US FBT Cross-Listing Shared Inventory Feature – Operations Manual
AI Summary
Shared Inventory lets multiple listings share one FBT inventory pool for the same product, reducing manual allocation and improving replenishment across shops. It applies to sellers using FBT multi-shop or multi-SKU setups. Use Add shop in the existing FBT account and match SKUs to the same Goods ID; the system allocates stock automatically. Key limits: up to 5 shops per FBT account, 5 SKUs per Goods ID per shop, and binding cannot be undone.
Feature Overview
After enabling the Shared Inventory feature, multiple SKU listings that correspond to the same physical product (same FBT Goods ID) can share a single pool of inventory. This capability significantly simplifies inventory preparation, increases inventory flexibility, and helps sellers manage multi-channel sales with lower costs and higher efficiency—enabling a “multiple listings, single inventory pool” strategy.
Shared Inventory Allocation Principles & Functional Limitations
The purpose of this feature is to allow sellers to share inventory on FBT for same product SKU within same shop or across multiple shops. The below guide explains the different scenarios and considerations of using this feature.
1.0 What are the changes and benefits to sellers?
After enabling the channel inventory function, multiple SKU will share the same physical FBT goods inventory. This will significantly simplify merchants' inventory replenishment but also enhance the flexibility of inventory management. It empowers merchants to meet multi-product sales demands with lower costs and higher efficiency.
Support for System-Automated Inventory Sharing: The system now automatically allocates inventory across shared SKUs in real-time. Merchants no longer need to set inventory distribution ratios during inbound or inventory management manually. Available inventory is dynamically and intelligently distributed among related SKUs, improving efficiency and reducing manual work.
Once a shop is added, it cannot be unbound. If a merchant has multiple seller accounts, they must select one specific seller account for the payment of GMV. This setup may limit the flexibility of merchants in managing shop connections and settlement processes.
If the seller needs to bind a new shop to an existing merchant, do not proceed with the regular FBT onboarding process. Instead, log in to the existing FBT account, and add the shop using the Add Shop function to complete the binding.
2.0 What are the risks/limitations of this feature?
2.1 Limitations
- Compatibility Restrictions: CCCU, ACCU and L2L shops can be bound by the same FBT account to share inventory.
- No Entity Restrictions: Shops under different business entities can be bound for inventory sharing. Sellers shall confirm internally that such entities are affiliated companies. The platform shall not be liable for any disputes arising between the parties.
- Quantity Limitation:
- One FBT account can be bound to a maximum of 5 shops.
- For each Goods ID, a maximum of 5 SKU IDs can be bound per shop linked to the FBT account.
Example: If FBT account A is bound to shop A and shop B, Goods A can be associated with up to 5 SKU IDs in shop A, and another up to 5 SKU IDs in shop B
- Irversable Binding: Once a shop binding is successfully established, shops cannot be unbound (i.e., a shop cannot be removed from the bound FBT account)
- To rebind or unbind a shop to another FBT account, please contact your FBT Manager for assistance.
- Inventory Allocation: Sellers are not permitted to intervene or adjust the inventory allocation between SKUs manually. System will trigger re-allocate when:
- Add or remove matched product SKU
- Sellable inventory<5 at any SKU level
- Sold out at any SKU level
Please note that if the SKU is registered for the promotion/campaign, the inventory will be reserved and not shared with other SKUs.
3.0 Cost And Billing
- No additional fees apply beyond the standard FBT charges. The storage fee will be charged to the shop with the highest billing amount in the last 7 days.
4.0 How To Bind The FBT Account And SKU
4.1 Bind With Multiple Shops
- To bind a new shop with an existing FBT account:
- Log-in the FBT System with the existing FBT account A, and bind the new shop not yet registered FBT account by using the "Add shop" function.
- Bind the SKU ID from the new shop with the Goods ID from the FBT account.
- To bind the FBT account for multiple new shops:
- Register the FBT account for one of the shops.
- Log-in the FBT System with the existing FBT account A, and bind the new shop not yet registered FBT account by using the "Add shop" function.
- Bind the SKU ID from the new shop with the Goods ID from the FBT account.
- To bind the FBT account for multiple shops which have FBT account individually:
- To rebind or unbind a shop to another FBT account, please contact your FBT Manager for assistance.
4.2 System Implement Guidance
Step | Merchant Portal Entrance | Screenshot |
(Only for cross shop) | Profile image-My account-Add shop- AuthorizeNotice：
|     Switch accounts after account linked |
(Only for cross shop) |
|
|
| Manage Goods-Action-Match another TTS productNote：
|    Search under one shopSwitch to another shop |
| Inventory - Goods Inventory - Channel Inventory
|   |
5.0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What is the officially recommended usage for multi-shop shared inventory?
- Select one FBT account as the primary account for centralized inventory preparation, and bind other shops to this primary account. After the inventory under the original shipper accounts is naturally consumed, gradually discontinue usage to avoid risks and costs caused by mid-process switching.
- How many FBT accounts can one shop be bound to?
- Up to 5 FBT accounts (i.e., up to 4 additional accounts beyond the current binding).
- How many shops can one FBT account be bound to?
- Up to 5 shops (i.e., up to 4 additional shops beyond the current binding).
- Can the binding be removed after it is completed?
- Unbinding is currently not supported. Please fully confirm before proceeding.
- My other shops have not enabled FBT yet. Do they need to enable FBT first before using this feature?
- No. You can directly bind them under an account that has already enabled FBT.
- Are there any legal entity restrictions?
- There are no legal entity restrictions. Sharing is allowed within the same legal entity or across different legal entities. For cross-entity sharing, sellers must internally ensure the entities are affiliated. The platform will not be responsible for any disputes arising from this.
6.0 Self-Check: Reasons for Binding Failure and Resolution Paths
- Reason 1: The number of bound shops or FBT accounts exceeds the limit (5).
- Reason 2: The shop you are trying to bind does not have a phone number bound in Seller Center.
- How to resolve: During binding, you must enter the phone number that is bound to the shop in Seller Center for verification. If the shop does not have a bound phone number, binding is not supported. Please bind a phone number first before proceeding.
- Reason 3: If the shop you are binding or being bound to is a local (L2L) shop, please contact your FBT manager or submit a ticket, explain the situation, and provide your shop code to apply for whitelist access.
How to submit a ticket or contact customer support online for FBT-related issues
Manager Inquiry & Ticket Content Format：
The local shop codes I need to bind are:
shop code1: xxxx
shop code2: xxxx
…
- Reason 4: If your shop encounters the following error messages, please contact your FBT manager or submit a ticket, explain the situation, and provide your shop code.
How to submit a ticket or contact customer support online for FBT-related issues
The shop codes I need to bind are:
shop code1: xxxx
shop code2: xxxx
- Other: If binding fails for other reasons, please contact your FBT manager or submit a ticket, explain the situation, and provide your shop code.
Manager Inquiry & Ticket Content Format
I have checked all possible reasons for binding failure, but shared inventory is still unavailable. The shop codes I need to bind are:
shop code1: xxxx
shop code2: xxxx
…