How to Create an Amazon Seller Account in 2021

As Amazon continues to grow, opportunities to build an e-commerce business by selling on the site grow
as well.

Ecommerce underwent an incredible surge in 2020, as consumers shifted from in-store

shopping to online. As the year progressed, 34% of consumers said their online spending had
increased even while their overall spending dropped. By the end of 2020, 74% of consumers
believed the majority of consumer shopping would happen online in the future — up from 69%
just months earlier.

These trends indicate that 2021 holds immense potential for ecommerce
entrepreneurs. However, if you want to take advantage of the enormous opportunity Amazon
represents, you must first go through the Amazon seller registration process.

So, to make sure your account is verified (giving you the chance to build a successful Amazon
business), we’ll walk you through the updated process.

This is what we’ll cover:

 How to start an Amazon business

 How to create a seller account on Amazon
 How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
 What else should you know before selling on Amazon?

How to start an Amazon business

What’s great about Amazon is that there’s no one way to start an Amazon business. From the
business model you choose to the products you decide to sell, there are many ways to succeed
on the platform.

However, the steps required to get up and running on Amazon remain the same, regardless of
the type of business model and product you choose.

1. First, start by deciding which business model you want to use

 Private Label: Private label is the process of a retailer rebranding/renaming a product that is
already being manufactured on their own brand or label.
 Wholesale: Wholesaling is the practice of purchasing low-cost or discounted goods in bulk in
order to sell as individual units in a retail marketplace.
 Online and/or Retail Arbitrage: Arbitrage is a method of finding low-cost or discount goods in
brick-and-mortar retail stores (or on e-commerce sites) in order to resell them online.
 Dropshipping: Dropshipping is a business model where an Amazon seller does not keep their
own product inventory, but instead, transfers their customers’ orders directly to the manufacturer
or supplier.
 Handmade: Amazon’s handmade sellers are people who create their own products to (“by hand”)
to sell on the Amazon marketplace. Examples include jewelry, accessories, home decor, and
more.

2. After you’ve landed on a business model, it’s time to decide which fulfillment method you’ll
use
  Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA);
 Or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM).

There are pros and cons for both methods, so make sure you look closely at both to determine
which one will work best for your business.

3. Next, consider the product(s) you’re going to sell

If you have a product (say, you create your own handcrafted items), you may be ready to go,
but you should still follow this step to validate that your product will have sufficient demand on
Amazon. To help you find products to sell that are high in demand, but low in competition, make
sure you use a tool like Jungle Scout.

4. Once you’ve found a product, apply to become an Amazon seller

More details on how to complete the Amazon seller registration process in the next section.

5.Then, when Amazon has verified your information and your application has been approved,
start sourcing your product(s)

If you’ve chosen to sell private label, you can find a manufacturer to create your product by
using Jungle Scout’s Supplier Database or Alibaba.

6. Finally, create your product listing

And once you create your listing, you can grow your Amazon sales from there!

How to create a seller account on Amazon

Once you’ve figured out what you plan on selling on Amazon, you’ll need to go through the
Amazon seller registration process, which is really quite simple.

1. Go to https://services.amazon.com

2. Scroll down the page, below the heading “Become an Amazon seller”
On the right side, look for the ‘See Pricing -→’ link (below the ‘Make Money’ header) and click
it.

Note: If you click on the orange ‘Sign up’ button, you’ll immediately be taken to the registration
page for a professional seller. The ‘See pricing’ link, on the other hand, shows you the
difference between the individual and professional accounts, and allows you to choose which
registration you want.

3. Choose between and individual or professional seller account

When it comes to Amazon’s seller plans, you have two options: professional and individual.

If you’re going to sell more than 40 products per month, then signing up as a ‘professional’ is
your best bet. Even if you’re selling as a hobby and don’t consider yourself to be a professional,
this plan will help you save money.

But, if you’re planning to sell on a smaller scale (ie. fewer than 40 units per month), select the
individual plan.

4. Enter your email and select ‘Create a New Account’

Once you’ve chosen the seller plan that is right for you, the following window will appear where
you’ll be asked to enter in your email address and a password (of your choosing) for your seller
account.

