How to Become an Amazon Seller: A Complete Guide

Starting a business as an Amazon seller is lucrative for anyone looking to make money. You may be looking to sell products on Amazon as a side hustle in your spare time or may be interested in starting a full-eCommerce business on Amazon.

Becoming an Amazon seller allows you to tap into Amazon’s profitable retail market.

Wondering how to become an Amazon seller? Read this blog to learn what you must do before you start selling and how to take advantage of the Amazon FBA program. 

What to Do Before You Start Selling 

Before you become an Amazon seller, you should identify which item in a specific product category you’d like to sell. Investing in the right products is a key component for how to increase sales on Amazon, boost Amazon product turnover, and is also a factor for how to get Amazon's best seller badge.

You can find ideas for products by doing market and Amazon product research on:

• Highest selling products
• Most searched keywords
• Consumer market trends

Once you have identified which products to sell, you can choose an Amazon business model for purchasing, managing, and selling your products. 

There are several ways for you to sell your products on Amazon:

• Retail arbitrage – Newer Amazon sellers will leverage retail arbitrage to purchase discounted products from retail stores and resell them at much higher prices.

• Private label selling – Some Amazon sellers will buy cheap products from manufacturers and modify and rebrand them to sell on Amazon under their business’ brand. 

• Wholesale selling – More experienced Amazon sellers typically purchase products at wholesale prices from suppliers to resell at a profit under the manufacturers’ brands. 

Before you start selling products on Amazon, you will find it helpful to set goals for your business. Creating budgets will help you effectively plan for stocking products or shipping costs to Amazon customers.

Like any other eCommerce business, being an Amazon seller comes with risks. Setting realistic goals for your Amazon FBA business will help manage expectations for issues such as unexpected product shipping delays or slower-selling inventory. It may also take some time to break into the competitive Amazon product markets.

When preparing to sell on Amazon, you can choose from two types of seller plans:

• The individual plan – Caters to the needs of an individual seller looking to sell fewer than 40 products per month without the need for advanced retail tools. It’s an excellent option for new Amazon sellers.

• The professional plan – Recommended for sellers looking to sell more than 40 products per month with advanced retail tools such as selling reports and APIs.

With products on hand and an active Amazon seller account, the next step is to sell your products on Amazon.

How to Start Selling on Amazon 

Amazon Seller Central is the central point for running your business as an Amazon seller. Serving as your business hub, your account on Amazon Seller Central will help you:

• Add information about your products
• Manage your inventory
• Keep track of payments for your products
• Monitor your product sales

The success of your Amazon seller business will also depend on the manufacturers from which you source products.

One of the most common ways to find products is by directly sourcing them from manufacturers across the globe. Although there are many options for manufacturers available to sellers, it’s crucial to find manufacturers with whom you can comfortably work.

Creating listings on Seller Central is how you actually sell your products. 

There are two ways to create product listings:

• Create a new product listing if you are the initial Amazon seller for the product
• Match an existing listing if there is already a seller offering the product

In general, a seller with an individual Amazon seller account will create product listings one at a time, whereas those with a professional seller account can list multiple products at once.

Each product listing you create should include:

• SKU of the product
• A description of the product
• Images or videos of the product
• Keywords relevant to the product description

Once your product is listed, the next step is figuring out a marketing strategy to boost your product sales. 

How to Advertise Products on Seller Central?

Amazon offers three ways for sellers to advertise their products on Seller Central:

• Sponsored product  - You can make use of Amazon advertising to increase the visibility of your product listings. However, these items should comply with Amazon product category and listing restrictions.

• Sponsored brand - You can create a portfolio of up to three products to display via an ad, increasing your brand's visibility.

• Amazon store - You can create web pages within Amazon’s website to share information about your products and customize your ads to your customers’ needs.

Some sellers will opt to launch their own products and build out their brands independently. Incorporating strategies on how to get reviews on Amazon can help to build your business brand quickly. However, one of the best ways to take advantage of all the tools available to Amazon sellers is by participating in Amazon’s FBA program.

Advantages of the Amazon FBA Program 

Once you have started selling on Amazon, you may be wondering how to become an Amazon FBA seller. It’s as simple as setting up an FBA seller account on Seller Central, creating product listings, and then preparing and shipping products to Amazon for routing to customers.

As a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) seller, you don’t have to worry about processing order returns or addressing customers’ logistical concerns—Amazon’s 24/7 customer service handles the entire process. Best of all, being an Amazon FBA seller allows you to focus on growing your business and maximizing profits.

Scale Up Your FBA with Forum Brands

Once you have grown your business, you might look to sell your Amazon FBA to fund your next venture. Forum Brands will help you scale up and grow your Amazon FBA, maximizing profitability along the way. 

Contact Forum to learn more!

Sources: 

Amazon. A DTC Shoe Brand Steps its eCommerce Business into Amazon Stores. https://sell.amazon.com/brands/case-studies/new-republic

Amazon. Fulfillment by Amazon. https://sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon?ref_=sdus_soa_bg_fba

Amazon. The Beginner’s Guide to Selling on Amazon. https://sell.amazon.com/beginners-guide

Nerd Wallet. How to Find Products to Sell on Amazon. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/small-business/how-to-find-products-to-sell-on-amazon