Amazon Reseller Guide: How to Start Selling and Maximizing Your Profits

Are you looking for a side hustle that fits your schedule, requires minimal upfront investment, and has the potential for consistent income? Becoming an Amazon reseller might be the perfect opportunity for you.

With millions of active shoppers and a trusted marketplace, Amazon provides a massive audience for sellers who want to turn discounted or clearance finds into profitable sales. Let’s look at what it takes to get started as an Amazon reseller, from deciding what to sell to choosing a seller plan and listing your products.

Key takeaways

• The cost of getting started as an Amazon reseller can be minimal (beyond sourcing the products to sell).
• Amazon offers two fee-based plans for sellers: Individual and Professional.
• Many Amazon sellers make at least $1,000 per month.
• While appealing, reselling items on Amazon also involves dealing with competition, fees, and restrictions.

What is an Amazon reseller?

An Amazon reseller is someone who purchases items from stores or through wholesalers and manufacturers and then resells those items on Amazon’s online marketplace. The items can be new, used, or renewed. The Amazon reseller’s goal is to profit from the items they sell, so they usually look for clearance or discounted items they can sell for a higher price.

For example, I once found some red leather pants on the clearance rack at a local store that were priced at just $5. I grabbed every pair available and was able to resell them online for about $30 each.

While there are several online marketplaces where you can resell items, such as eBay and Poshmark, Amazon is one of the most appealing options because of the millions of people who shop there every day.

In a news release, Amazon reported that net sales on the site hit a whopping $158.9 billion in the third quarter of 2024, a $15.8 billion increase over the same quarter in 2023. So, it’s no wonder why being an Amazon reseller seems like one of the best side hustles you can have to make extra cash.

How does reselling on Amazon work?

To get started as an Amazon reseller, you should know how to resell items and which ones you should focus on. According to BigCommerce, there are over 350 million items listed on Amazon, so make sure you choose products that are popular with Amazon shoppers but are not oversaturated on the platform.

Some of the most popular categories include clothing and shoes, jewelry, toys and games, home and kitchen goods, and pet supplies. You should look for low-competition, high-potential products and steer clear of those on Amazon’s restricted products list.

You can consider several places for sourcing your resale items, including:

• Discount retailers such as Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Target, Walmart, and more
• Other online marketplaces like eBay, Temu, and Poshmark
• Thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets
• Wholesalers
• Manufacturers
• Dropshippers

Wholesalers and manufacturers usually require you to buy items in bulk, so make sure you’ll be able to sell the items and not get stuck having your basement full of stuff no one wants to buy. Unfortunately, I’ve been there and done that.

6 steps to get started as an Amazon reseller

Once you know which products you want to resell, it's time to get started as an Amazon reseller. Let’s look at the steps to take to sell items on Amazon.

1. Choose a seller plan

Amazon offers two paid plans for resellers, and you should pick the option that minimizes costs and fits your selling needs.

The Individual plan is good for when you’re just starting on the platform and plan to sell less than 40 items a month. There’s no monthly fee for this plan, but you do have to pay $0.99 for each item you sell.

The Professional plan costs a flat $39.99 monthly and includes more features and tools. This plan lets you have multiple users on your account, list and manage products in bulk, and get access to business reports for tracking sales, inventory, and orders. If you have an Individual plan, you can upgrade to the Professional plan at any time.

2. Create a Seller Central account

When you choose a seller plan, you’ll also need to register as an authorized Amazon reseller and create an account for Seller Central, Amazon’s selling hub. This is where you’ll list your items, manage inventory, track payments, and conduct other business.

This step requires you to provide a government-issued ID — such as a driver’s license or passport — that has your full legal name, country of citizenship, country of birth, date of birth, and residential address. You must also provide your bank account and routing numbers, an internationally chargeable credit card, tax details, your phone number, and your email address.

You’ll need to confirm that all the information on your Seller Central account is correct. This includes your public seller profile, payment information, shipping and returns settings, tax information, and settings for your login, notifications, and user permissions.

