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I tried to sign up for an Amazon seller account so I can get free access to their seller app. Does anyone have an account that is free? How do I get a free account? On the second step of signing up it asked me for my bank account number, routing number, and other bank info. It doesn’t seem safe to just send this over to Amazon. I’m just trying to sign up for a free account to access their app. Any thoughts?
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Ya I was just confused on that link because it says $39.99. I think there’s actually an option when you sign up for a free account, your just restricted on what you can sell. I don’t want to sell on Amazon anyway I just want access to the sellers app. So I guess I’ll put my banking info in.
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Amazon is very strict on approving new seller accounts. Even though you may be able to complete the signup process, you might not be able to list anything right away, and you might get a request for additional information to prove you are legit, with your account suspended in the meantime. I see this situation posted daily in their seller forum. I believe their seller forum is viewable without signing up as a seller if you want to get a little backend view of daily drama, https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/c/selling-on-amazon/general-selling-questions
The Professional account ($39.99) offers a few more features and does not have the additional flat per-item sales charge over and above the percentage sales charge.
Some categories require additional approval to sell that type of item and might require an additional flat fee to become eligible. It’s not eBay, for sure, much stricter on seller performance and metrics requirements and less forgiving of mistakes. In general, they are more buyer-friendly than seller-friendly.
The typical scavenger-type items will not sell well there. For example, new in box is not New there unless you purchased from the manufacturer or an authorized reseller and have invoices — retail receipts are not acceptable to sell an item as new. They can be sold as used, with varying used conditions which are strict. Used doesn’t sell well since they are pretty much hidden on the product page.
I’ve been selling on Amazon for 8 years, eBay 10 years, Amazon varies between 30-40% of my total sales. They send me a direct deposit every 2 weeks.
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The typical scavenger-type items will not sell well there. For example, new in box is not New there unless you purchased from the manufacturer or an authorized reseller and have invoices — retail receipts are not acceptable to sell an item as new. They can be sold as used, with varying used conditions which are strict. Used doesn’t sell well since they are pretty much hidden on the product page.
–Is retail arbitrage now dead at Amazon?
–Are guys still able to grab discounted items at Target and resell on Amazon?
–What kind of items are you selling?
–How do you prove you’re an authorized seller of a certain item?-
–Is retail arbitrage now dead at Amazon?
I’m sure it happens a lot and flies under the radar until Amazon reviews the account. Often this is triggered by a complaint about the condition, either by a buyer or a competitor (it can be cutthroat on Amazon).–Are guys still able to grab discounted items at Target and resell on Amazon?
Until caught.–What kind of items are you selling?
I sell NOS auto parts primarily. It’s a specific audience for the most part, generally more careful to make sure they get the right part for their vehicle.–How do you prove you’re an authorized seller of a certain item?
When that happens, only an invoice from the manufacturer or an authorized reseller is acceptable. Amazon will call to verify these. The only acceptable alteration to invoices is to block out the price paid. I’ve never been audited on this.It ain’t eBay, sellers who don’t understand the differences usually don’t last long, either suspended or quitting out of frustration. I sometimes wonder myself if it’s worth the hassle.
Another thing, negatives have become almost impossible to get removed except for a few specific narrow situations:
The feedback includes obscene language.
The feedback includes seller-specific personally identifiable information.
The entire feedback comment is a product review.-
This is extremely interesting. I know several years ago the big rage on Youtube was the quick flip retail arbitrage. People built “big businesses” going to twenty targets to buy up all the discounted stuff. I havent checked back in with the popular sellers. So you think most of them have now been flushed out?
Or do you think they all moved into official wholesale or private label?
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If they were already selling on Amazon they might still be running under the radar. This is not a viable plan for newbies, regardless of the YouTube videos that are still available. It might work for a while if they don’t get a request for invoices, or they might end up owning 25 food processors or whatever that they are trying to sell on eBay, Craig’s List or another venue. If they sent those product(s) to FBA, as many videos suggest, they are going to have to pay to ship them back.
As always, if it sounds too good to be true…
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I can assure you that RA is alive and well. There are lots of people still doing the target/Walmart/tjmaxx/etc flipping with great success. I’m doing this on a small scale.
I’ve heard stories of people being shut down doing it, but it’s generally when a brand gets finicky, and clamps down.
As far as retail receipts, I’ve used them to get unrated in products/categories before.
With all of the above said, Old Dad is technically right I think. Amazon can/will clamp down as they see fit. They just don’t seem to do it very often, or unless prompted by a manufacturer.
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From what you’ve shared, you seem smart to just buy enough to keep your Amazon store stocked. My concern would be to go all-in like those Youtubers who have employees and a warehouse.
I assume if Amazon cracked down on your store, you could handle the loss. Imagine having $30k of inventory at the Amazon warehouses of stuff you bought at Target. I’d lose sleep.
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I suspect most of the Youtubers are using FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) and have no inventory in their possession and don’t need any employees.
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If you briefly check out that video I embedded above, you’ll see that Ryan Grant has a pretty large staff and infrastructure:
https://www.repricerexpress.com/ryan-grant-makes-millions-amazon/Four years into his journey, Ryan now employs 10 people and does over $200,000 in sales each month. They’ve also moved to a space five times the size of their first warehouse.
He seems to be a pretty smart guy. Not sure how he gets buy Amazon’s rules.
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