Becoming a seller on Amazon starts with creating a seller account at sell.amazon.com, choosing a selling plan, and listing your first product. The entire registration process can be completed in under an hour if you have your documents ready, though identity verification may take a few additional days. Here’s everything you need to get from zero to your first live listing.
Choose Your Selling Plan
Amazon offers two selling plans, and the right one depends on your expected volume. The Individual plan has no monthly fee but charges $0.99 per item sold. The Professional plan costs $39.99 per month with no per-item charge. If you plan to sell more than 40 items a month, the Professional plan saves you money. It also unlocks tools you’ll eventually need: bulk listing, advertising, eligibility for the Buy Box (the “Add to Cart” button customers see), and access to restricted categories that require approval.
You can switch between plans at any time, so starting with an Individual plan while you test the waters is a common approach. Just know that some features, like running Sponsored Products ads, won’t be available until you upgrade.
What You Need to Register
Gather these items before you start the registration process:
- Government-issued ID such as a passport or driver’s license
- Bank account and routing number for receiving payments (the account must be in your name or your business name)
- Internationally chargeable credit card for Amazon to bill fees
- Proof of residential address dated within the last 180 days, like a bank statement or credit card statement
- Tax information (your Social Security number for sole proprietors, or your EIN if you have a registered business)
- Business license or registration if applicable
During registration, you’ll enter your full legal name, country of citizenship, country of birth, date of birth, and residential address. After submitting your store information, Amazon will prompt you to verify your identity by either taking a photo of your face alongside your government-issued ID or joining a video call with an Amazon associate. Bring your ID and proof of address to the call if you choose that option. Verification typically takes one to three business days.
Understand Amazon’s Fee Structure
Beyond your selling plan cost, Amazon charges a referral fee on every sale. This is a percentage of the total sale price (including shipping and gift wrap charges) that varies by product category. Most categories carry a 15% referral fee, but the range runs from 5% to 45%. A few examples to illustrate:
- Clothing and Accessories: 5% on items up to $15, 10% from $15 to $20, and 17% above $20
- Electronics and Computers: 8%
- Home and Kitchen: 15%
- Jewelry: 20% on the first $250, then 5%
- Furniture: 15% on the first $200, then 10%
Amazon also applies a minimum referral fee of $0.30 per unit. If the percentage-based fee on a low-priced item comes out to less than $0.30, you pay $0.30 instead. When pricing your products, factor in both the referral fee and your selling plan cost to make sure you’re actually turning a profit.
Decide How You’ll Fulfill Orders
You have two main options for getting products to customers: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).
With FBA, you ship your inventory to Amazon’s warehouses. Amazon stores it, picks and packs each order, ships to customers, and handles returns. Your products automatically get the Prime badge, which can significantly boost sales. The trade-off is cost. FBA fulfillment fees vary by item size and weight, and Amazon adds a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on top of those fees. You’ll also pay inbound placement fees if you ship all your inventory to a single warehouse instead of distributing it across multiple locations. Those placement fees range from $0.14 to $6.50 per unit depending on product size.
Inventory that sits too long in Amazon’s warehouses gets expensive. The aged inventory surcharge kicks in at 181 days, starting at $0.50 per cubic foot and climbing steeply to $6.90 per cubic foot after a year. On the flip side, letting your stock run too low triggers a low-inventory-level fee of $0.89 to $1.11 per unit sold when your supply drops below roughly 28 days’ worth. The message from Amazon is clear: keep your inventory levels steady.
With FBM, you (or a third-party logistics provider) handle storage, packing, and shipping yourself. You don’t pay FBA fees, and you control the packaging and customer experience. The downside is no automatic Prime badge, which can mean fewer sales. You can qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime, but the performance requirements are demanding: at least 99% valid tracking rate, a cancellation rate at or below 0.5%, and on-time delivery on at least 93.5% of orders. You’ll also need to offer one-day delivery on 30% of orders and two-day delivery on 70%.
Many new sellers start with FBA because it simplifies operations and leverages Amazon’s logistics network. If you’re selling large, heavy, or slow-moving items, FBM may make more financial sense.
List Your First Product
You can either list a product that already exists in Amazon’s catalog or create a new product listing. If you’re reselling a known brand, search for the product by name or UPC and add your offer to the existing listing. If you’re selling a private-label or handmade item, you’ll create a new listing with your own title, description, photos, and keywords.
Strong listings share a few traits: a clear, keyword-rich title, multiple high-resolution images showing the product from different angles, bullet points that highlight key features, and a detailed description. Amazon’s search algorithm weighs your title and bullet points heavily, so include the terms shoppers would actually type when looking for your product.
Know What You Can and Can’t Sell
Amazon restricts certain product categories and requires pre-approval before you can list in them. Gated categories include grocery and food items, dietary supplements, jewelry and precious gems, cosmetics, toys and games (sometimes seasonally gated), and fine art. Certain product types are outright prohibited, including weapons, drugs, recalled products, and surveillance equipment.
Even in open categories, your products must comply with all applicable laws and Amazon’s internal policies. If Amazon finds that a product is inadequately described, unsafe, or restricted, the listing will be removed and your account could face suspension. Before sourcing inventory, confirm that your product category is open to new sellers or that you can meet the approval requirements.
Prepare Inventory for Shipping to Amazon
If you’re using FBA, your products need to meet Amazon’s packaging and labeling standards before they arrive at the warehouse. Amazon will refuse, return, or repackage noncompliant items at your expense, and inbound defect fees range from $0.32 to $8.25 per unit.
Every unit needs a scannable barcode, either the manufacturer’s UPC or an Amazon FNSKU label that you print and apply. Products must be able to survive what Amazon calls the 3-foot drop test: five consecutive drops from three feet onto a hard surface without leaking or losing product integrity. Depending on your product type, you may need additional prep such as bagging, bubble wrap, cap seals, or suffocation warnings. Liquids and gels need sealed packaging. Fragile items need cushioning. Sharp products need protective covers. Small items and jewelry need bagging so they don’t get lost in transit.
Take these requirements seriously. Sloppy prep leads to defect fees, delayed listings, and negative customer reviews if products arrive damaged.
Get Your First Sale
With your account set up, products listed, and inventory either shipped to Amazon or ready to fulfill yourself, your focus shifts to visibility. New listings have no sales history, which means Amazon’s algorithm has little reason to rank them highly. A few strategies help overcome the cold-start problem.
Competitive pricing gets you early traction. Check what similar products sell for and price yours at or slightly below that range while you build reviews. If you’re on a Professional plan, Amazon’s Sponsored Products ads let you pay for placement in search results, which is often the fastest way to generate initial sales. Start with a modest daily budget and target keywords that are specific to your product rather than broad category terms.
Early reviews matter enormously. Amazon’s “Request a Review” button in Seller Central lets you ask buyers for feedback. You can’t offer incentives for reviews, but you can follow up with every order. Even a handful of positive reviews can meaningfully improve your conversion rate and search ranking.
Monitor your Seller Central dashboard daily in the early weeks. Watch your account health metrics, respond to customer messages within 24 hours, and keep your inventory levels stable. Amazon rewards sellers who deliver a consistently good customer experience with better search placement and Buy Box eligibility.