To sell an item on Amazon, you need to create a seller account, list your product with a valid barcode, choose how you’ll fulfill orders, and set a competitive price. The whole setup process can take as little as a day if you already have your product and business information ready, though getting paid takes a few weeks after your first sale. Here’s how to work through each step.
Pick the Right Seller Account
Amazon offers two selling plans, and the math is straightforward. The Individual plan charges $0.99 per item sold, with no monthly subscription. The Professional plan costs $39.99 per month regardless of how many items you sell. If you’re selling more than 40 items a month, the Professional plan is cheaper. If you’re just offloading a few things or testing the waters, the Individual plan keeps your costs low.
To sign up, go to sell.amazon.com and create your account. You’ll need a government-issued ID, a credit card for billing, your bank account details for deposits, and tax information (your Social Security number if you’re an individual, or your EIN if you’re a business). Amazon will verify your identity, which can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days.
Get a Product Barcode
Almost every product listed on Amazon needs a GTIN, which is the number encoded in a UPC barcode. Amazon checks these numbers against the GS1 database to verify they’re legitimate and linked to the right brand. If the data doesn’t match, your listing can be removed or your account suspended.
You can get a barcode two ways. If you have just a few products, buy a single UPC from GS1 US. There’s no renewal fee, so it’s a one-time cost. If you have a larger catalog, a GS1 Company Prefix lets you generate multiple barcodes under one account. Either way, buy directly from GS1 rather than from a third-party reseller, since resold barcodes frequently fail Amazon’s verification checks.
If you’re reselling a product that already has a UPC on the packaging, you don’t need a new one. You’ll use the existing barcode when creating your listing.
Create Your Product Listing
Log into Seller Central and click “Add a Product.” If the item already exists in Amazon’s catalog (because another seller already listed it), you can match to that existing listing by searching for the product name or scanning its barcode. You’ll share the product page with other sellers and compete on price, shipping speed, and seller rating.
If your product is new to Amazon’s catalog, you’ll build the listing from scratch. You’ll enter the product title, brand, description, bullet points highlighting key features, images, and the barcode number. Product photos matter more than most sellers expect. Use high-resolution images on a white background, show the product from multiple angles, and include at least one photo that shows scale or the product in use.
Write your title and bullet points with search in mind. Include the words a buyer would actually type when looking for your product. A title like “Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle, 32 oz, Leak-Proof Lid” will get found far more often than “Our Amazing Hydration Solution.”
Check for Category Restrictions
Some product categories are “gated,” meaning you need Amazon’s approval before you can list items in them. Categories like beauty, dietary supplements, grocery, jewelry, medical devices, and certain electronics require documentation such as safety test results, FDA registration numbers, distributor invoices, or lab certificates of analysis. The approval process varies by category, and some requests get approved automatically while others take weeks of back-and-forth.
You can check whether a category is restricted by trying to list a product in it. If approval is needed, Seller Central will prompt you and explain what documentation to submit. If you’re selling in an unrestricted category like books, toys, or home goods, you can skip this step entirely.
Choose FBA or Ship It Yourself
You have two fulfillment options. With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you ship your inventory to Amazon’s warehouses. They store it, pack orders, ship to customers, and handle returns. Your products become eligible for Prime shipping, which can significantly boost sales. With Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), you store inventory yourself and ship directly to buyers when orders come in.
FBA is convenient but comes with fees beyond the referral fee Amazon already charges. Monthly storage runs $0.87 per cubic foot from January through September, then jumps to $2.40 per cubic foot during the holiday quarter. Products that sit unsold start racking up aged inventory surcharges after 181 days, starting at $0.50 per cubic foot and climbing steeply. Items sitting for over a year cost $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.15 to $0.35 per unit, whichever is greater. The lesson: don’t send Amazon more inventory than you can sell in a few months.
FBM makes more sense if your products are large or heavy (where FBA storage fees add up fast), if you already have a shipping operation, or if you’re selling low-volume items where warehousing costs would eat your margin.
Understand the Fees
Every sale on Amazon involves a referral fee, which is a percentage of the total sale price that Amazon keeps. The rate depends on the product category. Home and kitchen products pay 15%. Consumer electronics pay 8%. Clothing pays 17% on items over $20 but drops to 5% on items priced at $15 or less. Most categories fall between 8% and 15%, with a minimum referral fee of $0.30 per item.
Some categories use tiered rates. Furniture, for example, charges 15% on the first $200 of the sale price, then 10% on anything above that. Electronics accessories charge 15% up to $100, then 8% on the remainder.
On top of referral fees, you’ll pay either the $0.99 per-item fee (Individual plan) or the $39.99 monthly subscription (Professional plan), plus FBA fees if you use Amazon’s fulfillment. Before you set your price, add up all these costs to make sure you’re actually making money on each sale.
Set Your Price
If you’re competing on an existing product page, look at what other sellers are charging. The “Buy Box” (the main Add to Cart button) typically goes to sellers with competitive pricing, fast shipping, and strong seller metrics. Being a few cents cheaper than competitors isn’t always necessary, but being dramatically more expensive will push you off the page.
For new products, research comparable items to gauge what buyers expect to pay. Factor in your total cost: the product itself, shipping to Amazon or to the customer, Amazon’s referral fee, any FBA fees, and your selling plan fee. Whatever is left is your profit. If the margin is too thin after fees, you may need to source the product more cheaply or reconsider whether Amazon is the right channel for it.
When You Get Paid
Amazon doesn’t pay you immediately after a sale. Under the current payout policy (updated in March 2026), funds from a completed order become available for disbursement seven calendar days after the delivery is confirmed. Amazon then disburses on a 14-day cycle.
In practice, FBA sellers can expect 14 to 27 days from when a customer places an order to when the money hits their bank account. FBM sellers using standard shipping may wait up to 35 days, since the delivery confirmation comes later. Amazon also holds an account-level reserve on top of this, which ties up an additional 7 to 14 days’ worth of sales revenue. For a seller doing $1 million a year, that means roughly $19,000 is cycling through reserves at any given time. Plan your cash flow accordingly, especially in the early months when every dollar counts.
After Your First Sale
Once orders start coming in, your focus shifts to keeping your seller account healthy. Amazon tracks metrics like order defect rate, late shipment rate (for FBM sellers), and customer response time. Letting these slip can result in warnings or account suspension.
Respond to customer messages within 24 hours. If you’re handling your own shipping, get packages out on time with valid tracking numbers. Monitor your inventory levels so listings don’t go inactive because you ran out of stock. And keep an eye on your returns and customer feedback, since both directly affect whether Amazon shows your listing to new buyers.