Selling on Amazon in the United States with a U.S. Company - You don’t need to be a United States citizen to sell on Amazon in the United States, but once you sell 50 or more items on the marketplace, you’ll need to have an official EIN tax id issued by the IRS. However, if you’re selling through Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) program then you’ll need to form a company in the United States before you get started. If you plan on selling more than 40 items per month then this is the most cost-efficient way to sell on Amazon.
Whether you’ve already got an established ecommerce business, a great idea for a new product, or you just have a passion for selling, here’s how to take that next step with Amazon and sell as a U.S. entity with full access to the U.S. market.
Registering as a Business in the United States
Regardless of where your business is located, we recommend registering your business as a legal U.S. entity before applying to be a seller on Amazon if you plan on selling more than a few items per month. It’s a smoother process and the tax benefits of being a business could be beneficial for you. Plus, not only will registering as a business protect your personal assets but it typically makes the entire setup easier if you’re going to use FBA, and it’s required if you’re going to sign up as a merchant or a vendor.
Luckily, you can easily register a business entity with our online business formation platform for non-US residents. All you need to determine is what type of business you want to create, which state jurisdiction it makes sense to form your company in and how then you can get started.
What Types of Businesses Can Non-US Citizens Register When Selling on Amazon?
Currently, if you’re not a citizen or a resident of the United States you can only create two types of legal business entities: an LLC (limited liability company) or a C-Corp (or corporation).
- What are the benefits of setting up an LLC?
- What are the benefits of setting up an LLP?
- What are the benefits of setting up a C-Corporation?
Once you have established your U.S. company, what are the next steps?
Once you have your U.S. company formed and your EIN Tax ID issued by the IRS, the next steps are to get registered as an official U.S. Amazon reseller with your U.S. company. Here are the steps that can guide you on how to do that.
How do I Open My Amazon Seller Account?
Go to sellercentral.amazon.com and click the “Register Now” button. On the next landing page you’ll click the “start selling” button, which will prompt you to login to your Amazon account. If you already have an Amazon account of any kind you can use this login to access the seller services. However, we recommend creating a separate account from any personal uses of Amazon and of course registering as a U.S. company.
You’ll then be taken through the steps of providing the information required register your seller account. Once you’re verified you can start creating product listings and selling to the masses.
What is your selling strategy?
- Resellers find popular products that already exist and offer them in Amazon's stores.
- Brand owners manufacture their own products—or source goods to sell under a private label—to offer shoppers unique selection.
- Lots of sellers do both. You can choose whichever method works for your goals. If you plan to sell your own brand on Amazon, we have lots of resources and tools to help.
Create an Amazon seller account
You can use your customer account to start selling, or you can create a new Amazon seller account with your business email. Before you sign up, make sure you’re ready with the following:
- Business email address or Amazon customer account
- Chargeable credit card
- Government ID (passport, driving license etc.)
- Tax information
- Phone number
- A bank account where Amazon can send you proceeds from your sales
The Amazon edge
When you start selling on Amazon, you become part of a retail destination that’s home to sellers of all kinds, from Fortune 500 organizations to artisan vendors who make handcrafted goods. They all sell here for a reason: to reach the hundreds of millions of customers who visit Amazon to shop.
- Since third-party sellers joined Amazon in 1999, they’ve grown to account for 58% of Amazon sales
- Third-party sales on Amazon are growing at 52% a year (compared to 25% for first-party sales by Amazon)
How to register
With two selling plans (they’re called Individual and Professional, but you can think of them as standard and premium), Amazon offers you the flexibility to sell one item or sell thousands. Before you begin registration, decide which plan is a better fit for your business.
The Individual plan costs $0.99 per sale, while sellers using the Professional plan pay $39.99 per month, no matter how many items they sell. If you sell more than 40 items a month, the Professional option makes a lot of sense. Whichever plan you select, don’t worry about making the wrong choice—you can change plans at any time. To get started you can register here.
How to deliver products
Selecting the right fulfillment option
Amazon sellers have two options for getting shoppers their stuff: You can do it yourself, maintaining your own inventory and shipping products to customers (merchant-fulfillment), or have Amazon take responsibility for packaging, labeling, and shipping products through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Each method has its own set of benefits—you just have to decide which one is right for your business. Learn about ecommerce fulfillment strategy.
If you’re fulfilling your own orders
Merchant-fulfilled just means you store and ship products directly to customers yourself. Amazon charges shipping rates based on the product category and shipping service selected by the customer, then passes the amount on to you in the form of a shipping credit.
Set shipping rates apply to all products sold with an Individual plan, so it’s important to determine if you can still price items profitably. Amazon’s Buy Shipping tool can help you get a great deal on shipping labels with Amazon’s trusted network of shipping partners, ship and confirm your orders, and track your shipments.
The benefits of Fulfillment by Amazon
Around the world, Amazon has more than 175 fulfillment centers which contain more than 150 million square feet of storage space. With FBA, you get to store your stuff on those shelves. You also get Amazon’s world-class customer service and returns, along with other advantages (like automatic Prime eligibility and Free Super Saver Shipping) that help you scale your business—fast.
How Fulfillment by Amazon works
Step 1 - Ship your inventory to Amazon. It will be scanned and made available for sale.
Step 2 - With each order, Amazon packages and ships the product directly to the customer.
Step 3 - Amazon collects payment from the customer and pays you available funds every two weeks.
Step 4 - Amazon’s customer service team handles questions, returns, and refunds.
Expansion into the United States market
Selling on Amazon with a U.S. Company. It means hundreds of millions of new customers and the potential for a big boost in sales. Global expansion has a lot of moving parts, but with an Amazon seller account and U.S. company, you get to use Amazon’s U.S. infrastructure to get your products in front of a United States audience.
When it’s time to take your business to the next level, use Amazon with your newly formed U.S. entity via Yondaa, Inc. to gain access to the U.S. market and its 300 million plus consumers.
