How to Sell on Amazon as an Individual and Find Success

If you’ve ever dreamed of working from the comfort of your own home, then selling products on Amazon may be the exact job you’re looking for. Making money by not leaving your house is a great job for many different kinds of people.

Amazon is the most well-known site for online shopping, so it’s the perfect place for you to start selling your stuff. You will have a large audience of potential customers. It is also possible to make selling on Amazon your full-time job.

Keep reading for our full guide on how to sell on Amazon as an individual, and find out how you can start pulling in big profits today.

What Can You Sell On Amazon?

If you’ve ever browsed Amazon, you will notice that there are all different kinds of products that you can buy. So what should you be selling on Amazon?

Pretty much anything you can imagine can be sold on Amazon. You can sell toys, games, electronics, clothing, textbooks—the list goes on and on.

According to Amazon’s guidelines, there are a few things that you are unable to sell. These items include prescription drugs, alcohol, animals, or crime scene photos. Make sure you are positive the stuff you want to sell is not restricted.

Amazon Seller Account

After you’ve decided what you will be selling, you need to create an Amazon Seller account. To do this, you will need to choose a category, tell Amazon a bit about your business, and understand the policies.

Seller Categories

There are three different types of categories you can choose from. An Amazon Individual Seller is for small businesses who plan to sell less than 40 items per month. This category will cost you $.99 per sale as well as a few other fees.

You could also choose the Amazon Pro Seller category which is for businesses who will be selling more than 40 items per month. This category will cost you $39.99 per month as well as additional transaction fees.

Lastly, you can be an Amazon Vendor. You can be a wholesaler on Amazon if you manufacture your own goods to sell. In this case, Amazon will handle product listings, fulfillment, and shipping. When they run out of stock of your products then they will order more from you.

Tell Amazon About Your Business

After deciding which seller category you will be in, you will now need to tell Amazon a bit about your business. They will need to know the name of your business and your legal name as well as your address and contact information. These are just basic questions to get you started with your account.

Amazon will also need to know where you will be shipping your products from as well as which regions you will be able to ship to. And finally, they will need your bank account information so they can pay you every 14 days.

Set Up Your Profile

Your seller profile is almost like another social media profile for your business. Your profile is where potential customers will get to know about you, view your shipping and return policies, as well as see reviews left by other customers.

On your amazon profile, potential customers will see your logo. You will want to make an eye-catching logo that is also memorable so customers can return to your products. Make sure to also add any important information you want your customers to know in your about section.

You will also want to list how your customers can return items to you on your profile. Remember that Amazon requires sellers to allow for a minimum of 30 days for all returns.

List Your Products

Now that you’ve got your seller profile all set up, you’re ready to start listing your products. Individual sellers will have to list each product separately, while professional sellers can list their products in large batches.

If you’re selling a product that is already listed on Amazon, then you are able to use the stock photos and descriptions that are already on Amazon. You will just have to say how many of the product you have to sell, the condition of the product, and your available shipping options.

Remember to try to make your product stand out among the other sellers. You can offer free shipping or lower prices so potential customers are more drawn to you. When other sellers run out of the product, then Amazon will push your listing to the top.

By selling a product that is an original and not already listed on Amazon, you will have an advantage because there will be less competition. The downside is you will need an Amazon Pro Seller Account, and you will also need to provide Amazon with a bit more information.

To list a new product, you will need the UPC/EAN number, the SKU, the product title, product description and bullet points, product images, and search terms. When it comes to the product description, you will really want this to stand out. Learn more about which keywords to include in your product descriptions so you will rank higher.

Listings can be available to customers immediately after you publish them, but Amazon could take up to 24 hours to publish your listing. Give your listing some time to publish, but if you don’t see it within a day, then you can contact Amazon Support.

Manage Your Product Inventory

Creating an account and publishing your listings will be the easy part of selling your stuff on Amazon. Now you will need to check your seller account for new orders, update your inventory, and monitor your performance metrics.

You will want to make sure you’re keeping your inventory up as well as getting your products out as soon as possible. If your products are often out of stock, then this could be a huge disappointment for potential customers, and you will lose out on more sales.

Fulfill Your Orders

There are two options when it comes to fulfilling and shipping your orders out to customers. First, you can send them out yourself. You will be responsible for maintaining inventory, packaging, labeling and shipping products to each customer.

Your other option would be to have Amazon handle it for you. Amazon will store your products in their fulfillment center and then package and ship it to your customers for you.

Get Paid

The last step is the easiest step and that is watching your earnings flow into your bank account. Amazon will automatically deduct any fees that you owe them from your earnings before depositing it into your bank account. You will get your earnings deposited into your bank account every two weeks, and they will also send you a confirmation email every time you get a payment.