Some sellers receive orders every few days from a buyer named “amazon.” Sometimes the orders are for small quantities, while other times they involve multiple items purchased at once. However, the delivery addresses are always located in different regions across the country.
Buried in your Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) settings is a toggle switch that says: "Allow Amazon to buy my products to sell globally."
For many sellers, this is turned on by default. But what does it actually do?
This program is essentially Amazon’s "Instant Global Reseller" feature. Instead of you doing the hard work of expanding to Europe or Japan, Amazon simply buys your inventory at your U.S. price and flips it to international customers themselves.
Here is the breakdown of whether you should keep this feature on—or turn it off immediately.
The process operates entirely in the background. It begins when Amazon takes your existing U.S. listing and mirrors it on their international marketplaces, such as Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.co.jp. When a customer in one of these countries places an order, Amazon’s system instantly triggers a purchase from your domestic FBA inventory.
From your perspective, this looks like a standard domestic sale. You will see an order on your dashboard where the customer is listed simply as "Amazon.com." You are paid your full standard U.S. listing price, and Amazon takes over from there, handling all export paperwork, duties, and international shipping to the final destination.
Amazon Drop Shipping helps products reach more customers
For private label sellers looking for growth without complexity, this program offers a "zero headache" expansion path. Since Amazon acts as the merchant of record, they assume 100% of the cross-border liability, meaning you don't need to worry about foreign tax compliance or customs issues. It effectively provides an immediate sales boost by placing your products in front of millions of new customers without you lifting a finger. Furthermore, because Amazon adds their markup on top of your price to cover their costs, your profit margins per unit remain exactly the same as a domestic sale.
The Risks to Your Brand
However, this convenience comes with significant trade-offs regarding control. When you enroll, you effectively hand over the reins of your international brand presence to Amazon. You cannot customize the listing quality, images, or customer experience for these foreign markets.
More critically, this program can create dangerous conflicts for established brands. Since Amazon dictates the final international price, your products might appear significantly more expensive overseas, potentially damaging your brand's premium positioning. Additionally, if you have exclusive distribution agreements with partners in other countries (e.g., you promised a UK distributor exclusive rights), this program effectively violates that contract, as Amazon is technically "gray marketing" your goods into their territory.
This feature is best reserved for newer sellers or private labels with no existing international footprint who want "free" extra volume. Serious brands that are building a deliberate global strategy or have existing distributor relationships should likely opt out.
You can verify your status by navigating to Settings > Fulfillment by Amazon > Export Settings in Seller Central. If you wish to regain full control over your global sales channels, ensure the "Allow Amazon to buy my products to sell globally" option is set to Disable.
29 Nov, 2025
