Selling on Amazon starts with creating a seller account, listing your products, and choosing how you want to ship orders to customers. The entire setup process can take as little as a few days, though identity verification sometimes adds a week or more. Here’s how each step works, what it costs, and what to expect once your listings go live.
Choose a Selling Plan
Amazon offers two seller account tiers. The Professional plan costs $39.99 per month and makes sense if you plan to sell more than 40 items a month. The Individual plan has no monthly fee but charges $0.99 per item sold. Both plans give you access to the same marketplace, but the Professional plan unlocks advertising tools, bulk listing features, and eligibility for the Buy Box (the prominent “Add to Cart” button on product pages). You can switch between plans or cancel at any time after registration.
If you’re testing the waters with a small number of products, the Individual plan keeps your fixed costs at zero. Once your volume picks up, switching to Professional saves money: at 41 sales per month, the per-item fees on the Individual plan already exceed $39.99.
Register Your Account
Go to sell.amazon.com and click the sign-up button. Amazon will ask for several pieces of information during registration:
- Business information: your legal business name, address, and type of entity (or your personal name if you’re selling as an individual)
- Government-issued photo ID: a passport or driver’s license for the primary contact person
- Bank account or credit card statement: to verify your financial information
- Business license: if applicable to your situation
- Tax information: your Social Security number or Employer Identification Number for U.S. sellers
Amazon runs an identity verification process on every new account. In some cases you’ll pass automatically. In others, you may be asked to upload additional documents or complete a video call to confirm your identity. This step can take anywhere from one to several business days.
Decide What to Sell
Most product categories on Amazon are open to new sellers right away, but some are “gated,” meaning you need approval before you can list in them. Categories that currently require special permission include automotive, powersports, collectibles (coins, entertainment, sports memorabilia), fine art, gift cards, and watches. Certain brands within otherwise open categories can also be restricted.
To check whether a product is gated, search for it in Seller Central under “Add Products.” If you see a “Show limitations” link next to the item, click it to read the requirements and submit an application. Amazon typically asks for invoices from authorized distributors, a letter of authorization from the brand, or compliance certifications like FDA approval for health-related products. Making sure your invoices are recent, legible, and from verified suppliers helps avoid rejection.
If you’re just starting out, sticking to ungated categories lets you list products and start selling immediately while you build your account history.
Create Your Product Listings
Each product listing needs a title, bullet-point feature descriptions, a detailed product description, images, and a price. If the product already exists in Amazon’s catalog (meaning another seller already listed the same item), you simply match your offer to the existing listing rather than creating a new one. If you’re selling a product that’s new to the catalog, you build the listing from scratch.
A few things make a listing perform better. Titles should include the brand name, product type, key features, and size or quantity. Images should be at least 1,000 pixels on the longest side so customers can zoom in. Amazon requires a pure white background for the main image. Bullet points should highlight what buyers actually care about: dimensions, materials, compatibility, and what’s included in the box. The more specific and accurate your listing, the easier it is for Amazon’s search algorithm to show your product to the right shoppers.
Choose Your Fulfillment Method
You have two main options for getting orders to customers: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).
Fulfillment by Amazon
With FBA, you ship your inventory to Amazon’s warehouses. When a customer places an order, Amazon picks, packs, and ships the product, handles customer service, and processes returns on your behalf. Your products become eligible for Prime shipping, which can significantly increase sales. FBA operates on a pay-as-you-go model, charging per-unit fulfillment fees based on the size and weight of each item, plus monthly storage fees for the space your inventory occupies in the warehouse. During the holiday season (October through December), storage rates increase.
FBA works well if you want to scale without managing your own warehouse, if your products are small and light enough that fulfillment fees stay reasonable, or if Prime eligibility matters for your category. The tradeoff is less control over your inventory and the ongoing cost of storage, especially for slow-moving products.
Fulfillment by Merchant
With FBM, you store inventory in your own space and ship directly to customers when orders come in. You handle customer service and returns yourself. Your shipping costs depend on whatever carriers and rates you negotiate on your own. This approach gives you direct access to your inventory at all times and full control over packaging, inserts, and the unboxing experience.
FBM tends to make more sense for sellers with bulky or heavy items where FBA fees would eat into margins, sellers who already have warehouse infrastructure, or sellers with products that require special handling or packaging. The downside is that you’re responsible for meeting Amazon’s shipping performance standards, and your listings won’t automatically carry the Prime badge unless you qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime.
Understand the Fee Structure
Beyond the selling plan fees, Amazon charges a referral fee on every sale. This is a percentage of the total sale price (including shipping charges the customer pays). The percentage varies by product category and typically falls between 8% and 15%, though some categories charge more or less. For example, electronics referral fees tend to sit around 8%, while clothing and accessories are closer to 17%.
If you use FBA, you’ll also pay fulfillment fees per unit shipped and monthly inventory storage fees per cubic foot. These vary by product size tier. A small, lightweight item might cost a couple of dollars per unit to fulfill, while oversized items cost considerably more.
Before you set your prices, add up the referral fee, any fulfillment fees, your product cost, and your selling plan fee. Amazon provides a Revenue Calculator in Seller Central that lets you plug in a product and see estimated fees before you commit. Running those numbers first prevents you from listing products at prices that leave no margin.
Launch and Get Your First Sales
Once your listings are live, sales depend on visibility. New listings with no reviews and no sales history start at a disadvantage in Amazon’s search results. A few strategies help overcome that initial hurdle.
Pricing competitively from the start gives you the best shot at early sales, even if it means thinner margins temporarily. Amazon’s advertising platform lets you run Sponsored Products ads that place your listing at the top of search results for specific keywords. You set a daily budget and bid on keywords, paying only when someone clicks. Even a modest ad budget of $10 to $20 per day can generate enough initial traffic to start building sales velocity and reviews.
After a customer receives their order, Amazon may send them a review request on your behalf. You can also use the “Request a Review” button in Seller Central for each order. You cannot offer incentives for reviews or ask customers to leave positive reviews specifically, as Amazon enforces strict policies against review manipulation.
Monitor your Account Health dashboard in Seller Central regularly. Amazon tracks metrics like your order defect rate, late shipment rate, and cancellation rate. Letting these slip below Amazon’s thresholds can result in listing suppression or account suspension. Keeping defect rates low and responding to customer messages within 24 hours builds the kind of account standing that keeps your selling privileges intact and your listings visible.