How To Start Your Own Amazon Business In 2024 [Full Guide]
Selling your products online is a great way to reach millions of customers worldwide. Who wouldn’t like to have their own ecommerce business that can be run from anywhere, make money, and scale up? If this sounds like something you want, then you should think about starting an Amazon store in 2024.
Amazon is not just an online store, it is the biggest online store in the world. It has more than 300 million customers who buy from more than 180 countries. It also has many services and tools that help sellers, such as FBA, Amazon Advertising, Amazon Brand Registry, and more. When you sell on Amazon, you can use its reputation, customer trust, and global network to grow your business.
But how do you start an Amazon store in 2024? What do you need to do to set up your store? In this article, we will show you how to start your Amazon store. We will cover everything from picking a product niche, to creating a seller account, to launching your first product.
Choose a product niche
Before you start an Amazon store, you need to think about what products you want to sell. This means finding a product niche. A product niche is a type of product that a specific group of customers likes. For example, some of the product niches that sell well on Amazon are things for pets, things for the kitchen, things for fitness, and stuff for babies.
Finding a product niche is important because it makes your marketing easier, it makes you stand out from other sellers, and it makes your customers happy. But finding a product niche is not simple. You have to think about many things.
Demand
Competition
How many sellers are selling products in your niche? You should find a niche that has not too many sellers, so that you can be different and get more customers.
Profitability
Passion
Choose your selling plan
You can choose between two selling plans on Amazon: Individual and Professional. The Individual plan is $0.99 for each sale, and the Professional plan is $39.99 every month. The Individual plan is good for sellers who sell less than 40 items in a month, and the Professional plan is good for sellers who sell more than 40 items in a month or want more features and programs. You can change or stop your selling plan whenever you want.
Create a seller account
After you decide to start an Amazon store, you have to make a seller account. A seller account lets you control your online store on Amazon. You can do things like add products, check orders, manage inventory, get paid, see reports, and more. To make a seller account, go to Amazon Seller Central and press the “Start Selling” button. Then, you need to give some basic information, for example:
- Your business name and address. They will show up on your products and bills. You can use your real name or a different name, but it has to be legal and follow Amazon’s rules.
- Your phone number and email address. Amazon will use them to talk to you and check who you are. You need to use a real phone number and email address that you can use easily and often.
- Your bank account and credit card information. Amazon needs them to send you money from your sales and take money for their fees. You need to use a bank account and credit card that belong to you and work with the money type of the place where you want to sell.
- Your tax information. Amazon will use it to tell you how much money you made and take taxes if needed. You need to give your tax number and answer some tax questions to find out your tax situation and duties.
When you give all the information that Amazon asks for, you have to agree to Amazon’s rules and pay a monthly fee. As we described before, you can pay $39.99 to be a professional seller. Or, you can choose to be an individual seller and pay $0.99 for each item you sell, but this choice has less features and benefits than the professional seller choice.
Launch your first product
The last step to start an Amazon store is to sell your first product. This is the most fun and hard part of the process, because you have to do many things, like finding, listing, marketing, and selling your product. Here are some tips to help you sell your first product well:
Sourcing
Product sourcing is the process of getting and paying for your product from a maker or seller. You should also think about the quality, amount, price, and delivery time of your product, and the rules and taxes of the country where you want to sell. If you choose the wrong seller, your business can lose a lot of money, so be careful before choosing one. This is the hardest part of starting your Amazon business, but don’t be scared — we’ll tell you everything you need to know later, so keep reading.
Listing
Drawbacks of Amazon FBA
- Amazon FBA has many fees, like storage fees, fulfillment fees, and long-term storage fees. These can take a lot of money from your profits, especially if you are new or small.
- Keeping track of inventory with FBA can also be hard. Products that don’t sell fast can have high storage fees, and products that run out can make you lose sales.
- Amazon has strict rules that sellers have to follow. If you don’t follow them, Amazon can stop or end your account.
- You don’t really have your own business if you use Amazon FBA. That’s true, if you want to use this service, you have to give up a lot of your power over the business.
- The Amazon marketplace has too many sellers, making it hard to be noticed. New sellers often have trouble to get seen in a busy marketplace.
- Amazon cares more about the product than the seller. This makes it hard for sellers to make a different brand.
The better alternative
AliDropship is a great online business service that helps you send products from the U.S. Here’s why it might be better for you:
Faster shipping
AliDropship’s U.S. center makes shipping faster in the U.S., which is very good for sellers who want to sell to American customers, and customers from all over the world!
Lower operating costs
AliDropship usually has lower fees than Amazon FBA, which can help small businesses and new businesses save money.
Simplified inventory management
AliDropship has a simpler way to manage inventory, which can help new business owners who might find Amazon’s systems too hard.
You’re the boss
AliDropship lets you run your own ready-made custom online store the way you want! This power can make your brand stronger and your customer experience more personal.
Focus on niche markets
With AliDropship, sellers can sell to specific markets, and maybe have less competition than on Amazon’s big marketplace. Amazon has a lot of customers and tools for sellers, but its high competition, many fees, and focus on products over brands can be bad for some. AliDropship is different with its focus on the lucrative high-profit market, lower costs, and chances for brand growth. AliDropship makes sure you can reach your target markets with its premium promotion packages for all your marketing needs! The decision between Amazon FBA and AliDropship should depend on the seller’s needs, market, and business goals.