What is the Best Size of Thermal Label for FBA Printing?

FBA, or Fulfillment by Amazon, is a great way to streamline your selling process and save money on shipping costs. Rather than sending your products directly to your customers, you instead ship them to an Amazon fulfillment center, where they are stored.

When a customer buys one of your products, Amazon uses your inventory in their Amazon fulfillment center to handle shipping the goods to the customer, so you don’t have to.

Even better, as part of its seller program, Amazon provides discounted shipping rates for sellers who use UPS or FedEx to ship their goods to Amazon’s FBA warehouses, saving you money on your overheads.

The downside of the FBA system is you need to print all your own shipping labels and barcodes.

To make things as simple as possible, we’ve put together this guide to what size labels for FBA shipping are the best.

Why Do I Need a Thermal Printer?

To put it simply, a thermal printer will save you time and money.

Amazon FBA labels cannot be printed on an Inkjet printer because of the risk of smearing. Printing on a laserjet printer means printing individual labels over and over again in a repetitive and time-consuming process.

Using a thermal printer allows you to print large numbers of labels quickly and easily.

Printing large numbers of labels using a thermal printer is considerably cheaper than using a standard ink printer.

This is because thermal printers use thermosensitive paper and heat instead of ink. So you won't need to buy replacement toner or ink cartridges.

The best indicator that thermal printers are best for FBA shipping is the fact that Amazon uses them. Amazon fulfillment centers currently use Zebra GX430t model printers with a direct thermal setting.

Printing Your FBA Labels

In order to manage the logistics of the FBA system, Amazon requires sellers to attach two labels to the outside of each box being sent to one of their warehouses:

• Shipping label - The shipping label is a printed barcode that allows the shipping companies used by Amazon, primarily UPS and FedEx, to identify where the box is being sent and to provide tracking information for it. This label is usually 4 x 6 inches in size. The shipping label looks like this:

As part of its seller program, Amazon provides discounted shipping rates for sellers who use UPS or FedEx to ship their goods to Amazon’s FBA warehouses.

• FBA Box Label - The FBA box label is scanned when the item reaches the warehouse and allows Amazon to identify which goods belong to specific sellers. The FBA box label is the same size as the shipping label and looks like this:

What is an FNSKU?

A Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit, or FNSKU, is a barcode that Amazon uses to differentiate between sellers.

The FNSKU is attached to the physical items you are sending to the Amazon fulfillment center, not the box you are sending them in.

You can ship product to an Amazon fulfillment center just using a UPC, or Universal Product Code, but you run the risk of your products being mixed in with items from another seller.

If that seller is selling items that are titularly the same as yours but are of inferior quality or are counterfeit, you run the risk of your customer receiving that item, so it’s always best to attach an FNSKU barcode to your products.

What Dimensions Does My FNSKU Barcode Need to Be?

Amazon has some fairly strict guidelines about FNSKU barcode printing:

• All Amazon barcodes must be printed in black ink on white, non-reflective labels with removable adhesive. The dimensions of these labels must be between 1inch x 2 inches and 2 inches x 3 inches.
• The printer used to print the labels must have a print resolution of 300 DPI or greater.
• There must be sufficient white space around the Amazon barcode and related text. Amazon requires that there be a minimum of 0.25 inch on the sides and 0.125 inches on the top and bottom.

With these restrictions in mind, here are the label sizes we suggest for both Zebra and DYMO thermal printers.

Best FBA Label Sizes for Zebra Printers

• For printing FNSKU barcodes - The best size of thermal label for printing FNSKU barcodes on a Zebra thermal printer is the 2 x 1.5-inch direct thermal label with a waterproof acrylic adhesive on the back.
• For printing FBA shipping and box labels - The best size of thermal label for printing the shipping and box labels required to send your products to an Amazon fulfillment center is the 6 x 4-inch direct thermal label with a permanent acrylic adhesive backing.

Best FBA Label Sizes for DYMO Printers

• For printing FNSKU barcodes - The best size of thermal label for printing FNSKU barcodes on a DYMO thermal printer is the LW Durable 57mm x 32mm.
• You can use the non-durable version to save money, but the durable labels are moisture-resistant and designed specifically for inventory management.
• For printing FBA shipping and box labels - The best thermal label for printing the shipping and box labels required to send your products to an Amazon fulfillment center is the LW Extra large shipping labels 104 x 159 mm

How to Print Your Thermal Shipping Labels the Easy Way

1. Sign up for AZLabels and install our browser extension for Chrome or Firefox.
2. Create your shipment of products from Amazon's Seller Central, UPS.com, eBay, or wherever else you need to create shipping labels from.
3. Instead of having to go through the arduous process of snapshotting a PDF, you can now simply click on "Print Thermal Labels" button added by our browser extension. The button looks like this:

1. AZLabels’ servers will then process the data and generate your labels based on the specific settings you selected from your AZlabels dashboard.
1. Our servers will generate approximately 100 shipping labels in 8 seconds so that you won't be wasting valuable time.
2. Your labels will automatically be converted into PDF files which are downloaded onto your computer, correctly sized and ready to print from your free UPS Zebra thermal printer.
1. If you’ve signed up for one of our Business or Enterprise accounts, our AZLabels Instant service will connect directly to your printer and automatically print your labels for an even more streamlined experience.
3. Spend the time you would generally have wasted struggling to make labels on something more productive. Alternatively, just sit back and relax!

Try Our Service for Free!

When you sign up for our basic account, you'll be able to print up to 100 products and 10 shipping labels every month for free. We don't even ask you to add a credit card to get an account.

If you find that your business is expanding and you require more label printing support, simply upgrade to one of our three premium accounts. Each premium account comes with a range of services that we have explicitly designed to help you streamline your selling process.