You finally find a product that checks every box: strong demand, great margins, and plenty of sales velocity. But then comes the big question: what’s the smartest way to sell it?

If you send it all to Amazon FBA warehouses, you deal with check-in lag, which can delay sales. But if you list and ship it all yourself as FBM only, you might miss out on the massive chunk of Amazon customers who love to see the little Prime checkmark. Many sellers think they have to pick one option and hope for the best.

Chris, an Amazon veteran out of Miami who has been in the trenches for about 4 years, found a brilliant shortcut to this exact headache. After switching his workflow over to Boxem, he unlocked a simple system that lets him test both worlds without breaking his inventory tracking.

Why One SKU Isn’t Always Enough

Every product on Amazon is tied to an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number), which is Amazon’s unique catalog ID. A SKU (stock-keeping unit) is different. It’s a custom identifier you create for your inventory that helps Amazon associate the units you’re selling with your specific seller account. While multiple sellers can list on the same ASIN, each seller manages their own SKUs independently.

Chris pointed out that one of the biggest limitations of many listing tools is being locked into a single SKU setup for each product. Boxem changes that by letting you create multiple custom SKUs for a single ASIN, making it possible to test different selling strategies side by side rather than relying on guesswork.

‍That matters because not every product performs the same under FBA and FBM.

Some products absolutely crush it as FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon). Fast-moving categories like toys, apparel, and household essentials often benefit from the Prime badge because it helps win the Buy Box. Plus, customers love fast shipping and tend to trust Amazon fulfillment.

But FBA is not always the winner. Amazon’s fulfillment fees, storage costs, and warehouse check-in delays can eat into your margins, especially for bulky, seasonal, or slower-moving products. In those cases, FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) can be the smarter play because you avoid many of those fees, keep tighter control over inventory, and can start selling immediately.

To test this in Boxem, Chris can list one batch of a product as FBA under one custom SKU and the exact same product as FBM under another custom SKU. This lets him compare both strategies in real time without losing track of inventory or profitability.

As sales roll in, the data starts telling the real story. He’ll quickly see which products perform better as FBM and which generate stronger results through FBA.

Smart Tracking with Custom SKUs

If you don't know your exact profit margins on your FBM batch versus your FBA batch, you’re just gambling with your sourcing money. This is where Boxem’s Custom Variable SKU feature becomes a game-changer.

Chris uses the custom SKU generator to build a clear, readable naming system for his inventory. For example, he can create SKUs for his merchant-fulfilled stock with an FBM suffix and use an FBA suffix for stock sent to a fulfillment center, while including suppliers and buy costs for both.

Instead of generic SKU names that tell you nothing, this system makes every unit instantly recognizable. One glance tells Chris exactly where that inventory came from and how it is being fulfilled.

Even better, Boxem’s SKU Profitability report lets Chris compare the performance of both SKUs side by side as they sell, even when they share the same ASIN. He can clearly see whether FBA’s higher selling price and Prime shipping help drive enough extra sales to justify the added Amazon fees, or if FBM’s lower fulfillment costs make it more profitable overall.

That visibility helps Chris figure out which strategy gets his money back into his pocket faster so he can reinvest in more inventory.

The Real Difference: Playing Guessing Games vs. Clean Testing

A Game Changer for Your Shipments

Even after four years of navigating the ups and downs of e-commerce, Chris calls this simple shift with Boxem a complete turning point for his business operations.

“Get [Boxem] as fast as possible; it is going to change your life and your shipments for Amazon.”

Want to see what Chris had to say about using Boxem? Here’s the full clip: