How to sell on Amazon as a small business

With 197 million unique visitors each month, Amazon has a massive established customer base that you could take advantage of with your small business. You wouldn’t be the first. In fact, third-party sales make up 60% of product sales on Amazon. 

So, if you’re considering selling products on Amazon, you could earn good money with this business. 

This guide will cover how to start selling on Amazon, including:

• What you’ll need to start selling on Amazon
• How to set up your Amazon business 
• How to find customers on Amazon

If you’re wondering how to start selling on Amazon, first consider what you’ll need to set yourself up for success. 

To understand how to start selling on Amazon, first research the platform. If you know the website well, you can use it effectively for your small business. As you scroll through Amazon, see what products are ranking. You can look at ‘Top Deals’ and explore categories like ‘Fashion and Beauty’ or ‘Home and DIY.’ 

When you do this, examine the reviews and sales numbers of certain products. This can show what customers are looking for and interested in buying. Then, scan seller profiles to see what information they have. Also, pay attention to the pricing to see what people are willing to pay. 

As you consider which products you may want to sell on Amazon, consider three things:

• What products are popular? 
• What products might be missing that could fill a market gap? 
• What products are you knowledgeable about that you could sell? 

For example, if you have photography skills, maybe you want to sell photography tools and equipment. If you’re interested in literature, you could sell books. Your chosen product should have a target market, and, ideally, you’ll know that market well.

Aside from finding a product that people want to buy, consider the overhead costs. Products with low costs, or wholesale prices, may make less money per sale, but they will also cost less to stock. For example, camera parts would be more expensive to stock than books. 

Once you determine what you’ll sell on Amazon, you’ll need to find a reliable vendor for that product. If you stock up on the product, you’ll be able to satisfy and anticipate demand. This will make you a reliable seller as customers won’t have to wait for you to source their item. 

Do some research between different vendor options to see how much you can buy your products wholesale. This will help you decide how much to charge on Amazon.

If you’re selling a physical product, you’ll also need a steady supply of shipping materials such as packaging, protective packing and postage labelling. So, find a place where you can order wholesale boxes and packaging materials. 

You can also look into something like ShipStation or Amazon’s services to print shipping labels. Consider researching Amazon shipping label requirements or look into investing in a shipping label printer, which you can use as a business expense and factor into your startup costs. 

Once you have everything you need, the next step of how to start selling on Amazon is setting up your business. 

You can register your business as either a sole trader or limited company. As a sole trader, you’re personally responsible for your business money and any debt. With a limited company, the business is a separate legal entity from your own finances. 

As a self-employed person, you’ll also need to manage your own taxes. If you register as a limited company, you’ll also need to pay corporation tax. Plus, if you plan to bring in more than £85,000 annually, you’ll need to register for VAT. 

Aside from taxes, you may want to consider any sellers or shipping insurance to protect you and your products from damage or loss. This can give you peace of mind when you ship products to customers.  

To start selling on Amazon, you’ll need to set up a seller account. Once you do this, you can establish a product list and build your profile or store by adding a seller description. 

When you add listings, make sure you include clear photos of your products along with as much information as possible. If you include a detailed description of the product, people may be more likely to consider purchasing, and trust your products as they know what to expect. 

You can also decide if you will offer incentives like Amazon Prime shipping or discounts for recurring orders. 

Once you get everything set up, you’ll need to market your business to find customers. 

If you maintain an appealing and consistent brand identity on Amazon, you can reach buyers more easily. To do this, consider the tone and colours you may want to use with your business marketing. You can also design a logo and use that as your Amazon profile picture. 

While branding your business, consider researching other successful Amazon in your niche and you can use them as examples of what to do for your own company. 

Social media marketing is a great way to reach your target audience for your products. If you create accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, you can post about your products and find potential customers. You can also link your social media accounts to your Amazon profile and vice versa. 

By consistently putting in the effort to get your product listings in front of the right audience, you can start making money from your Amazon business. 

Once you start selling products on Amazon, you’ll want to organise your finances efficiently. Financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you’re self-employed. That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.