How to Start an Amazon Store
Complete Seller Guide

Before you start: understand the Amazon seller landscape

Amazon has over 300 million active customer accounts and 2 million active sellers. That is a massive market with serious competition. Before you invest time setting up your account, it helps to understand what kind of seller you plan to be:

• Retail arbitrage: Buy discounted products from retail stores or clearance sales, resell on Amazon. Low barrier to entry, highly competitive.
• Wholesale: Buy products in bulk from manufacturers or distributors, resell at a margin. Requires more capital but scales.
• Private label: Manufacture your own branded products, often through a third-party manufacturer. Higher upfront cost, higher margins, brand protection.
• Handmade: Sell handcrafted products through Amazon Handmade, which is Amazon's marketplace for artisans. Similar to Etsy but with Amazon's audience.
• Digital products: Kindle books, music, software sold through the appropriate Amazon marketplace.

Your strategy affects which tools, fees, and logistics you deal with. This guide focuses on physical product sellers, which covers the majority of new Amazon sellers.

Individual vs Professional seller account

Amazon offers two account types. The decision matters because they have different fee structures and features.

If you expect to sell more than 40 items per month, the Professional account pays for itself immediately (40 x $0.99 = $39.60, already close to the monthly fee). If you are strictly testing, start Individual and upgrade when you hit 40 sales.

The Buy Box ineligibility on Individual is a serious disadvantage for most product categories. The Buy Box is the default "Add to Cart" button on most listings. Without Buy Box eligibility, customers have to actively choose your offer, which few do.

Setting up your seller account

Go to sell.amazon.com and click "Sign up." You will need:

• An email address (can be your existing Amazon customer account or a new one)
• A phone number for verification
• Business information (business name, address, contact info)
• Bank account details for payment deposits
• Credit or debit card for fees
• Government-issued ID (national ID or passport)
• Tax information (Social Security number or EIN for US sellers)

Amazon verifies your identity, which can take a few hours to a few days. During this period your account is pending. Do not try to create duplicate accounts while waiting. If you get suspended during verification, contact Seller Central support directly.

Business structure matters

You can sell as an individual (sole proprietor) or as an LLC or corporation. Most new US sellers start as sole proprietors and form an LLC once they have real revenue. The tax and liability implications are beyond the scope of this guide, but it is worth consulting an accountant before you scale.

Creating your first product listing

From Seller Central, go to Catalog > Add a product. Amazon will ask if the product already exists in their catalog.

If it already exists: You are adding an offer to an existing listing. Enter your price, condition, and quantity. This is common for retail arbitrage and wholesale sellers.

If it does not exist: You are creating a new listing. This applies to private label products, handmade items, and unique products not yet on Amazon.

Key elements of a strong Amazon listing

Title. Amazon's algorithm heavily weights the title. Include your primary keyword near the beginning. Include brand, product type, key features, and size or color. Titles can be up to 200 characters in most categories. Do not keyword stuff, but do be complete.

Bullet points. Five bullet points appear on the product page. These are prime real estate. Lead each bullet with a capitalized benefit, then explain it. Address the most common customer questions and concerns.

Description. If you have Brand Registry, use A+ Content instead of a plain text description. A+ Content allows images, comparison tables, and rich formatting that significantly increases conversion rates.

Backend keywords. Amazon allows you to add search terms that do not appear on the product page but are indexed by their algorithm. Fill this out completely with relevant keywords you did not fit in the title.

Photos. The main image must be a product on a pure white background, per Amazon's rules. Additional images can show lifestyle, dimensions, packaging, and details. Use all seven image slots. High-quality photos are one of the top conversion factors.

Price. Your price affects both Buy Box eligibility and your conversion rate. Research competitor pricing before you set yours.

FBA vs FBM: how to fulfill Amazon orders

You have two options for fulfilling Amazon orders:

FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon): You ship your inventory to Amazon's warehouses. When a customer orders, Amazon picks, packs, and ships the order. Amazon also handles customer service and returns for FBA orders. Your products are eligible for Prime shipping.

FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant): You store your inventory and ship each order yourself. You manage customer service and returns. Your products can still show Prime shipping if you qualify for Seller Fulfilled Prime, but standard FBM products are not Prime eligible.

For most sellers starting out with a new product, FBA is the faster path to sales. Prime eligibility drives conversions. If you have heavy products, slow-moving inventory, or very tight margins, run the FBA fee calculator first to make sure FBA is profitable for your specific product.

Setting up FBA

To enroll in FBA, from Seller Central go to Account > Fulfillment by Amazon and follow the setup process. Once enrolled:

Amazon Brand Registry

Brand Registry is free to join but requires a registered trademark. It gives you significant advantages over unregistered sellers:

• A+ Content (formerly Enhanced Brand Content) on your listings
• Amazon Stores (your own branded storefront on Amazon)
• Sponsored Brands advertising
• Better tools for reporting listing hijackers and counterfeit sellers
• Brand Analytics data on search terms and customer behavior

If you are selling private label products, applying for a trademark and enrolling in Brand Registry is worth doing early. The A+ Content alone improves conversion rates by 3 to 10% on average according to Amazon's own data. The trademark process takes several months in the US, so start it before you need it.

What to do after your first listing goes live

Get your first reviews. Amazon's algorithm heavily weights reviews. Use Amazon's "Request a Review" button (in Seller Central, on each order) to send automated review requests. Do not pay for reviews, offer incentives for reviews, or ask friends to leave fake reviews. These violate Amazon's policies and can get your account suspended.

Monitor your metrics. Watch your Order Defect Rate (ODR), Late Shipment Rate, and Pre-fulfillment Cancel Rate in Seller Central. If these go above Amazon's thresholds, your selling privileges are at risk.

Optimize based on data. After a few weeks, look at your listing's search term report. Which keywords are driving impressions but not sales? Which are converting? Use this to refine your listing and pricing.

Consider running Sponsored Products ads. Even a small ad budget ($5 to $10/day) helps new listings gain visibility. Amazon's algorithm uses sales velocity as a ranking signal. Early ad-driven sales can push your organic rank higher.

Expand to other channels. Once your Amazon presence is established, many sellers add Shopify for direct-to-consumer sales, and Etsy if their products fit that market. Keeping inventory in sync across channels requires a tool like Commerce Kitty.

Frequently asked questions

Related: expanding from Shopify to Amazon, Shopify and Amazon inventory sync, connecting Shopify to Amazon Seller Central, and preventing Amazon FBA overselling.