It has never been easier to sell online, thanks to online marketplaces like Amazon. From the moment you start your Amazon business by signing up, you will be able to access millions of customers. If you are considering starting an Amazon business, then our guide to starting an Amazon business covers everything you need to get started.

Set up an Amazon seller account

The first step on your journey to starting an Amazon business is to set up your Amazon seller account. You will need a bank account, phone number, chargeable credit card and the appropriate tax information. The setup process is intuitive, and as such, you will be guided as you go to input the relevant information.

With your Amazon seller account, there is no need to create your own e-commerce website. You will be provided with an online storefront. You will, however need to create the correct legal entity for your business. This can be done through the specialists at Company Formations , who will be able to talk you through the process.

Choose your product

Setting up your Amazon business is easy, but finding the right product to generate sufficient sales to ensure good cash flow can be a little trickier. Because Amazon only pays out every two weeks, this can make it difficult to maintain a good inventory if you need cash from sales to cover future costs.

There is also the competition to consider. There are over 8 million sellers in the Amazon marketplace, so you need to carefully consider the products you choose and how you place yourself.

Jungle Scout is a good place to start and a must-have for most Amazon sellers. A sales analytics tool Jungle Scout can help you make the right choice with your first product by ensuring that you have the critical data you require to make the best decisions. There are three levels of plan, and whilst you may feel you can only afford the basic one, paying a little more will prove worthwhile.

With a catalogue of over 475 million products for Amazon, you will have plenty of options to look at. You can filter your categories of products by price, reviews and rating to help you with your choice. It is a good idea to select a product you know something about and are interested in selling as this will help you with offering advice to customers.

Source your products

Finding the right product is the first step. Now you need to work out where to get it from. You can search for suppliers within Jungle Scout. Within the database, you will find suppliers, both domestic and international, including those who can fulfil both smaller order quantities or find those more niche suppliers.

Shipping

There are a couple of options available to you regarding shipping. The first is to handle the shipping yourself. In Amazon parlance, this is referred to as merchant-fulfilled. This means you will be responsible for storing and shipping all your products. With this option, the customer chooses a timeframe for their delivery, and you must ship to this timeframe.

The second option is to use Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). This option means that you send Amazon your inventory, they scan your products and then place them up for sale. The responsibility for packing and shipping the items to customers lies with Amazon. A further advantage of using FBA is that they also collect payments for you and handle any customer service problems.

This second option is certainly more attractive, particularly when you are new to selling, but it can take time to set up. For new sellers who do not have a great track record when it comes to good turnovers, this may also not be a great choice – but it is certainly something that is worth exploring.

One other important and often forgotten consideration when choosing your products is the size of the products. They need to be easy to ship. Fragile items pose a particular risk as they need careful packaging to ensure intact delivery. Small and light may be the best way to go to get low shipping costs. You should also try to get samples of products before you choose your supplier so that you can check the quality.

List your products

As soon as you list your products, they become available to potential customers on Amazon. There is a huge audience on Amazon, so you have a very good chance to create a business that is profitable – but this will take time and work.

Amazon allows you to list your items in bulk, but doing it individually is better as this will allow you to understand how your items are selling. Ultimately, for any new business, this can be essential in helping you improve.

Every product needs three pieces of information: price, quantity and, of course, condition. It will also need some high-quality images. If you create these yourself, they will stand out from your competitors. Make sure you take photos of details on the product to give your customers as much information as possible.

Pricing your products

When pricing your items, you need to consider your profit margin, taking into account all of your expenses. This should include any fees for FBA, Amazon referrals, storage and any other incurred costs. A profit margin of around 25-30% is a good place to start.

Jungle Scout will help you find the average price of your items on Amazon, and these numbers can then help you to find your pricing level. You should consider both a minimum and maximum cost; the former is the price you need in order to break even.

Start selling

Finally, you are ready to launch and begin selling. But if you want to increase your selling chances, there is more that you can do.

You can have your products branded with your own label or logo, and this will mark you apart from your competitors. You could also add branding to the packaging – many manufacturers offer this service.

You should also consider marketing your business through Amazon ads. Don’t worry if you don’t have lots of money to do this. You can start small and scale your marketing as your brand grows. There are also Pay-per-click (PPC) opportunities and options, such as social media advertising, that you may want to consider. Having your own blog to promote your products can also be a great way to market, but make sure your blog posts have value.

Gain reviews

One final thing to consider is that product reviews help build credibility. Product inserts in your packaging suggesting customers review your products could be helpful. Offering a small discount on future purchases may be worthwhile as people often don’t leave reviews if there is no issue with a product but they do when there is an issue.

Hopefully now you will have all the basics you need to set up your Amazon sellers account and start your business. Here at Your Company Formations, we would be happy to advise you on setting up your legal entity, ensuring you’re starting your Amazon business with all the relevant boxes ticked. Why not get in touch to find out more?