping them find solutions under a single roof.

Can Deliverr Handle Returns?

Sometimes customers are unhappy with their purchase, or the product received is damaged. In this regard, they want to return the product.

Amazon FBA handles the return quickly. But does Deliverr has any policy in this regard? Let’s find out!

So, Deliverr recently started to handle the returns. In April 2022, they began accommodating the returns from the customers back to the seller. The platform is currently finding new ways to expand the feature, where the customers can also return the inventory to the Deliverr network.

The company has established a state-of-an-art facility to check for fraud, repairs, damages, and other stuff to handle returns conveniently.

Multi Order and Deliverr

Sometimes customers buy the same product multiple times. One example is the "Mobile Screen Protector," which typically results in multiple orders per purchase.

Or if there is an offer called "Buy Two & Get 10% off," it will be likely for customers to purchase two "Kitchen Knifes" to avail of the discount coupon.

In such a multi-order, how Deliverr works?

It's a common question you, as a seller, might want to know. So, Tim McDonnell shared that Deliverr does facilitate multi-order delivery. However, there would be a higher fulfillment fee for multiple orders. Deliverr understands that it's not a new item, and the ordered product is multiplied for an identical product. In such a scenario, they apply a multi-unit pricing scheme.

For instance, in Shopify, when a customer adds multiple units of a single product, the fulfillment will not multiply to the higher end.

If the fulfillment fee is $7 for a single product, Deliverr will not make it $21 for three products. In such a scenario, the $7 will get lower to $3 or $4, which will become $12 to finalize the fee.

This discount gets applied because it is not three different boxes or three unique picks for Deliverr to make. It will be handled in a single go!

Another thing to remember is that each next unit of the same product goes through a discount.

So, for up to five units, you get the same discount that implies on more than a single unit deal.

But if there are more than five units in an order, the fulfillment fee discount will increase. So, the higher the multi-order ratio, the better discount to support your fulfillment fee structure.

Does Deliverr Support International Shipping?

Sometimes a buyer from Canada, the United Kingdom, or France orders from Amazon US. The FBA offers an option of shipping internationally, catering to worldwide customers.

Initially, Deliverr did not support international shipments.

But recently, Deliverr successfully launched its international shipment module. Now the merchants can fulfill their international orders out of the US warehouse.

Today, Deliverr supports international shipping to over 220 countries like Amazon FBA, including Canada, Mexico, and military addresses. It’s vital to know that international shipping is expensive, but by fulfilling it through Deliverr, the rates will be affordable compared to shipping the order on your own.

For instance, if the weight of the order is 1 pound, the shipping rates will be:

1. $11.91 for delivering in Great Britain, whereas through USPS, it will be $24.70

2. $13.38 for delivering in Canada, whereas through the USPS channel, it will be $20.19

For shipment rates worldwide, it is better to contact a Deliverr representative. The numbers above will definitely change with time as the logistics chain changes.

Another important thing is that the international fulfillment fees are, at the moment, duty unpaid. Therefore, the end customers are responsible for paying applicable duties once the order arrives at customs in the destination country.

Can a Merchant Ship to Amazon FBA via Deliverr?

It is possible a merchant ships their entire inventory to Deliverr.

Let's say there are 500 knives, and the seller dispatches all of them to the Deliverr fulfillment warehouse. However, sometimes, the seller may want to ship 300 knives to Amazon FBA while keeping 200 knives with Deliverr. Is this possible and aligns with Deliverr's policy?

Deliverr offers a similar inbounding process as that of Amazon FBA. The common practice is that the merchant prepares a different pallet for the Deliverr fulfillment warehouse and a separate pallet for Amazon FBA.

The seller themselves ship them off to their respective networks.

In response to whether Deliverr can ship some of the inventory to Amazon FBA, Tim clarifies that they cannot receive removals or direct shipments from FBA.

Similarly, Amazon FBA will also not receive any shipments from them. The seller has to sort it out themselves, like sending 300 knives to Amazon FBA and 200 knives to Deliverr.

Do you know why Deliverr or Amazon FBA cannot do this? The answer is pretty simple!

The moment a product comes into the Deliverr warehouse and is placed on the shelves, they are immediately packed and become a part of the inbound. Using a freight forwarder as a middleman, sorting your inventory, and sending it directly to the respective fulfillment warehouses is recommended.

Can Deliverr Shift Inventory to a Third-Party Warehouse?

Understandably, Deliverr and Amazon FBA won't work together.

But can Deliverr shift some of the inventory to another warehouse? For instance, I want some of my inventory removed from Deliverr and shifted to a third-party warehouse.

I have found another warehouse to store my stock. So, can Deliverr do that?

As per Tim, such a thing can be adjusted upon the seller's request. However, a removal fee will be applicable as the product was already placed on the shelves and packed.

If the removal orders total under $25, a standard fulfillment fee will be applicable. If it's more than $25, you need to contact a Deliverr representative to find it out. Numbers might change with time.

For Deliverr, removal is not a priority, especially in peak season. They are highly focused on ensuring the inbound and outbound operations run smoothly. Knowing that a merchant can apply for inventory removal within 10 to 14 business days is vital.

The processing time, however, may extend to 30 days, especially during peak seasons.

So, it's better to finalize which warehouse to choose before sending the inventory to Deliverr to avoid extra cost and removal chaos.

Another tip for you is that if you are still determining whether your inventory will be sold per your estimation, you better send the quantity you believe to be sold. It takes a lot of work to pull the inventory back for the merchant and Deliverr!

Deliverr vs Third-Party Warehouses

Honestly, Deliverr is not the only third-party warehouse network that offers fulfillment services.

Besides it, many other fulfillment networks are competing against Amazon FBA. So, why Deliverr and not someone else?

The most significant advantage of Deliverr is its next-day and two days delivery model. The fantastic speed of order delivery is what sets them apart, even from Amazon FBA. The prices are also competitive, allowing every seller to efficiently reach their customers on time.

For Deliverr, you need to send them your inventory, which they distribute across multiple warehouses, and watch your business and customer retention ratio improve. Imagine receiving an order from North Dakota or Rhode Island customer, and Amazon takes seven working days to fulfill the order.

However, with Deliverr, you can reach the same customer at that distant location in just two days. And another third-party warehouse takes, let’s say, five days. Which, in your opinion, delivers the fastest shipment? Be your own judge!

Deliverr also offers trials! Start with a single SKU in the CPA trails and know the difference yourself.

Here’s a thing to remember! Deliverr doesn’t provide prep services and cannot fulfill Business to Business, i.e., B2B orders. They are specialized in B2C orders only!

Conclusion

So, that’s it! I hope throughout the Deliverr vs Amazon FBA post, you might have learned new ways to boost your eCommerce game.

Deliverr is committed to bridging the gap between retail and eCommerce stores, allowing customers to enjoy their orders earliest while giving brands a chance to outsmart the competitors and capture the market.

A significant boost to your website, Facebook, and Instagram page can mean a lot for your business. And Deliverr promises such an experience to its clients by offering same day, next-day, or two days delivery model.

Don’t forget to get your free Deliverr free trial + $100 coupon for your first shipments.

I’ll get a little commission if you go through my channel and link! Thank you for supporting my YouTube channel and relying upon honest videos.

If you want to know more about FBA logistics and shipment solutions, you can check out my Amazon FBA Logistics and Shipping playlist here!

Catch you next time!

Till then, take good care of yourself!

Yours,

Vova :)