Fulfillment by Amazon, also known as FBA, is a convenient way to sell products. The service that includes storage, shipping, and handling returns may cost you some money, but your business can profit from saving time, logistics space, and potential staff costs. Before getting to work by opening an account, let’s go through our helpful Amazon FBA checklist together to see which steps will help you build a reputation as a successful and respected seller.
Antonia Klatt
Last Updated on 10 February 2022
Amazon FBA Checklist: Step 1 – Choose your preferred marketplace
With Amazon FBA, customers receive their products fast and easily via Amazon Prime. The online platform and its services are available in four marketplaces. You can sell your products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, or the Asian-Pacific region. Every marketplace has its pros and cons regarding competition and shipping that you should familiarize yourself with before choosing. Moreover, keep in mind that you should be able to handle the language barriers that come with selling in certain areas of the world. Your listings should always sound trustworthy and give off a high-quality feel.
If you are unsure which marketplace is right for you, you can always start with selling nationally only. This way, you can get the hang of it and make first experiences with Amazon Seller Central. Later on, you can, for example, select Pan-European shipping to enter new markets in other countries and look into all the details on tax requirements, OSS registration, and more that come with selling internationally.
Step 2: Research your products
Great products are crucial to establishing a good Amazon business. Nowadays, it won’t do to just upload a few pictures and wait for people to find your items. It is hard work to earn a ranking on the first page, and your online competition is deadly serious about finding every little niche on the platform.
Having a gut feeling about products is a good starting point for your research, but it should never affect your business decisions. If you learn that the market is already saturated for a certain item, better move away from the idea and find something else instead. Search for products with a clear and useful USP. Ideally, no one else should be able to sell what you can offer.
Pro tip: Use niche finders and keyword research tools. This helps you identify popular items. Look for keywords that generate a search volume of 10,000+ and go from there. It is generally recommended that Amazon newbies find small products for €20 or more that are non-seasonal, lightweight, and non-fragile. This reduces the costs for FBA, which gives your business a small but still significant financial advantage.
Watch out for gated categories
Some categories are not open for new or even some long-term FBA sellers. This means that restrictions can apply:
- Postage stamps
- Collectible Coins
- Fine Art
- Holiday Selling Requirements in Toys & Games
- Jewelry
- Join Amazon Subscription Boxes
- Made in Italy
- Music & DVD
- Requirements for selling Automotive & Powersports products
- Services
- Sports Collectibles
- Streaming Media Players
- Video, DVD, & Blu-ray
- Watches
- Sony PlayStation Requirements in Video Games
- Hoverboards and Personal Electronic Mobility (E-Mobility) Devices
- Laser pointers and other laser products
- Launchpad
- Amazon Renewed
- Amazon Accelerator
Sellers can reach out to Amazon in advance if they want to sell products within these categories. It will cost a small fee but with the right products, this decision can pay off for your business as there are still several niches for you to discover. You can learn about the specific approval requirements in Amazon seller central’s help center.
These products are excluded from Fulfillment by Amazon
Good to know: Amazon excludes certain products for fulfillment by Amazon. Therefore, you should refrain from focussing on the following items if your goal is to sell with FBA:
- Alcoholic beverages (including non-alcoholic beer)
- Vehicle tires
- Gift cards, gift certificates, and similar stored-value products
- Pre-priced products and items with unauthorized marketing materials, such as pamphlets, price tags, or other non-Amazon stickers
- Products that require preparation before packaging and shipping
- Loose packaged batteries
- Damaged or defective items if not labeled as a used product with its respective condition
- Not properly or falsely registered products
- Illegal replicates
If you accidentally send products from these categories, it might happen that Amazon will even have to destroy your stock. Remember: You are responsible for checking your items regarding possible hazmat restrictions.
Step 3: Prepare for business
Knowing your products and Amazon’s specific guidelines for selling is one thing, getting your ducks in a row in terms of tax payments and business registration is the other. You should not place an order for products before having figured out the requirements for your specific country. First, you will have to decide which legal form suits your business. Are you a one-(wo)man business, or would you like to work with a partner? Do you have business capital, or will you start from scratch with only a little amount to invest in products?
Also, keep in mind that a company with limited liability can protect you from personal bankruptcy. However, it requires the help of a certifying notary and an entry in the commercial register. In the end, the extra work might be worth it, as many LLCs are more successful than individual sellers.
It’s best to consult a financial advisor to talk about your options before making arrangements and starting your business. You will then have to make an appointment with your local trade office to register your company. Afterward, you can apply for your tax number (including your tax identification number for sales throughout Europe, if necessary). Your tax office can assist you with filing the necessary paperwork.
