How To Sell On Amazon as a Foreigner

Amazon’s net revenue increased by over $47 billion year on year, from $232.9 billion in 2018 to $280.5 billion in 2019.

Amazon is huge when it comes to e-Commerce, anyone can start selling on Amazon without hassle.

Now it’s time to start getting your hands dirty with the real deal; Here are some tips to help you start a business on Amazon.

1. Do your product research.

First of all, you need to know if your product suits the market that you intend to enter.

You decrease the chances of product failure and increase the chances of creating and selling a successful product when you do adequate product research beforehand.

Understand your target customer as thoroughly as possible so you can create a product that matches their needs.

You might look at an existing product that you intend to sell and make research on who will benefit from it the most, helping you create the right message for it.

If you’re making a new product, you might choose the target demographic that buys the most of this type of product.

You should also do a competitive analysis is a review of competing products directly similar to those you sell.

Performing a comparative analysis of these types of competitors helps you learn the benefits these alternatives offer, which can help you make and market your product better.

To make product research easy, you can look into using a low-cost Amazon product-research tool such as Jungle Scout, which shows estimated sales, revenues and price changes of your competitors who are selling on the website.

2. Register your Business.

You can choose to sell on Amazon as an individual or as a registered business, both come with their pros and cons.

I prefer you register as a legal business if you want to scale so huge selling on Amazon in the USA.

Your first step is to get the legalities out of the way, and so that may, or may not, include registering a business in the US.

You are not required to have a US business presence – as long as you have a valid business presence in your home country, you can continue to operate as that business on Amazon without needing to register a US business.

However, depending on the country you live in and the types of business structures you can choose from, you may find it easier to register an LLC in the US.

Registering a business in the US comes with a lot of perks that you should take hold of such as owning a US bank account, Immigration and many more.

If you’re not sure what you should do or if you need to set up an LLC but aren’t sure how to go about it, we can help.

Having a US business bank account is usually the best option as it will allow you to hold your dollars “in dollars”, rather than exchanging them back and forth as necessary and dealing with exchange rates.

3. Create an Amazon FBA account.

Now it’s time to get your hands dirty and do the right thing, If you sell in any other Amazon marketplace, you may know that you only need one account for selling in certain territories.

To make it easier, having a European account allows you to sell in the UK, Germany, France, and others, your North American account will allow you to sell in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

This means you are essentially starting from scratch: you need to go through the verification process and pay another monthly fee for your US account.

The fees are nominal if you’re making thousands of dollars a month, but are something to take into consideration if you’re starting a new business.

One benefit to the above is if you already sell in the UK, you can use the same account information for your US account, and then all you need to do is provide your verification documents.

If you already sell in the UK your account will likely be approved much faster than if you don’t, but don’t stress either way.

4. Create Your Listings.

Now that you signed up and filled in the necessary details, it’s time to start listing your product in detail.

Once you’ve got your account, you can start creating your listings – you need to do this before you send Amazon your stock.

If you have listings for your products that you sell in the UK, you can simply import them, also know that you bear the cost of export to the USA or other markets.

You should also know that your product listing should be as accurate as of the real product.

Remember spelling differences, terminology differences, and measurement differences.

5. Send Your Stock to Amazon US FBA.

Now it’s time to get your product to Amazon’s warehouse. This step isn’t always as straightforward as you’d like it to be.

If you’re a new seller, you may think that it’s as simple as getting your manufacturer (often in China) to ship your stock directly to an Amazon warehouse.

You need to find a third-party importer that will handle this for you. Yes, this is an added cost, but if you find the right partner, this step in the process can be headache-free.

They’ll deal with the customs process and forward your stock to Amazon.

Most shipping companies offer this service, including all the big names (DHL, TNT, UPS, etc).

You just need to reach out to them and get quotes for what you’ll need, and then choose your preferred company.

The cost of Import duty in the US is about 3% of the cost of the goods, though this can vary significantly depending on the goods. Your shipping company will typically invoice you for these charges.

6. Understand how Taxes work.

Taxes are essential when doing business in any jurisdiction of the world; you can’t do business without paying taxes.

If you live in the UK or another European country, the US has an agreement that eliminates double taxation and so you won’t have to pay income tax in the US.

If you have no US business presence you need to fill out your W-8 form (within your Amazon account) to tell them you don’t need to pay taxes in the US.

You pay taxes for the business you do in the US in your home country. If you have a US business entity, such as an LLC, you will be responsible for paying taxes in the US.

If you aren’t sure what you should be doing here, reach out to a US-based tax professional service and ask them how to do so.

I shared a link to a comprehensive article that addresses this question below, be sure to check it out.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day

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---. “How To Sell On Amazon as a Foreigner.” Tchelete, 3 July 2022, How To Sell On Amazon as a Foreigner.