DECIDING BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL OR PROFESSIONAL SELLER ACCOUNT ON AMAZON?
Monday, August 10, 2015Global Administrator
So What's The Difference Between an Individual and Professional Amazon Seller Account
Anyone who has sold on Amazon knows there are a few decisions to make before you start. These decisions could directly affect how successful you are with your sales and customer service. One of these decisions is deciding which type of seller account is best for you –
professional or individual. Both options have their pros and cons and ultimately the decision is yours. Below we break it down each option.
Individual Seller Account:
This type of plan is more of a pay-as-you-go model. It provides a bit more flexibility for those “testing the waters” and getting to know the marketplace environment. The reason for this is because it is ideal for small order volumes as you are only paying $.99/item sold. In addition, you will be required to pay the referral fees and variable closing fees (you will have these with both types of accounts). While you can sell multiple items that already have active listings on the site, you’re limited to creating only 1 new product listing. Furthermore, you are limited to selling in a smaller number of product categories and unable to sell in
restricted/special permission categories.
Professional Seller Account:
Depending on your situation, this tends to be the better option for most sellers. There is a monthly subscription fee of $39.99, but it is for an unlimited number of sales – you no longer have to pay $.99 per item sold. Plus, your first month is free (if you select the Professional Seller Account when you sign up). Other major benefits include the following:
The use of third party services: listing and managing multiple items can be a bit of a headache. There are other services you can use to do this that can help you accomplish this easier. You are unable to use these with an individual account.
You can sell in restricted or special permission categories: There are a number of these
categories which may provide good avenues for you to sell your product and you will have access to them.
Creating new listings: The individual account restricts you from creating multiple new listings. With a professional account you are able to do private label or bring new wholesale products to Amazon. In addition, you’ll be able create these listings in batches by using spreadsheets, uploads, etc. – saving you valuable time.
Saving money: If you have forecasted to sell more than 40 products a month then it is already worth it, from a cost savings perspective, to go with the professional account. If we break this down even further you will find that eventually you hit a point where the more you sell, the lower your costs are. Where else does that happen?!
Winning the Buy Box: This undoubtedly will boost sales for any Amazon seller, but is only possible with the Professional plan. Winning the Buy Box can give you a huge edge over other sellers in the same category, which alone might be enough of a reason to sign up for the Professional account.
With all these options, you really have to consider which is best for you. Although the Professional Seller Account comes with some added benefits that may be too valuable to pass up, it may be more than you need starting out. In that case, an Individual Seller Account would be better for you.
You can find more information on the Amazon accounts
here.