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How to Sell on Amazon – a Step by Step Guide
How to sell on Amazon and make money? This world's largest e-commerce platform offers new opportunities and helps in conquering the global markets. However, the requirements for sellers on Amazon are quite high, which makes selling on the platform quite complicated. Check out what to keep in mind when starting selling on Amazon!
How to sell on Amazon: get to know new possibilities
Amazon’s platform is the undisputed leader in online sales with global reach amounting to over 5.2 billion visits monthly and estimated generated annual sales of over $450 billion. In total, Amazon consists of 18 local marketplaces, which you can use simultaneously. The dedicated platform for the Polish market has also been available since 2021. So how can we sell on Amazon?
What does selling on Amazon look like?
Amazon offers more opportunities than platforms such as eBay or Allegro, is growing faster, and evokes positive associations with customers. Therefore, the question is not “is it worth selling there?” but rather “how to sell there?” After all, selling on Amazon is not the easiest thing to do!
Selling on Amazon – Advantages
Enhancing sales potential and expanding the distribution network.
Benefiting from the established, world-renowned Amazon brand, which is itself associated with quality and high customer service.
Ability to reach customers from all over the world.
Payment transactions are safe for the seller
Ability to use multiple tools for advertising, sales and logistics.
The ability to use Amazon’s logistics centres and benefit from their customer service
The first step is of course to set up your account. What are requirements to sell on Amazon?
Who can register as a seller?
Only people who run a business can sell on Amazon. These can be owners of sole proprietorship, limited liability companies, or civil partnerships. Private individuals cannot sell on Amazon.
You can run your business in Poland or abroad. Everyone can become a Seller!
You do not have to run a company with long history and experience. Also new entrepreneurs can join the platform.
Registration and plan selection
Company e-mail address or Amazon customer account.
Please attach a photo of ID cards of all beneficial owners having 25% or more participation in the company. The photo must be clear, cannot be cropped, and must not reflect the camera flash.
Company registration details, including the VAT number (court extract from National Court Register /KRS/ or Central Register of Entrepreneurs /CEIDG/).
Proof of domicile – bank statement with the bank’s logo and address visible, as well as the full name of the business/company, its address and account number.
Company credit card number (international cards are accepted, debit cards cannot be used!).
The account number where the funds will be credited. Ideally, this should be a foreign bank account held in EUR – thanks to this, you can avoid currency conversion.
Often you need to be patient – Amazon may lock your account when it is unable to verify your documents.
Problems most often relate to:
an incorrect photo of the ID card,
incorrect documents uploaded,
incomplete information on all beneficial owners,
inconsistency of uploaded data.
Settlement of Amazon sales
Once the account has been verified, you will need to provide all your billing information. The seller’s VAT number must be uploaded in order for Amazon to determine how to account for tax on the products sold.
The VAT-OSS procedure is helpful for sales in the FBM model. With this procedure, you will only need to register for VAT in the country from which the goods are being shipped. This greatly simplifies the filing of returns and the making of payments – everything is done in one office.
Read more on VAT OSS.
How to sell on Amazon – A step by step guide
Step 1: Selection of Amazon sales model
Once you have set up and correctly verified your account, you can move on to conduct sales.
One of the first issues to consider is the choice of sales plan. Sellers can choose between an individual and a professional plan.
By choosing the individual plan, the seller does not pay a subscription fee, but in this plan, only 40 products can be displayed and there is no access to marketing tools. Additionally, Amazon charges PLN 4 / EUR 0.99 / GBP 0.75 for each product sold, depending on the marketplace.
The professional plan allows the seller to sell an unlimited number of products, with no fixed fee per item (in addition to commission), and costs PLN 165.91 / EUR 39 or GBP 25 per month. The seller is granted full access to marketing and advertising tools that significantly improve product visibility and, consequently, sales results.
Step 2:Selection of logistics model – Amazon FBA and FBM
A significant issue is the choice of the logistics model in which the seller will offer its products. This decision should be made before the listing is implemented.
The choices are Amazon FBA – Fullfilment by Amazon and FBM – Fullfilment by Merchant.
The sales model can be changed at any time by switching from FBM to FBA and vice versa. It is also possible to use a mixed model, i.e. place some products in Amazon’s logistics centres and ship some products from your own warehouse.
Interesting fact: Products sold through the FBA program are labelled Prime. The “Prime” filter is the most frequently used filter on the German marketplace on Amazon.
Read more on Amazon logistics models – FBA and FBM.
Fees in the FBA model can sometimes be high, but this depends greatly on the product being sold. Do you wonder what the FBA costs are going to be in case of your company?
Contact us, and we will help you to calculate which option is more profitable in your case!
Step 3: Preparation of images and listings
Every product must have images and a description that meet certain requirements. Amazon is committed to delivering quality and clear communication of information to the customer, and among the requirements are:
the main image should have a clean, white background;
all product features must be clearly visible in the image;
images should be 1000 or more pixels high or wide;
there is a ban on adding text and logos to the main image;
the product must occupy at least 85% of the frame on the longest side dimension;
images must not show other colour or size options available
the products sold must come from a legitimate source;
the products must have EAN codes to identify them (exceptions are possible in some cases);
descriptions and pictures must be truthful and meet official, strict guidelines;
reviews must be genuine – it is forbidden to buy them;
certain types of products are prohibited;
each individual category has requirements and restrictions that must be strictly obeyed;
careful monitoring is needed to make sure that goods are shipped and delivered on time;
customer messages should be answered within 24 hours of receipt.
Is it Possible to sell on Amazon without having a business?
Can a private individual sell on Amazon?
Unfortunately, natural persons cannot sell on Amazon.
Can you sell on Amazon from Poland?
In theory yes – as from any other European country. We are obliged, among other things, to register for VAT in each of the countries in which we want to sell. In addition, it will be necessary to have a barcode for each product.
It is worth remembering that by selling from Poland, we are not able to deliver goods in a short period of time. Due to this, we are losing a lot of orders to sellers from e.g. Germany. However, you can try to have shorter shipping times available. Not sure how to do this? Contact us >>See webinar with CEO Gonito: Damian Wiszowaty, who talks about how to sell on Amazon / Amazon sales
Conclusions
Despite the numerous requirements, selling on Amazon is very profitable. It is the largest e- commerce platform in the world and has helped to develop thousands of businesses on a global scale. Amazon is associated with high quality, a solid approach to customer service, and fast order fulfilment.
Do you want to start selling on Amazon? We can help you with this – contact us and start selling with professional support!
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