You can sell on Amazon as a complete beginner by signing up for an Amazon Seller Central account, finding a product, locating a supplier, and creating a product listing.
Furthermore, beginners can start their journey by consuming educational content such as case studies to better understand what’s involved.
Likewise, ensure to get help with every stage of the process using software solutions like Helium 10 and Jungle Scout.
Key Takeaways
- Beginners can start selling on Amazon by signing up for an individual or professional account.
- Increase your chances of success with reliable Amazon seller software options like Helium 10 and Jungle Scout.
- Research case studies and other educational content to learn the basics of selling on Amazon.
Individual vs. Professional Amazon Account for Beginners
When creating an Amazon account, you can get an Individual or Professional account.
Here’s a table showcasing the features of both plans:
| Features and Benefits | Individual | Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 per item sold (+additional selling fees) | $39.99 per month (+additional selling fees) |
| Add new products to the Amazon catalog | Available | Available |
| Grow your business with Fulfillment by Amazon | Available | Available |
| Apply to sell in additional categories | Not available | Available |
| Access brand owner tools like A+ Content and Stores | Not available | Available |
| Save time creating listings in bulk | Not available | Available |
| Manage inventory with feeds, spreadsheets, and reports | Not available | Available |
| Qualify for top placement on product detail pages | Not available | Available |
| Increase selling efficiency with API integration | Not available | Available |
| Set your shipping fees for non-media products | Not available | Available |
| Attract shoppers with on-site advertising tools | Not available | Available |
| Run promotions including free shipping | Not available | Available |
| Add multiple users to your account | Not available | Available |
The best plan for beginners is the Individual plan. That’s because there’s no fee if you’re not selling products. This is helpful since it can take several months before you’re actively selling at the start.
However, upgrade to the Professional plan once you start selling since it’s the only viable solution to run a serious Amazon business.
What Documents Do You Need to Start Selling on Amazon?
Amazon will demand documentation before you can sell on its platform.
Here’s a summary of what you’ll need to make the proper preparations ahead of time:
- Email address or customer account: You can use an existing Amazon account to sign up, or you’ll need to share another email. Choose an email you check often to avoid missing important updates and communication about your Amazon Seller Central account.
- Chargeable credit card: Choose a credit card to pay for Amazon fees and receive payments for products sold.
- Valid ID: Share government-issued photo identification such as a passport or driver’s license.
- Proof of residence: Have evidence of your address. This can be a letter from the bank or a utility bill.
- Company registration details (optional): If you have an existing company or plan to open one for your Amazon business, share the details during registration.
Note that if any documents aren’t in English, you’ll need a notarized translation with a stamp to verify the document’s legitimacy.
How to Sign Up for a Professional Amazon Account?
Signing up for a Professional Amazon account takes several steps, and you’ll need to have the documents mentioned in the previous section.
Here’s the process to get started:
- Go to Amazon.com/sell.
- Click “Sign up” in the top right-hand corner.
- Click “Create your Amazon account.”
- Enter your details and click “Next.”
- Complete the registration process by sharing the documentation mentioned in the previous section.
- Choose between the Individual or Professional account.
Once you submit the documents, the Amazon customer support team will need time to verify them. To avoid delays by having to resubmit documents, follow the guidelines during the Amazon account registration process.
What Amazon Fees Sellers Should Know About?
The fee structure can get complicated depending on how you plan to sell (FBA vs. FBM) and your product category. Therefore, I’ll share the main fee types to keep things simple for Amazon beginners:
- Referral fees: This is a flat-percentage, commission-type fee for Amazon FBA that varies based on your product selling category. For example, equipment power tools incur 12%, while eyewear is set at 15%.
- FBA fees: Includes storage and aged inventory fees incurred based on the FBA service you use.
- FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant): These fees are for Amazon sellers who pack and send their products to customers directly.
- Miscellaneous fees: There’s a long list of other fees, such as closing and high-volume listing fees. These may or may not apply to you based on the nature of your Amazon business.
You can view every fee type you’re charged in your Amazon Seller Central account.
This helps you better understand the fees relating to your products. Also, you can contact Amazon seller’s customer support if you were charged incorrectly or need clarification.
What Is the Amazon Seller Central?
Amazon Seller Central is your account area that includes a dashboard to run your Amazon business. You can do several things within the Seller Central dashboard, including:
- Manage inventory: Seller Central allows you to manage inventory, which includes pushing the live button to start selling. Also, you can pause a listing once stock runs out.
- Optimize product listing page: You can change different aspects of your product listing pages. This includes pictures, titles, and descriptions.
- Product performance: View each product’s traffic, conversion rate, and sales. Therefore, you can determine the top-performing products at a glance.
