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The Beginner’s Guide to Selling on Amazon
A few things to consider before you start selling. Prefer electronic reading?
€39 (excl. VAT) per month + referral fees
More than €47,250 in benefits reserved for new brands!
Launch on Amazon today and benefit from various incentives to help you get started, including a 10% bonus on your first €45,000 in branded sales, followed by a 5% bonus through the first year until you reach €900,000, which is a bonus value of up to €47,250!*
*Incentives for new sellers are subject to the applicable terms and conditions. Visit Seller Central for more details.
Intro
Become an Amazon Seller
It's no secret: at Amazon, customers are our utmost priority. And our customers want a trusted source where they can purchase a wide variety of goods. This is what makes sellers like you so important. We’re always looking for new ways to add value for our customers and be the most customer experience-focused company in the world. As an Amazon selling partner, you take part in offering customers a better selection, better prices, and a leading customer experience.
Hundreds of millions of active customer accounts worldwide
195 million unique visitors per month (in the U.S. alone)
Selling partners made over $1.9 billion in sales during Prime Day 2021
(source: https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/prime-day-delivered-two-biggest-days-ever-small-medium-sized)
Amazon benefits
When you start selling on Amazon, you become part of a sales platform that’s home to all sizes of sellers, from artisans to Fortune 500 organisations. Why do they all sell on Amazon? To reach the hundreds of millions of customers who visit Amazon to shop.
- Third-party sales account for around 60% of physical product sales on Amazon, and those sales are growing faster than Amazon’s own retail sales.
- More than 200,000 entrepreneurs worldwide surpassed $100,000 in sales in our stores in 2019.
FAQs:
Is Amazon right for my business?
The short answer is: yes. The largest household brands sell on Amazon. And so do emerging brands that will pop up on your radar soon. Small and medium-sized businesses thrive here, and they account for more than half the units sold in our stores worldwide. Whatever your business - and whatever size it is - we’re excited about you growing with us. Find your fit and start selling today.
Before you start selling
Choose your plan
Amazon offers you the flexibility to sell one type of item or to sell thousands, through Individual or Professional plans respectively (think of them as standard or premium plans). Before you start registration, decide which plan best fits your business.
The Individual plan costs €0.99 per item sold, while sellers using the Professional plan pay €39 per month, no matter how many items they sell. If you sell more than 40 items per month, the Professional plan makes more sense. Whichever plan you choose, don’t worry about making the wrong choice as you can change at any time. Note that, in both cases, additional referral fees apply to the flat rates.
The Individual plan costs €0.99 per item sold, while sellers using the Professional plan pay €39 per month, no matter how many items they sell. If you sell more than 40 items per month, the Professional plan makes more sense. Whichever plan you choose, don’t worry about making the wrong choice as you can change at any time. Note that, in both cases, additional referral fees apply to the flat rates.
Plans
Individual
Professional
This plan might be right for you if:
- You sell fewer than 40 items a month
- You don't need advanced selling tools or programmes
- You’re still deciding what to sell
- You sell more than 40 items a month
- You want access to APIs and other selling reports
- You want to sell using programmes
like Handmade
Did you know:
Tools for brand owners
If you own a brand, Amazon offers tools to help you build, grow, and protect it. Enrolling in Brand Registry can help you personalise your brand and product pages, protect your trademarks and intellectual property, and improve the brand experience for customers - along with unlocking additional advertising options and recommendations on improving traffic and conversion.
What you’ll need to get started
In order to complete your registration, please ensure you have the following:
- Business email address or Amazon customer account
- Chargeable credit card (international cards are also accepted)
- Valid passport or ID. Identity verification protects sellers and customers
- Company registration details, including VAT number.
FAQs:
What is a VAT number and why do I need to get one?
If you sell goods in any EU country, it’s likely you may be required to register for Value Added Tax (VAT) in each country you sell in. VAT is a tax that VAT-registered traders in the EU add to the price of the goods they sell, and pass on to the national tax authorities when they file their tax returns. You may be able to claim back a portion of your VAT.
How much does it cost to sell on amazon?
There are a few different types of referral fees you might pay, depending on your selling plan and the types of products you sell.
Subscription fees
These are the fees you pay for your selling plan, and they vary depending on which plan you select.
- On the Professional selling plan there’s a flat fee of €39 per month and no per-item fees.
