Sell On Amazon — A Complete Guide To Get Started!

Did you know that you can now sell on Amazon from Latin America? Here we tell you how and what you should consider to position yourself. Selling on Amazon is an excellent alternative to maximize the capacity of e-commerce, so we will provide the best tools to sell on Amazon from Latin America:

E-commerce has been part of our lives for more than a decade, but since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses that were still in the traditional format have entered the digital world through the various marketplaces available.

These developments have resulted in a significant increase in the number of businesses that can be found online, making the process of making sales more competitive.

However, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by these sites is a wise move, as you can reach more people and grow your business.

Amazon continues to be a great option for those who wish to expand their reach and sales range within the continent.

For this reason, we will show you how to register, the requirements to be accepted as a seller and other countries in Latin America, whether it is profitable to sell on Amazon and tips to increase your sales.

Amazon for sellers: How to register?

Amazon’s platform allows you to start selling using your customer accounts, although it suggests creating a new one using the email address associated with your company, in order to diversify and professionalise your account.

To begin the registration process, the following requirements are necessary:

• Company email address, which can be the main email address or one specifically intended for this function.
• Valid credit card.
• Tax information.
• Valid government identification: ID card, passport, voting card or similar, these serve the function of verifying the identity of the seller in order to protect customers and sellers.
• Telephone number.
• Bank account to which Amazon will send the sales proceeds.

Step 1: Create an account

To start the process, just visit here: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/. The process for creating a seller account is the same as that used for customer accounts – you enter your name, email address and password.

Some owners choose to enter company details; supplying registration number and company credentials.

However, it is extremely important to choose between individual and professional accounts, the former being for sellers with less than 40 sales per month and the latter for those with large volumes of sales.

Step 2: Add products

Now, you must choose the products to sell, adding general information such as title, description of the items, photographs, among others.

In general, products are divided into two categories: unrestricted and restricted; having subdivisions to determine the status in which they are allowed to sell. For example:

• Beauty (new products only): Make-up, fragrances, hair care, skincare, among others.
• Books (new or used): Books, magazines, comics, card decks, calendars, among others.
• Mobile phones (new, used or unlocked): Mobile devices that have the manufacturer’s universal product code (UPC).

In turn, they should pay attention to the list of permitted products, as some have restrictions and others can only be offered by professional sellers with prior authorisation. Some of these are:

• Alcohol (new items only): Restrictions on alcoholic beverages that are not derived from wine, licenses to sell alcohol, raw alcohol, among others.
• Automotive and motorbikes (new, used or collectable): Restrictions on unregistered engines, airbags, remote control devices, fuel containers, among others.
• Art (collectable): Restrictions for works without the name of their painter, imitations, among others.

Step 3: Start selling

From here, the platform will guide you in a very intuitive way on the next steps to complete; including easy to use buttons and menus such as “Start selling”.

It will also ask them to fill in the form with sales information: company name, billing address, credit card number, among others.

Step 4: Follow up

They will have at their disposal a complete section where they will specify pending orders, quantity, address and information about their customers, which they will be able to print and paste on the packages when shipping.

Once the shipment is confirmed, the platform will release the payment. In turn, they can track their sales through the Amazon application for mobile devices; with which they can manage their orders, answer questions, edit products, among others.

Requirements to sell on Amazon

Amazon’s platform is available for anyone to sell products within its system, as long as they meet the following requirements:

• Be of legal age.
• Be a resident in one of the 102 accepted countries.
• Have your own telephone number in that country.
• Be the holder of a bank account that receives electronic payments, which must also be created in one of the 64 accepted countries.

Selling on Amazon from Latin America: Countries that can sell

Amazon allows you to sell using any of its subdivisions, regardless of the country in which you are resident; it can be Amazon USA, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Spain, among others. However, it is essential that the activity is carried out from one of the following nations:

• America: United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia.
• Europe: Most countries on the European continent are eligible to sell on Amazon, except Romania and Malta.
• Asia: Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia.
• Africa: Egypt, Madagascar, Morocco, Mali, Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Mozambique, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, Nigeria.
• Oceania: Australia and New Zealand.

Many of you are probably wondering, how to sell on Amazon from Venezuela? At the moment it is not yet possible.

Do I have to pay to sell on Amazon?

Before starting to offer products on Amazon, it is important to consider that the service is not free, as it has a cost for sales or monthly subscriptions that merchants must pay. The fees are determined according to the plan chosen by the seller when creating their account; there are two alternatives: individual or professional.

With the Individual Plan, you pay $0.99 USD each time you sell a product, with a limit of 40 units per month. While the Professional Plan, has a monthly cost of $39.99, with no limit of activities.

Regardless of the plan, the platform charges a reference fee for each sale, which is calculated based on the category of the product and the total amount of the transaction.

We must remember that Amazon sells a large number of items subdivided into more than 41 categories, which have a minimum reference fee amount previously established by the platform.

By knowing this, they will be able to determine how much to pay and what the amount to be earned on each sale will be.

At the same time, merchants must consider additional factors that directly influence their monetisation, such as the fact that Amazon is responsible for processing the charges for the items and shipping them, so the money from the sale is periodically received in the bank account provided, once the purchase process has been completed.

Profit opportunity: Is it profitable to sell on Amazon?

As with any marketplace, to be successful on Amazon you need to offer great products that are in demand among consumers, create a good business plan, design a marketing strategy to reach more people with your products, and publish attractive product pages, all of which will attract potential customers and generate sales.

In terms of profitability, selling on Amazon offers a series of benefits, whether you are a start-up, a medium-sized business or a large company. This is because it receives more than 2.8 billion visits per year. In addition, they will have the logistics of the site at their disposal and will be more likely to generate sales, so we can estimate that even if you have to pay fees and subscriptions, it is profitable to sell on Amazon.