When you’re done, click the ‘Next’ button.

This will take you to a second screen asking you to enter in a one-time password (OTP)
generated by Amazon, which will be sent to the email address you provided in the previous
screen. This is Amazon’s way of verifying the email you entered.

After you’ve added that OTP to its corresponding field, click the ‘Create your Amazon account’
button.

5. Choose your ‘Business location’ and ‘Business type’

The next step in the Amazon seller registration process is to share the following information:

 Your business location: This is the country in which your business is located. It’s extremely
important that this is accurate, as Amazon will be verifying it (see step 10).
 Your business type: You’ll be able to choose your business entity from the following options
(most fall into the ‘Privately-owned’ category):
o State-owned business
o Publicly-owned business
o Privately-owned business
o Charity
o None, I am an individual
 Your full name: Make sure you enter your first, middle, and last names.

Then, click the ‘Agree and continue’ button.

6. Enter your personal information

From there, you’ll be asked to provide Amazon with a number of personal details. This includes
a form of identification (either your passport number or your driver’s license).

You may also be required to give them your phone number. Again, this is for verification
purposes.
When everything has been entered, click on ‘Next’ at the bottom of the screen.

7. Choose your marketplace(s)

Once you’ve completed the ‘Individual Information’ section, check the box below
the marketplace(s) — this refers to the location of an Amazon store (eg. Amazon.ca,
Amazon.co.uk, etc.) — in which you’d like to sell, and then click ‘next’.

8. Enter your billing information

Another way Amazon is now verifying a potential seller’s identity is to make sure their credit card
information is valid.
So, after you’ve chosen your marketplace(s), you’ll be asked to enter in the number and
expiration date of one of your credit cards, as well as the name that appears on that card.

When you’re done, click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the page.

9. Add the information for your product(s) and Amazon store

After you supply your credit card information and it has been validated, you’ll be asked a few
questions about your Amazon store and the products you plan to sell.

To move onto the next phase of the Amazon seller registration process, you’ll need to answer
the following:

 The name of your Amazon store

 Whether or not you have UPC codes for your product(s)
 If you are the manufacturer and/or brand owner of the product(s) you’re selling
 If you have a registered trademark for your product(s)

Click the ‘Next’ button after you’ve provided the answers to those questions.
10. Address validation

Lastly, when you’ve completed all of the other steps in the verification process, you’ll be asked
to confirm the business address you provided in step six (the ‘Personal Information’ screen).

After clicking on the ‘Confirm’ button — if the address displayed is correct, that is — a new
screen will appear. It explains that you will receive a postcard at that address, along with a
verification code.

Then, when you receive the card, enter the code provided into the ‘Enter code below’ field and
click ‘Next’ to finish the verification process.

Once you’re verified, you’re in!

To be on the safe side, we recommend setting up 2-step verification on your account (for
increased security). But, once your identity and business information has been verified, all you
need to do to get started is to log into https://sellercentral.amazon.com.

And this is what your seller account home screen will look like (without any sales yet, of course).
*NOTE: The Amazon seller registration process has recently changed, to aid in its verification of
new sellers’ information.

For this reason, some of the screens and requests you’ll see and/or be required to fulfill during
your account creation could differ from those outlined above.

And to make sure you have all of the documents you might need for verification, we strongly
recommend you read our “Amazon Seller Verification in 2020” article.
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Amazon Documents Verification

Seller Identity Verification

To help us maintain a trusted marketplace for buyers and sellers, we'll need some additional proofs
for the information you provided during registration.

If you've already submitted your documents

The review process can take up to two business days from the time we receive your documents. We
will email you the result.

Note: You'll gain access to Seller Central after your account is verified.

If you haven't submitted your documents

1. Go to the Seller Identity Verification page.
2. Under Please select your country/region, choose your country or region from the drop-down
option.
Note: Document requirements might change based on your country.
3. In the Submit required documents section, upload your documents.
4. Under Provide contact information, enter your Email address and Phone number (optional).
5. Click Submit.
 Note: If you require additional time before submitting your information, you can select the Save
draft button to save your information and return to the Seller Identity Verification page later.