We recommend opening a business bank account, so your personal finances won’t mix up with company revenue and expenses. If possible, choose a bank that will give you a credit card too, as Amazon will ask you for your credit card information during the registration process.
Step 4: Open up an account on Amazon Seller Central
Now it’s time to register for a seller account on Amazon. For this important step, you should have your business information at hand. Fill out the required fields thoroughly to avoid any mistakes, as these are hard to fix later on.
What you need to open an Amazon Seller account:
- A positive-sounding business name (cannot be changed later on, so choose wisely)
- Business address and personal information
- Identification
- E-mail address
- Credit card and bank account information
- Phone Number for verification
- Tax ID
Will you be an individual or professional seller?
During the registration process, Amazon will ask you to decide whether you would like to operate as an individual or a professional seller. This decision has an impact on the Amazon FBA fees that will apply later on when selling your products. These points can help you decide the right account setting for your business:
| Individual selling | Professional selling |
| A free plan without a monthly feeYou are not yet sure what to sell€0.99 per item plus referral fee percentageUseful when selling less than 40 sold units per monthYou don’t wish to advertise your products | €39 per month plus referral fee percentageSell as many products as you likeUseful when selling more than 40 sold units per monthAdditional features in Amazon Seller Central for advertising and top placementNecessary when you want to sell within restricted categories |
Don’t worry: You can switch from individual to professional selling and vice versa whenever you wish. In the beginning, it can be helpful to start with the free plan and then upgrade to professional when your manufacturer sends your first products or business takes off unexpectedly.
Step 5: Start with a dummy listing
Congratulations, you are now a registered seller! The next step in our Amazon FBA checklist is to double-check your items. It may sound unnecessary at first, but creating a dummy listing with basic information and generic images of your product can help you save a lot of money. It is an easy way to test if your products fall into a gated category or even are excluded from FBA. This helps you identify items that might cause some trouble along the way.
You can also find out if you plan to sell items with a design or utility patent. When a listing is being put on hold because of a patent you didn’t know about, your account can be suspended. By creating a dummy listing for it, you will find out about a patent-related issue even before ordering it from the manufacturer.
Step 6: Order stock for your FBA business
Checking your products and finding a manufacturer for samples and your future products are often simultaneous processes. Many sellers source products on Alibaba, an online B2B platform with millions of listings. Other marketplaces are Aliexpress, Global Sources, and Europages. Talk to suppliers which have several years of experience, high response rates, and great ratings and order only after you have checked the quality of their items.
Compare your competitors’ products with your new samples. You can easily find out where your strengths are and which details need improvement. When you feel confident about your products, your listings will transport that feeling to the customer.
Pro tip: Apply for a trademark and brand registry to avoid hijackers selling counterfeits or cheaper copies of your products. It is essential for private labels which aim to build a brand reputation.
Step 7: Create your listings
Successful Amazon sellers know the Amazon algorithms and have a feeling for the perfect wording. Create listings with an appealing yet clear title, give all the essential information in the bullet points and elaborate further in the product description. Another important task: Take great product images to let customers know what to expect without forcing them to read the complete listing, but avoid promotional claims on your pictures. Don’t forget to fill out the backend keywords, as they help customers find your items. Keyword and wording tools can help you create the perfect product listing.
The perfect timing for creating your listings is after ordering your products from the manufacturer. Depending on how long the supplier needs to fulfill your order, you have several days to weeks to dive into the topic.
Step 8: Stay up-to-date
Now it’s time to lean back and sell some units? Not quite: To stay on top, manage your listings and keep an eye on your competition and the customers’ needs. Make sure to always have enough stock in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and regularly check your keyword performance.
Come up with new strategies to rank better than other sellers. Facebook or Google Ads as well as Amazon PPC campaigns can help boost your business. If you have many items, consider using a repricing tool. This way, you can automatically adapt your prices according to your competitors’ prices. Discounts are also a great way to get more customers, as people always love a good bargain.
When is the perfect time to invest more money?
Do you see a rising number of sales in your account? Great, your strategy works! But many beginners make a mistake at this point and re-invest immediately. Hold your horses and stay patient. After about six months, your sales will grow organically, and you can be sure that your business is stable enough to take the next step. Meanwhile, focus on the products you have and try to build a great reputation.
Conclusion
You see: Being a successful seller on Amazon isn’t magic but the result of good planning, elaborate strategic decisions and the right products at the right time. If you are willing to sell more than just a few units per month, take your business to the next level and invest some dinero instead of handling your sales personally as an FBM seller.
Don’t forget: If you are unhappy or the products are underperforming, you can always switch back to fulfillment by merchant. We hope our Amazon FBA checklist is of use during this exciting process. We are convinced that it can help you make all the right decisions, so you won’t have to pack and ship B2C and instead focus on growing your business.