- Account health: Get notifications regarding steps you need to take to keep your account running smoothly. This might be providing safety documentation for a product or changing listing text to align with Amazon seller rules.
- Monitor customer feedback: Inspect customer feedback and reviews, follow up on negative reviews, and improve your product’s sales chances with well-managed reviews.
How to Sell on Amazon in 5 Steps
I’ll break the process of selling on Amazon into five sections for simplicity.
Furthermore, I’ll share the tools you can use at each stage to make things easier.
Step 1: Product and Keyword Research
At the start of your journey to a successful Amazon business, you’ll need to find a viable product. The key is looking for products with high demand and low competition.
Therefore, you’ll need to spy on current sellers and look at the sales numbers and review count.
You can discover this information using tools like Helium 10’s Black Box.
It’s a product research tool that allows you to research products based on multiple filters like monthly sales volume, product category, review count, price, and more.
Furthermore, you must assess the product niche by inspecting search volume.
You can use tools like Cerebro and Magnet, which are included with every subscription plan at Helium 10. Also, these tools inform your keyword strategy for product listings and PPC. Hence, you can increase traffic to your Amazon product listings by going after low-competition and high-traffic keywords.
Step 2: Finding a Supplier
Next, you’ll need to find a supplier to source the products you want to sell on Amazon.
You can find a supplier in many places, but Alibaba.com is the most popular among Amazon sellers. That’s because it’s a trusted marketplace with reputable sellers for almost any product type.
You can use the Jungle Scout Supplier Database tool to find verified suppliers using the tool’s in-house Match Score metric.
Jungle Scout allows you to find suppliers by name, company, or brand type and manage quotes to compare suppliers to keep track of negotiations.
Step 3: Listing Optimization
You’ll need to create and optimize your Amazon product listing to start selling.
Here are the top things to remember to create a competitive product listing:
- Photos: One of the most important aspects of a product listing is photos. Add clear photos that show the product from every angle. Also, include lifestyle photos showing the product in use to help the buyer better understand the functionality.
- Title: Ensure the title includes the main keyword and the product’s most essential features. You can also include secondary keywords, but don’t add too many keywords since the title will have poor readability.
- Description: Write accurate and informative descriptions to help visitors decide if the products meet their expectations. Highlight the product benefits to help potential buyers understand the value. Finally, add keywords throughout the description to increase search traffic.
Furthermore, you can check out the Helium 10 Listing Optimizer to improve the quality of your Amazon product listings. The tool helps meet the best word count for each section and informs you of important keywords you’re missing.
Step 4: Amazon PPC
Amazon PPC allows sellers to promote products through an in-house advertising platform.
The pay-per-click advertising model enables sellers to compete for product placement spots on search result pages by bidding.
You’ll need to find low-competition search terms with decent traffic volume.
Therefore, you can generate consistent traffic without paying high bid prices.
The biggest hurdle with Amazon PPC is ensuring your product remains profitable.
However, it’s advantageous to use Amazon PPC for new product listings since it increases the sales velocity, which has a positive impact on your organic search rankings.
Therefore, sales from Amazon PPC can increase purchases from organic search visitors.
Luckily, you can use the Helium 10 Adtomic tool to improve your Amazon PPC strategy. The tool allows you to micromanage PPC campaigns and enhance profitability through automation.
Step 5: Review Requests
Generating product reviews is an essential aspect of growing your Amazon business.
You’ll need to set up a system for requesting and encouraging customer reviews without breaking Amazon’s terms of service.
You can set up an email campaign with the Helium 10 Portals tool that reminds buyers to leave a review. Also, you can use product inserts with a QR code to request reviews, which is possible via the Helium 10 Portals tool.
Top 3 Amazon Seller Software Solutions for Beginners
Launching and maintaining an Amazon business is difficult for beginners since there’s a lot to learn. To help you with the learning curve and increase your chances of success, invest in an Amazon seller software solution.
Here are three top options that help with most aspects of running an Amazon FBA business.
Helium 10
Helium 10 is a comprehensive software solution for Amazon sellers with an indefinite free trial to test the tools at your own pace. Also, you can choose from different pricing plans to find an option matching your budget and Amazon business phase.
The all-round Helium 10 tool allows you to
- Optimize your PPC campaigns (via Adtomic)
- Manage your stock levels and predict inventory better (via Inventory Management)
- Find viable product selling opportunities (via Black Box)
- Discover high-traffic keywords (via Magnet and Cerebro)
- Receive important updates about your Amazon account (via Alerts)
Check out my Helium 10 Tutorial for insights into how to use the tools.
