Question about Amazon SellerCentral account

May 5, 2018 1:39 PM

I recently created a single-member LLC for tax and retirement purposes and am a sole practitioner. I would like to begin selling on Amazon but am confused about whether I must give up my individual Amazon account in order to register my LLC as a seller account; the information I've found online and on Amazon Seller support boards is contradictory and/or wildly out of date. (I'm in the US.)

I have an EIN and the incorporation papers, and I'm setting up a business checking account on the next day the bank is open. Is this sufficient for Amazon approval, or will I run into a problem even if I'm using only my business contact info?

I'd also love any tips about Amazon quirks or things to watch out for.

posted by catlet to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Do you have history as a seller you'd like to hang on to? If not, I'd create a separate account as a seller. I can't see any reason why you'd have to give up your individual account.
posted by randomkeystrike at 1:46 PM on May 5, 2018

Not really sure what you mean by give up your individual account... I have a seller account that is totally separate from my personal account but I can log into "normal" amazon with the credentials from the seller account too and could buy things. I usually get tipped off that I'm in the wrong one when prime doesn't show up, I only have prime on me personal account. The only thing that is different is the email address, my contact info, etc is the same on both accounts.

Amazon shoppers don't like paying for shipping and still expect things quickly even if you aren't prime enabled. I mean I love selling on Amazon but just be aware of that. Frequently people are surprised by how "high" Amazon's fees are (but I'm comparing to people who are used to selling on etsy) so ensure that you have really looked closely and understand what it will cost you to sell there.
posted by magnetsphere at 1:46 PM on May 5, 2018

Just keep them separate. Do not associate the personal Amazon account with the new seller account in any way - different email addresses, use a different form of your personal name, use a UPS store shipping address associated with your LLC. There's no programmatic association enforced between the two accounts so you *could* use your personal address, email, etc... but you don't want to, because you want to enforce business and personal separation for accounting and record keeping purposes.

That said, investigate your potential sales tax liability and *remit* even if your Amazon seller account does not provide you with a way to collect. They do have the capacity to turn on destination-based sales tax for any individual seller account, they just make it harder than pulling hens' teeth to do so.

If you are a Washington State seller, you do *not* have to do that any more as they collect and remit on your behalf. This is the likely (and overdue, and proper) national endgame scenario after they complete their decades-long tax tantrum. But until they enable sales tax collection on your account, you are liable for sales tax on items sold in jurisdictions with which you have nexus. Determining your nexus liability is a whole 'other ball of wax, infinitely complicated if you are using Amazon's internal warehouse and distro, as you should be if you are serious.

Good luck! Running Amazon Seller Central retail with FBA can be like riding a whirlwind if you hit it right. Have fun, and be thinking about ways to leverage capital funding if your goods really start to move.
posted by mwhybark at 6:12 PM on May 5, 2018

magnetsphere is correct, expect approximately a 30-45% fee base if using FBA. Which means if your wholesale cost is $1 and you are hoping to sell at $2, you should price it at $3 on Amazon. And go short on inventory, because Amazon will contact your wholesaler and underprice you. You must always rotate your inventory with this expectation in mind.
posted by mwhybark at 6:16 PM on May 5, 2018

If you get into arbitraging stuff that Amazon itself sells, e.g., buying a popular toy when it's available because you know the price will skyrocket once Amazon sells out, do not use your personal account, especially if you pay for Prime; that's a TOS violation. Use your seller account instead or at least choose non-Prime shipping. NB it's the use of Prime that's the problem, not the arbitrage.
posted by carmicha at 7:25 PM on May 5, 2018