Seller Fulfilled Prime Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime, run by a 3PL built for it. Same-day cutoff, weekend pickups, free returns.
The official program
Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) is Amazon's program that lets you display the Prime badge on your listings while fulfilling orders from your own warehouse instead of from FBA. The buyer sees the same Prime checkmark, gets the same 1-day or 2-day delivery promise, and gets free returns, but the inventory never enters Amazon's fulfillment network. The brand keeps full control of inventory, packaging, and the unboxing experience.
Amazon froze new SFP enrollment from 2019 through October 2023. When they reopened it, the program rebuild raised the bar substantially. The 2024-2026 program now requires 99% on-time shipping, 99% on-time delivery against the promised speed, weekend fulfillment, free returns, a six-week trial period, and SFP-approved carriers only. The threshold tightened again in 2024, and Amazon now publishes the four-metric scorecard inside Seller Central where brands can see their rolling 30-day performance live.
The reason brands choose SFP over FBA is straightforward: FBA pick-and-pack fees plus FBA storage fees plus FBA referral fees plus FBA long-term storage escalators stack into a fee structure that crushes margins on apparel, beauty, supplements, oversized items, and slow-moving stock. SFP from a competent 3PL typically prices cheaper per order on those categories. The catch is operational difficulty. Hitting the four-metric scorecard every day for the rolling 30-day window requires real weekend operations, real carrier diversification, and real address validation. Most 3PLs do not run all three.
What Vertex does for SFP
We run SFP as a first-class workflow, not a bolt-on. Here is what that looks like on the floor.
Orders placed before the day's cutoff ship the same day, including Saturday and Sunday. Orders placed after cutoff ship the following day with carrier-level routing chosen to still hit Amazon's promised delivery window. Cutoff is scoped per origin node on the discovery call so your team can plan around it.
We run multiple SFP-approved carriers in parallel on SFP outbounds (UPS, FedEx, USPS, Amazon Shipping where available). Each order routes to the carrier most likely to hit the delivery promise based on origin zone, service level, and service alerts. When one carrier falls behind on a route, the next order on that route routes to a different carrier.
A weekend shift handles SFP pick, pack, label, and carrier handoff Saturday and Sunday. UPS Saturday pickup, FedEx and USPS Sunday pickup are arranged in markets where available. SFP orders do not sit unshipped over the weekend.
We pull the four-metric SFP scorecard from Seller Central and chart the rolling 30-day window against Amazon's thresholds. Any metric trending toward the threshold triggers an internal flag and a remediation plan before Amazon's scorecard reflects it. We share the scorecard with your team on a regular cadence.
Each SFP shipment leaves with a pre-paid USPS return label included, or available on demand through the buyer's Amazon account. Returns ship to our dock, get scanned, graded, and either restocked into available inventory or quarantined for disposition. Refunds initiate promptly after carrier scan at our dock, inside Amazon's expected refund window.
SFP orders route through USPS address validation before pick. Invalid addresses get flagged, your team is notified through the Amazon buyer-seller messaging system, and we hold the order for correction. Bad-address orders that ship anyway are a major source of on-time delivery misses for SFP sellers.
The qualification scorecard
Amazon gates SFP on a four-metric scorecard updated daily inside Seller Central. Miss any threshold for a rolling 30-day window and Amazon turns off the Prime badge until the metric recovers. Below is the scorecard with Amazon's thresholds and how we operate to clear each one.
On-time delivery rate
Amazon bar99.0%
Threshold for the rolling 30-day window
The hardest SFP metric. Measured against Amazon's expected delivery date on every Prime order. Carrier delays count against the seller, not the carrier, so we run multiple SFP-approved carriers in parallel and switch carriers when one route falls behind.
On-time ship rate
Amazon bar99.0%
Threshold for the rolling 30-day window
Measured against the ship-by date for the order. Our same-day cutoff is 4 PM PT at Vancouver HQ on weekdays with weekend coverage, which gives a buffer against carrier pickup variability.
Valid tracking rate
Amazon bar99.0%
Threshold for the rolling 30-day window
Each shipment leaves our floor with a tracking number uploaded to Amazon promptly after carrier scan, well inside Amazon's required window.
Cancellation rate
Amazon bar<1.5%
Threshold for the rolling 30-day window
Seller-initiated cancellations: out of stock, prep failure, address issue. We hold buffer stock on SFP SKUs and run pre-flight address validation before order acceptance, so the only cancels that should hit the count are buyer-initiated.
The six-week trial
Amazon requires a six-week trial period for every new SFP seller. During the trial you ship SFP orders without the Prime badge appearing on your listings. Amazon measures your scorecard across the full six weeks; if you hit all four thresholds, the Prime badge turns on at the end of week six. If you miss any threshold, Amazon resets the trial and you start over from week one. We tune cutoffs, carrier mix, and weekend pickup cadence to your catalog before order one ships so the trial has the best chance of passing.
Honest list
Brands lose the SFP badge for reasons that are completely fixable. Here is the honest list of what kills SFP, ordered by how often each failure shows up.
The single biggest threat to SFP qualification is a regional carrier slowdown during peak. A UPS air-network delay or a USPS sortation backup during the December peak can drop on-time delivery meaningfully in a single rolling 30-day window. We mitigate by running multiple SFP-approved carriers in parallel with automated re-routing when service alerts trip.
