How To Become An Amazon Prime Seller

Are you looking for an opportunity to expand your business, reach more customers and increase your potential profits? Becoming an Amazon Prime Seller is a great way to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality and start your own business. It can open up a world of opportunities and give you access to a broad customer base. Yet, you need to bear in mind that it's a complex process.

It's important to understand what is required and have a plan in place. And with the right strategy and preparation, you can become an Amazon Prime Seller and start taking advantage of all the benefits it has to offer.

Why sell on Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime has become one of the most powerful ecommerce platforms in the world, offering a wide range of products and services to customers. In 2022, Amazon had 300 million active users among which 200 million people globally had an Amazon Prime subscription, which is almost 67% of all users (over 157.4 million are from the US). 

Amazon Prime offers several benefits to sellers, such as:

• Increased visibility and positive review;
• Better and faster shipment;
• Access to Prime customers;
• Access to streaming content.

Moreover, Amazon Prime sellers also benefit from Amazon’s helpful tools and services. You can use Amazon’s fulfillment service to help you manage your orders, and reach new customers with Amazon’s promotion tools.

For all these reasons, selling on Amazon Prime is an excellent way to grow your business and maximize your profits. As an Amazon Prime Seller, you will have access to millions of customers, exclusive tools, and advertising services all designed to help you succeed. Ultimately, selling on Amazon Prime can be a great way to increase your sales and profits.

How much it costs to be an Amazon Prime seller

While there are many benefits of being an Amazon Prime Seller, it does come with costs that all business owners need to be aware of. Before you can take advantage of the Amazon Prime platform, you need to understand the costs associated with becoming an Amazon Prime seller.

A particular price will depend on the strategy you will choose to join Amazon Prime (Amazon FBA, Seller-Fulfilled Prime or Amazon Vendor Central) and your seller plan:

• Individual: $0.99/ item sold (without additional fees);
• Professional: $39.99/ month (without additional fees).

Note: You won’t be required to pay any additional Amazon fees if you choose Seller-Fulfilled Prime.

Keep in mind that software solutions such as accounting software, inventory management software, etc., which you might want to implement into your business, will incur additional costs.   

3 ways to make your way to Amazon Prime

The first step to becoming an Amazon Prime Seller is to sign up for an Amazon Seller Account. This will give you access to Amazon's selling tools, such as setting up your store, managing product listings, and managing customer orders. 

After that you’ll be able to become one of the Amazon Prime sellers using one of the following options/services to manage your business on Amazon: 

Amazon FBA

Once you start selling top products on Amazon FBA, you’ll automatically get the Prime badge.

This service allows you to store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers and have them shipped directly to customers. This is a great way to improve your efficiency and provide a better customer experience. With FBA, you don’t have to worry about managing your own inventory or shipping as Amazon will handle it all for you.

What Amazon does: 

• Proper product storage;
• Instant shipment from Amazon Fulfillment Centre;
• Fast delivery;
• Customer service.

Downsides:

• You don’t have control over your packaging and shipping; 
• Complex Amazon Fulfillment fees;
• The more inventory, the higher the fees.

Seller-Fulfilled Prime

Amazon Seller-Fulfilled Prime is a program that allows Amazon sellers themselves to ship orders to Prime customers. It’s an ideal option for sellers who want to take advantage of Amazon's Prime shipping benefits but don't have the resources to join the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program.

In order to become an Amazon Prime Seller and access the Amazon Seller-Fulfilled Prime program, you must meet certain criteria. Once you've met these requirements, you can start offering Prime shipping to Amazon customers.

Amazon requirements for SFP sellers: 

• Two-day delivery commitment;
• National delivery coverage;
• 99% on-time delivery record;
• Use Amazon Buy Shipping on 99% of your orders;
• Rely on SFP-approved carriers;
• Handle weekend pickups and shipping;
• Let Amazon handle customer service;
• Comply with the Amazon Returns Policy.

From: Amazon.com

Note: Before enrolling in Seller Fulfilled Prime, you must complete a trial period (5 to 90 days with a minimum of 200 orders) to show that you are able to meet the requirements. During the trial period, the Prime badge won’t be displayed. 

Main features:

• Direct delivery to domestic Prime customers from your own warehouse;
• Two-Day Delivery (no additional charge);
• Increased chances of becoming the featured offer;
• Low storage and shipping costs.

Downsides:

• It can be difficult to be approved for SFP;
• You’ll need to manage shipping, fulfill orders and pay all costs + keep up with all the SFP requirements;
• Those who fall below the SFP standards won’t be able to join this program a second time. 

Amazon Vendor Central

Amazon Vendor Central allows vendors to sell directly to Amazon as wholesales, after which  Amazon itself sells and delivers the product to the consumers. 

In addition to access to Amazon Prime services, Amazon Vendor Central offers exclusive deals and discounts on products and services. Sellers can take advantage of Amazon Prime – exclusive deals to increase their profitability and reach more customers. 

This option also helps vendors earn a Prime badge.

To get invited to this program, you need to: 

• Request an invite from Amazon;
• Move up your status into the “top” brands on Amazon;
• Get high rates on FBA or SFP items.

What Amazon does: 

• Handles all the business-to-consumer sales;
• Takes care of most legwork; 
• Qualifies your inventory with “Ship from and sold by Amazon”;
• Guarantees a steady income.

Downsides:

• Access to the program by invitation-only;
• Amazon decides which products it’ll stock from you;
• Amazon has complete control over your products.

Conclusion

Becoming an Amazon Prime Seller starts with having a business plan that outlines your business’ core operations, customer strategy, and plans for growth. The more specific and detailed your plan is, the better your chances of succeeding are. 

Once you’ve stepped on the Amazon Prime journey, all you need to do is take the time to analyze your business’ current situation and set a goal for where you want it to be in the future. This way, you’ll have a clear idea of what it’ll take to get there and how to make every step along the way effective. In this article we’ve described the options of how you can join the Amazon Prime Sellers community and let this be a solid foundation for your future business growth!