Amazon is one of the great world empires. It has everything and not only is it sold by the company, but it also allows other sellers to access its platform. However, How to sell on Amazon?
If you do not know how to do it and you would like to expand your business, we are going to talk about everything you need to know: the types of sellers, how much Amazon charges to sell and how to register on the platform.
How much does Amazon charge to sell in its store?
Being a seller on Amazon is not something free. They charge you for being there and for selling, since they have to take a commission for giving visibility to many products in their catalog. Hence, it is one of the places with so many articles. But how much do they really charge? That is what we are going to explain to you next.
- Monthly subscription. This is the first expense that you are going to have to face. This is the fee that Amazon charges everyone who wants to be a seller on Amazon. That is, the "entry fee" that allows you to sell. Its cost is € 39 per month.
- Referral fee. It is what you have to pay Amazon each time a sale is made. The percentage depends on the category where the product is (hence, in your search, you have found products that you would put in other categories). And is that the percentage difference can range from 5 to 45%.
- Sale closing fee. This is also fixed. Whatever you sell, they will charge you 0,99 euros for each product, regardless of the price it has.
- Fee per sale of the item. It is related to Marketplace, since here they can also charge you between 0,81 and 1,01 euros. The good thing is that it is only for video games, software, dvds, books and music.
Types of sellers on Amazon
Before starting to become a seller on Amazon, you should know that there are two types of accounts, an individual seller, and a professional one. Each type has different conditions, and you have to pay attention, since the commissions, as well as the steps, are different.
Individual seller
An individual seller is one that Amazon considers to be you will not sell more than 40 items a month. Also, they only have to pay when they actually sell, and it may be the most viable option to start working on this great platform, because you really don't know if you are going to sell something.
As for the rates that it charges you, they normally range from a 5 to 45% rate per referral / (it depends on the category) and a minimum rate for closing the sale (which is fixed, at 0,99 euros).
Professional seller
If the previous one was the one that did not sell more than 40 items per month, in the case of the professional seller, they will have to sell more of those products. And in return, you will benefit from some advantages on Amazon.
When creating a professional seller account, can be sold in all Amazon categories (in the case of the individual you will be limited); In addition, you can also create new products, have more reports, upload your inventory ...
What are the commissions? Well, 7% referral fee. Nothing more. There are no more commissions that you have to pay more than that.
Steps to sell on Amazon
Now, we are going to teach you how to sell on Amazon. And we are going to do it step by step because it can be a bit confusing, but with our instructions you can surely do it easily.
Step 1: Go to Seller Central
Seller Central is Amazon's sales hub and it is the first thing you need to register as a seller. Its url is: https://sellercentral.amazon.es
Here you will have to register with your email and password and, once inside, you will have to give the details of your company, country, credit card, bank details, telephone number and personal details. This is where you will be asked to choose between two accounts: individual seller and professional seller.
The good news is that these are not exclusive, that is, you can start as an individual seller and then move on to a professional (or the other way around).
How to sell on Amazon step 2: Create your products
If you have signed up as a professional seller, you have the advantage of uploading all the products at the same time, even if you have to review them later. In the case of the individual seller, you have to get on one at a time. How do you do it? You will do it in Inventory, where you will get a button to «Add a product».
However, you should know that, before putting it, Amazon will tell you to look for that product, Either by the barcode or by the EAN code, or name, because it is most likely that it will have it in its catalog and then it will put you as one more seller of that product.
When you have that product you are looking for, you will have different options, so you just have to select the product that it is, fill in the missing data and that's it.
In case the product does not come out, you will have to create it from scratch by choosing the category and subcategories most in line with your product. Here it is a bit more complicated since you have to fill in the entire product information sheet (since this way you make sure that Amazon positions it higher when it is complete).
Step 3: Don't forget about the photos
The photos are the true claim of potential customers, so you need to upload good photos, that are of quality and above all that the product looks good. If you put photos that are too small, or where the details are not well seen, in the end you will not sell because they will not trust what you send them (although it is actually the best).
How to sell on Amazon step 4: put a good price
The next step when it comes to knowing how to sell on Amazon is to establish what the price of your product is. In this case, you not only have to take into account what the platform will charge you, but also the price of your competition.
If you place a lower price than your competition, then you have a better chance of selling because you offer the cheapest. But that might make you lose, so be careful with this.
The best thing is that you look, not only on Amazon, but in general all over the Internet to see what price they put and then weigh if the costs and benefits you get are adequate. Otherwise, it may be better not to put that product, or to put it at a somewhat higher price.
Step 6: Decide who ships
Well yes, did you think that being a seller you were going to have to take care of shipping yourself? You don't really have to. When a product is sold, Amazon sends you an email giving you the buyer's information so that you can proceed to make the shipment within the defined period for it.
However, it may also be the case that you do not want to take care of the shipping or manage returns and related issues. That's where the call comes in "Fulfillment by Amazon". It is a service where the company itself is responsible for sending everything.
Of course, for them to have your products, you must send them to them first, but don't worry, once you upload them, you just have to click on the product and put: "Send or restock inventory" and there they will give you the data to send those packages so they can manage the products themselves.
How to sell on Amazon step 7: the benefits 'for' when
To make it easy for you, we will tell you that Amazon pays after 15 days, so you will not receive the money immediately, but 15 days after each sale.
The reason is simple, and it is that, when you buy a product on Amazon, you have several days to return it, so that Amazon withholds that money until it ensures that the customer will not return the product.