Many warehouses run a 5-day operations schedule and pretend Saturday and Sunday do not exist. That kills SFP. Amazon measures the on-time ship rate every day of the week, including weekends. We run Saturday and Sunday shifts with reduced staffing but full operational coverage, plus carrier sweeps on both days.
Bad shipping addresses trigger carrier exceptions and undeliverable returns, which count against on-time delivery. We run pre-flight address validation through the USPS API on every order before pick, flag any address that fails validation, and contact the buyer through Amazon messaging for correction before the order ships.
Running out of stock mid-promotion triggers seller-initiated cancellations, which count against the cancellation rate threshold. We hold safety stock against your forward demand on SFP SKUs, review the safety level against your actual sales velocity, and alert before stockouts.
Carriers reweigh and re-dim every parcel at induction. If outbound weight or dim does not match the carrier's, the carrier reclassifies the parcel to a higher service level, the shipment can miss the delivery promise, and you get hit with a chargeback on top. SFP outbounds get weighed and dimmed at pack-out, and reconciled against the carrier's manifest after induction.
Amazon's bar
The six requirements every SFP seller has to hit, regardless of category or volume. SFP is a first-class workflow on our floor.
New SFP sellers ship orders without the Prime badge for six weeks while Amazon measures the four scorecard metrics. Miss any threshold and Amazon restarts the trial. Pass all four and the badge turns on. We tune cutoffs, carriers, and weekend ops to your specific catalog before order one ships.
Orders placed before the cutoff ship the same day, Monday through Sunday. Saturday and Sunday operations are non-negotiable: you cannot pause SFP for the weekend. SFP carrier sweeps run on Saturday and Sunday to keep the on-time ship rate intact across the weekend.
Amazon publishes a short list of SFP-approved carriers: UPS, FedEx, USPS, and Amazon Shipping. DHL Ecommerce, OnTrac, LaserShip, and most regional carriers are not eligible. We run UPS for ground, FedEx for express where UPS is slower, USPS for sub-1lb parcels under 8 oz, and Amazon Shipping where it is available and competitive.
Amazon sets the delivery promise per weight band and per origin zone. For Prime-eligible sub-1lb units, Amazon expects 1-day delivery in many zones. For heavier units, 2-day is the typical promise. We map your catalog to the right origin nodes so the published Prime promise on every listing is one we can actually hit.
Every SFP order needs a free, pre-paid return label included in the shipment or available on demand in the buyer's Amazon account. The return ships back to a US-domestic address (yours or ours). We handle the return-label generation, receive returns at our dock, grade and restock or quarantine, and initiate the refund inside 24 hours of carrier scan.
All communication with the buyer routes through Amazon's buyer-seller messaging system. No outside email, no direct shipping notifications outside Amazon. We integrate with your Seller Central account via SP-API, so order updates, tracking, and return communications all flow through the official channels.
SFP pricing at Vertex
What SFP actually costs at Vertex. No hidden weekend surcharge, no per-SKU setup fees, no scorecard fee.
SFP pick + pack
from $1.05
per order
Standard SFP pick, pack, label, carrier handoff. Same rate weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday. Includes pre-flight address validation and free-return label generation.
Storage
Custom
scoped on call
Shelf storage by cubic foot or pallet-position bulk storage, scoped on the discovery call. No long-term storage escalators of our own.
Return processing
Per return
scoped on call
Receive, scan, grade, restock or quarantine. Refund initiated to buyer promptly after carrier scan. Carrier return cost is pass-through at your shipper rate.
Free returns are a pass-through cost: we generate the label at your carrier rate and you pay the carrier directly through your shipper account. Receiving inbound bills per pallet at our dock, invoiced once at receipt, never monthly. The carrier outbound itself bills directly to your UPS, FedEx, USPS, or Amazon Shipping account at your negotiated rates.
Where we run SFP
SFP delivery promises live and die on origin zone. A 1-day Prime promise from a Salt Lake City origin to a Manhattan customer is almost impossible to hit; the same promise from a Northern New Jersey origin is routine. We run SFP out of nodes that match the geographic spread of Amazon Prime customers, so the promised delivery window on every listing is one we can actually hit.
Northeast
Serves New York metro, New England, mid-Atlantic with short-zone ground service.
Southeast
Serves Florida, Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama with short-zone ground service.
Midwest
Serves the upper Midwest and Great Lakes with short-zone ground service.
South Central
Serves Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas with short-zone ground service.
West
Serves California, Nevada, Arizona with short-zone ground service.
Pacific Northwest
Serves Washington, Oregon, Idaho, BC with short-zone ground service.
Other Amazon services
FBA Prep
8-station prep workflow built around Amazon's FBA spec. Per-unit prep pricing scoped on the discovery call.
Read more
Fulfillment
FBM, FBA, AWD, multi-channel. The umbrella for everything outside of pure SFP and pure FBA Prep.
Read more
Parent category
The full 4-program hub: SFP, FBA Prep, FBM, AWD. Decision tool included.
Go to hub
Ready to run SFP at the Amazon bar?
Seven-day operations. Same-day cutoff. Multi-carrier parallel routing across SFP-approved carriers. Built to clear all four Amazon SFP scorecard thresholds. No annual contract.
