How to Sell on Amazon in 2026: A Beginner's Guide

Amazon is the largest online marketplace in many countries, and independent sellers make up a large share of what's sold there. When you list on Amazon, your products appear in front of shoppers who are already searching and ready to buy, and if you use Amazon's fulfilment network, your items can carry the Prime badge and fast delivery.

That reach comes with more rules than most marketplaces: strict performance targets, detailed listing requirements and fees that add up quickly. This guide explains how selling on Amazon works in 2026, what it costs, how to choose between fulfilment options, and how to keep your account healthy.

Selling plans and fees in 2026

Every Amazon seller chooses a selling plan and pays a referral fee on each sale. If you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), fulfilment and storage fees come on top.

Plan	Cost	Best for	What you get
Individual	$0.99 per item sold, no monthly fee	Testing, or fewer than 40 sales a month	Basic listing and order tools
Professional	$39.99 per month, no per-item fee	40+ sales a month, or anyone who wants to advertise	Amazon Ads, bulk listing tools, and brand tools with Brand Registry

US prices from Amazon's pricing page and Eva, as read in November 2026.

The break-even point is about 40 sales a month: 40 × $0.99 = $39.60. From 41 sales, Professional is cheaper, and it's the plan most serious sellers use because it unlocks advertising.

Other fees to plan for

• Referral fee: a percentage of the total price, including shipping. Most categories charge 15%, and the full range runs from 5% to 45%. You pay the percentage or a minimum fee, whichever is higher, and the minimum is $0.30 in most categories (Amazon · AMZ Prep).
• FBA fees: a fulfilment fee per unit based on size and weight, plus monthly storage fees. FBA fees rose by an average of $0.08 per unit on January 15, 2026 (Amazon). A 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on US and Canadian FBA fulfilment fees followed on April 17, 2026, while referral percentages stayed largely unchanged (AMZ Prep).
• Advertising: Sponsored Products and other ads are optional but usually needed to get early sales.
• Other costs: product barcodes (GTINs), returns processing, removal fees and any prep or labelling services.

All in, one estimate puts Amazon's fees at 30–45% of the sale price of a standard-size FBA item (Underpriced), so use Amazon's Revenue Calculator for each product before you commit.

Fulfilment options: FBA or ship it yourself

Amazon gives you two main ways to get orders to customers. Many sellers use both, choosing per product.

	Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)	Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM)
Who stores and ships	Amazon, from its warehouses	You, your supplier or your 3PL
Prime badge	Yes, FBA products are Prime-eligible	Only through Seller Fulfilled Prime, which has strict requirements
Customer service and returns	Handled by Amazon	Handled by you
Costs	Fulfilment and storage fees per unit	Your own shipping, packaging and labour
Inventory	You send stock in advance	You can keep stock elsewhere or dropship
Metrics you answer for	Mainly Order Defect Rate	ODR plus cancellation, late shipment, tracking and on-time delivery
Best for	Fast-selling, small or standard-size items	Large, slow-moving or custom items, and testing

Amazon — Fulfillment by Amazon · Dummies

FBA is usually easier to scale and Prime eligibility can help you win the Buy Box, but you pay for storage and need cash for inventory upfront. FBM keeps you in control and avoids storage fees, but every late shipment or missing tracking number counts against your account.

If you plan to dropship on Amazon, you must use FBM and follow Amazon's Drop Shipping Policy: you must always be the seller of record, remove anything that identifies the supplier before the parcel ships, and handle customer returns yourself. You also can't buy from another retailer and have that retailer ship directly to your customer (Amazon).

From account to first sale

Registration takes a few days because Amazon verifies every seller. Have your documents ready before you start.

1. Prepare your documents. You'll typically need a government-issued ID, a bank account for payouts, a credit card that can be charged, a phone number, and tax information. Business sellers also need company registration details.
2. Register and verify. Sign up in Seller Central, choose your plan, and complete identity verification, which may include a short video call. Use exactly the same details on every document; mismatches are the most common cause of delays.
3. Check category rules. Some categories and brands are "gated" and require approval, invoices or certifications before you can list. Check before you buy any stock.
4. Create your listings. If the product already exists on Amazon, add your offer to the existing listing (ASIN). If it's your own product, create a new listing with a barcode (GTIN) or a GTIN exemption.
5. Set up fulfilment. For FBA, create a shipment plan and send your stock to Amazon's warehouses. For FBM, set your shipping templates and handling times.
6. Launch and promote. Price competitively, run Sponsored Products ads on your main keywords, and encourage reviews through Amazon's approved tools such as the "Request a Review" button.

Creating listings that rank and convert

Amazon search works on keywords, sales history and conversion. A strong listing helps with all three:

• Title: brand, product type, key feature, size or quantity, in plain language. Follow your category's style guide and length limit.
• Images: a main image on a pure white background showing only the product, plus lifestyle shots, close-ups, size comparisons and infographics. Images are often the first thing shoppers judge.
• Bullet points: five short benefit-led points that answer the questions buyers ask most.
• Description and A+ Content: a fuller story about the product. Brand-registered sellers can use A+ Content with richer images and comparison charts.
• Backend search terms: extra keywords and synonyms that don't fit naturally in the title.
• Price and Buy Box: when several sellers offer the same product, one wins the Buy Box. Price, fulfilment speed, stock and account health all affect who wins.

Brand Registry. If you sell your own brand, enrol in Amazon Brand Registry once you have a registered or pending trademark (Amazon). It gives you more control over your listings, protection against counterfeiters and hijackers, A+ Content, Sponsored Brands ads and a Brand Store. For long-term Amazon businesses, private label with Brand Registry is usually stronger than reselling products everyone else sells.

Account health: the metrics that keep you selling

Amazon tracks your performance closely, and missing targets can get your listings or whole account deactivated. Check the Account Health dashboard in Seller Central every week, because it shows the current targets for your marketplace.

Metric	Target	Applies to
Order Defect Rate (negative feedback, A-to-z claims, chargebacks)	Under 1%	FBA and FBM
Pre-fulfilment cancellation rate	Under 2.5%	Seller-fulfilled orders
Late shipment rate	Under 4%	Seller-fulfilled orders
Valid Tracking Rate	95% or higher	Seller-fulfilled orders

ChannelX · Dummies

Key policies to respect

• Product authenticity: sell only genuine products you can prove with invoices from legitimate suppliers.
• Restricted products and gated categories: get approval before listing.
• Reviews: never pay for reviews, offer incentives for positive reviews, or review your own products.
• Dropshipping: you must be the seller of record and remove any supplier branding from parcels.
• One account: don't open multiple seller accounts without Amazon's permission.
• Communication: keep all buyer contact inside Amazon's messaging system.

Amazon treats policy violations seriously, and appeals can take weeks. It's far easier to prevent problems than to reinstate a suspended account.

Tips for new Amazon sellers

• Calculate profit per unit first. Use Amazon's revenue calculator with your real product, shipping and ad costs before ordering stock.
• Start with a small, focused range and send limited FBA stock until you know what sells; storage fees grow with slow-moving inventory.
• Avoid gated, hazardous or heavily branded products for your first launch.
• Invest in images. Professional photos are often one of the best-value listing improvements.
• Run Sponsored Products ads at a modest daily budget to gather early sales data, then focus spend on keywords that convert.
• Watch stock levels. Running out of stock hurts your ranking, and cancellations hurt your metrics.
• Answer buyer messages within 24 hours, including weekends.
• Track your account health weekly and fix any warning quickly.

Amazon seller checklist

• Gather ID, bank, credit card and tax documents
• Choose the Individual or Professional plan
• Register and complete identity verification
• Check whether your category or brand needs approval
• Get GTIN barcodes or a GTIN exemption for your own products
• Calculate profit per unit including all fees
• Decide between FBA, FBM or both
• Create listings with strong titles, images and bullet points
• Apply for Brand Registry if you own a trademark
• Launch with a small ad budget and request reviews properly
• Monitor account health every week

Selling on Amazon rewards preparation. Get the numbers, documents and listing right before you launch, keep your metrics healthy, and Amazon's huge audience can grow your business faster than almost any other channel.

Sources

• Amazon — Pricing and referral fees
• Amazon — Update to U.S. referral and FBA fees for 2026
• Amazon — Fulfillment by Amazon
• Amazon — Brand Registry
• Amazon Seller Central — Drop shipping policy update
• Eva — How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
• AMZ Prep — Amazon FBA fees 2026
• Underpriced — Amazon seller fees explained 2026
• ChannelX — How to monitor your Amazon account health (2020)
• Dummies — Tracking your Amazon seller account's health