I decided to sell grocery items because I figured I could use my couponing skills to find cheap products that would sell easily on Amazon. Even though I sell a few beauty products here and there, my main focus is on groceries. When I decided to sell food items I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to prepare them for selling FBA.
When I was preparing my very first shipment to amazon I had no idea that I needed suffocation warnings, “do not separate” stickers, or expiration date stickers. I had to visit a variety of blogs to see how others had prepared their goods.
Steps to prepare goods for shipping to Amazon Warehouses:
1. First you need to cover up any existing barcodes on the products. When you ship your items to Amazon warehouses they use barcodes to keep track of everything. You will put your own unique barcode sticker on the item so make sure any existing barcodes are covered up to prevent confusion.
2. If you are selling multiple items as one product (example: 5 bottles of the same type of Herbal Essence Shampoo) you will package them together using plastic wrap. You can use bags, plastic wrap, bubble wrap, etc. Anything to secure the items together. If the item is a liquid make sure to package the lid securely and the item so it won’t break or spill.
3. If you use plastic wrap you need to have suffocation warning stickers. These are cheap to find on ebay and amazon. 
4. If you sell multiples you also need a “Do not separate” sticker. If you don’t then Amazon workers might open your packaging thinking the items should be sold individually. Also found cheap on ebay and Amazon.
5. If you are selling grocery items you are required to have a “best by” sticker indicating the expiration date of the food. Food cannot be sent in that expires within 90 days. These stickers are great for best by and bar-code printing. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QPXOCSM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
6. Like I mentioned before you need a sticker you will print off your own unique bar-codes onto to place on your items. This is how Amazon keeps track of all your stuff.
7. If you want to sell multiples of different items and there is no listing on Amazon then you will need to buy barcodes. For example, if you want to sell cake mix bundled together with cake icing then Amazon might not have a listing. This is often a beneficial selling strategy because customers can buy different products bundled together for a good value. You’ll need to create a new, unique listing. You have to have a barcode assigned. You’ll need to buy barcodes to assign to unique products. These are cheap. You can get 1,000 unused barcodes on ebay for very cheap.
Once you have all these things you’re ready to wrap up your items, slap on stickers, and ship them off to warehouses.
From Appalachia To Alabama 