There is more than one way to make money selling on Amazon. I am going to talk about the main ones in this article.

First of all, Amazon Marketplace. Marketplace offers you the opportunity to sell products (not just books but a wide range of things) on the exact same page of the Amazon website where Amazon sells the product. So you can compete with them head on, and you can even compete with them on price. Sale prices are fixed: Marketplace is not an auction. You can list an unlimited number of items for free, but they charge what they call a referral fee on each sale. Marketplace is for new and used products.

The Marketplace is suitable if you just want to earn some extra money part-time, but also if you want to start a ‘proper’ small business.

The other main way to earn money is Amazon Associates. Associates is basically an affiliate program.

How to sell on Amazon Marketplace

It’s very easy to get started with Amazon Marketplace. It is not necessary to register in advance. You can open a seller account when you post your first product.

If you already have an Amazon buyer account, you can add your seller account to it.

To register as a seller, you’ll need a business name, address, display name, credit card, and contact phone number. That’s all you need to get started.

Go to the Amazon site, scroll down the page to ‘Earn Money With Us’ and then ‘Sell on Amazon’. You will then see two options:

Sell ​​little or sell a lot? Amazon offers two entry points to the Marketplace that they informally label as “sell a little” or “sell a lot.”

Basically, “a little” is for casual sellers and hobbyists who expect to sell less than 35 items per month. It costs 86p plus a referral fee for each sale. You are also restricted to the product categories in which you can sell. The upside, though, is that it costs virtually nothing to get started and there are no ongoing fees if you don’t sell much to begin with.

Selling ‘Big’ is for professional sellers who expect to sell more than 35 items per month. You pay a fixed monthly fee of 28.75 and a referral fee. You can sell on all Amazon product categories.

It’s not always feasible to list low-priced, low-volume products as a “upsell a little” seller. To do that you need to be a ‘sell big’ seller! However, I recommend that you take the ‘sell a bit’ route to begin with. You can always update later.

Choose your option, then complete the online form.

Professional Business Sellers

Once you’re selling ‘big’, you’ll probably also want to become what Amazon calls a professional business seller. Professional traders have access to bulk listing and volume selling tools. There is a web interface that allows you to more easily manage your product descriptions, inventory, and orders. You will also be able to export and import information to and from your account.

Once you’re up and running, the sell a lot/Pro Merchant option will turn out to be much cheaper, and more importantly, it will allow you to work on tighter margins and make money on sales that those who sell just a little can’t.

Amazon Marketplace Selling: How to Sell Your Products

Now let’s take a look at how you list products for sale on Amazon Marketplace.

The idea of ​​Marketplace is that you sell your product on the exact same page that Amazon and any other Marketplace seller sell it on.

So first, find the equivalent new product in the Amazon catalog. Please use the ‘Search’ tool at the top of the Amazon home page. Enter the product type and name and Amazon will automatically take you to the correct page to list it.

Then check carefully that the product type, brand and model number or whatever Amazon found for you is correct.

Once you get to that page, you will find a button called ‘Sell yours here’. Click on it, log into your seller account, and now you can list your product right away.

Now this is the really smart thing about Amazon.

Assuming the product already exists in the Amazon catalog, a listing is ready for you to use. You don’t have to write a description or upload a photo. All you need to do is indicate what condition your product is in (ie new or one of several used standard descriptions), indicate the quantity you have for sale, and fill in the price you require. Also decide what shipping options you want to offer. (You can also decide at this stage if you are willing to ship the product abroad or not.)

If you want, you can add an additional description of up to 2000 characters (not words). This will help you differentiate your product or offer from Amazon and other sellers.

Amazon will then give you a summary of their listing to check and also confirm what your fees will be if the item sells. If you’re happy with this, just click ‘Submit your listing’ and you’re done. Once you’ve done this, your item will automatically be listed until it sells or for 60 days (indefinitely if you’re a professional merchant).

What is an ASIN? ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. Almost every product on their site has their own ASIN, a unique code that they use to identify you. If you know the ASIN, you can directly list it using that. (For books, the ASIN is the same as the ISBN number on the cover.)