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How to sell on Amazon US from Australia

Learn the necessary steps to become an Amazon US seller from Australia. Discover international growth opportunities and expand your business.

Key takeaways

Amazon US accepts sellers from over 100 countries, including Australia
Selling on Amazon US allows you to tap into 80% of Amazon’s global customer base
Take advantage of Amazon Global Logistics if your stock originates in China or partner with a shipping agent/ freight forwarder
Sign up with a reliable global payment provider like WorldFirst to collect customer payments in multiple currencies

Introduction

Selling on Amazon US from Australia allows domestic e-commerce businesses to reach 80% of Amazon’s global customer base.

60% of Amazon’s sales in 2022 came from third-party sellers who sold more than 4.1 billion products. That comes out to 7,800 every minute.

Amazon US has a market share of 37.8% in the US e-commerce industry. Sellers in Australia can take advantage of this large market to expand globally and boost sales.

Successfully selling on Amazon US requires choosing the right products for the American audience, managing shipments from suppliers to the US, and streamlining cross-border payments.

Why should you sell on Amazon USA from Australia?

As an Amazon seller in the US, there are many benefits you can enjoy when you sell on Amazon US from Australia:

Higher sales potential: Expanding to the US allows you to reach a customer base with higher purchasing power.
Increased visibility: Amazon US is the world’s largest Amazon marketplace in terms of sales.
Access to a larger market: When you sell on Amazon US from Australia, you can access a massive market of 230 million active customers.
Diversification of revenue streams: Selling products on Amazon US allows you to diversify your revenue streams beyond the domestic market.
Competitive advantage: You can offer products in US markets that may be too saturated in Australia.

Can you sell on Amazon US as a non-US resident?

Yes. As a non-US resident, you can sell on Amazon US by setting up your Amazon US seller account. You must comply with tax regulations and provide a valid US-based bank account. You will also have to optimise shipping from your product supplier to Amazon warehouses in the US while ensuring your profit margins are protected.

Types of selling on Amazon US

The four main ways to sell products on Amazon:

Private label: The goods are specifically manufactured for your company and have your brand name on them. The private label business model lets you market and price products as you see fit. It also sets you apart from the competition and gives you more creative control over Amazon listings.

Private label manufacturers can customise the products per your needs, but they require a high minimum order quantity.

You can find various private-label product suppliers on Alibaba. For instance, some products readily available for private labelling on Alibaba include exfoliating creams, hair products, skin serums, and lipsticks.

→ Take a look at how to sell on Amazon from Alibaba

Wholesale: You purchase products from manufacturers or wholesalers at bulk prices and sell them on Amazon. The strategy involves less risk and investment than private labels since you can buy fewer products. You can also choose to only source popular products on Amazon that are already performing well.

You can find wholesale suppliers on Alibaba and 1688.

→ Take a look at our guide to source from 1688 outside China

Retail arbitrage: You buy heavily discounted products from retail marketplaces and resell them on Amazon for a profit. You need to find differences in pricing between various platforms or stores to maximise profit opportunities. Since there is no minimum order quantity requirement, the investment is low. Arbitrage can be a good strategy for new Amazon sellers still testing the waters.

AliExpress is a B2C marketplace where sellers can find retail products at discounted prices. There is no minimum order quantity requirement, and international shipping is also available.

→ Compare AliExpress vs Alibaba to find the right suppliers with zero MOQ

Dropshipping: You list products for sale on Amazon without holding inventory. When a customer makes a purchase, you rely on dropshipping agents to help ship products from the manufacturer to the customer. You can reduce the upfront costs with this approach. Yet, you must carefully select reliable dropshipping agents since they will be responsible for performing quality checks and managing order fulfilment.

→ Learn how to set up AliExpress dropshipping

Steps to sell on Amazon US from Australia

Follow these steps to sell on Amazon US from Australia:

1. Registration

Go to Seller Central and register for a new account by providing the following information.

For registration:
- Basic registration details such as email address and phone number
- Credit card to debit the monthly fees
- Local USD currency account details where Amazon can deposit your proceeds
- Tax details, including completed W-8BEN form

For identification:
- Formal identification documents such as a passport or driver’s licence
- A bank account or credit card statement issued within the last 90 days
- A business licence, if applicable

Even overseas sellers based in Australia need a US bank account to accept payments from Amazon customers in USD. Instead of going the traditional bank way, involving a lot of time and paperwork, you can set up a multi-currency account. A traditional bank will also require a local US address to register your bank account, which you don’t need with a multi-currency account.

With a WorldFirst multi-currency account, you can open local receiving accounts in 15+ currencies and collect funds from 100+ international marketplaces and payment gateways.

You can hold funds in multiple currencies, pay international suppliers, or repatriate funds at any time with competitive exchange rates.

