How to Sell on Amazon in 6 Easy Steps: A Beginner’s Guide

Learning how to sell on Amazon can seem like an overwhelming and ambitious project. However, selling on the ecommerce platform requires only a few simple steps.

You’ll first have to understand its product restrictions and seller fees, then create a seller account and build your product listings. From there, you’ll need to manage your inventory and order fulfillment. Finally, because Amazon is such a competitive marketplace, you should manage your store’s performance.

Step 1: Understand Amazon’s Product Restrictions & Fees

Get acquainted with the platform’s product restrictions and fees as part of studying how to sell on Amazon. Knowing these stipulations will help you create a selling strategy and decide which products to sell. Some may be profitable and in-demand, but their associated fees and regulations can incur additional labor and/or costs—which is important to keep in mind.

Amazon Product Restrictions

Products sold on Amazon must comply with certain policies. Amazon has a full list of restricted products, but these are not all-inclusive. Consider consulting an attorney if you have questions about product regulations.

Additional regulations apply to the following:

• Certain product categories that require approval before listing (like jewelry, music, and watches)
• Some elements of the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program; if you wish to use FBA, you should also review its product restrictions page
• Certain products in California
• Products that claim to be “FDA Cleared” or “FDA Approved” or include the FDA logo in associated images

Amazon Seller Fees

Amazon seller fees include account and product fees. Account fees, or seller plans, come in two subscription levels—$0 and $39.99 per month.

Product or referral fees range from 6% to 45% of the product’s selling price, with the average seller paying 15%. You’ll also need to fulfill and ship your orders, which varies widely in cost depending on your product and your fulfillment method.

Step 2: Sign Up for an Amazon Seller Account

You need to register as an Amazon seller before selling products. Registration involves subscribing to one of two seller plans.

• Choose A Seller Plan
• Register for an Amazon Seller Account

Amazon has two selling plans—Individual and Professional.

Professional accounts give you access to far more features than Individual plans, but have a $39.99/month fee.

Individual accounts cost $0/month, but charge 99 cents per item sold. Both programs include additional selling fees beyond this per-product listing charge.

Here are highlights of each Amazon seller plan:

	Amazon Professional Seller	Amazon Individual Seller
Monthly Fee	$39.99	$0
Product listing fee (charged when sold)	None	99 cents
Number of product listings/sales	Unlimited	40 per month
Amazon product-related fees	Same	Same
Access to Fulfillment by Amazon	✔	✔
Access to Amazon Seller App	✔	✔
Sell existing Amazon products	✔	✔
Add new products to the Amazon catalog	✔	✔
Listings eligible for the Buy Box*	✔	N/A
Offer coupons, shipping specials, and gift wrap	✔	N/A
Can apply to sell in restricted categories	✔	N/A
Bulk upload products or feeds to Amazon	✔	N/A
Access to inventory reports	✔	N/A
Connect with third-party services and product feeds	✔	N/A

*Occupying the “Buy Box” means your product is the one that Amazon automatically sells when customers click the “Add to Cart” button on a product listing sold by multiple sellers.

An Individual Seller plan is ideal for low-volume merchants selling fewer than 40 items per month and developing stores still deciding what to sell. It’s also a good choice if you have no plans to advertise or use advanced selling tools.

Meanwhile, a Professional seller plan is recommended if you sell 40+ units per month, include advertising in your selling strategy, and want to qualify for top placement on product detail pages. It’s also notable for its use of advanced selling tools—such as APIs and reports—that benefit high-volume sellers.

If you’re going to sell products in restricted categories, you need to sign up under a Professional Seller plan.

Most sellers opt for Professional accounts because of the sales-driving features you get. But you can always start with an Individual account and upgrade in the future.

For example, if you’re just dipping your toe into Amazon using retail arbitrage (buying inventory from other sellers at a discount and reselling it for a profit), an Individual plan can get you started with minimal costs. But if you’re investing money in wholesale or private label products, the Professional plan is the best from day one.

After deciding on a seller plan, you need to register for a seller account. You have the option to use your Amazon customer account, or you can create a new seller account using your business email address.

Have the following ready to provide during the sign-up process:

• Bank account number and bank routing number
• Chargeable credit card
• Government-issued national ID
• Tax information
• Phone number

Go to Seller Central to register, then follow the prompts for setting up a seller account.

Your business type determines the requirements that will be asked of you when you sign up for a Seller account.

Once you complete these steps, you’ll have access to your Seller Central Dashboard and can start listing products to sell on Amazon.

What is Seller Central?
Seller Central is the website where sellers (like you) go to monitor their Amazon sales activity. You can also manage inventory, update pricing, communicate with buyers, contact seller support, and add new products.

Step 3: Create Your Product Listings

Amazon sellers can create product listings in two ways: by adding your items to existing product listings or creating new product listings.

Adding items to current listings is by far the easiest method, and it’s how most beginners get started on Amazon. So we’ll begin there:

Manually Add Your Product to an Existing Listing

You’ve probably noticed that many products for sale on Amazon have multiple sellers, as shown below:

An example of a product listing with multiple sellers

The second and third sellers in the list above added their items to this existing product listing. It might seem like a waste of time because of the existing competition—however, remember that the majority of sellers only keep a few items in stock. So as others sell out, your listing will be the one available—and the one that shoppers buy.

