Many people plan to sell products on Amazon but have no idea how to do it. If you’re one of these guys, don’t worry at all. Amazon has made it a lot easier for people to set up their accounts and start selling anything they want.
Although the process is pretty simple, it involves a long series of steps. These steps are designed to make sure people create the right type of account and start selling in a proper way.
That’s what this article is all going to be about. In this guide, I am going to discuss how to start selling on Amazon in a detailed manner.
📊 Important Amazon Selling Statistics:
1. There are around 9.7 million sellers on Amazon who are selling different kind of products
2. More than 4.5 billion products and an average 8600 every minute products are sold only by the US sellers on Amazon.
3. Around 60% of the Amazon’s total retail sales come from third-party sellers of different SMBs owners.
4. 58% of the new Amazon sellers become profitable within the first year of their selling.
What is Amazon Seller Central?
Amazon Seller Central is an online platform offered by Amazon where people create an account and sell their products.
It’s just like a marketplace where people create virtual shops and list any product that they want to sell. These products are then showcased to the people who visit Amazon to purchase.
People can directly order products, and these products will be delivered to them. As a seller, you can manage different factors of your online business, including:
- Product listing
- Orders
- Inventory
- Payments
- Customer engagement
What is Amazon?
Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce platforms that sells its products and services in around 22 countries worldwide and has also allowed sellers to sell their products.
The working mechanism of Amazon is very simple. Individual brands and businesses create an account on this website and list all of their products with proper descriptions and details.
People from around the world access the site, search for the product, and then order it online. Then, Amazon ships the product to the person’s home, and you get the money.
Complete Steps to Start Selling On Amazon
If you want to successfully start selling on Amazon, you have to follow a series of steps. I have detailed down these steps for your ease.
1. Do Market Research
First of all, select what you are going to sell on Amazon. You can sell different types of products, such as electronics, home goods, business products, etc. It’s important that you have a clear idea of what to sell especially about your niche since it will streamline the rest of the process.
For this purpose, you need to conduct a comprehensive market research. There are different factors that you need to focus on in order to do that. However, the most important ones are:
i) Validate Your Product Idea:
Validating your product idea means understanding its demand. It involves researching whether or not people are actually searching for it on Amazon. While validating the product idea, you should understand,
- Understand how many products are being sold in this category on a monthly basis.
- Whether or not the product solves a problem for consumers.
ii) Avoid Restricted or Saturated Categories:
Another important thing to focus on while researching products is avoiding restricted or saturated categories. There are different types of products that require a special type of approval from Amazon.
2. Choose the Right Amazon Selling Plan
Another important step that you need to focus on here is picking the right type of Amazon selling plan. Amazon offers two different types of selling plans.
- Individual Plan
- Professional Plan
As the names indicate, these plans are curated for individual sellers and professional businesses. To help you understand it better, I’m going to describe these plans below:
| Features | Individual Plan | Professional Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $0.99 | $39.99 |
| Charging method | Per sale | Per month |
| Description | The plan charges you $0.99 for every sale you make. | The plan charges $39.99 every month, regardless of how many sales you make. |
| Best For | People who make a few (calculated) sales. | People who have to make a lot of sales. |
Important Tip
Please keep in mind that the fees for the Professional Plan are charged per month and not per sale. It means you can make unlimited sales without paying a percentage in this plan.
3. Select a Business Model
Now, it’s time to select a business model. Amazon allows people to sell via different business models, and each has its own specifications and requirements. The major models are:
- Private Label
- Retail Arbitrage
- Wholesale
- Dropshipping
- Handmade
I have explained these models in a simple way in the table for your ease of understanding.
| Model | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Private Label | Sell products of your own brand. | Sourcing a manufacturer, registering a brand, and packaging. |
| Retail Arbitrage | Buy discounted products and resell on Amazon | Proper product-hunting |
| Wholesale | Buying in bulk and selling products to individual customers. | Business license, wholesale account, and upfront capital |
| Dropshipping | Selling products that you don’t stock and are shipped directly from the supplier. | Reliable supplier, fast delivery |
| Handmade | Selling handcrafted products | Crafting skills, handmade seller application |
4. Create a Business Plan
A business plan is important if you want to start selling on Amazon successfully. It will act like a complete roadmap to follow in order to reach the end goal.
