This beginner’s guide is a step by step guide on how to sell on Amazon FBA.





1. The first step is creating an Amazon Seller Account

Before creating an Amazon FBA account, you will need to consider the number of products to sell. In the event you will be selling more than 40 items, you will require a professional account where you will pay a monthly fee. For a start, I would recommend that you create an individual account selling a few items, less than 40. After the cutoff point is exceeded, you will be charged $1 for each item you sell using an individual account.

If your plan is to sell more than 40 items every month, then you can sign up for the professional account. The selling on Amazon FBA fees for a professional account is $40 per month.

After choosing the type of account, you will be required to log in or to sign in so as to create a new Amazon account. After that you will be required to provide the following information:

a) The method of Charge- This ought to be your credit card. Amazon does not automatically charge your credit card so you shouldn’t worry about that.

b) Seller Details- Some of the details necessary for successful registration are your name and address, your ‘Display Name’ (The name that appears next to your products and visible to the buyers). This should be a valid name because you want the buyers to trust you, and being sneaky may make you lose some clients.

c) Account authentication- For the final step, you will verify the correctness of the details you provided through a text message or a phone call.

Your account has now been created but your home screen will be empty so you will need to add a few items.

2. The Second Step is Listing Your Items on Amazon

The question now is how I list my items on Amazon. This is how. Assuming you have a list of the items you want to sell, navigate to the top of your screen and select ‘Inventory’. Then click on the “Add Product” icon. After clicking on the ‘add product’ icon you will be impelled to search for your item. I was selling DIY shaggy rugs so I searched for the name of the product. If you are selling a product that you have manufactured yourself, (which I doubt you do), you will need to ‘create a new product’.

After selecting your product, the next step would be to enter the crucial details of your product. You will be required to provide three main details:

a) The price of the product- You can set your price according to your liking. It is, however, crucial that I point that you should search for similar items, and see how they are priced. For example, I searched for the DIY shag rugs and priced mine slightly cheaper than the lowest priced. At the same time, I ensured my price would not make me sell at a loss.

b) The state of the product- If you are selling a used product, make sure you describe the actual state of the product. Do not indicate that you are selling a 4 by 6 new mat when you are actually selling a 4 by 5 used mat. The client will launch a complaint, you will be required to refund the money, and the negative reviews will negatively affect your chances of getting clients in future. In other words, be honest.

c) Choose the FBA option- This is where selling with Amazon FBA comes in. You should then select the option of “I want Amazon to ship and provide customer service for my items”. After checking the box, you will be sent a registration screen (That is if it is the first time you sell on Amazon FBA). Take your time, read the terms, and accept if your products comply.

3. The Next Step would be To Convert Your Products to Fulfillment by Amazon Products

This would answer the question- what sells on Amazon FBA? One requirement for being an Amazon FBA seller is by converting them to FBA products despite the fact that you have just checked the “I want Amazon to ship and provide customer service for my items” checkbox. So is the step by step on how to convert your products to Fulfillment by Amazon.

Click on the “inventory”, and then on “Manage Inventory”. From the drop down, select “Actions, then choose “Change to Fulfilled by Amazon” (the third option)

After converting your products to Fulfillment by Amazon, you will be presented with two preferences: FBA Label Service and Stickerless Commingled Inventory.

If the products you are selling are new, then you should choose stickerless commingled inventory. The meaning of this is that Amazon will commingle your products with the matching products of other sellers. How this works is that if a client makes an order from you, Amazon may decide to ship a matching product from a different seller, but from a warehouse close to the buyer. This is advantageous to Amazon because it allows them to ship products much faster and offer better customer service.

For the FBA Label Service, Amazon offers a Label Service whereby they put a label (a sticker) on your products on your behalf. If you do not want to print the stickers yourself, then you should choose the FBA Label Service, which will cost a very small fee of 20 cents for each item. If you want to reap the best out of the Amazon FBA Program though, you may want to print the stickers by yourself and label the products yourself.

After choosing the above options, you will be required to either (i) “Convert Only” or (ii) “Convert and Send Inventory”. If you selling only one product, choose the second option, “Convert and Send Inventory”. If you selling several items, select the “Convert Only” option to have the option of adding more items before the shipping process.

Your product will now be available in your “Amazon-Fulfilled Inventory” in the “Manage FBA Inventory” option.

4. The Next Step Would be To Create an Amazon FBA Shipping Plan

Whether you have selected the “Convert Only” or “Convert and Send Inventory” option, you will be impelled to create a shipping plan. For this option, you will require your address and the type of package.

The package is of two types:

(i) Individual Products- This would be convenient if you are selling different products. Like games, books, and some merchandise.

(ii) Case-packed products- This option is applicable if you have packaged your goods in a box, with only one type of product in it. For example, a box of 10 inspirational books.

After setting up your shipping plan, you will be impelled to add your products. Assuming you have added three items, you should be able to see three items. Select all of them.

If you want to add more items, go through the above process, but choose “add to the existing plan” instead of “creating a new one”.

5. The Next Step Would Be to Ship Your Items to Amazon for FBA





After listing the items you want to sell and choosing your shipping plan, you are now ready to ship your items to Amazon for FBA.

This is how you do it. Go to “Inventory”, then “Manage FBA Shipments”, then “Continue with shipping plan”. Then add the number of units for each item you are shipping. Here you will be required to choose whether your product will require prep or not (most products do not) and whether Amazon will label your product on your behalf.

After approving the shipment, you will be required to buy shipping from Amazon. (Confused?) Don’t be. Weigh the items, because the weight will translate to the amount it will cost to ship to their warehouse. After printing your labels and sticking them on the package, they will be ready to be mailed or dropped at your local UPS.

6. Finally, How do you Sell Your First Product on Amazon?

Now, this is the simplest part. After shipping your parcel off to Amazon and they collect it, your products will be accessible for buying.

Now, you sit, relax and wait for your products to be sold.

If you are retailing a more popular product, you will not have to wait for so long. For a start, I listed 5 items and they were sold off in less than a month.

(Video games do sell quite fast!





So, that is basically it, selling on Amazon FBA for a beginner is not a complicated process.