So, you have finally decided to start selling in the Amazon marketplace. To start your journey, you need to create your Amazon Seller Central account. Getting your account ready for business involves two processes:
- Creating your Seller Central account
- Listing products for sale and setting up delivery into FBA
In today’s post we will walk you through the process of creating your Amazon seller central account. The process involved with listing products for sale can vary depending on whether you are reselling existing products or producing private label items. We will tackle in detail the steps for listing your products for sale on another blog post.
Choosing an Amazon Seller Central Account Plan Type
When you sign up as a seller on Amazon, you have two main options – either to sell as an individual or a professional. Each type of selling account comes with its own advantages, and it really depends on your specific goals and requirements.
To put it briefly, an individual seller account does not cost anything but requires a $0.99 fee on every sale. This is on top of the referral fees and other fees that Amazon charges. On the other hand, the professional seller account charges a $39.99 subscription fee per month but removes the individual seller fee of $0.99 per item. We will discuss in a separate blog post the key differences between each seller account and how to choose the right one for your business.
Getting Started with Your Amazon Seller Central Account
Head over to Amazon Services and click on Start Selling – it is a yellow button that sits on the upper right hand corner of the page. Even if you already have an existing account that you use for shipping, it is advisable to set up a new account for selling. This is to ensure that your personal and business finances do not get mixed up.
Step by Step Guide for Creating Your Amazon Seller Central Account
Step 1: Type in your email address and password.
Make sure you have a working email set up already so you can receive updates from Amazon almost immediately.
Step 2: Enter your legal name and agree to the terms and conditions.
If you are signing up as an individual seller, you have to fill out your full name. If you are signing up as a business, enter the registered name of your business and your full name.
Step 3: Provide your business address and other additional information.
You can choose a unique business display name if you have a unique brand for your product or you wish to trade under a different name. You can also include your website URL if you are selling your products online.
Step 4: Select an option to receive a PIN to verify your phone number.
This can be either through call or SMS. Then, type in your mobile number and click next.
Step 5: Set up your billing method.
In this section, you will be required to enter your credit card information and set up your deposit method. It is important that all information is correct and that your bank account can receive deposits through an electronic fund transfer as this is how Amazon pays sellers every 2 weeks. Review the information; when you are sure everything is correct, click next.
Step 6: Provide your tax information and validate your w-9 or w-8ben.
This is to determine if your payments are subject to IRS form reporting. A tax interview is also required to allow your products to be purchased by Amazon customers. Make sure to answer all questions and enter all information correctly requested during the interview to fulfill the IRS requirements. Then, submit the form and click exit interview once your tax information has been validated.
Step 7: Provide information about your products.
If you are not yet sure about the products you wish to sell, you can skip this step for now. Once done, you will then be directed to a page that asks you to list the categories you plan on selling in. Fill out this page and click finish.
Step 8: The final step requires you to verify your identity.
To do this, you will need to provide two forms of identification – your driver’s license/passport number and a bank account/credit card statement. Once you have provided the information, click submit. Then Amazon will verify your account and you will have access to Seller Central.
Creating an Amazon Seller Central account is fairly easy and quick – just make sure you provide all the correct information and review them properly before hitting the submit button.
