How to Start Your Own Business Online With Amazon

Sunday, September 14, 2014

How to Start Your Own Business Online With Amazon

Amazon Marketplace is Amazon.com's fixed-price online marketplace which enables sellers to offer new and used items alongside Amazon's regular offerings. Customers can buy those items directly from third-party sellers. The Marketplace uses Amazon.com's software infrastructure. Amazon.com charges the buyer's credit card and sends his payment to the seller, but does not pass along any credit-card information.

The Marketplace is available on Amazon sites in over 60 countries. Some sellers do not ship internationally.

Sellers may sell their items using either an "Individual Account" or, for an additional monthly subscription fee, a "Professional Seller" account. Individual Accounts may add the "Pro Merchant Option," but Professional Sellers are required to have the "Pro-Merchant Option."

The "Pro Merchant Option" costs $39.99 per month; it eliminates the $.99 per-item sales fee. Other sales fees are still charged. These consist of a percentage commission fee and a flat-rate closing fee.

Amazon provides sellers with an online marketplace. Individual merchants are allowed to set up accounts and list products for free, though there is a "per sale" charge. Sellers with lots of products may elect to pay a monthly fee to list as a "pro merchant" on Amazon. A seasoned marketer with a Pro Merchant account is eligible to open an online Amazon store -- a hosted company website dedicated to the seller's e-commerce.

Instructions

Step 1

Open an individual seller's account to start a business selling less than 40 items per month. Visit the Amazon.com "Sell your stuff" page. List the first item you want to sell by clicking the "Select product category" drop down in the "Locate the item you'd like to sell" box. Click on the category your item fits into, then type the name of the item in the box labeled "Search by title or keywords." To sell a Star Wars Monopoly game, for example, you would click "Toys and games" on the drop down menu, and type "Star Wars Monopoly" in the "Search..." box.

Step 2

Click the "Start selling" button next to your typed-in product name. That opens the Amazon.com pages listing all the various types of products by that name for sale on the website. The list of Star Wars Monopoly games, for instance, includes six different Monopoly games with Star Wars themes. Click the "Sell yours here" button next to the exact product you plan to sell to add it to the list, and to create your merchant account.

Step 3

Fill out the information requested on the application to register for marketplace payments, so you receive payment when your items sell. The application opens when you list your first item. List your bank account number and the bank routing number for direct deposit payments. Your sales through Amazon.com, minus the seller's fees, will be deposited into an account in your name, and the total amount will be deposited into your bank account periodically.

Step 4

Open a Pro Merchant account to sell more than 40 items per month through Amazon.com. Pay $39.99 monthly to save the per-sale fee. Visit the "Sell on Amazon" page. Click the "Start selling" button under the "Sell Professionally" heading. Fill out the form for creating an online login, click "Continue" and fill out the information requested on the following forms, including a credit card number and phone number, for use during registration. List your items and wait for orders.

Step 5

Check for orders online at your seller's account page by clicking the "View your orders" link. Orders that have not been sent will be marked "Unshipped."

Step 6

Click the order number link to see the buyer's address for unshipped orders. Print the packing slip and customer address label. Ship your merchandise to the buyer through the mail, or shipping and courier service. Contact the purchaser through the link on the "Order detail" page to declare that the order has been shipped.

And here’s the third and final part of my How-To Guide for Selling Your Stuff on Amazon Marketplace.

How to Get Paid by Amazon Marketplace:

Login to your Seller account.
Click on the “Seller Account Information”
In the section titled “Deposit Method” click the Add button on the far right.
On this page is where you enter the information needed to allow Amazon to deposit your earnings into your bank account. Be careful all data is correct.
After entering your data go back to your Seller account main page.
Underneath the “Get Paid” section click on “View your payments account”
From this page you can see a breakdown of how much money you have made. Click on the button on the left column that says “Request Disbursement.” Note: If you have just created your account and just entered in your bank information Amazon requires a 2-week waiting period before they will reimburse your bank account. This is done to prevent fraud.
On the next page you must confirm that you want to “Request Disbursement” to the account you entered in step 4.
After clicking the button you are presented with a screen that confirms that you a Disbursement has been requested.
You may not see the deposit for up to 5 days. For greater detail read Amazon’s excellent page on this topic.

Tips & Warnings

Amazon.com also charges sellers a referral fee and a closing fee for each item sold. Some items cost more to sell through the website than others. Price your items with the cost of shipping included, to balance the cost of the commission fees.

There are different options for opening an Amazon store available to successful Pro Merchant account holders. Each has various stipulations for shipping and website design, at differing monthly costs and commission fees. Choose the option that best suits your business needs.

Reference

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Sunday, September 14, 2014