Selling on Amazon: Tips and Recommendations

As you take different actions on Amazon’s system, it offers advice on how to get the most out of the platform, how to drive more visitors and get better results. Below, we will provide some recommendations for your sales strategy:

1. Analyse the market and the products

Amazon has a large volume of sales, spread across all 41 categories, so it is necessary to conduct a market analysis before you start selling any item.

This study must be carried out in-depth, and with the intention of determining if our products will be successful, in this way, we will avoid liquidity problems in the future.

2. Have the three checks

To obtain the best results, you need to have the following qualities:

• The products offered are of low competition: If the only sellers dealing with a certain product, the better; as it will provide them with an exclusive market. However, entering a saturated category can be very difficult unless you have really competitive prices.
• Sales generate a good profit margin: The platform has a large number of manufacturers and distributors that make it difficult to play with market prices. Resellers should therefore analyse this carefully before selling on Amazon so that they can make an appropriate profit margin.
• They do not have their own e-commerce: If they own an e-commerce site, it is best not to consider Amazon as an option, as it will absorb the sales they can generate on their own site, leaving it unusable.

3. Research rivals

It is necessary to research those who are offering the same products, so that you know the price range, shipping options, promotions and other data that can help you improve.

4. Know the commission per category

In addition to the fee per sale, the platform subtracts a commission percentage according to the category to which the product belongs, with a minimum of 7% and a maximum of 45%.

It is important to know how much will be the final profit you will get when selling an article, in order to establish a reasonable price.

5. For Retail Sellers

If you choose this sales regime, Amazon will become your only customer and will decide what is the best price to sell your products on the platform, so you could set a high or low amount.

This detail is important, because if they sell the products on another e-commerce at a higher price, the prices set by Amazon can become a threat.

At the same time, they should bear in mind that under this modality, sellers are last in the hierarchy of priorities in terms of claims or management: customers, platform, sellers.

6. For Sellers Marketplace

In this other sales regime, merchants sell directly to customers through the Amazon system. In addition, it is the seller who makes all the decisions; from the price of the items to the way they are marketed.

On the other hand, there is a choice between selling Fulfilled by Merchant or Fulfilled by Amazon.

In the first case, the seller is in charge of managing all the order processes: reception, creation and delivery.

In the second, the sellers deliver the products to the platform and they are in charge of managing the shipping and marketing.

It is important to choose the method that best suits your needs, as one of them could provide you with better earnings or free up time.

7. Product catalogue

When uploading product listings, you will need to log in to Amazon Seller Central, which will provide step-by-step instructions on how to create your catalogues easily.

In addition, it is essential that you include the following information:

• Locate the products by ASIN or EAN13 code.
• Establish complete statements that facilitate the search process, including keywords or search intentions.
• Include useful, well-explained and detailed information about the products, so that customers understand every aspect of the product and avoid misunderstandings.
• Attach as many images as possible, preferably in 1000 x 1000 pixels quality.
• Include the characteristics of the product, especially brand, series, dimensions and weight.
• Specify the warranty period.
• Include the forms of use that could be given to the products offered.

8. Response time

Within the terms and conditions that are accepted at the time of creating a seller account on Amazon, it is established that the merchant has a maximum period of 24 hours to respond to customers; otherwise, they could be penalised or stripped of their account for breach of contract.

This clause has a very strict objective, which is to provide customers with the best possible service, as this is how the platform obtains sales. Therefore, the ideal action is to respond to questions as soon as possible.

9. Win the Buy Box

When you enter Amazon, you will notice that there are several sellers offering the same product; but only one is linked to the buy button, while the others appear below in the option other sellers on Amazon.

This detail can define the future of a retailer on the platform; as consumers generally choose the first option to buy and rarely check the other alternatives.

Obtaining the Buy Box is a process that is out of the merchants’ choice; however, they are granted according to some elements taken into account by the algorithm:

• Outstanding merchant status: It is necessary to have at least three months’ accreditation with an excellent sales history, it can be extended up to six depending on the categories.
• Fulfilment: Belonging to the Fulfillment by Amazon scheme offers more options to win the Buy Box; because the platform is in charge of managing the final processes of the purchases.
• Shipping times: Another clause that is accepted when creating an Amazon account is to ship as soon as possible so that customers receive their purchases quickly. In order for the algorithm to take them into consideration, your percentage of orders delivered on time must not fall below 97%.
• Price: If the final price of your products, after subtracting fees and shipping costs, is still competitive, you will be able to obtain a better position in the ranking in relation to your competitors. This is because the platform will prioritise showing sellers who are able to offer better prices to customers.
• Reviews and ratings: The platform takes into consideration the opinions of customers, so it is necessary to have good reviews about the products offered and the customer service offered. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage them to remember to leave their impressions, and a card can be included in the packages.

All tools that have the ability to attract potential customers and increase the sales of your business, either directly or indirectly, are useful because as marketers, they bring you closer to the goal of increasing your revenue and reaching more people.

All these circumstances are the reason why it is profitable to sell on Amazon and why millions of sellers continue to be part of this great team of retailers.

On the other hand, selling on Amazon from Latin America is a reality that can benefit a large number of merchants who wish to take their business to the next level, since on this platform we can find from sellers of large companies to artisans offering handmade products.

On the other hand, when selling on Amazon they should remember to follow the basic guidelines that will make them have a healthy professional relationship with both the platform and their potential customers so that they respond as soon as possible to their concerns, keep their contact information updated, provide as much information as possible to consumers, avoid including information from their websites and try to keep abreast of the site’s regulations.