The main goal, of course, is to sell more products. However, the plan will include many other things that you have to follow in order to hit this goal. Some of the main ones include:
- Creating a proper business budget.
- Products do you want to sell in a month.
- A proper analysis of your target audience.
- Creating marketing strategies for business promotion.
5. Create a Amazon Seller Account
After the basic roadmaps to your new business now its time to create an Amazon Seller account. It is the main step since that’s where all the action happens. Here, you get to control all of your business operations, like product listings, management, and payments.
Essential Things You Need Before You Start:
✅A valid government-issued ID, Passport or License.
✅An active account for payments.
✅Credit or debit card for verification and billing.
✅Tax-related information, such as SSN.
✅Phone number, business or personal email address.
i) Creating The Account:
Creating Amazon Seller account is an easy process, however it may be lengthy for you. But these steps below are here to make it more easier and speedy.
- First of all, go to the Amazon Seller Center page.
- Now, click on “Sign Up”.
- Select “Create Your Amazon Account”.
- Enter the required information, such as your full name and email address.
- Enter the verification code.
- Now, enter your mobile phone number.
- Once done, follow the rest of the procedure to set up the account.
- The platform will ask for different types of documents, such as government-issued ID, for verification.
- Now, pick a subscription plan (Individual or Professional).
- Amazon will take a while to approve your account, and then you can follow further steps.
6. Finding Winning Products
Before we move on to the next steps, let’s clarify how you can find winning products. As you have already picked about your niche now its time to find winning products with low competition, and a decent profit margin.
In the next part, I have mentioned some steps to help you find some winning products.
- Use different tools and software such as Helium 10, Jungle Scout, and AMZScout.
- Make sure to go for products that offer at least 30% to 40% profit margin.
- Use Google Trends to see whether your shortlisted products have a constant demand over time.
- Use different product research strategies, such as browsing Amazon’s Best Sellers, Movers & Shakers pages, etc.
7. Sourcing Products
Sourcing your products is another important point to be considered, and it’s actually very simple. I’ve given the details of how products are sourced according to your business model type below:
- Handmade: You’ll be handcrafting items on your own.
- Private Label: In this model, you’ll be manufacturing your own products.
- Wholesale: Different online platforms, such as Alibaba, are used for purchasing products in bulk.
- Retail Arbitrage: The products are usually sourced from different stores that sell them at a discount.
- Dropshipping: The products are sourced from suppliers that ship directly to customers without requiring you to store the products.
8. Select a Fulfillment Option
A fulfillment option refers to how your product will be stored, packed, and shipped to the customer. Amazon offers two different types of fulfillment options that are:
- Amazon FBM: You will be responsible for all the storage, packaging, and shipping of the product.
- Amazon FBA: You send products to Amazon’s warehouse, and then they will be responsible for the whole process from storage to delivery.
💡Pro Tip
Go for the FBA option if you’re unable to handle the whole storage-to-delivery process since it will save you both money and time.
9. List Your Products
Listing your products on Amazon is another important point that you need to focus on in order to start selling on Amazon successfully. Product listings showcase your product, description, pricing, and other important information.
Your product descriptions should be clear and concise. Also, make it SEO-optimized so that it can rank higher. On Amazon, there are two different types of products listed.
i) Listing Existing Products:
Here’s how to list existing products:
- Search for a listed product and copy the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) from the description.
- Open your seller account and go to the “Catalog” section.
- Paste the copied ASIN in the search bar to bring up the product that you want to sell.
- Now, add key details for the product, such as pricing and fulfillment options.
- Add a custom SKU or skip the step.
