The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Amazon - Chapter 1 - An Introduction to Amazon

As of January 2017, there were a staggering 398,040,250 products listed on Amazon. The top ten categories with the most number of products being as follows:

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As you can see, Amazon is one of the biggest marketplaces in the world. From electronics to home and kitchen wares, from computers to collectibles and fine art, if you’ve got something to sell, Amazon is the place to sell it.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of selling merchandise on Amazon – one of the world’s leading online marketplaces. From where to source your stock, to setting up a seller’s account, to tips and tricks to make your business not just survive but thrive, this guide is all you’ll ever need to make your Amazon business a success.

Why You Should Consider Selling On Amazon

If you’re thinking about buying wholesale from a distributor, wholesale supplier or, indeed, a liquidator, the Amazon Marketplace might well be the ideal place to sell the products you buy.

Amazon offers sellers a variety of options and seller packages designed to suit businesses both large and small. And with a customer base numbering in the millions from all corners of the globe, Amazon is brimming with opportunities for the savvy seller who follows a few simple rules. If they do, they’ll soon find they’re selling products in large volumes to a loyal customer base.

Selling On Amazon

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Selling on Amazon couldn’t be easier. There are two packages available to sellers in the United States – Individual and Professional. The individual package is free to use, simply charging a $0.99 listing fee per item, plus referral fees and close of sale fees. The Professional package is designed for sellers who sell more than forty items per month. It costs $39.99 per month, and sellers are subject to referral fees and variable close of sale fees.

Products can be placed in over twenty item categories without the seller needing specific approval from Amazon first. These individual categories are subject to their own rules. For example, some of the categories are only open to new products, whereas other categories are open to new, used and reconditioned merchandise. Other categories, such as Automotive and Powersports, Business Products and Jewelry need approval before products can be listed in their relevant categories. Other categories are only open to Professional account holders.

A full list of the categories and their restrictions can be found here.

Once you’ve chosen the right selling plan for your business, you’ll need to register with Amazon on Seller Central. Seller Central is your online interface where you’ll manage your Amazon selling account. There is another ‘Central’ option – Vendor Central. This will be explained below.

What you’ll need to register an account:

The name of your new business.
Your name, address and your registered company address (if this applies).
Contact details. You’ll need a contact detail for Amazon and, preferably, a separate one for your customers.
Your ‘Shop From’ location.
Your bank details so you can receive payments from Amazon.
A list of the regions your business will ship to. In most cases, it’s actually better to set up separate Seller Central accounts for different parts of the world, though this is not necessary.

Filling out your profile. You’ll need:

A 120x30px seller logo.
A few sentences for your ‘About Seller’ profile. This is your opportunity to sell yourself to your potential customers, so take some time to think about the sort of impression you want to make.
Your return and refund policies.

Next, you’ll want to add two-step authentication to your Seller Central account. This means that, in addition to entering a password when logging into your account, Amazon will also ask for a unique security code which it will send to you via text message, voice call or via an authenticator app. This adds an extra layer of security to your Seller Central account, and is highly recommended.

You may be tempted to skip this extra layer of security, but we suggest you don’t. For a few extra seconds a day of your time, you’ll prevent intruders getting into your Seller Central account and wreaking untold damage.

Once you’ve done all of the above, you’ll be all set up with a seller’s account on Amazon.

Getting the Most Out Of Seller Central

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It’s important that you become familiar with the Seller Central interface (pictured above) so you can make the most out of its features. As you can see, the interface is broken down into five categories – Inventory, Orders, Advertising, Reports and Performance.

Inventory – Fairly self-explanatory. A list of all the products you have available to sell on the Amazon Marketplace.
Orders – A list of all your current and past orders, including their shipping status.
Advertising – A breakdown of any current advertising campaigns you may have on the go.
Reports – Here you’ll find all manner of different reports, from sales reports to fulfillment, from returns reports to a rather handy Amazon Selling Coach.
Performance – Data showing you how your individually-listed products are performing on the Amazon Marketplace. Very useful for keeping track of what’s hot and what’s not, as it were.

You’ll want to familiarize yourself with all of Seller Central’s functions to make the most out of your Amazon Marketplace seller experience.

Of course, Seller Central doesn’t come without its own frustrations and drawbacks. Luckily, that’s where the app’s ‘Help’ section proves unbelievably useful. Located in the top right-hand corner between ‘Messages’ and ‘Settings’, clicking on the Help center will take you to a search bar where you can ask just about any question you can think of. This will open a ton of articles from Amazon’s Seller Central Help Desk that cover just about every topic imaginable. A useful addition indeed to Seller Central, and one we strongly recommend you use regularly.

Vendor Central

For large volume sellers and manufacturers, an ‘invite only’ version of Seller Central is available called ‘Vendor Central’. The main difference between a seller and a vendor is that a seller is considered a ‘third party’ seller who sells their wares through Amazon, whereas a vendor is a ‘first party’ seller who sells their goods directly to Amazon, which in turn sells them as their own products.

So, for example, Sony is a first party manufacturer that sells its electronics and entertainment products to Amazon. Amazon in turn sells those products to the public and to other businesses. Should your business grow to an appropriate size, you might be invited to become an Amazon Vendor. If so, you will deal with Amazon through Vendor Central as opposed to Seller Central.

The main differences between Seller Central and Vendor Central are as follows: