How to Sell on Amazon: Beginner’s Guide

Your internet shop serves as a hub for showcasing your brand, connecting with customers, and selling things. Sell on Amazon.

However, internet marketplaces like Amazon provide several opportunities to reach and sell to existing and new audiences.

If you're starting an ecommerce business, you could have certain questions, such as:

• Why should I sell on Amazon?
• How can I coordinate prices between my Shopify and Amazon stores?
• What does it take to build a successful Amazon business, and how can I ensure that it continues to expand over time?
• What Amazon offerings and programs should I take advantage of?

The purpose of this tutorial is to answer these issues and show you how to start and develop a lucrative and long-term Amazon company. You'll discover how to get a start selling on Amazon, how to manage your time, and what factors you can influence to create an Amazon company.

How to sell on Amazon for Beginners: 7 Steps to Becoming an Amazon Seller

Let's walk through how to start up as a new seller on Amazon now that you're clear on the opportunities marketplaces may give.

1- Figure out what you’ll sell

What sorts of items you'll offer and how you'll get them should be part of your Amazon company plan. There are several typical methods for selling on Amazon:

Retail arbitrage. is when you acquire something below market value and sell it at a higher price while benefitting from the difference. Amazon sellers can look for items on sale or clearance at places like Target, Best Buy, or Big Lots, then offer them for a higher price on Amazon.

Retailer arbitrage is a terrific approach to generating fast money, but it takes time. Resellers are always competing with others selling similar items. You're trapped with a product if you can't sell it quickly enough unless you sell it at a loss.

White labeling. items are generic products with your brand name or logo applied. White label items can be ordered in bulk, dropped shipped, or printed on demand. White labeling items is easier for Amazon sellers since they may skip product research and get directly to selling. To sell white-label items, you don't need any manufacturing or product design knowledge.

Private labeling. The process of manufacturing branded items with the help of a third-party producer is known as private labeling. Because Amazon has such a large audience, private label items are an appealing alternative for Amazon retailers. Apparel, skincare, cosmetics, cuisine, hair care, and vitamins are all popular categories. Private label items may be found on marketplaces like Alibaba and Thomasnet.

Affiliate marketing. You may establish an Amazon affiliate marketing firm if you don't want to deal with sourcing things to sell. All you have to do now is pick the things you want to sell and advertise them to your target market, whether through your website, Instagram, or TikTok profiles. You will receive a unique link from Amazon to utilize in your material. When someone buys something through your link, you get a cut of the sale.

Dropshipping. You never keep things in inventory while dropshipping on Amazon. When someone buys anything, the order is sent to a third party. The items are subsequently fulfilled and shipped to the consumer by a third party.

Amazon dropshippers have a little profit margin. The usual dropshipping margin is between 10% and 30%, with Amazon deducting roughly 15% of your top-line sales. As a result, each product sold will have a margin of roughly 15%.

While Amazon dropshipping is quite widespread, there are some guidelines to follow to be compliant.

Selling your products. is another method to make money on Amazon. Many Shopify store owners will connect inventory and sell items from their businesses to Amazon using a free Shopify app. You won't have to design several selling plans and can keep track of goods in one spot.

Tips for researching Amazon products to sell

Finding which products to sell on Amazon requires effort and study. Find products that are popular and have a high-profit margin in a niche where there is less competition.

Amazon Best Sellers lists:

The Amazon Best Sellers page is a terrific location to look for product ideas based on what's hot on the site right now. Make a list of any ideas that appear to be worthwhile. Amazon's top-selling categories include books, textiles and apparel, gadgets, toys, and games.

Keyword Research Tool:

Jungle Scout is a well-known keyword research tool that can assist in the selection of perfect items. When you utilize a program like Jungle Scout, you can make data-driven judgments. A product's search volume might help you decide whether it's worth purchasing and selling yourself.

Amazon reviews:

Any market may be lucrative if you provide them with something they don't have. Within any specialty, there is always some form of vacancy. You must identify it.

Examine Amazon product reviews to see what buyers like and hate about a certain brand or product. Based on that, you may be able to assess if it is appropriate for you to try to sell it yourself.

2- Choose a plan

The sort of seller plan you'll select is one of the first considerations you'll make when selling on Amazon. Individual and Professional programs are available to Amazon merchants. The fundamental distinction between the two is determined by your predicted sales volume.

An individual is a pay-as-you-go option that provides basic listing and order management features. Individual sellers pay 99 cents for every item sold. You do not pay any fees unless an item is sold through Amazon.

The Professional seller plan is a monthly membership service that includes Amazon Marketplace Web Service, extensive business reports, configurable shipping options and prices, and eligibility for top placement on detail pages. The monthly fee is $39.99, although this might vary based on if you sell in various countries.

Each sale is also subject to an Amazon referral charge. This charge is calculated as a percentage of the total transaction and varies depending on the product type.

Which one is the most appropriate for you? If you expect to sell more than 40 goods each month, the Professional plan is for you. The Individual plan may be ideal for you if you sell less than 40 goods per month or have seasonal sales fluctuations.

3- Create an Amazon seller account

Create a new Amazon seller account in the following step. Keep the following information on hand before signing up:

• Business email address
• Bank account number
• Active credit card
• Government-issued national ID
• Tax information
• Phone number

Then go to sellercentral.amazon.com to register. Amazon will request information about your company, including its address and tax information, as well as banking and identity information.

For specific product kinds, Amazon needs merchants to obtain clearance. Popular categories that require permission before setting up an Amazon seller account include fashion, groceries, music, and jewelry. Read over the list of product categories in which you can sell.

Once your Amazon seller account has been authorized, you may begin listing and selling your items.

4- Understand Amazon’s cost structure

With a little money, you can start selling on Amazon. However, there are some costs to be aware of because they are commonly paid and might have an influence on the ROI of your Amazon channel. These aren't the only costs; they're merely the most popular.

Referral fees. When you sell on Amazon, you will be charged a commission. Each category has its own rules. The average referral fee is 15%, however, it can range between 8% and 45 percent.

Closing fees. For items in the media categories (books, DVDs, music, software, computer/video games, video game consoles, and video game accessories), a $1.80 tax is deducted from each unit sold.

FBA fees. You'll cover the shipping and handling fees for a transaction if you use Fulfillment by Amazon (also known as the Amazon FBA program). This cost is based on the category, size, and weight of the item being fulfilled for Amazon transactions. A basic bundle might cost anything from $2.41 to $4.71.

Additional Amazon fees. In addition, Amazon will charge you for inventory storage in its fulfillment facility. You can pay monthly or long-term storage fees, as well as expenses for disposal orders, returns, and advertising.

5- Learn Amazon Seller Central

While the goal of this book is to highlight essential tactics and efforts for growing your Amazon company, let's start with a few fundamentals, such as the distinction between selling on Amazon (as a seller, 3P, or marketplace seller) and selling to Amazon (vendor).

Amazon Seller Central with Fulfillment Options

When you sell on Amazon's marketplace, you control the goods until it is delivered to a client. You may choose to have Amazon handle order fulfillment and customer service, or you can do it yourself.

In most circumstances, being an Amazon third-party seller is the simplest and least expensive method to get started. The Seller Central portal is used by sellers, and it has some distinct features from the Vendor portal.

Amazon Vendor Central

You may sell direct wholesale to Amazon if you become an Amazon merchant. However, once it receives the product, it becomes its property. Amazon Vendor Central is an invitation-only service for firms that don't wish to sell directly to Amazon customers.

Vendor advantages include:

• Increases client confidence
• A straightforward selling procedure
• Placements on category sites, business mailings, and so forth.
• Additional category activities, such as gift guides and holiday collections, are also available.
• Prime Now, Fresh, and Pantry are just a few of the services available.
• Account suspension is less likely for unknown causes.

Vendor disadvantages include:

• Pricing has less direct control.
• Fulfillment is more difficult and gives you less control.
• Payment terms are Slower.
• Normally, the more costly model is used.
• More reliance on Amazon's Vendor Manager and Retail teams

While there is some overlap between the functionality available on the seller and vendor portals, we'll concentrate the rest of this post on the features available on Seller Central because it's the most convenient for you.

Amazon Seller App

Amazon also provides a mobile app for sellers to manage their businesses on the go. On the app, Amazon Seller makes it simple to track sales, fulfill orders, manage returns, and react to customer queries. On your phone, you can even create product listings.

Amazon Seller is free for sellers and is available for Android and iOS.

6- Choose your fulfillment options

As a seller, you have two fulfillment options: do-it-yourself fulfillment or FBA fulfillment, in which Amazon receives, packages, and ships orders.

Fulfilled by merchant (FBM)

You handle shipping, refunds, and customer support while fulfilling directly to consumers. This is an excellent choice for goods that are made-to-order or that require a lengthier processing period.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

You send goods to an Amazon warehouse, referred to as an Amazon Fulfillment Center (FC), which ships products and handles consumer returns. You manage inventory levels and pay product storage costs, as well as a fulfillment charge for each item sold to customers. Keep in mind that you control the inventory until it is delivered to a client.

Amazon takes care of client payments and pays you every two weeks under this approach. You'll get access to Amazon's customer support department, which will help you with queries, returns, and refunds. To help you grow your business, you'll also get Amazon Prime and Free Super Saver Shipping.

7- List your first product

On Amazon, sales take place on the product detail page. The information you provide on this page aids in the sale of your goods and encourages customers to purchase. Homesick, a candle company, is a fantastic example of a successful product page. Let's examine why.

Targeted product title

For two reasons, your product title is critical for an Amazon listing. One, it grabs the attention of consumers and informs them that they are in the proper area. Two, it can boost your search engine click-through rate and SEO rating.

Although product titles are limited to 200 characters, you should keep your title between 60 and 80 characters. Why?

• According to a Skubana analysis of over 3,000 high-ranking Amazon listings, 33% of them were between 60 and 80 characters.
• It is recommended by Amazon Seller Central.
• Over 112 character product names can be shortened by Amazon.

Your product title's every word is searchable. At the beginning of your product title, provide the most relevant search. Homesick's brand name (Homesick), product line (Scented Candle), style (Hawaii), characteristics (Scents of Pineapple, Coconut), and container size are all used.

This provides customers with a simple and clear explanation of your goods. They may then choose whether to stay on your page or move elsewhere to find the merchandise.

Clear product images

Before zooming in, your main shot should clearly illustrate what the product is. Additional images should show the product from several perspectives and, if appropriate, lifestyle photography.

You may also use video to offer them a closer look at your items. Customers may browse your social media to see whether the product is a suitable fit for them. Make sure your photos are of good quality. Customers may also zoom in to observe your product's finer characteristics. You don't want to show a pixelated image to your audience.

What is the optimal number of photographs to include? According to the Skubana survey, between five and eight photos were available for shoppers to view in the top 62 percent of Amazon listings. Aim for a minimum of five photos on your product listing page.

Concise bullet points

Bullet points assist buyers in quickly obtaining the information they want. They are benefit-oriented descriptive sentences that appear on your product description page. Homesick keeps its bullet points brief and sweet, focusing on only the most important aspects of a candle, such as a burn length, aroma notes, wax type, and candle maintenance.

Before clients have to go below the fold on desktop or to extra parts on mobile, be sure you hit all of the critical places where they need answers. Mention important details, such as if a warranty or customer service is available to help with problems. Because most clients will skip this part, bullet points that are more than a few lines lengthy should be avoided.

Concise product descriptions

Remember that clients are skimming, so a 20-line paragraph is unlikely to be sufficient. Reiterate key selling points while giving any supporting information that will assist clients to comprehend why they need to buy right now.

Enhanced Brand Content, or EBC, is a feature that allows brand registered vendors to improve their product description pages. More area on the page for pictures and text to boost consumer engagement and convey a better product and brand story with A+ content, previously EBC. Higher conversion decreased return rates, and increased brand awareness is all possible outcomes.

Homesick utilizes this space to define its candle line and showcase its unique value offer.

EBC allows sellers to provide visual elements like comparison tables to assist customers in making an educated purchase.

This section can also be used by sellers to describe various benefits and features, give social proof, or present use examples that help consumers see themselves using the product. A+ content is an effective sales booster. Six months after using EBC, ecommerce business WHOOSH! had a 170% boost in revenue.

Product variations

Variations make it simple to show buyers the numerous size, colors, styles, and other options available for a product. While each product will have its ASIN and information page, variants allow buyers to swiftly navigate between numerous product alternatives and read different reviews.

If you sell an iPhone case in black, blue, and silver, for example, a variation will allow customers to easily hover over the different color combinations, and the reviews for all of those options will be pooled together (i.e., the black gets five reviews, blue gets three reviews, and silver gets two reviews). The total number of reviews provided for all selections would be ten).

This is an example of a detail page before and after the important components were modified to increase conversion.

Tips for selling through your Amazon store

Encourage product reviews

It's no secret that customer reviews are crucial. We've probably all purchased something on Amazon, and in many cases, the selection was based on whatever product had the best ratings, even if it was more expensive.

Sellers are authorized to send follow-up emails to consumers about a specific order, and some automated programs may assist you with this. The guidelines are here, but in a nutshell, you may not:

• Send marketing or promotional communications via email.
• include hyperlinks to other websites
• Positive reviews should be demanded, requested, or rewarded.

You may, however, send a few emails verifying that you have received a purchase and asking the consumer to write a review or feedback.

There are many email marketing best practices out there, but keep it to two to three emails: one during the purchase confirmation or delivery period, and one a few weeks after the goods are received.

Allow clients to share critical comments directly with you before submitting a poor review to avoid making your emails feel “spammy” or pushy. Feedback Five or Feedback Genius, for example, may automate the procedure and make your life much simpler.

Run sponsored product ads

Amazon provides a powerful advertising infrastructure that allows you to sell your goods to Amazon shoppers. Amazon Sponsored Product Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) mechanism for promoting Amazon items alongside search results. On desktop, placements can be above, beside, or below relevant search phrase results, as well as on product detail pages.

When running Amazon PPC ads, there are three factors to bear in mind:

Begin by using automated aiming. This enables Amazon to use its strong search engines to provide you with a comprehensive list of potential terms. You'll have to choose a single default bid for all terms, but the purpose is to gather statistics on how different keywords work.

Start assessing your automated targeting campaign once you have at least a few weeks of data (the longer the better) to see which keywords worked the best. You'll want to convert them to a manual campaign so you can concentrate on only the most relevant keywords that worked effectively. You may change bids by keyword while running a manual campaign.

Iterate your manual campaign for keywords and bids as needed. Although data is your best friend if you truly believe that you should include extra terms that haven't been done well before, experiment with different bid levels. Different bid amounts might result in different positions and outcomes, so keep testing until you discover something that works nicely.

There are various keyword and third-party tools available to assist in the creation of a meaningful list of long-tail keywords. However, starting with the above can go a long way without overwhelming you or needing you to hire more staff to get your advertisements up and running. Depending on your resources, you can go even farther to optimize your advertisements, but if you don't, this is a terrific approach to get the process started quickly.

Note: Keep an eye on the most effective keywords and make sure that your detail pages use these terms in some way. If “organic” is a high-converting term, for example, make sure it's in the title of your detail page.

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Take advantage of promotions

Lightning Deals and other promotions are a terrific method to sell more units at a faster rate, which leads to more reviews. Lightning Deals are one-day discounts that appear on Amazon's Deal Page, which is one of the site's most popular sites.

They not only help you enhance product discoverability, but they also help you increase sales during the limited-time offer and even after it ends. This is because, as a result of the extra units sold during the flash sale, you frequently improve your rank and search relevance for some time after the promotion ends, sometimes for many weeks.

Most Lightning Deals are invite-only in the sense that you can only run them when they appear on your Seller Central screen's See All Recommendations area, and there is typically a small fee involved with running them.

Lightning Deals may be incredibly effective in selling hundreds to thousands of units in a matter of hours for huge events like Prime Day and around the holidays, and they can also help new customers discover your brand, even if they don't buy right away.

The idea isn't to constantly be on sale or provide huge discounts, but if you can do so on occasion, especially at the start of your product's Amazon lifetime, it's a terrific approach to get more reviews and establish relevancy so that more buyers can find you.

Lightning Deals are available in a variety of categories, including health and personal care, home and kitchen, consumer electronics, fashion, food, and much more, as shown in the sample below. This is a terrific approach to not only sell units in the near term but also to try out new items and get new consumers for future purchases.

Drive external traffic

Many businesses overlook this step or reserve all external channels to direct traffic to their online store. While there is a clear advantage in using advertisements to drive visitors to your website, the same strategies can be used to promote your Amazon listings.

Determine which channels to direct to Amazon strategically. Bloggers, vloggers, and other influencers, for example, enjoy sending visitors to Amazon because they may earn an affiliate commission on any sales made through their personalized link. This may be done through two separate programs: Amazon Associates and Amazon Influencers.

Because Amazon Associates is built for a wide range of businesses, most bloggers will be familiar with it. However, Amazon's new Influencers program was created expressly for social media influencers with significant followings.

Both programs may be extremely useful to the long-term health of your business as a brand owner and Amazon seller. You may also generate discount coupons to publish externally, such as on social media, to encourage people to buy on Amazon and ideally give reviews.

Win the buy box

If you've been selling on Amazon or are considering doing so, you've almost certainly come across the term “buy box“. The principle is straightforward, but the implementation might be challenging.

Other eligible sellers can display their offers for that ASIN (Amazon's SKU identification) on nearly every detail page. So, even if you're the product's producer, another seller may lower your price on the identical item and become the default choice on the detail page—or “win the buy box“. The only exception is “brand gating“, which is exceedingly difficult to obtain approval for.

As you can see in the screenshot below, DreamWater is the winner of the purchase box for this ASIN, however, there are numerous other sellers on Amazon's Other Sellers area that have an offer.

Price, Prime eligibility, delivery cost, quantity, and seller rating are the major components of the algorithm that determines who receives the purchase box. As you might expect, pricing will play a big role, but being Prime Eligible and having a strong seller rating might make the difference between winning and losing the purchase box.

Technically, each unique product should have just one ASIN (one UPC to one ASIN), however, shoppers may encounter many listings for the same product, which may be confusing and aggravating. Amazon is cracking down on duplicate listings and allowing brand-registered merchants to consolidate duplicate pages, so it's important to follow the rules and avoid searching for methods to establish a distinct page with less competition.

Based on competitor pages, you may learn a lot about what buyers want and don't want in most areas. Reviewing related products frequently might also alert you to best practices and promotional possibilities. Consider the following elements while analyzing the competition:

Customer reviews

Customers are often vocal about their preferences, and they may frequently lead to future product improvements or ideas. Are customers unhappy with the packaging? How many reviews specifically mention the price? What other goods in the same category have they discussed trying?

Updating frequency

How frequently do Amazon's rivals update product descriptions, images, or other content? Are they rotating through holiday photographs (Christmas or Halloween, for example)? Do they communicate product benefits and usage more clearly than you do? How frequently do they change their prices, and what effect does this appear to have on their Best Seller ranking?

Complementary products

What adjacent categories are those brands doing well in (for example, memory cards and cameras)? Is there a chance you could cross-promote with them? Is there anything in their customer reviews that explains what led to that purchase and how it could influence how they search for your product? Do you think it's a good idea to use those category keywords in your Sponsored Product campaigns?

Get your pricing right

Finding the correct price strategy for your items is difficult enough on its own, but throw in Amazon's intricacies and an open marketplace where other sellers may compete with you, and you've got yourself a challenge. However, if you keep a few essential things in mind, you should be able to avoid greater problems.

Pricing parity

A pricing parity clause is included in your Amazon selling agreement. According to the “generic pricing rule“, your item price and total price cannot be lower on any other online sales channel. This includes your personal Shopify shop. Avoid account suspension if you don't follow this rule, and make sure Amazon is priced similarly to your other channels.

Automate pricing

Because Amazon is a marketplace, you may find yourself vying for the purchase box with other third parties. Amazon just announced the Automate Price feature on Seller Central to assist you to automate pricing choices. You may establish a rule to beat the buy box by 2% until you reach a specified floor, for example.

To develop your Amazon company, you need to make sure you're consistently earning the purchase box and getting warned when you're losing it. It's worth noting that vendor price differs from marketplace seller pricing.

Promotions are a terrific method to get more exposure and reviews. Lightning Deals, price discounts, best deals, coupons, buy-one-get-one offers, discount codes, and other similar promotions are all excellent ways to offer and promote a limited-time discount on your product.

This benefits you not only by helping you to sell more units in a shorter period but also temporarily increases your baseline business following the offer (i.e., you move from No. 50 bestseller to No. 10 when your promotion ends, likely increasing your run rate temporarily at your regular price).

The opportunity in marketplaces

Marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay might aid in the discovery of your brand. Over 150 million Prime members and 300 million active customer accounts make up Amazon's global consumer base. You may quickly establish a selling account and easily reach a worldwide audience—but this comes at a cost.

Aside from the fees, Amazon has been chastised for exploiting its merchants. When selling on marketplaces, you risk losing sales and consumer data by leveraging data about independent sellers, designing rival items, and establishing apparent imitation brands.

So, what does this imply for you? Consider this: these marketplaces provide customers with a wide range of options. They make it simple for customers to locate things they already want. They don't, however, create a delightful browsing experience in which things are discovered organically, as in an internet store.

This provides a once-in-a-lifetime chance for online enterprises. You may utilize Amazon to sell specific items and raise brand recognition, as well as to set up an online store where you can control the experience and data while avoiding expenses.

To complement each other, use a branded webshop and marketplaces. Customers are less reliant on a single sales channel, and they have the choice of using additional discoverability and purchasing capabilities.

Many consumers are Amazon regulars, so presenting your items to them increases the possibility that they'll find you and make a purchase through the channel they're already familiar with.

Those who aren't as loyal to Amazon could appreciate visiting your website and connecting with your company. Staying in touch with these brand-focused buyers is easy with your email subscription offer, retargeting advertisements, and social media profiles.

Selling on Amazon FAQ