Lunar New Year falls on 17 February 2026. For brands that make products in China, the holiday is less a day than a season: factories wind down in the weeks before, logistics slow, and production often takes several weeks to return to normal afterwards. This year a second change makes early planning even more important: from 1 January 2026, Amazon ended its FBA prep and item-labelling services in the US. Inventory now has to arrive ready.
Plan backwards from the shelf
- Cover the gap. We size stock to cover the holiday, the restart period and the ocean transit that follows, market by market, rather than with one global buffer.
- Ship the fast sellers first. Limited container space before the holiday goes to products whose stock-out would cost the most.
- Book early. Freight capacity tightens before the holiday and rates often rise with it.
Preparation moves to the factory
Without Amazon prep in the US, labelling, bagging and carton checks happen before goods leave Asia. That suits packaging products, which are easy to label at source, but it needs discipline:
- Barcode labels printed and applied at the factory, with a photo record per carton.
- Carton weight and dimensions measured and recorded, not copied from a template. Our freight forwarder measures independently, and we reconcile the two before booking.
- Mixed cartons marked clearly, with the contents of each listed on the packing list.
Accurate carton data is not only a warehouse matter. It drives freight cost, receiving speed and, increasingly, customs declarations. Getting it right before the holiday means fewer surprises when the first post-holiday shipment lands.