Amazon can be an excellent alternative online sales channel or in addition to e-commerce and physical stores. Indeed, this is the most popular marketplace in the world, globally operative in most Western countries and often used as a direct access to search for products to buy. If Google is the number one search engine, Amazon is the leader for searches related to an online purchase.
Having an account on Amazon Seller Central certainly has additional costs, but it allows you to reach potential customers who otherwise would never have arrived through the website or Google Shopping. So, is becoming a seller on Amazon convenient for everyone? Absolutely not: as with e-commerce, it is necessary to make accurate evaluations, considering costs and the necessary effort. An online sales web account should be followed carefully, otherwise it is better to abandon the idea and focus on the sales channels already used and familiar.
In case you want to start selling on Amazon, let’s see what the options, costs, and registration steps are.
Who Can Sell on Amazon
Retailers who sell products could start using the Amazon channel. To start selling online, they must belong to one of the following categories:
- A state-owned company, wholly owned and operated by a state;
- Companies listed on the stock exchange for public trading;
- Private enterprise, such as Limited, Partnership, or International Sole Proprietorship
- A charity, whether or not incorporated as a tax-exempt company, which
- is founded and run for charitable purposes,
- employs all its resources in charitable activities that are under its direct control,
- does not distribute any portion of the proceeds generated to the benefit of directors, trustees, shareholders or others
privates, - It does not contribute to or be associated with political organisations.
- Individual company;
- Individual sales partner.
Plans & Costs comparison
When I’m publishing this guide, there are two subscription formulas for Amazon Seller Central, which allow you to sell online.
- The Individual Selling Plan has a base cost of €0.99 (excluding VAT) for each item sold. It is recommended for those who just want to experiment and don’t plan to sell more than 40 items per month. As you can guess by doing a simple cost/gain calculation, it is not convenient for very cheap products.
- The Professional Selling Plan has a base cost of €39 per month (excluding VAT) and is suitable for those who want to invest more decisively in this channel and plan to sell more than 40 products online. Compared to the previous one, it has additional catalog management and reporting features, making it the best solution for those dealing with significant sales volumes on Amazon.
In addition to the base cost, there are several fees to be added. The first is the Referral fee, a fee to be paid to Amazon, which consists of a fixed part per item purchased (usually €0.30, or free) and a variable part by category: from 7.21% of home appliances and electronics to 46.35% of accessories for Amazon devices.
There is also an additional and optional service, which can simplify and speed up the service: Amazon logistics. If you decide to take advantage of it, Amazon will take care of storage, packaging, and shipping. This adds two items of expenditure that must be subtracted from the total cost: monthly storage fee and shipping fee.
Finally, there is VAT , which can vary according to country’s tax regulations.
Amazon has made available a free online tool to simulate costs and fees of online sales.
How to Create an Amazon Seller Central Account
The first step is of course the registration on Amazon Seller Central through the subscription link. Before you begin, you need to orgsanise because you will be asked for specific information during the flow:
- Business mailing address or Amazon customer account;
- Credit card to charge (international cards are also accepted);
- Passport or valid ID;
- Company registration details, including VAT number.
Amazon Seller Central can also be accessed via the mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS.
How to start listing products
Once you’ve registered and set up your Amazon Seller Central account, it’s time to list your first products.
You can arrange an existing listing, if another seller is already selling the same product on Amazon, or you can create a new listing, if you’re the first or the only seller for that product. If you have a professional account, you can upload large amounts of offers by uploading the feed,
For each product for sale, it must have the following information:
- SKU
- Amazon’s Product ID;
- Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), such as a UPC, ISBN, or EAN number;
- Product title;
- Product description and bullet points;
- Product images;
- Relevant search terms and keywords.
Happy selling!
