Getting Started

Creating an Amazon seller account is the first step in starting your own Amazon business. The good news is that the process is straightforward, and you can complete it quickly. In this section, we will provide an overview of the process and direct you to Amazon's official instructions for creating an account.

To begin, you will need to navigate to Amazon's seller registration page. Once there, you will need to choose the type of account you want to create: Individual or Professional. The Individual account is best for small businesses that plan to sell fewer than 40 items per month, while the Professional account is ideal for larger businesses that plan to sell more than 40 items per month.

After selecting the type of account, you will be prompted to provide your personal information, such as your name, address, and phone number. You will also need to provide a valid credit card and a bank account to receive payments from Amazon.

Next, you will need to create your seller profile, which includes information about your business, such as your company name and logo, as well as a brief description of your business.

Once you have completed these steps, you will need to verify your identity by submitting your tax information, such as your Social Security number or Employer Identification Number (EIN).

After your identity is verified, you can begin listing your products for sale on Amazon. You can create product listings manually, or you can use Amazon's automated tools to upload large quantities of listings at once.

In summary, creating an Amazon seller account is a straightforward process. By following Amazon's step-by-step instructions, you can have your account set up in no time. Once your account is active, you can begin selling products on Amazon and building your eCommerce business.

Setting up your Amazon Seller Central Account (PDF)

 

Amazon Seller Central

Congratulations on taking the first steps toward launching your Amazon seller store! Once you have set up your account, we recommend downloading and installing the Amazon Seller app on your phone. This app has been specifically designed to help sellers manage their businesses efficiently. The app comes equipped with several useful features, including a built-in picture scanner that can recognize UPC barcodes and book covers, inventory management, pricing recommendations, sales data, and much more.

It is important to familiarize yourself with the app as it can be a valuable tool for managing your business. There are many video tutorials available online that can help you get started. In the following tutorials, we will provide you with some practical techniques and tips to help you make the most of this app and improve your overall selling strategy.

 

Software Tools:

Scanning Software

As a seller on Amazon, you want to be as efficient as possible when processing and listing your inventory. The Amazon Seller Central App can be helpful, but when it comes to scanning items, it is not the most efficient option. Fortunately, there are scanning apps available that are specifically designed to scan barcodes quickly and provide you with all the information you need.

By connecting a Bluetooth scanner to your phone or computer, you can scan up to 40 barcodes per minute. This is much faster than using the Amazon Seller photo scanning option. The scanning software instantly shows pricing information, Best Seller Rank (BSR), current listings, and other useful data. It even compares this data to your personal Buying Criteria (price/rank filters) and recommends whether to sell the product or not.

By using a scanning app, you can work more efficiently and quickly, which allows you to process more items and generate more business. In the next section, we will discuss some of the practical techniques that can help you find profitable books to sell on Amazon.

When you scan barcodes, scanning software instantly shows pricing information and other useful data. This includes information such as the Best Seller Rank (BSR), current listings, the number of times each item has sold in the last 180 days, cover art, etc. The software compares this data to your personal Buying Criteria (price/rank filters) and recommends whether to sell the product or not. 

Barcode Scanning software options include our own Bookseller Academy Tool, Scoutly, and others.

Listing Software - Bulklister  

When it comes to selling books online, listing items for sale is a crucial step in the operation process. While Amazon's listing system may be suitable for beginners, it can take up to five minutes to list each book. This process can be incredibly time-consuming, particularly if you have a large inventory to manage. To solve this problem, there are several software solutions available to help streamline the process.

One such software solution is Bookseller Academy's Bulklister. This program is specifically designed to list books (or anything else) on Amazon, and it enables you to list books as rapidly as you can scan barcodes. With the batch listing, you can process large volumes of inventory at a time, making it an incredibly efficient way to manage your inventory.

One of the most significant advantages of using Bulklister is the ability to customize stock-keeping units (SKUs), which can help you better organize your inventory. Additionally, the software supports tracking the cost of goods sold (COGS), which can be beneficial for tax purposes. You can also set pricing, print labels and verify box content, which will help streamline your shipping process.

Bulklister is designed specifically to list books (or anything else) on Amazon. Bulklister enables you to list books about as rapidly as you can scan barcodes. It supports batch listing, meaning processing large volumes of inventory at a time. A process that is very hard to accomplish using Amazon Seller Central.

In short, using listing software like Bulklister can make repetitive tasks easier and help you manage your inventory more efficiently. 

 

Bulklister (List and Pricing view pictured)

Listing Summary (shows the potential profit, FBA fees)

Repricing Software - Repriceit 

Repriceit is an essential tool for sellers who want to automate their pricing process. The software enables you to set up pricing rules, including conditions, competition, and other factors that influence pricing. Once set, the software continuously monitors the market and adjusts prices according to your rules.

Choosing a pricing philosophy is critical to your success. Some sellers choose an aggressive pricing strategy to move inventory quickly, while others price higher to maximize profits. Factors like seasonality, condition, and Buy Box ownership also influence pricing decisions. We will discuss these different strategies and their pros and cons in later tutorials.

 

Accounting Software - Quickbooks

When it comes to bookkeeping, Quickbooks by Intuit is an excellent option for managing your business finances. With Quickbooks, you can easily track your income and expenses, create and send invoices, and connect to your bank account to simplify bank reconciliation. Quickbooks also allow you to categorize your transactions, making it easy to monitor your business expenses and analyze your financial data.

One of the key benefits of Quickbooks is its versatility. The platform offers a wide range of features that make it an ideal solution for small business bookkeeping. You can track your inventory, create purchase orders, and generate reports to keep track of your finances. Additionally, Quickbooks can help you manage your tax obligations by generating reports that make it easy to file your taxes.

Overall, Quickbooks is a powerful and user-friendly bookkeeping solution that can help you stay on top of your business finances. Whether you're a new seller or an experienced entrepreneur, Quickbooks can help you save time and streamline your bookkeeping tasks.

 

 

Tax Accounting Software - Taxjar

Taxjar is an essential tool for managing your sales tax obligations. It integrates with your Amazon account and automatically tracks your sales data to determine where books are sold and how much tax you owe from state to state. This makes it easy to stay compliant with complex and ever-changing sales tax laws.

TaxJar provides detailed reports that break down your sales by state, county, and city. You can see how much sales tax you have collected and how much you owe in each jurisdiction. This makes it easy to file your sales tax returns accurately and on time.

In addition to its tracking and reporting features, TaxJar also offers a range of other tools and resources to help you manage your sales tax obligations. These include a sales tax calculator, nexus checker, and rate tables. With TaxJar, you can stay on top of your sales tax obligations and focus on growing your business.

 

Disclosure: Sometimes we use affiliate links. What does that mean? It means that if we used a product or service and liked it, and that product or service has an affiliate program, we signed up for it. Then, when we mention that product or service in one of the tutorials, we link to it using our affiliate link.

Should you end up buying something as a result of one of those links, we get a small commission. Thanks for your continued support. Happy Book Selling!