Amazon is a massive online store where you can sell and buy items for good prices. Whether you are looking to make some extra cash, or want to start selling items as part of a business, the Amazon marketplace is one of the better platforms to use.
Amazon has its hand in almost every single industry from food delivery to books, and anyone can sell items online. Before you start selling your stuff through Amazon, though, you need to know three important factors first.
You Need the Right Account
In order to sell items on Amazon, you need to open a seller account. This not only allows you to make money by selling items on the Amazon website, but also enables you to sign up for the Fulfillment By Amazon program (FBA) which allows you to store your items at their warehouses. There are two different account types to choose from based on how many items you sell within one month. If you plan to sell more than 40 products, you should sign up for a professional seller account and not an individual seller account.
You will pay a little bit more to Amazon each month with the professional account, however you will also receive major benefits such as referrals from Amazon themselves to recommend your products to other customers. The shipping and warehouse storage costs can also be reduced with the right type of account.
Developing a Brand is Key
To get started selling through Amazon, you need to think about the brand that you want to project. Do you want to be known as someone that sells under multiple categories, or do you want to sell only a select few items? These questions will help you determine your brand so that customers become accustomed to your image. Customers identify much better with a business when they are a brand that people can relate to. Find your niche in the market and expand on that. Doing this is more effective than trying to accommodate multiple types of product and service offerings where you may only make a handful of sales for each item.
Having a brand in place shows customers (and even potential buyers of your business) that your Amazon store is valuable and credible. More tips for increasing value include ensuring that your earnings are stable, selling evergreen products, and showing how simple it is to run an FBA business – something that Amazon makes easy. You can find out more by clicking the link.
You Will Be Liable for Tax
Any time that you profit off of something, you owe the taxman a portion of your earnings. Just because you are selling through a middle man, this doesn’t free you from paying tax on every item you sell. So, be sure to include sales tax for every item you sell. Amazon will submit the information to the government, but it will be your responsibility to accurately capture that additional income each year on your tax returns.
Remember that if you sell to multiple regions internationally, you will need to get yourself clued up on the different sales tax codes and rates for different countries. There are online systems to help you manage the different tax systems and show you how to capture your income correctly.
It’s worth getting to know the basics of how Amazon operates. It will be a learning curve for sure, but with these few key things in mind, you can benefit as an online seller. Amazon provides great opportunities to make additional income, and the more you work with the system, the easier it will get.
