The main task of an e-commerce entrepreneur is to reach an ever-increasing customer base. With the current technological possibilities and dynamic development of the e-commerce sector, there is huge market potential regardless of the industry. However, there is a lot of competition, so using available tools is one of the best solutions for the development of the company.
Comprehensive service for Amazon – SellerSwitch
Amazon is one of the most popular platforms providing fantastic reach and an impressive customer base. So it’s worth considering how to sell on Amazon and where to start. If you want to enter the world of international e-commerce, this resource is designed with you in mind.
Table of contents:
- Step 1 – create an account on Amazon
o Available account types
o Applicable commissions and fees – what costs are involved?
- Step 2 – choosing your product range
- Step 3 – listing items for sale
- Step 4 – marketing, payment and delivery methods
o Advertising and marketing on Amazon
o Available payment methods
o Available forms of delivery
- Tips for beginner sellers on Amazon
o Start selling step by step
Step 1 – Create an Amazon account
Wondering how to start selling on Amazon? It’s hard to list on the site if you don’t have an official account there. On Amazon, users can choose from several business profiles when they register. You will learn more about them in the next paragraph. Remember that regardless of the type of account, the interface of the Amazon platform is in a foreign language. It’s worth paying some attention to the different wording and focus 100 percent when starting your commerce adventure on Amazon.
Why is this so important? Because customers (private individuals) cannot list products for sale. So, it’s a good idea to determine your status right from the start – especially as creating several accounts is likely to result in all of them being blocked.
Available account types
The most popular options are:
- Buyer account (Individual),
- Seller account (Professional).
For the needs of Polish entrepreneurs (in most cases), a standard Professional account will suffice. How to open it? You need to complete and fill in a set of necessary documents and data. These include:
- scan of an identity card or passport;
- A credit or debit card;
- proof of address;
- NIP;
- Bank account number;
- Telephone number;
Applicable commissions and fees – what costs should be taken into account?
A Professional account has a fixed cost of 39 EUR or 25 GBP + vat. Entrepreneurs at this price have the possibility to place an unlimited number of offers, but have to deal with commissions for sales. Depending on the category, Amazon’s platform commission is between 5-15% and cannot be less than 30 cents.
Additional fees will arise when using Amazon’s warehouses (this option also exists). However, the cost depends on the quantity of products and their dimensions. It is therefore determined individually in accordance with the calculator available on the website of the intermediary.
Step 2 – choice of assortment
It all depends on your business profile. Theoretically, you can sell any type of product on Amazon – unless you are trading in violation of the law or the site’s rules. If you don’t have a direction in mind, do some market research. By analysing what sells best and when, you’ll be able to tailor your offer to the needs of the market. A perfect illustration of this is the use of Christmas, the holiday period or holidays and Valentine’s Day.
Before Christmas the most popular items are toys and electronics, before the holidays winter sports equipment, in the summer holiday accessories (e.g. pump-up mattresses, trekking range or survival tools). These are just examples. A lot depends on your creativity. So think about whether you want to trade in quality products or fight on price. This will translate into your further sales and marketing decisions.
Step 3 – listing items for sale
Creating a product listing on Amazon can be a very cumbersome process. Often, the product card we want to sell already exists on the platform and in order to change its content, we have to write to Amazon asking them to include our version. In the case of private labels it is much easier, but sometimes there is a conflict of EANs, which despite the fact that they were bought in GS1 database are already used on Amazon. Additionally, an important element is the fact that Amazon provides us with seven shops, which means that we need to have seven language versions of the product description. List of Amazon shops in Europe:
- German (amazon.de);
- English (amazon.co.uk);
- French (amazon.fr);
- Italian (amazon.it)
- Spanish (amazon.es)
- Swedish (amazon.se)
- Dutch (amazon.nl).
The sale on Amazon starts with the listing of selected products on selected Amazon shops. In order to list the products correctly, the following information needs to be uploaded to the platform:
- a concise and catchy title;
- keywords – max. 250 characters;
- 5 product features – max. 500 characters;
- description;
- category;
- photos – on a white background, without logos and other markers (e.g. seller’s website watermark);
- technical specifications.
Step 4 – Marketing, payment and delivery methods
To be successful on Amazon, you need to take care of advertising your goods, adjusting the payment and delivery model. What options await entrepreneurs?
Advertising and marketing on Amazon
Amazon In Seller Central provides 3 options for advertising products: Sponsored Products, Amazon Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display Ads. What does this mean for sellers?
- Sponsored Products (aka sponsored listings) are listings that display directly at the top of the results (before traditional listings, with no advertising option selected). The seller pays for the ad when a potential customer clicks on the product ad.
- Amazon Headline Search (promo 3 listings) is a banner displaying 3 products from the seller’s listing. The ad is shown above the search results.
- Product Display Ads (aka display advertising) involves displaying products in tabs and categories.
Available forms of payment
Sellers have access to several payment methods. Customers may pay for purchases using, among others:
- payment card (debit, credit or currency card),
- currency wallet,
- via the Przelewy24 system,
- direct debit debiting a bank account – in this function they must have an account maintained in euro.
Is it worth offering customers all of the above alternatives? Yes, because everyone has individual preferences regarding such operations. Since you have access to tools, use them to reach consumers and meet their needs.
Available delivery options
Amazon sellers can ship products in two of the most popular options. These include:
- Self-serve parcel shipping (Fulfilment by Merchant). The requirement is to ship min. 97.5% of orders within 2 days of purchase. This is the best option for those looking for answers on how to sell on Amazon from Poland.
- Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service. Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a service where you send your goods to Amazon’s warehouse. There it will be stored, packed and shipped to customers.
The fastest way to start selling on Amazon is through the FBM model, but by far the greatest potential is in the FBA model, which allows you to scale quickly to all Amazon marketplaces, not just Europe. Do you already know where to start selling on Amazon? We hope that we have managed to dispel many of your doubts that often arise for Polish entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is worthwhile to enter foreign markets with your offer and use the potential of online international trade.