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How to Sell on Amazon U.S. when you live in another country

 

Let’s say you live in another country (Australia, U.K., Japan, etc.) and you want to sell products on Amazon.com.

This is how most international-based sellers are able to sell on Amazon.com (U.S.)*
1.) Read Amazon selling expert Skip McGrath’s Selling on Amazon.com USA from Overseas (with special attention to the section that begins with “Thank you for contacting Amazon Seller Support…”)
2.) In addition to the Amazon requirements referenced in Skip’s article, it is recommended you also have:
a.) A U.S. based phone number (Skype provides these) AND
b.) A U.S. mailing address for returns. You can get one from MyUs.com (I’ve researched them, they’re the most reputable) AND
c.) A U.S. Bank Account so you can receive Amazon’s payments (Payoneer provides that service here) (exception: you can use a U.K. Bank Account # if you’re in the U.K.). Get more details from a Payoneer Representative here (different forum).
3.) AFTER you are done with all the above, I suggest you sign up for the FREE version of this course containing easy step-by-step instructions on how to sign up as an FBA (Fulillment by Amazon) Professional Merchant on Amazon.com. To get those FREE instructions, go to this link, select ‘Join’ (at the top), then select ‘Join For Free.’
4.) Sign up on Amazon.com to be an Amazon Professional Merchant and sign up for FBA as well (see #3 above if you need help).
5.) Next,  you need inventory to sell on Amazon. Below are three ways you can get inventory:
a) Get inventory LOCALLY to sell on Amazon.com: After you have fully set up your Amazon FBA merchant account on Amazon (Steps 1-3 above), you can now buy items locally (in your region) to ship directly to Amazon.com’s FBA warehouse (=fulfillment center,) provided you can get them cheaply enough that they can yield a profit (use this calculator). Don’t forget you’ll have international shipping charges to pay when you ship your items in bulk to Amazon’s U.S. warehouses.  In fact, you may have locally-sourced, lightweight products that are very hard to find in the U.S. and will sell well on Amazon (initially, you may want to avoid selling inproduct categories that require special approval from Amazon). Then:
  • Process your locally-sourced inventory for Amazon.com (U.S.)
  • Ship your Amazon inventory (in bulk) to a U.S.-based official Amazon FBA warehouse
  • Wait for Amazon.com to receive your inventory
  • Get paid directly by Amazon when your any of your inventory sells.
AND/OR: b.) Get inventory online, from U.S. web sites, to sell on Amazon.com: After you have fully set up your Amazon FBA merchant account on Amazon (Steps 1 to 4 above), you can then buy inventory online on U.S.-based web sites (e.g., clearance-priced toys and household goods from Kmart.com, ToysRus.com, Walmart.com, etc.), and have that inventory shipped to a pre-fulfillment facility in the U.S. The reason you are selecting the third-party fulfillment service is because you need them to receive the inventory directly (after you purchase it) so they can process the inventory for, and ship that inventory to, Amazon FBA warehouses.
  • You buy some clearance-priced toys on ToysRus.com  (a U.S.-based retailer) that you want to sell on Amazon. When you purchase those toys, th
    ey are shipped directly to a pre-fulfillment facility in the U.S.
  • The pre-fulfillment facility processes that inventory and lists it on Amazon under your seller account. They basically perform the tasks that you would perform IF you were in the U.S.
  • The pre-fulfillment facility ships the inventory they processed for you, to an Amazon.com warehouse in the U.S. (They do all these steps for a nominal fee).
  • Amazon.com receives the inventory
  • You get paid directly by Amazon when your any of your inventory sells (and you are billed the respective commissions/fees by Amazon)
Get more info on trusted pre-fulfillment facilities here.
AND/OR: c.) Get inventory from a wholesaler processed for Amazon FBA (U.S.): After you have fully set up your Amazon FBA merchant account on Amazon (Steps 1 to 3 above), you can then buy products from a wholesaler (some of my resources are right here), and (for a nominal fee) have Amazon or a pre-fulfillment service in the U.S. process the inventory and send it into Amazon’s U.S. warehouses for you. An example:
  • (If you chose a pre-fulfillment service, they will ship the inventory they processed for you, to an Amazon.com warehouse in the U.S.)
  • Amazon.com receives the inventory
  • You get paid directly by Amazon when your any of your inventory sells (and you are billed for Amazon’s services/commissions accordingly)
If you need additional help: There are several internationally-based sellers that are helping each other in the forums of the Proven Amazon Course ($247US, this price will go up to $597 in 2015) in the course’s “Selling on Amazon” forum. Many International sellers are selling like crazy on Amazon.com (U.S.), you can do it too with all the resources that are in place today.
I hope this helps you