- On the Individual selling plan, there’s a €0.99 fee for each item sold.
Referral fees
These fees are charged per item sold, and they include referral fees (which are a percentage of the selling price and vary depending on the product’s category), and variable closing fees (which apply only to media categories).
Fulfilment fees
When you fulfil orders yourself, Amazon shipping rates apply. We charge these shipping rates based on the product category and shipping service selected by the buyer.
FBA Fees
For products that Amazon fulfils for you (known as Fulfilment by Amazon, or FBA), there are fees for order fulfilment, storage, and optional services.
Get to know Seller Central
What is Seller Central?
Once you register as an Amazon seller, you’ll have access to your Seller Central account. Think of Seller Central as your go-to resource for selling on Amazon. It’s a dashboard for managing your seller account, adding product information, updating inventory, managing payments, and finding useful content to help you grow your Amazon business. It’s also where you list all of your products.
Below are a just few of the things you can do from Seller Central.
- Keep track of your inventory and update your listings from the Inventory tab
- Download custom business reports and bookmark templates that you often use
- Use customer metrics tools to monitor your seller performance
- Contact Seller Support and open help tickets using the Case Log
- Keep track of your daily sales for all of the products you sell on Amazon
Use the mobile app
Use the Amazon Seller App to track sales, fulfil orders, find products to sell, respond to customer questions, capture and edit professional-quality product photos, and create listings from your phone.
VAT compliance
Understanding your VAT requirements
Depending on the nature of your business, you will be required to register for VAT numbers in a European country as per the regulations. This depends on multiple factors, some of which are country of establishment, fulfilment model, and your annual sales. Understanding the various VAT requirements, and knowing how to comply with them, will contribute to a seamless selling experience on Amazon.
How to list products
Listing your first product
To sell a product on Amazon, you must first create a product listing. Either match an existing listing (if somebody else is already selling the same product on Amazon), or create a new listing (if you are the first or only seller).
The specific way sellers upload and list their products varies depending on their selling plan. To put it simply: sellers using a Professional seller account have the option of listing their products in large batches using bulk uploading or inventory management with third-party systems, while Individual sellers list products one at a time.
The specific way sellers upload and list their products varies depending on their selling plan. To put it simply: sellers using a Professional seller account have the option of listing their products in large batches using bulk uploading or inventory management with third-party systems, while Individual sellers list products one at a time.
Did you know:
Sell to both B2B and B2C customers with one account
Once you successfully list your product, it will become available to both B2C and B2B customers. This enables you to extend the scope of your offers from a single account
without any additional fees.
without any additional fees.
What you need to start listing products
In most cases, products must have a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), such as a UPC, an ISBN, or an EAN. Amazon uses these product IDs to identify the exact item you’re selling. If you match a listing, you won’t need to provide a product ID since it already exists. If you’re adding a product that’s new to Amazon, you may need to purchase a UPC code or request an exemption.
In addition to a product ID, here’s some of the important information that goes into each product listing:
- SKU
- Product title
- Product description and bullet points
- Product images
- Search terms and relevant keywords
FAQs:
What are restricted product categories?
It's important that customers are able to shop with confidence on Amazon, which is why some product categories (like certain grocery or automotive products) are known as “restricted product categories”. Amazon might require performance checks, additional fees, and other qualifications in order for you to sell certain brands or list items within restricted categories. You’ll be able to request approval from within Seller Central.
Successful listing = successful launch
Adopting best practices for adding listings can have a big impact on their success. Make it easy for shoppers to find your listings by adding descriptive titles, clear images, and concise feature bullets to your items. Avoid things that could negatively impact your launch:
Variation issues
Products that vary only by colour, scent, or size might be a good candidate for listing as variations. Ask yourself if the customer would expect to find the products together on the same page. If not, list them separately.
Image compliance
Your images must be at least 500 x 500 pixels (increase the size to 1000 x 1000 for high-quality listings) and set against a plain white background. The product should fill at least 80% of the image area.
Product IDs
Make sure you’re meeting the requirements for product UPCs and GTINs (Global Trade Item Number). Consistency in these codes helps promote confidence in the range of products shown in the Amazon catalogue.
Don't have an Amazon seller account yet?