3. Enroll your brand (if necessary)

If you’re reselling products under your own brand, you should enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry. This free resource gives you added features and protections. For example, you’ll be able to monitor your brand’s analytics and create more detailed product listings.

4. Add your products

You’ll add the products you have to resell through Seller Central. When doing so, you can search Amazon’s catalog of products using the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). If your item is already listed, you don’t need to create a new listing since Amazon will add your item to the existing one.

This is especially helpful if you're doing retail arbitrage (where you resell items you bought at other retailers) because it minimizes time spent writing descriptions for items. However, it does make things more competitive, so make sure you price your item carefully.

You can also create a new listing if the item isn’t already in the Amazon system. You’ll need to add the following to your listing.

• Product name
• Type of product
• Keywords
• Brand name
• Product description
• Up to five bullet points for item details
• Photos (up to 9)
• Seller SKU
• Quantity
• Price
• Condition
• Fulfillment Channel (how the item will be shipped)

5. Decide how you’ll handle shipping and fulfillment

There are two ways you can fulfill and ship your orders. First, you can choose “Fulfilled by Merchant,” which means you’re responsible for shipping the items to the customer. You can also use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which is a separate service where Amazon will maintain your inventory, fulfill your orders, and handle customer service and returns.

However, Amazon FBA comes at a price that will cut into your profit margin. If you sign up for the Individual plan, you might want to wait until you upgrade to Professional before you use this service.

You can check out Amazon’s seller revenue calculator to compare potential costs for the two options.

6. Reach more customers

You can’t just put items on Amazon and expect a flood of customers to buy your products. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Like any retail or service business, you need to promote your products to reach potential customers.

Professional sellers can use Amazon Ads, but there’s a cost. Other options for helping items stand out include:

• Cost-per-click ads for Sponsored Products
• Cost-per-click ads for Sponsored Brands
• Amazon Coupons
• Amazon social media promo codes
• Amazon Lightning and 7-Day Deals

How much can you make as an Amazon reseller?

How much you can make as an Amazon reseller depends on several factors, such as the type of items you’re selling, the level of competition, your pricing, and your costs.

According to Jungle Scout, which provides an Amazon selling platform, most people selling on Amazon get $1,000 or more monthly in sales, and 40% of them bring in between $1,000 and $25,000 monthly. Additionally, 58% of Amazon sellers make a profit during the first year.

There’s usually a waiting period of seven days between when a customer purchases your item and when Amazon adds the funds to your seller account. This gives some time in case there are returns or disputes over the transaction.

Payouts arrive via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer. If you’re on the Professional selling plan, you’ll receive payments every two weeks, starting from the day you begin selling on Amazon. You’ll get your pay weekly if you’re on the Individual plan.

For each sale you make on Amazon, the platform also charges a referral fee. It’s usually a percentage of the sale price and will vary depending on the product’s category. Plus, with some products, the price the item sold for will impact the Amazon referral fee.

For example, if you sell a pair of jeans for $15, the fee is 5% ($0.75). But if the jeans sell for $25, you owe Amazon 17% ($4.25). Note that most product categories have a minimum referral fee of $0.30.

Given the example above, if you’re a seller on the Individual plan (factoring in the $0.99 cost per item), you’d actually earn $13.26 on the $15 jeans and $19.76 on the $25 jeans.

Why being an Amazon reseller might appeal to you

The enormity of Amazon

Based on estimates, Amazon has over 310 million users across the world, 230 million in the U.S. alone. It’s one of the best reselling sites since your products have the potential to reach many more customers than if you were selling out of a local brick-and-mortar retail store or even your own e-commerce site.

Profitability

As an Amazon reseller, you can turn a profit sooner on your sales and with less overhead than you would with a brick-and-mortar business. Jungle Scout estimates that 22% of Amazon sellers see a profit within three months of selling.

Ease of use

Sure, you could open your own e-commerce store and sell items there. However, that involves building a website, getting a payment processing system, figuring out order fulfillment, finding customers, and more. As an Amazon reseller, most of that work is done for you. Professional sellers with their own brands can even open storefronts on the platform.