Link to – How to link Amazon seller account to WorldFirst

2. Research and list products

The first step to opening a store is to decide what you want to sell. For this, you’ll need to conduct product research. Sellers use several tools to find winning products, two of which are Helium10 and JungleScout.

Here are the factors you should typically look for:

Search volume: Is demand high?
Competition: How many other stores are selling this product?
Cost: Will you make a reasonable profit margin on the product?
History: What is the pricing history of this product?
Delivery: How much will it cost to deliver this product?

The next step is to create product listings on Amazon Seller Central. Identify important search keywords to boost visibility and increase organic traffic of your product listings.

Some important aspects of your listing that you should consider are:

Product titles with target keywords
Product descriptions
Product photos that adhere to Amazon image guidelines
Universal Product Codes (UPC) to identify your products

→ Take a look at our in-depth guide on how to sell on Amazon.

3. Decide how you want to ship and fulfil orders

As an international vendor, you must acquaint yourself with the various processes of Amazon shipping to Australia:

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA): It involves outsourcing inventory storage, order fulfilment, and shipping to Amazon so you can focus on other crucial aspects of your business. Sellers pay storage and fulfilment fees to Amazon.

Fulfilment by merchant (FBM): It involves sellers self-shipping and fulfilling orders on their own.

You can use Amazon Global Logistics if your stock originates in China. It involves directly shipping your stock from China to the US. You have options via both sea and air transport.

Alternatively, you can also partner with a freight forwarder to ensure your products arrive safely at the Amazon fulfilment centres in the US.

Understand Amazon’s fee structure

To protect your profit margins, you must understand all the components of Amazon US seller fees.

The main ones are: monthly subscription fees, Amazon FBA fees, closing fees and referral fees.

Monthly subscription fees

On a professional selling plan, sellers currently pay USD $39.99 + GST per month.

Individual selling plans are for sellers who aren’t moving more than 40 products a month or are just trialling the platform. There’s no subscription fee for individual sellers, but they must pay a fixed closing fee of AU $0.99 per item sold.

Amazon FBA fees

For sellers using FBA, the fee is split into two categories: inventory storage and fulfilment costs. Storage costs will depend on the size and volume of your products and can increase during high sales periods such as the holiday season. Amazon will charge a long-term storage fee for inventory that isn’t cleared within 365 days.

Fulfilment costs cover packing, delivery of orders, and customer service for products sold. It’s a flat fee per unit and is dependent on the size and weight of the product.

Closing fees

Closing fees are an additional flat fee for items listed under the media category, such as books, music, DVDs, software, and video games.

Referral fees

All items sold will be charged a referral fee, and the cost will depend on the product category and item price. It ranges between six to 45 percent, with most sellers paying 15 percent of the item price.

For a full list of fees, visit Amazon’s Seller Central hub.

Streamline payments with WorldFirst

A major hurdle for Aussie businesses on Amazon US is handling cross-border payments.

As an overseas seller, you need to manage international payments on several fronts:

Payments to suppliers based in China
Payments to shipping companies, dropshipping agents, or freight forwarders
Collections from customers based in the US

When you are already working on strict profit margins, you need an international payment provider that can offer fast, secure, and cost-effective payments across multiple currencies.

Partnering with a reliable global payment provider like WorldFirst can ensure you can make fast, secure, and cost-effective cross-border payments while protecting your profit margins. You can receive and collect payments in multiple currencies with a single World Account.

Get access to 15+ local account numbers in USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CNH, HKD, AUD, and more
Collect payments from 100+ global marketplaces and payment gateways including Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, and Stripe
Hold funds or make supplier payments directly from your account
Repatriate funds anytime at competitive exchange rates
Move and exchange currencies between accounts quickly

Open a World Account for free

Open 10+ local currency accounts with local account details
Direct CNH payments to 1688.com
Pay suppliers, partners and staff in 40+ currencies and 130+ destinations
Collect secure payments from 100+ marketplaces and payment gateways, including Amazon, AliExpress, Paypal and Shopify
Lock in currency conversion rates for up to 24 months

Disclaimer: The information contained is general only and largely our views. Before acting on the information you should consider whether it is appropriate for you, in light of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates, mentioned products/services and referenced material constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. WorldFirst shall not be responsible for any losses or damages arising from your reliance of such information.

Written by Nidhi Kataria, Head of Marketing ANZ at WorldFirst

Nidhi Kataria has worked in marketing since 2009 across various functions, specializing in acquisition growth. She has held regional and global marketing roles at notable financial and technology firms and has lived in Australia since 2014. She believes that businesses can benefit from WorldFirst to make finances clearer, easier, and simpler to manage, allowing them to focus on growing their businesses.