€39 (excl. VAT) per month + referral fees
The product detail page
A product detail page is where customers view a product sold on Amazon. If you’ve shopped on Amazon before, you’ll probably recognise the product detail page. It’s where customers can find all the relevant information about a particular item.
When multiple sellers offer the same product, Amazon combines data from all the offers into one product detail page (so we can present customers with the best experience). You can propose product information on a product detail page, along with other sellers and manufacturers, and request detail page reviews if you don’t think that the information is correct.
As you’re building your product detail pages, try to think about what will best help customers find your products, discover answers to their questions, and make a purchasing decision. Aim for the ultimate customer experience by making your listings concise, accurate, and easy to understand.
When multiple sellers offer the same product, Amazon combines data from all the offers into one product detail page (so we can present customers with the best experience). You can propose product information on a product detail page, along with other sellers and manufacturers, and request detail page reviews if you don’t think that the information is correct.
As you’re building your product detail pages, try to think about what will best help customers find your products, discover answers to their questions, and make a purchasing decision. Aim for the ultimate customer experience by making your listings concise, accurate, and easy to understand.
1.
Heading
200 characters max., capitalise the first letter of every word
2.
Images
500 x 500 or 1000 x 1000 pixels to improve listing quality
3.
Variations
Such as different colours, scents, or sizes
4.
Bullet points
Short, descriptive sentences highlighting key features and benefits
5.
Featured Listing ("Buy Box")
The Featured Listing on a detail page. Customers can add the item to their cart or “Buy Now”
6.
Other offers
The same product sold by multiple sellers offering a different price, shipping options, etc.
7.
Description
Keywords improve the chances that people will find your listing
One account for the whole of Europe
Amazon has unified its online European marketplaces, so you can sell, create and manage your product offers and control your inventory throughout the EU, all from one European seller account.
Sell across Europe
Take your business beyond borders and reach millions of customers all across Europe, through amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.it and amazon.es
Learn more
Learn more
VAT tools and resources
Each country in the EU has its own VAT laws; Amazon’s VAT support services help you navigate VAT easily and efficiently – and at no cost for the first year.
Learn more in our VAT knowledge centre
Learn more in our VAT knowledge centre
Translation services
Build stronger customer relationships by offering services to them in their own language. Use Amazon’s translation services to translate your product offers and information.
How to deliver products
Selecting the right fulfilment option
Amazon sellers have two options for delivering products to customers: you can either do it yourself, maintaining your own inventory and shipping products to customers (merchant-fulfilment), or have Amazon take responsibility for packaging, labelling, and shipping products through Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). Each method has its own set of benefits; all you have to do is decide which one is right for your business.
The benefits of Fulfilment by Amazon
Around the world, Amazon has more than 175 fulfilment centres providing over 150 million square feet of storage space. With Fulfilment by Amazon, you can store your goods on these shelves. You also get Amazon's global customer service and returns, as well as other benefits (like automatic Prime eligibility on your eligible products and free fast shipping) that allow you to scale your business quickly.
Fulfilment Across Europe
Amazon offers a range of fulfilment solutions across Europe, so you can choose the one that best suits your business. Pan-European FBA is the fastest and most popular service: Amazon stores and distributes your products from fulfilment centres in the European Union. With the European Fulfilment Network, your products are shipped from a central storage facility in their country of origin. With Multi-Country Inventory, inventory is stored and shipped from fulfilment centres located in the specified countries.
Did you know?
There are two types of FBA fee
There are two types of FBA fee: fulfilment fees (which are charged per unit sold and include picking and packing your orders, shipping and handling, customer service, and product returns), and inventory storage fees (which are charged monthly and are based on the volume of inventory being held in an Amazon fulfilment centre).
How Fulfilment by Amazon works
Step 1
Ship your inventory to Amazon. It will be scanned and made available for sale.
Step 2
With each order, Amazon packages and ships the product directly to the customer.
Step 3
Amazon collects payment from the customer and pays you the funds available every two weeks.
Step 4
Amazon’s customer service team handles any questions, returns, and refunds.
If you’re fulfilling your own orders
Merchant-fulfilled simply means you store and ship products directly to customers yourself. Amazon charges shipping rates based on the product category and shipping service selected by the customer, then passes the amount on to you in the form of shipping credit.