No need to carry stock

If you live in a small one-bedroom apartment, you most likely don’t have enough room to hold a bunch of items to sell on Amazon. When you go with the FBA service, Amazon manages your inventory, ships orders to customers, and processes your returns. While this does come with a cost, the price is probably worth it if you’re a Professional seller.

Downsides to being an Amazon reseller

Whether you’re doing it as a side hustle or a full-time gig, becoming an Amazon reseller can be a lucrative venture, but you’re unlikely to get rich quickly. Per JungleScout, an estimated 31% of sellers make less than $500 per month. Here are some other downsides of being an Amazon reseller.

Competition

Sure, there are a lot of potential customers on Amazon, but there are also millions of sellers vying for the sale. You may be competing with a number of sellers offering the same product, some at lower prices.

Fees

You have to factor in Amazon’s fees when deciding how to price your items because those costs can eat away at your profits. There are seller fees and referral fees, as well as the costs to ship the items to customers. Plus, if you have Amazon FBA handle your order fulfillment, you’ll pay more fees for that.

Marketing

After working for over 15 years in advertising, it still amazes me that business owners don’t make a plan and budget for marketing. Relying on the “build it and they will come” philosophy doesn’t work. Word-of-mouth may work for brick-and-mortar businesses, but not Amazon.

You need to plan how you’re going to get your products in front of customers and convince them why they should buy from you versus your competition. And that is most likely going to cost you some money.

Restrictions

You should carefully review Amazon’s restricted products list before becoming a reseller. There are many items that the platform prohibits or requires pre-approval for listing. The site also has strict guidelines to prevent counterfeits of top brands being sold on the site. For example, if you aren’t an Adidas authorized seller, you won’t be able to sell Adidas products.

Tips for being a successful Amazon reseller

Not everyone who signs up to be an Amazon reseller is going to see success. Like any business, it takes work, determination, and time to build your Amazon business. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of this side gig.

1. Choose products wisely

Make sure you do your homework on what products and price points perform the best on Amazon. Take a look at Amazon’s Best Sellers list for ideas. The riches are in the niches, so while niche products appeal to a smaller crowd, they also may have less competition.

2. Price products competitively

Research how other sellers are pricing their products for the same or similar items and use that information to price your own. Just make sure that you can make a profit on the sale after figuring out the cost of goods, fees, and shipping.

3. Put some care into your packaging

I’ve received products from Amazon sellers that were nicely packaged and sometimes even included a note thanking me for the purchase. This kind of customer service will make me leave a positive review and maybe become a repeat customer. While you don’t necessarily have to go to these lengths, ensure that items are packaged securely so they aren’t damaged in transit.

4. Monitor your customer reviews

The reviews you receive as an Amazon reseller can make or break you. A positive review rating can go a long way when competing with other sellers offering the same or similar products.

If you get negative reviews, respond quickly and offer to rectify the situation. Don’t argue with the person because your responses may turn away potential customers. I’ve changed my mind on purchases because I didn’t like how the seller responded to other customer complaints.

5. Promote your products

Promoting your products to potential customers doesn’t have to cost you a fortune. One important (and free) thing you can do is optimize your listing with keywords your customers may be searching on Amazon. You should use these keywords in your product title and description.

Another way to promote your products is by offering deals. You can do this through Amazon Coupons, Best Deals, and Lightning Deals. Professional sellers can also pay per click to promote products through Amazon Ads.

FAQs

Bottom line

Becoming an Amazon reseller can be a rewarding side hustle with relatively low startup costs and the potential to reach millions of customers. With the right approach — sourcing quality products, pricing competitively, managing fees, and effectively marketing your listings — you can turn a profit and build your business over time.

Although the fees, competition, and certain restrictions may pose challenges, these are often outweighed by Amazon’s advantages, like its massive customer base and convenient fulfillment option with Amazon FBA. If you’re willing to put in the effort to research products and invest in marketing, reselling on Amazon can be a lucrative way to earn extra income or even become a full-time gig. Just remember that success doesn’t happen overnight.