Beginner's Guide to Selling on Amazon

Intro

Welcome to sell on Amazon

It’s no secret: At Amazon, the focus is on the customer. They want a trusted place to buy a variety of different goods. That’s why selling partners like you are so important. At Amazon, we’re always looking for ways to add value to our customers and be the world’s most customer-friendly company. As a seller on Amazon, you help provide these customers with better choices, better prices, and a superior experience.

The Amazon Advantage

When you sell on Amazon, you become part of a retail environment where you can find all kinds of sellers, from Fortune 500 companies to artisans making handcrafted goods. They all sell here for one reason: they can reach hundreds of millions of customers who visit Amazon to shop. More than half of the products sold on Amazon worldwide come from our selling partners.

Third-party sales account for about 60% of physical product sales on Amazon. These are growing faster than Amazon’s own retail sales.

More than 200,000 entrepreneurs worldwide made over $100,000 in sales in our shops in 2019.

Before you start selling

Choose your tariff

Amazon gives you the flexibility to sell one or thousands of items using the Individual or Professional selling plans. You can think of these as standard or premium plans. Before you start registering, decide which plan best suits your business.

On the Individual selling plan, you pay €0.99 per item sold, while on the Professional selling plan, sellers pay €39 per month, regardless of how many items they sell. If you sell more than 40 items per month, the Professional selling plan makes sense. Whichever tariff you choose, you don’t have to worry about making the wrong choice, because you can switch tariffs at any time. Note that in both cases there are additional selling fees for the flat rates.

plans

Selling rate for individual providers

Selling plan Professional

selection criteria

You sell fewer than 40 items per month
You don’t need advanced sales tools or additional programs
Not sure what you want to sell yet

You sell more than 40 items per month
They want access to APIs and more sales reports
You want to sell using programs like Launchpad or Handmade

What you need to get started

To complete your registration, make sure you have the following to hand:

Business email address or Amazon customer account
Debitable credit card (international cards are also accepted)
Valid passport or ID card. Identity verification protects selling partners and customers
Company registration details, including VAT number

How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?

There are different selling fees that you pay depending on the selling plan and the type of products you are selling.

Subscription Fees

These are the fees you pay for your selling plan. They vary depending on the selected tariff.

With the Professional selling plan, there is a flat fee of €39 per month, but no selling fee per item.
With the single seller sales plan, a fee of €0.99 per item sold applies.

Selling Fees

These fees are calculated per item sold and include referral fees (which are a percentage of the sale price depending on the product category) and variable closing fees (applicable to media categories only).

Shipping fees

If you ship orders yourself, Amazon shipping costs will apply. We calculate these shipping costs based on the product category and the shipping method chosen by the buyer.

Fulfillment by Amazon Fees

Products that Amazon ships for you (also known as Fulfilled by Amazon) incur fees for shipping, storage, and optional services.

Meet Seller Central

What is Seller Central?

Once you have registered as a seller on Amazon, you will be granted access to your Seller Central account. Think of Seller Central as your one-stop shop for selling on Amazon. It’s a portal to your Amazon business and a one-stop shop for managing your seller account, adding product information, updating inventory, processing payments, and finding helpful content to help you navigate your Help Amazon business. This is also where you create offers for your products.

Below are some of the features you can apply in Seller Central.

Use the Inventory tab to keep track of your inventory and update your listings
Download custom stats and reports and mark templates you use often
Use customer analytics tools to monitor your seller performance
Contact Selling Partner Services and create a case log ticket
Keep track of your daily sales for all products you sell on Amazon

Compliance with sales tax requirements

Information on sales tax requirements

Depending on the nature of your business, you may be subject to VAT in European countries according to the applicable regulations. The VAT liability depends on several factors, such as the location of your branch, the shipping model and your annual turnover. Being aware of various sales tax requirements and knowing how to comply with them helps ensure a smooth Amazon selling experience.

How to offer products

Offer the first product

To sell a product on Amazon, you must first create a product listing. You can either use an existing listing (if someone is already selling the same product on Amazon) or create a new listing (if you’re the first or only seller).

The way sellers upload and list their products depends on the selling plan. Simply put, sellers using a Professional selling plan seller account have the option to bulk upload their products or manage inventory using third-party systems, while sellers using a Retail selling plan seller account record their product listings one at a time.