Set shipping rates apply to all products sold with an Individual plan, so it's important that you always price your items so that they are cost-effective for you. Amazon’s Buy Shipping tool can help you get a great deal on shipping labels with Amazon’s trusted network of shipping partners, to ship and confirm your orders, and track your shipments
Set shipping rates apply to all products sold with an Individual plan, so it's important that you always price your items so that they are cost-effective for you. Amazon’s Buy Shipping tool can help you get a great deal on shipping labels with Amazon’s trusted network of shipping partners, to ship and confirm your orders, and track your shipments
You’ve made your first sale. What next?
Managing your Amazon business
Your first sale is a big milestone—but it’s just the beginning of your growth opportunities selling on Amazon. Once your store is up and running, there are a few important things to bear in mind.
Performance metrics (and why they matter)
Amazon sellers have to meet performance targets to make sure we can provide a seamless, enjoyable shopping experience. We call it being customer-experience obsessed, and, as an Amazon seller, this means keeping an eye on these key metrics:
- Order defect rate (a measure of a seller’s customer service standards): < 1%
- Pre-fulfilment cancel rate (initiated by the seller before shipment): < 2.5%
- Late shipment rate (orders that ship after the expected date): < 4%
You can keep tabs on your performance and make sure you’re meeting your targets in Seller Central.
Customer reviews
Customer product reviews are an integral part of the shopping experience on Amazon, and they benefit both customers and sellers. Make sure you’re familiar with the right and wrong way to get more product reviews and avoid policy violations.
Amazon jargon:
Seller University
Seller University is an online resource from Amazon, with videos featuring step-by-step guides, tutorials, and training to help entrepreneurs start (and grow) their Amazon business.
Opportunities for business growth
This is only the beginning
The moment you’re selling on Amazon is the moment you can start growing your Amazon business. Once you’ve launched your business, Amazon has tools in place to help you take your business to the next level (or indeed to the next couple of levels).
Advertising
Amazon’s advertising solutions create new ways for you to reach and engage buyers, allowing them to compare products or make a purchase. Ads show up right where customers will see them (like the first page of search results or product detail pages). Amazon offers three advertising solutions, and all of them are accessible through Seller Central.
Amazon offers three advertising solutions, and all of them are accessible through Seller Central.
Amazon offers three advertising solutions, and all of them are accessible through Seller Central.
1. Sponsored products
Sponsored products are ads for individual product listings on Amazon to improve product visibility (and sales). Sponsored product ads appear on search results pages and product detail pages.
2. Sponsored brands
Sponsored brands showcase your brand and product portfolio. They’re search-result ads that feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and up to three of your products.
3. Amazon Stores
Stores are custom multi-page shopping destinations for individual brands that let you share your brand story and product listings. (And you don’t need any website experience to use them.)
Promotions and coupons
Customers want to save, and promotions are an incentive to make a purchase now. There are three types of promotion: money off, free shipping, and buy one get one free. You can also offer percentage or money-off discounts with digital coupons.
International expansion
Selling globally is a huge milestone for any business. It means hundreds of millions of new customers and the potential for a big boost in sales. Global expansion involves many elements, but with Amazon Global Selling, you can use Amazon’s global infrastructure to present your products to the whole world.
When it’s time to take your business to the next level, use Amazon Global Selling to list and sell your products in any of our online stores in North America, Europe and Asia.
When it’s time to take your business to the next level, use Amazon Global Selling to list and sell your products in any of our online stores in North America, Europe and Asia.
What makes a great seller?
A checklist for growth
Speed matters in business. For Amazon selling partners, the first 90 days are especially critical for establishing best practice in marketing, order management, and even pricing, to accelerate performance after launching. “Perfect Launch” is what Amazon experts call the use of five selling programmes—Brand Registry, A+ Content, Fulfilment by Amazon, Automated Pricing, and Advertising—within those first 90 days. Selling partners taking these five steps within that crucial time frame can generate sales more quickly, as many of the most successful selling partners already have.
Ready to join them? The playbook is simple:
Ready to join them? The playbook is simple:
Enrol your brand in Brand Registry
Enhance your product detail pages with A+ Content
Get set up with Fulfilment by Amazon
Automate pricing on your listings
Create sponsored products ad campaigns, coupons, and/or deals
Your first 90 days
The first three months after you launch your Amazon business are an important time for establishing practices that will boost your performance moving forward.
€39 (excl. VAT) per month + referral fees
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