Jungle Scout
Jungle Scout is another comprehensive toolset with extensive features for finding profitable products featuring good sales volume without high competition.
Additionally, Jungle Scout is a great choice for beginners because it offers a large amount of educational content. This includes case studies and informative videos for improving your strategy at every stage of the Amazon business model.
Some of the standout tools in Jungle Scout for beginners include:
- The browser extension to validate product ideas while browsing Amazon.
- The Keyword Scout tools to discover high-converting keywords.
- Opportunity Finder to uncover profitable niches offering high-demand and low-competition keywords.
- The Supplier Database to find high-quality suppliers for product ideas.
- The Listing Builder to optimize your listings and improve rankings.
Check out my Jungle Scout Pricing Plans guide for insights on getting started.
ZonGuru
ZonGuru’s consumer-friendly pricing structure offers the Researcher plan that’s affordably priced and offers just enough tools for beginners to find their first product.
Furthermore, ZonGuru allows you to write Amazon product listings with the help of ChatGPT-4. It’s a unique selling point and ideal for Amazon sellers who don’t have the skills to write their own product listings.
Besides that, ZonGuru also ensures:
- Top-notch listings via its Listing Optimizer.
- Profitable Niches with the Niche Finder.
- Competitor analysis with Sales Spy.
- An overview of financial account health with the Business Dashboard.
- Monitoring keyword performance with Keyword Tracker.
Get the ZonGuru free trial to access every feature of your desired plan for 7 days.
What Educational Resources Should Amazon Beginners Use?
Inexperienced Amazon sellers should consume educational content to increase their odds of success and reduce the chances of making avoidable mistakes. Here are some of the top educational resources available for free.
Helium 10 Case Studies
Helium 10 has completed several case studies highlighting how to use its tools to successfully sell on Amazon. You can learn from these case studies which offer real-life tests and results.
Here are two of its more popular case studies:
- Project X: A 14-episode case study on how to sell on Amazon with step-by-step illustrations. Most episodes are around 1-hour long, and you can access them through the Helium 10 website or YouTube.
- Project 5K: This case study shows how to start an Amazon business with just $5,000. It also covers competitor analysis, market strategy, product sourcing, and product & keyword research.
Jungle Scout Million-Dollar Case Study
The Million-Dollar Case Study from Jungle Scout is a series of educational videos for succeeding as an Amazon seller that launched in 2015. The case study has several seasons, and here’s what you can expect:
- A live showcase of choosing a private label product.
- Weekly episodes that show how to sell on Amazon with step-by-step instructions.
- Updates for the latest best practices for selling on Amazon.
My Experience With Selling on Amazon
I found that starting on Amazon has an approachable barrier to entry with respect to the budget requirements, difficulty in sourcing products & suppliers, and the documentation required to open a Seller Central account.
Speaking of, opening an account was fast, and the amount of help online to complete each step of the Amazon business set up is vast.
Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by how much Amazon seller software solutions like Helium 10 help. They practically assist with every step, and it was my job to fit the pieces together so that I find the right product.
I also enjoyed that most software companies provide a free trial, so I could find the right option for my preferences and budget.
The biggest hurdle was locating a product with good demand and low competition.
Selling on Amazon is becoming increasingly competitive, but you can find niches with low competition.
It just took a bit longer than I initially thought. However, once I found my product, the rest of the pieces fell into place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do You Need Experience to Sell on Amazon?
You don’t need experience to sell on Amazon since you can learn every stage of the process online. You can learn from educational case studies on websites like Helium 10 or Jungle Scout.
Also, selling on Amazon is one of those business models with no technical barriers to entry. You don’t need professional training or understand advanced concepts to sell on Amazon.
What Amazon Marketplaces Are Available to Sell On?
You can sell on Amazon marketplaces in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. For the full list of marketplaces, check out my Amazon Marketplaces Guide.
How to Contact Amazon Customer Support?
You can contact Amazon customer support via live chat by logging into your Seller Central account. In most cases, you’ll get in touch with an agent within 5 minutes.
How Much Money Can You Make Selling on Amazon?
The amount of money you can make when selling on Amazon varies on many factors like product profitability, capital, product demand, and sales velocity.
Also, luck plays a role, since you can’t predict the future performance of your product.
Your niche may increase in popularity or become obsolete as new products enter the market.
Should Beginners Sell on Amazon?
Yes, beginners should sell on Amazon because it’s an opportunity to start a legitimate business. Amazon is the biggest e-commerce platform in the world, and it has many software solutions to help sellers with every aspect of the business.
Are you interested in giving one of these services a try? Then, the Helium 10 pricing plan or Jungle Scout pricing plan guides are fantastic places to start.
