Getting Started as an Amazon Seller

To start selling on Amazon Saudi Arabia, you need access to Seller Central Amazon SA. To gain access to Amazon’s selling platform and seller dashboard, you must register for an Amazon seller account.

In this article, you will learn about the first three steps to becoming an Amazon seller.

1. Decide on your selling strategy.

A few decisions must first be made before you register for an Amazon seller account. One of them is your selling strategy. Are you going to sell under your own brand or resell other brands’ products?

Brand Owner

You’re a brand owner if you’re one of the following:

• You manufacture your own product. For instance, you sell soap or knitted bags that you make yourself.
• Your factory makes your product. You own a factory or plant (or have one on an exclusive contract) that makes your product.
• You source your product. You have a private or white-label agreement with a manufacturer. The product is theirs. The technology is, too. But you have the license to sell the product under your own label or brand.

Reseller

You’re a reseller if you’re distributing an existing brand. You don’t make or white-label a sourced product.

An electronics store that carries mobile phones, laptops, and computers from Apple, Samsung, Asus, Dell, and other known brands is a reseller, not a brand owner. Do you sell perfumes from different fashion and perfume houses? You’re a reseller, too.

Which Is Better?

Is it better to be a brand owner or a reseller? Brand owners enjoy certain privileges. For instance, they can do the following:

• Run experiments.
• Manage customer reviews.
• Gain insights using Amazon Attribution (analytics tool).
• Get access to a brand dashboard.
• Use Amazon’s store-building tools.
• Alleviate counterfeit concerns.
• Register with the Brand Registry.

That said, your product and business model primarily dictate whether you’re a brand owner or a reseller. Choose the product strategy that fits your business.

You can also do both. You can sell some products under your brand while reselling other brands’ products.

2. Decide on your fulfillment strategy.

You must also decide how to fulfill customer orders. Amazon offers three strategies: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Easy Ship, and Self-Ship. FBA is the most expensive option, but it’s also the most convenient and hassle-free.

• Fulfillment by Amazon: FBA outsources the entire fulfillment function to Amazon. You send your products to Amazon for storage. When an order comes in, Amazon processes the order, takes your product out of storage, packs it, and ships it to the customer. Amazon also tracks and answers customer inquiries about orders and processes returns and refunds when necessary. FBA enables pay on delivery.
• Easy Ship: Under Easy Ship, Amazon becomes your last-mile delivery partner. You store and pack your products. When an order comes in, Amazon picks it up and delivers the package to your customer. Amazon also handles order tracking, customer support, and returns and refunds. Easy Ship allows pay on delivery.
• Self-Ship: In Self-Ship, you take care of all logistics. You store your product, pack it, and deliver it (or arrange delivery with your preferred carrier). You answer customer inquiries and manage returns and refunds. Under Self-Ship, you don’t have a pay-on-delivery option, unless your last-mile delivery partner offers it.

3. Register as an Amazon seller.

Register for a seller account using your Amazon customer account or your business email address. You must provide:

• Your phone number
• Your KSA national ID
• Your trade license if you are applying as your company, or your proof of billing (bank account or credit card statement, utility bill) if you’re applying as an individual
• Bank account details for the bank account you want to use for receiving your Amazon sales proceeds

While registering for an account, you must choose between two seller plans: Individual and Professional.

• Individual: The individual plan is ideal if you’re totally new to online selling. Maybe you’re still exploring e-commerce and may even be ideating which product to sell or testing market response to different products. It’s also for you if your monthly sales don’t exceed 40 items.
• Professional: The professional plan comes with more advanced listing, selling, advertising, and reporting features. It’s the better option if you are an experienced online seller with a monthly turnover of more than 40 units.

Note: The Professional Amazon seller account usually comes with a monthly subscription fee. However, Amazon SA currently offers the Professional plan without a monthly subscription fee.

Tip: When you register for an Amazon SA seller account, sign up for a Professional plan even if you are not an expert online seller or do not expect your monthly sales to exceed 40 units. The free subscription is your opportunity to get to know the Professional account dashboard, familiarize yourself with the advanced tools available to Professional sellers, and see whether you can leverage them to scale faster and bigger without paying a subscription fee.

If you change your mind later on (if Amazon SA starts levying the subscription fee to Professional sellers), you can simply switch to the Individual plan.

Get Ready to Sell

Getting started as an Amazon seller starts with deciding on your selling strategy, choosing your preferred fulfillment option, and registering for an account. Once you are in Amazon Seller Central, you can start listing your products, building your storefront, and promoting your e-commerce store using Amazon ads products online.