How to Sell on Amazon FBA for Beginners

by adidasw1 · Published July 16, 2022 · Updated January 3, 2023

FBA is an acronym for Fulfilled By Amazon. When you get into the Amazon FBA program, all the hard work is done by Amazon.

How it works:

You source products and send them to Amazon. They, in turn, store the products in their warehouses.
The products are inventoried then sorted. If an item is damaged in the warehouse, Amazon will pay you the full price.
When a buyer orders your product on Amazon, the transaction will be handled by Amazon (the process is automated).
Amazon packs the item and ships it to your customer.
They also follow up after the product has been delivered to make sure the customer is satisfied.

So, what then is your job as an Amazon FBA seller?

Picking products: you choose what to sell.
Keeping the inventory in stock: you will be notified by Amazon when the inventory starts running low.
Promoting and advertising: you have to put in work to make sure that shoppers notice your products.

The Cost of Selling on Amazon FBA

The fees are reasonable and sometimes, you can sell for free.

Amazon FBA seller accounts are categorized into two: individual seller accounts and professional seller accounts. The individual seller account is free but you will pay higher sales fees. The professional account costs $39.95 but the sales fees are low. If you will be selling many products in a month (more than 40), get a professional account.

Amazon Fees

Most of these fees are paid once you make a sale.

Amazon charges a referral fee of 15% for all sales (not all categories, but most).
You pay shipping and handling costs if you are using FBA.
An extra flat fee on categories such as media.
A $1.00 flat fee for individual seller plans.
Long-term storage fees if the products stay in a fulfillment center for a long time.

Amazon FBA: What to Sell

You can sell using a number of methods. Here are four of the most common:

Arbitrage: get low-priced products from marketplaces (online or offline) and resell them on Amazon for a profit.

Wholesale: buy branded goods in bulk at a discounted price and resell them on Amazon.

Used book sales: find used books and resell them on Amazon.

Private label: make your own branded items and sell them on Amazon.

The last one is the best.

Private Label

You contact a third-party manufacturer to make the product but you sell it under your brand name. That is, manufacture an already existing product then put your logo and brand on it.

Why do this?

Easy sourcing
Higher profits
Price control

Finding a private label product is not that hard. Use Amazon’s Best Seller Ranking (BSR) to check a product’s demand. For better results, use the Chrome extension. You will be provided with a spreadsheet of data, showing how several products in the niche are doing.

With Extension, you will see: