How to sell on Amazon: accounts, fees, listings and what to prepare first

How to sell on Amazon: the route from account to first order

People who ask how to sell on amazon usually expect a single form. Amazon's own seller guide describes seven stages instead: choose a selling plan and register, set up the account in Seller Central, list products, price them, choose how orders are fulfilled, promote and advertise, then grow. Each stage has its own rules, and the earlier ones decide how much work the later ones take.

This story follows that order and states each rule with the page it comes from. Amazon changes fees, requirements and tools from time to time, and the pages differ by country, so treat every figure here as a snapshot of the US pages and check the page for your own marketplace before you commit money.

Seller plans and fees as Amazon's US pages state them

Amazon's US pricing page names two plans. The Individual plan charges $0.99 for each item sold and has no monthly fee. The Professional plan costs $39.99 a month plus selling fees, and it adds tools such as bulk operations, automated pricing and access to Amazon Business and Global Selling. The arithmetic is simple: the Individual plan is cheaper only while you sell a small number of items a month.

On top of the plan comes a referral fee for every item sold. Amazon's page says you pay a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater, and most categories have a minimum of $0.30. The examples on the page show how much the rate varies by category: 8% for consumer electronics, 15% for home and kitchen, and tiers of 5%, 10% or 17% for clothing and accessories depending on the sale price. If you use fulfilment by Amazon, its fulfilment and storage fees come on top, so work out the margin of one product before you list it.

Documents, registration and why marketplaces differ by country

Amazon's seller guide lists what registration asks for: a government-issued ID, an email address, an internationally chargeable credit card, a bank account with its routing number, a business licence or registration, proof of a residential address from the last 180 days such as a bank or card statement, and tax information. If you have no registered business, the guide says you can choose the business type none, I am an individual. Collect these before you start, because a form that stops halfway wastes a day.

Marketplaces are not one shop. Amazon's Global Selling page explains that a North America and Brazil account lets you sell in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, while Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and North Africa each need their own regional or country account. If you link accounts, the page says the monthly plan fee is the lower of 39.99 US dollars or the sum of the fees for the regions where you have active listings. Pick one marketplace first and learn it.

Category approval and the policies that can close an account

Some categories and some individual products need approval before you may list them. Amazon's page on selling policies tells sellers to read the restricted-products policies first so they do not list items that cannot be sold, and to check whether their items need approval. Do this before you buy stock, not after: approval can be refused, and a pallet of goods you may not list is an expensive lesson.

The same page describes the seller code of conduct. Providing inaccurate information, manipulating sales rankings or reviews, listing counterfeit products and misusing Amazon services all violate it, and the consequences include cancelled listings, a deactivated account or a ban. It also states account-health targets: an order defect rate under 1%, a cancellation rate below 2.5% and, for merchant-fulfilled orders, a late shipment rate ideally under 4%. These are the numbers Amazon itself publishes, and they are worth reading before the first order, not after the first warning.

Listing basics: title, bullet points, images and search terms

Amazon's guide to product listings starts with the product identifier: in Seller Central you search the catalogue by GTIN or product ID and, if nothing matches, create a new listing. The listing then needs a product name, up to nine images on a simple, well-lit backdrop, up to five bullet points that carry the main details, and a description of one paragraph. Search terms go into the title, description and bullets so that buyers can find the product.

Amazon's page on search ranking is specific about the title. The hard limit is 200 characters, but the page recommends no more than 60, and it advises including the primary keyword, the product type, the brand and details such as colour or size. For bullet points it suggests a one- or two-word label followed by an explanation of 100 characters or fewer. It also describes backend search terms, entered in the generic keyword field, which customers cannot see. They should be lower case, separated by spaces, without articles and prepositions. The same page warns that keyword stuffing creates a poor customer experience and can hurt rankings.

Brand Registry and A+ Content: what they require

A+ Content lets you add videos, enhanced images, text placements and comparison charts to the detail page. Amazon says it is available to brands enrolled in Brand Registry. Enrolment is free, but it has conditions: your logo and brand name must be permanently on the products or packaging, and you need a pending or registered trademark for the brand name or logo from the trademark office of a country that has an Amazon store. Only the trademark owner can enrol.

The US Patent and Trademark Office explains that registration is not required to own a trademark, because rights begin with use, but that registering gives broader and nationwide rights. For Amazon, the practical lesson is that a trademark application is a separate task with its own timeline, so start it early if you want brand tools. Once enrolled, Amazon says only you and sellers associated with your brand can create or suggest updates to your detail pages, and you get access to Brand Analytics, which shows shopper search and purchase trends.

FBA or FBM, and the first steps in advertising

Fulfilment is the choice that shapes your daily work. With Fulfilment by Amazon you send inventory to Amazon, which stores it, picks, packs and ships orders, and handles customer service and returns. Orders can be eligible for Prime shipping. With merchant fulfilment you ship orders yourself, and you can use it for the whole catalogue or alongside FBA. Amazon says FBA adds fees for fulfilment, storage and other services and advises comparing them with your own costs.

Advertising is the other lever. Sponsored Products are pay-per-click ads for single listings. You choose the products and the keywords, or let Amazon choose them, and you are charged only when a shopper clicks. There are no monthly or upfront fees, and you set a daily budget. Amazon notes that the daily budget is not paced across the day, so a small budget can be spent quickly in busy periods. Ads send traffic to the listing, and they cannot repair a weak one.

What to prepare, and how the Amazon listing launch works

Before you hire anyone, prepare the product facts: the exact name, size and materials, the GTIN, clear photographs, the claims you can prove and the competitors you want to be compared with. Decide on the marketplace and the fulfilment method, and check whether your category needs approval and whether your brand is enrolled in Brand Registry. Keep the account registration for yourself, because it needs your own documents.

VITON13 Studio offers the Amazon listing launch for the listing itself. It covers keyword research, the title, bullet points and description, A+ content with a brief for the main images, and PPC setup, with the ad budget paid separately. A+ content is available only to brands enrolled in Brand Registry, so tell the studio where you stand. Before you pay, you receive the rewritten title and bullet points for one product as a free draft. The package is a fixed price of $213 and takes 7–12 working days.

If you prefer to write the listing yourself, use the checklist below and the pages named in this story. If you want it built on search terms, describe one product and look at the free draft first. Either way, the first step is the same: pick one product and write down what a buyer needs to know before buying.