How to Sell on Amazon?

How to sell on Amazon?

How to create a seller’s account on Amazon?

So you’ve decided to start selling on Amazon? Perhaps you’re creating an online store from scratch, or merely transferring & expanding your existing business. Whatever the case may be, there are a few prerequisites to fulfill prior to making your first sale. Let’s take a look at what Amazon requires anyone to begin selling:

Step by Step process to create a seller’s account on Amazon-

• PAN & GST details (if you don’t have the former, they offer an exclusive offer to apply)
• An active bank account for making & receiving payments 

Step -1 Click on Start selling and a dialogue box will open.

Sounds simple, right? Whilst it is, there are a few other aspects to consider as well, which are:

• Register a seller account, which is known as Seller Central (using the aforesaid criteria)
• Upload your product or service listings by either using the convenient tool available on the aforementioned Seller Central or via the Seller App.
• You may approach their 3rd party Service Provider Network (SPN) if you need professional assistance with product imagery/photography, cataloging, or listing related. Such rich interactive content can materialize increased sales conversions via videos.
• By publishing your items online with Amazon, you benefit from a global advertising platform. Nevertheless, when fulfilled by Amazon directly itself, the listings qualify for Prime. This enables you to offer customers faster delivery times & affiliated premium benefits, including video & music streaming (which are usually available at an extra cost or as a supplementary paid service). You also have the option to target specific audiences with sponsored products, promoting a synergistic workflow.
• Deliver your products to customers. Upon placing an order, you’re automatically notified both via an email alert & on the Seller Central dashboard. You then can opt for Fulfilment by Amazon wherein they’ll collect, pack, store & ship your product to the intended recipient. Amazon will also respond to any interim customer requests or queries. This also automatically enrolls you into Prime eligibility. Alternatively, Amazon will still collect your inventory & deliver it directly to the customer. This is known as Easy Ship. What’s more, if you have transportation or partnered courier logistical facilities to deliver on the same or next day within your locality, then you can also unlock Prime benefits at selected outlet locations.
• Receive payments securely (after the seller fees have been deducted) via bank transfer directly into your account. This occurs on a weekly basis & includes your cash/pay on delivery orders too. By viewing your deposited funds & associated balance, you’ll receive tips with advice on how to flourish your business in your Seller Central account. 

How does Amazon charge for its services?

Depending on the fulfillment channel you’ve opted for & you’re using, Amazon sets a portion aside as fees for using their services. There are 3 categories:

• Easy ship: referral fee comprises a minimum of 2% premium, dependent on the product type. Additionally, there’s a closing fee which is linked to the item’s value range. Finally, a shipping fee starting from Rs. 38 is levied & is calculated by item package volume as well as distance
• Self Ship Fees & Shipping Cost: as above, except you’ll incur shipping costs for your order via an elected 3rd party carrier. Here you can also enroll in the Local Shop scheme for potential Prime benefits
• Fulfillment by Amazon Fees: again, whilst the referral component remains the same, the closing fee is subsidized according to the product price range. Similarly, a reduced shipping fee, beginning from Rs. 28 is applicable. Lastly, the specific fees covering pick/pack & storage are also effective

How can I buy the Amazon packing material?

Once again, there are two options for this:

• Fulfillment by Amazon: this saves time as they store the inventory for you & ship on your behalf. Associated packing costs are borne by Amazon & inclusive. They offer global industry-standard packaging facilities to provide stellar customer service & returns. Become a Prime member & increase customer satisfaction & consequently, demand by reducing delivery times. Operating on a pay as you go basis, only fund the services you use: nothing more & with no minimum requirement or setup/subscription fee. Scalability ensures expandable storage space & packing plus delivery workforce supply to meet growing demand. Pick & collect doorstep services to ensure a seamless delivery cycle with cash on delivery payment features as well. Improve your visibility too with Buy Box add cart provisions.
• The alternative is Easy or self-ship sellers, who partly or fully take the onus for shipping their products. As aforementioned, during the purchase process, you pack the product yourself with the option to use Amazon packaging material (as per packing guidelines) if you wish to do so. Either way, sellers would need to pack the product themselves. Schedule a pickup & Amazon delivers the item to the customer who ordered it. 

Why does Amazon terminate a seller account? How to unblock the account?

Candidly speaking, it appears unclear surrounding the exact circumstances why Amazon would block or deactivate a seller account. They do tend to quote that under section 3 of Amazon’s Business Solutions Agreement, they may deem that your account is somehow related to another one that is prohibited from selling on their platform. However, as they state that owing to the nature of their business, they don’t disclose their investigative methods or even reasoning for enforcing such restrictive actions. This can obviously be problematic & perplexing for sellers. 

If the seller feels that their account has been erroneously deactivated, they can file a request explaining why their account should be reinstated. 

Should your account not be reactivated upon or despite trying the aforesaid, you have 3 months to reply to Amazon’s decision by lodging an appeal. This should be validated & afterward, you can request any pending funds by emailing disbursement-appeals@amazon.com 

Amazon asserts that these arguably draconian practices are established for the protection of both sellers (partners) and buyers. If it is believed that a seller has engaged in deceptive, fraudulent, illegal activity; abused their systems, or repeatedly violated policies, they may withhold some or all funds in your account.

Still, they say that you can monitor your balance cum settlement information under the payments section of Seller Central. You may reach out to them at payments-funds@amazon.com 

You can also review your account performance & tally this against their metrics & policies set to sell on Amazon. This will furnish users with their account health accordingly. 

Final remarks…

The Service Provider Network can also help with:

• Logistical solutions for delivering to Amazon warehouses
• Managing your Amazon account & product descriptions
• Expert support in tax registration and filing your taxes based on the income earned from Amazon
• Implementing accounting solutions for profitable business modeling and maintaining bookkeeping systems