What you need to offer products

In most cases, products must have a GTIN number (Global Trade Item Number), e.g. B. UPC, ISBN or EAN. Amazon uses these product identifiers to accurately identify the item being sold. If you’re using an existing offer, you don’t need to provide a product identifier because it already exists. If you’re adding a product that’s new to Amazon, you may need to purchase a UPC code or apply for an exemption.

In addition to the product identifier, here are other important pieces of information for each product offering:

SKU
product title
Product description and bullet points
product images
Relevant search terms

Successful offer = successful start

Following best practices for creating offers can have a significant impact on their success. Make it easier for buyers to find your listings by adding descriptive titles, unique images, and meaningful product attributes to your listings. Avoid things that could negatively impact your market entry:

Problems with variants

Products that differ solely by color, scent, or size may be a good fit for listings with variants. Ask yourself whether the customer would expect to find the products together on the same page. If this is not the case, then offer the products separately.

Compliance with image requirements

Images must be at least 500 x 500 pixels (increase size to 1000 x 1000 for high-value listings) and have an all-white background. The product should occupy at least 80% of the total image area.

product identifiers

Make sure you meet product UPC and GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) requirements. The consistency of these codes helps increase confidence in the range of products in the Amazon catalogue.

The product detail page

On a product detail page, customers are viewing a product that is sold on Amazon. If you’ve shopped on Amazon before, then you’re probably familiar with the product detail page. This is where customers can find all the relevant information about a specific item.

When multiple sellers are listing the same product, Amazon combines data from all listings into one product detail page (so we can offer customers the best possible experience). You can work with other sellers and manufacturers to suggest product information for a product detail page and request a review of the detail page if you think the information is inaccurate.

As you build your product detail pages, think about what will best help customers find your products, get their questions answered, and make a purchasing decision. Deliver a superior customer experience by making your offers meaningful, accurate, and easy to understand.

1.Title

Max. 200 characters, the first letter of each word must be capitalized

2.Pictures

500 x 500 or 1,000 x 1,000 pixels to increase the quality of the offer

3.Variants

For example, different colors, scents or sizes

4.Product Features (Bullet Points)

Short, meaningful sentences that highlight key features and benefits

5.Highlighted offer (“shopping cart field”)

The featured offer on a detail page. Customers can add products to their cart or “buy now”

6.Other Offers

The same product is offered by multiple sellers, but at different prices, shipping methods, etc.

7.Description

Keywords improve the chances that users will find your offer

One account for all of Europe

Amazon has unified its European online marketplaces so you can sell your products, create and manage listings and control your inventory across the EU – all from a single European seller account.

Sell across Europe

Sell across borders and reach millions of customers across Europe, via amazon.de, amazon.co.uk, amazon.fr, amazon.it and amazon.es Learn

VAT tools and resources

Each country in the EU has its own VAT laws; Amazon’s VAT support services help you navigate VAT issues easily and efficiently – at no cost for the first year.

translation services

Build stronger customer relationships by speaking your customers’ language. Use Amazon’s translation services to translate product listings and information.

How to ship products

Choosing the right shipping option

Sellers on Amazon have two options for delivering goods to buyers: they can take care of it themselves, managing their own inventory and shipping products to customers (Merchant Fulfillment), or Amazon can take responsibility for the packaging, labeling, and shipping of products via Fulfillment by Amazon. Each method has its own benefits – you just need to decide which one works best for your business.

The advantages of Fulfillment by Amazon

Amazon maintains more than 175 logistics centers worldwide, which have more than 150 million square meters of storage space. FBA allows you to store the goods on these shelves. In addition, you benefit from first-class customer service and goods returns through Amazon as well as other advantages (e.g. automatic Prime eligibility and free shipping from 20 EUR) with which you can quickly scale your business.

Shipping of your products throughout Europe

Fulfillment by Amazon is the ultimate solution to build and expand your brand identity internationally. Start selling in Europe in the countries you plan to expand to and Amazon will stock and distribute your products based on expected customer demand – at no extra cost .
If you sell with Fulfillment by Amazon in Europe, you can save up to 53% and increase your sales by up to 30%. In addition, you benefit from faster delivery by Amazon and the Prime logo.