Document rejection
Important: We reject documents when we can't verify them or when they don't meet our criteria.
Our decision to approve or reject a document is final and cannot be appealed, although you can re-
apply with a new account.

Amazon requires two documents in order to verify your identity. To avoid having your documents
rejected, make sure they meet the following criteria:

All documents must:

 be valid (not expired, revoked, or closed)
 be high-quality, in color, and unobstructed (not angled, blurry, or cropped)
 show the full page
 not be a screenshot
 display matching information (such as your ID number or name) that you use to register to sell on
Amazon
 be scanned images, or a photo taken from your mobile device's camera (no screenshots)
 display the full document (front and back, if applicable)
 be less than 10MB in size
 be in one of these formats: gif, png, jpg, pdf, and docx. Do not include special characters in the
file name (examples: $, &, or #)
 be authentic and unaltered
 be in one of these supported languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese,
Portuguese, or Spanish
Note: If your documents are in another language, you can submit notarized translations in a
supported language.
Identity documents:

The identity documents required for each seller depends on the country or state your business is
headquartered in, and where you live.

The drop-down options will tell you which options are available to you, such as: passport, driver
license, or national ID. In addition to the above requirements for all documents, the ID must:

 show a full document page, or in case of national identity cards, both sides of the card
 be a government-issued identity card that is distributed and recognized by the country where you
are a citizen or resident
 be in color (black and white not accepted)
 for multi-page files (both sides of the ID), if the screen does not ask for separate front and back
image uploads, be sure to merge the images into one file to upload
 have date of birth (if applicable) that matches the date of birth provided during registration
 have a signature
 if submitting a passport, be sure the passport has your signature
Additional documents
The additional documents requested vary by country and state. An additional document (your
customized options display on the registration page) might be a document that proves your business
is valid, such as: business license, bank statement, credit card statement, or utility bill.

Note:
 Some companies, corporations, or charities need to submit a government-issued national ID for
the primary contact, or the beneficial owner or trustee.
 The name of the point of contact or company mentioned on the document should match the point
of contact name or business name provided during registration.
 You can hide the transaction amount, but the document must remain intact.
 Document must not be password-protected.
 Do not provide a photo of your credit card or debit card.
 Do not provide a bank letter acknowledging an account opening.
 Do not provide a bank passbook (except in India and Japan).
 Do not provide a business registration certificate.

You might be asked to submit a bank account statement, credit card statement, or business license
based on your location. Make sure your documents meet the following criteria:

Bank account or credit card statements:

 Must match the name of the business or point of contact provided during registration
 Must contain the business address and show customer transactions
 Must be dated within the last 180 days
 Be in color (black and white not accepted)
 Must show transaction activity, but you can black out the transaction amount
 If the bank account is in the name of your business, the bank account name on the document
must be the name of your business. However, if you have a sole proprietorship, the bank account
name on the document must be the sole proprietor's name.
 Bank logo, bank account number, business address, business name or point of contact (name of
person to contact on behalf of the business), and bank account holder name must be clearly
visible.
Business licenses:
 The name of the legal representative or beneficiary owner should match the name on the identity
document.
 The address should match the business address provided during registration.
 Must be valid for at least 45 days from the time of registration.
 Must not be revoked or closed by the local government.
 Business name and details must be visible.
Proof of address
 Name and address must be visible.
 Could be (your options will display in a drop-down on the page) a water, electricity, gas, internet,
telecom bill issued by the utility company, or a mobile phone bill.
 If a utility bill for the given address is not under your name, provide a utility bill associated to the
address used to register, and any other supporting documents that prove you are operating from
that address, even if the bill is not under your name.
 Must be issued within the last 180 days.
What to expect after you upload your document?
If the necessary documents and information are uploaded, a message will display "Thank you for
your request." Close the tab in your browser.

After you submit documents, Amazon will review your information and may contact you for further
clarification, if needed, within 3 business days.

Important: If we are unable to verify the information you provided and request that you resubmit
your documents, you will have within the next 30 days to complete this request. If we do not receive
your documents within this timeframe, your case will be closed and we will not be able to activate
your account to sell on Amazon. For security reasons, we can only accept documents uploaded
through the Seller Identity Verification page on Seller Central.