- Click on “Save and Finish” to finalize the listing.
ii) Listing New Products:
For listing a new product, follow these guidelines:
- Open the seller account, go to “Catalog”, and then select “Add a Product”.
- Click on “I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon”.
- Select a relevant product category.
- Enter product information and click “Save and Finish” to finalize.
Tips to Price Your Product
👉Deeply research what pricing your competitors are using.
👉Keep in mind the Amazon fees while pricing the products to make a better profit.
👉Don’t overprice or underprice the product since both will hurt your overall profit.
👉If possible, offer discounted prices every now and then to attract more customers.
👉Keep on monitoring the market continuously to update the pricing regularly.
10. Promote Your Products:
Well, the main work has been completed. Your product is now on Amazon, and buyers are able to see and purchase it. However, if you want to reach more people – product promotion comes there to drive visibility and attract potential buyers.
There are different techniques that you can use for product promotion like:
- Amazon PPC
- Social Media Marketing
- Coupons and Discounts
Each of these techniques has its own features and benefits. You can pick any technique that is suitable for your needs and requirements.
11. Collect Reviews & Feedback
Many new sellers mainly ignore while selling on Amazon is collecting reviews and feedback. These two points are very important for building trust and credibility with potential buyers. It gives a proper overview to visitors about what type of product you’re selling.
The best, and probably the only ethical way, to collect reviews and feedback is by offering a great product and requesting buyers to leave feedback on the listing.
12. Add More Products or Go Global:
Once you’ve established a successful shop on Amazon, the next thing to do is add more product listings. Use your profit and source different types of products in order to expand your customer territory. Another thing that you can do is go global.
Going global means delivering products to international customers. It’s an amazing way to build a great business and generate huge revenue.
Important Consideration Points:
If you want to properly start selling on Amazon, there are some important consideration points that you need to be aware of. I’ve listed the most important ones below:
- If you’re not a Private Label or sell handmade products, make sure to pick a product that is in demand but has low competition.
- Make sure to stay aware of the latest Amazon rules and guidelines related to selling products.
- Picking the right type of seller plan is important to manage the budget properly.
- Be careful while picking either FBA or FBM, since it can impact your overall supply process a lot.
- When listing products, try to make them impactful and catchy in order to attract customers.
- If possible, request customers to leave an unbiased review so that you can increase product ratings.
- If you’re really serious about pumping up the sales, invest in proper advertisement and marketing campaigns.
⚠️ Don’t Make These Mistakes
❌Conducting poor market research and ending up picking the wrong product to sell.
❌Ignoring the selling rules and guidelines of Amazon and end up facing a penalty later on.
❌Picking a suitable fulfillment method and ending up wasting a lot of money.
❌Spending too much on PPC ads without a clear strategy can drain your budget.
❌Running out of stock or holding too much inventory can impact your business.
Final Summary
Bringing it all together, it is a very simple process to start selling on Amazon. Although it’s simple, the whole procedure requires creativity and care to complete.
As a seller, your first priority should be devising a proper business plan and understanding what to sell.
Then, create the seller account and put some effort into listing the products. Also, never underestimate the power of promotion and advertisement. It can boost your sales within a matter of days.
People Also Ask
1. How Much Does It Cost To Start Selling On Amazon?
The general cost of selling on this e-commerce platform depends on the account type. For the Individual Plan, you’ll be paying $0.99 per sale. On the other hand, the Professional Plan will cost you $39.99/month.
2. What Do I Need To Start Selling On Amazon?
You need to create an Amazon Seller Account in order to begin selling products here. Whether you’re creating your own products or dropshipping the products, the seller account is the basic thing you need to do it.
3. How Long Does It Take To Start Selling On Amazon?
You can start selling on Amazon within 24 to 48 hours of creating a seller account. The time you take to list products on the account can also affect the overall timing.
4. How To Start Selling On Amazon Dropshipping?
Create a seller account and pick the Professional Plan. Then, find a service that provides products for Dropshipping. List the products properly and start selling.