This is how Fulfillment by Amazon works

Step 1

Submit your inventory to Amazon. There it is scanned and can then be offered for sale.

step 2

With every order, Amazon packs the product and ships it directly to the customer.

step 3

Amazon collects the payment from the customer and pays you the available balance every two weeks.

step 4

Amazon’s customer service team handles questions, returns, and refunds.

Send orders yourself

Merchant Fulfillment simply means that you store the products yourself and ship them directly to customers. Amazon calculates shipping costs based on the product category and the shipping method chosen by the customer, and then passes the amount on to you in the form of a shipping credit note.

Shipping charges apply to all products sold in the Single Vendor plan. Therefore, it is important that you can continue to set profitable prices for items. With the Buy Shipping feature, you can get great deals on shipping labels, ship and confirm your orders, and track your shipments with Amazon’s trusted network of shipping partners.

Prime by Seller allows you to ship Prime branded products directly from your own warehouse. Prime customers can thus benefit from free express shipping. This not only increases your level of awareness, but also demonstrably increases customer trust, which can lead to higher sales figures.

You have sold your first product. What’s next?

Manage Amazon Business

Your first sale is a big milestone, but it’s just the beginning of your growth opportunities when selling on Amazon. Once your shop is set up, there are a few key points to consider.

Seller Performance Statistics (And Why They Matter)

Sellers on Amazon work to a high standard, allowing us to provide a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience. We’re extremely customer-centric, and as a seller on Amazon, that means keeping an eye on these key metrics:

Order Defect Rate (a measure of a seller’s customer service standards): <1%
Preshipment cancellation rate (initiated by seller prior to shipment): <2.5%
Late shipment rate (orders shipped after expected date): < 4%

Seller Central is a place where you can keep track of your seller performance and make sure you’re hitting your goals.

Opportunities for growth for your company

This is just the beginning

Once you start selling on Amazon, you can start growing your business on Amazon. Once you’ve started your business, Amazon offers tools to help you take your business to the next level (or levels).

advertising

Amazon’s advertising capabilities enable you to reach and engage shoppers in new ways, whether they’re just starting to compare products or are already ready to buy. The ads appear exactly where customers see them best (e.g. on the first page of search results or on product detail pages).

There are three different advertising options on Amazon, all accessible through Seller Central.

Sponsored Products

Sponsored Products are advertisements for individual product offers on Amazon and thus help to increase the visibility (and sales) of products. They appear on search results pages and product detail pages.

Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands present your brand and your product portfolio. These are search result ads that include your brand logo, a custom headline, and up to three of your products.

3. Amazon stores

Stores are multi-page custom retail locations for individual brands that allow you to share your brand story and product offerings (And you don’t need any website experience to use them.)

Promotions and Coupons

Customers want to save and promotions provide an incentive to make a purchase immediately. There are three types of promotions: discounts, free shipping, and a free product with the purchase of a product. You can also offer percentage discounts or price reductions with digital coupons.

Expand worldwide

Selling globally is a major milestone for any business. It brings with it hundreds of millions of new customers and offers potential for a significant increase in sales. Global expansion involves many changeable components, but with Sell Globally with Amazon, you leverage Amazon’s global infrastructure to bring your products to a global audience.

When it’s time to grow your business, you can use Global Selling with Amazon to list and sell your products on any of our online stores in North America, Europe and Asia.

The checklist for your growth

Speed is of the essence in the business world. For Amazon Selling Partners, the first 90 days are particularly important to establish marketing, shipping, pricing, and other business processes to generate revenue quickly after launch. Amazon data scientists describe using five selling programs — Brand Registration, A+ Product Descriptions, Fulfilled by Amazon, Automated Pricing, and Advertising — within that first 90 days as a “perfect start.” Affiliates who take these five steps within this critical time frame can generate revenue faster, as the examples of many of the most successful affiliates have already shown.

. Ready to follow their example? Just follow the manual:

. Register your trademark at Trademark Registry.

. Optimize your product detail pages with A+ product descriptions

. Set up Fulfillment by Amazon.

. Automate the pricing of your offers.

. Create promotional campaigns for Sponsored Products, Coupons and/or Offers.

The first 90 days

The first three months of starting your business with Amazon are critical to establishing methods that will improve your seller performance going forward.