How Can Small Business Owners Become Amazon Seller?

Many small business owners want to become an Amazon seller in order to increase their business and grow. Amazon India offers a two ways by which you can sell on/to Amazon. However, the new sellers do not know the exact steps to get themselves on the site and start selling their inventory. In this blog, we shall discuss how to sell on Amazon in depth.

How to sell products on Amazon and become Amazon seller?

This question is asked several times. Managing selling account on Amazon takes time and knowledge on the part of the seller. In addition, Amazon itself has some requirements that the online seller is required to fulfill to get listed on Amazon India, www.amazon.in. And so, it is important to have the necessary knowledge to manage things.

There are several programs as well on Amazon that you can choose. Read on to know how to sell on Amazon India for beginners. But before, let us read the benefits of selling on Amazon.

How Selling on Amazon Can be Beneficial for your Business?

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Becoming an Amazon seller can be very beneficial for your business. The following are the ways which it can be absolutely beneficial:

Set your store: With becoming an Amazon seller, you can set up your store on Amazon.in. Through the store, you can showcase all your products and sell them online across the country. In addition, you can also list your products for selling across the world.

International Market: With Amazon, you become an international seller. You can also sell your products online in the US and EU on Amazon.

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Hassle-free Payment: Amazon charges a minimal fee only when your product is sold. It also ensures that the Amazon sellers get timely payments.

Focus: Shipping and delivery of the product are taken care by the Amazon. So, you can focus on your business – you can manufacture more products or focus on selling it offline.

What is Amazon Marketplace?

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The Amazon Marketplace is a marketplace for online sellers. The business owners can list their products on the Amazon marketplace by setting up their account and sending their products to feed. Notably, all products selling activity is performed on the Amazon India site. And it does not refer the buyers to the merchant’s (your) site.

How to Sell on Amazon India?

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To sell on Amazon, there are two selling options. You have to choose the best for your online business. The following are programs:

• Sell To Amazon
• Sell On Amazon

Sell To Amazon

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Sell to Amazon means selling your products to Amazon. It is an invite-only program. After you sell your products to Amazon, the products gets the ownership of your inventory. Now they will market your products and sell to buyers on Amazon India. Being a merchant or manufacturer, you will have to sell your products to Amazon at the wholesale prices.

After the products are sold to Amazon, your work as a seller is done. Next, Amazon will pay you directly for the product and maintain ownership of the inventory. Amazon chooses the price and shipping options for them itself.

Benefits of Selling to Amazon

Selling to Amazon eliminates marketing and advertising for products. In addition, it even eliminates the need for pricing. The other benefits include:

• Bulk Purchases
• Avoid the hassle of pricing and shipping.

Sell on Amazon

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Sell on Amazon is the most popular option for Amazon India. More than half of Amazon’s sale come from Sell on Amazon – from third-party sellers. The sellers have to list their products and inventory on the Amazon Marketplace. Notably, the items will be sold as third-party sellers.

Selling on Amazon is more than Selling to Amazon. But here the seller has more control over the margins and prices of the product, shipping, and optional fulfillment. Sellers who are selling on Amazon can choose between two different fulfillment options. They can either handle fulfillment or let the Amazon do it. As an Amazon seller, you will have to choose:

• Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): Sellers lets the Amazon handle fulfillment on the Amazon marketplace.

• Sell using your own Fulfillment (FBM): Sellers handle fulfillment themselves for their products on the Amazon marketplace.

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Benefits of Selling on Amazon

The following are the benefits of selling on Amazon:

• Increased Exposure: The Amazon seller gets increased exposure to his products by the means of millions of visitors visiting on his product every month through the Amazon Marketplace.

• Benefits: Amazon marketplace is known for reliability and ease of online shopping. In addition, many people also consider it the best stop to choose from a big collection. So, listing on it will help the small business owner in branding of his products.

• New Customers: Amazon is a huge marketplace. The Amazon seller will get exposure of new and varied buyers which they will not get in their online or offline store otherwise.

• Increased Sales: With so many new customers, sales increases automatically. People more likely visit Amazon with the intent to buy things. So, the increased sales.

Sell on Amazon Vs Sell to Amazon

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With knowing the two programs by which a small business owner can affiliate with Amazon, he at times gets confused to which program is better. It depends on the business owner’s store, ROI goals, fulfillment abilities, and other variables. Vendors who sell to Amazon, on one hand, may get relieved from the headache of shipping and pricing but are limited with scope and ability. On the other hand, selling on Amazon is more suited option to small business owners who want more exposure to their products.

Said that, if you are selling TO Amazon and wants to switch to selling ON Amazon, then consider the following points:

• FBA payments come after 2 weeks. In some cases, the vendors are often required to wait for 90 days for payment.

• To sell on Amazon, the business owner will have to set up an EDI.

• Business owners who sell to Amazon can sell in bulk and so earn more revenues in one go. However, the revenues so earned are 20%-30% less than the normal selling price.

Fulfillment by Amazon

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FBA, Fulfillment by Amazon, is a choice, as said earlier, that allots fulfillment to your products to Amazon. In simple words, Amazon sells their own products as well as products from outside Amazon sellers – third-party sellers. When a product is sold from the third party seller, the fulfillment criteria decides who will ship the product.

Benefits of Fulfillment by Amazon

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FBA – Fulfillment by Amazon is a good and ideal option for small business owners who want to increase their shipping time and  reduce time. The benefits of FBA for Amazon sellers include:

• Fewer Operations: With the FBA program, the small business owner is not required to make any shipping efforts. The tasks like warehousing, product management and packing, and shipping and picking and the fees for these tasks are passed to Amazon.

• Amazon Prime: With FBA, your product becomes eligible for Amazon Prime buyers. And Amazon Prime buyers purchase frequently and more than the traditional ones. In addition, the products appear in the Prime filtered searches and Prime shipping.

• Customer Services & Returns: Amazon handles the customer inquiries and service and returns with the FBA orders. This is one among the other perks of FBA program.

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• Shipping Speed: FBA means quicker and faster shipping for online shoppers. Since the products are shipped by Amazon, the shipping is faster and the service of the delivery tracking is also offered.

• Amazon Branding: FBA means Fulfillment By Amazon. Which further means that Amazon is working hard to assist the Amazon seller to build a brand name of his products with excellent customer services and ease of online shopping. FBA lends your store reputation.

How much FBA Cost?

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The FBA charges are based on the item weight, pick & pack, handling fees, and storage costs. The FBA cost comprises of warehousing and shipping as well. The Amazon seller can use the Amazon Revenue Calculator to check if the FBA services will be profitable for him or not.

The following are the considerations to make before taking the decision:

• FBA impacts the margin and limits profitability. However, with increased sales and exposure, it can be a good investment for an online store.

• If you sell an array of products, it is not necessary for you to take FBA option for all products. You can take it only for the products on which it is profitable.

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