Of course, you can also lower your price, offer free shipping, or use FBA (discussed below) to make your listing the top pick.

Manually adding your product to an existing listing is accessible from your Seller Central Dashboard. You can follow the steps below:

Simply search for the item using the product name, Amazon product ID, or item SKU. If it’s already for sale on Amazon, you’ll see it on the next screen.

Click on “Sell yours.”

Add your item to Amazon by filling a few fields on this screen. Required fields have an asterisk (*); others are optional.

Hit “Save and finish.” Now you have a live listing on Amazon, ready to sell.

Manually Create a New Product Listing

Amazon Professional sellers can create entirely new product listings for items not already sold on the marketplace. Generating new listings takes more time than adding products to an existing listing. However, it allows you to create a high-quality listing that sells using keyword research, product images, and detailed item descriptions.

To create a new product listing, you need the following information:

• A product identifier: GTIN, UPC, ISBN, or EAN to specify the exact item you’re selling; find out more about which identifier is relevant to your product listing in Amazon’s listing requirements
• An SKU: A product ID you create to track your inventory
• Offer details: Price, product condition, available quantity, and shipping options
• Product details: Name, brand, category, description, and images
• Keywords and search terms: Applicable keywords to help buyers find your product

You also need to build out your product detail page. If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon.com, you’ve seen one. Product detail pages are where customers find all of the vital information about an item.

1. Title: 200 characters max, capitalize the first letter of every word
2. Images: 500 x 500 or 1,000 x 1,000 pixels to increase listing quality
3. Variations: Colors, scents, or sizes
4. Product description bullet points: Short, descriptive sentences highlighting key features and benefits
5. Featured offer (“Buy Box”): The featured offer on a detail page; customers can add to their cart or “Buy Now”
6. Other offers: The same product sold by multiple sellers offers different prices, shipping options, etc.
7. Product description: Keywords improve the chances that people will find your listing

Manage Your Product Listings: Use a Bulk Upload or Product Feed Tool

If you’re a Professional seller, you also have the option to add many product listings at once by uploading all of your product data using a spreadsheet.

Additionally, if you also sell on your own website or plan to in the future, you can directly connect your products to Amazon. Here’s how both of these options work:

Step 4: Manage Your Inventory on Amazon

Accurately managing inventory is key to your success on Amazon since the platform will dock your seller rating for not promptly shipping items on that show as “in stock.”

Like the product listings methods described above, you have several choices when it comes to inventory management. Whichever method you choose, stay diligent about it to keep your Amazon seller rating high.

Amazon automatically reduces your inventory count as your Amazon items sell. If you sell only on Amazon, this should keep your counts correct. But if you sell the same stock on your website or in a retail store, you’ll probably need a different solution.

• Manually
• Using a Bulk Upload or Inventory Feed

You can manually adjust inventory levels within your Seller Central dashboard inventory screen.

If you sell just a few items on Amazon, you can make manual adjustments by changing the Available units, as shown below. This task isn’t too time-consuming if you sell just a few products.

You can manage inventory manually in Seller Central.

If you manage many products, frequently reorder products, or need to balance inventory between Amazon and another sales channel, you need a better solution than manual adjustments. Here are two of the most common methods:

Via a Spreadsheet

You can make inventory adjustments to some or all of your Amazon products using a bulk upload. To do this, you’ll build or change your Amazon inventory file in a spreadsheet using Excel or similar software, save it as a CSV file, and then upload it in your Amazon Seller Central dashboard.

Via Ecommerce Platforms or Inventory Software

The ecommerce platforms and listing management tools listed in the previous section also manage and update your Amazon inventory. So, if you’re already using a tool that uploads products to Amazon, you can manage inventory the same way. If not, there are plenty of other Amazon seller tools to help you manage inventory as you grow on Amazon.

Step 5: Set Up Product Delivery or Fulfillment

As an Amazon seller, you have three options for delivering your products. First, you can do it yourself—maintaining your inventory and shipping products to customers—which is called merchant fulfillment. You can also let Amazon package, label, and ship products through FBA, or you can use a third-party fulfillment provider.

Step 6: Manage Store Performance

Once your store is up and running, you need to learn how to monitor, analyze, and promote your store’s performance.

Monitor Your Store's Key Metrics

Earn Quality and Valid Customer Reviews

Learn How to Advertise

Offer Promotions and Coupons

Bottom Line

Amazon is an incredibly accessible platform that welcomes all kinds of sellers—from individuals selling a few items per month to power-sellers moving thousands of products each day. Now that you’ve learned how to sell on Amazon, you know there are many ways you can sell on the platform, but the competition is fierce—and it is a demanding marketplace.

You need to approach every Amazon product opportunity from a profit perspective. This considers the cost of the goods you sell and the time it takes to source products, create listings, manage inventory, and ship orders. Once you understand the basics, you can make decisions to help balance efficiencies, increase net profits, and find ways to grow.

You May Also Like …

• How to Start an Online Store
• How to Start a Retail Business
• How to Start a Dropshipping Business