Amazon FBA Question

I have several suppliers that I have worked with in the past for a separate project for one of my clients. I'm interested in selling goods through Amazon by using my suppliers. They are mostly from China, and I've known and seen their sample products so I'm sure with the quality (I'm not selling tech stuff).

I want to join Amazon's FBA. However, I'm not a US Citizen (I'm from Philippines) but I do have a US Account from Bank of America. My suppliers are not from US as well.

This will be my first time to venture in non-digital goods as a seller. Can you help me out? I'd like to know if it's possible, and in what way, can I sell via Amazon FBA given that I'm not from US?

Thanks DP

 

What is Amazon FBA ?

 

Fulfillment by Amazon.

 

I believe Amazon will require your Tax ID/EIN/SSN if you are doing business here in US. Since you already have a bank account, you just need to get an EIN (Forming LLC through registered agent).
Other things to consider are:
How will the supplier send the goods directly to Amazon storage center without any customs issues?
Who checks the quantity/quality of the products that the supplier sending to Amazon?
I do think it would be in your best interest to tie up with a business partner that is from USA.

 

Yes I believe Amazon will require your tax ID number when you set up your account. When the items arrive at an Amazon warehouse they will be check to make sure everything is correct. Also your seller central account listing have to be correct, such as proper category and condition, etc. Amazon has a fair amount of rules that need to be followed. It seems like a pain in the neck at times but it actually makes the FBA system work very well for both sellers and customers.

 

There are companies who can pack your stuff in China and ship to Amazon. However you would need Tax ID number in US.

 

Yes, it's totally possible. You just need to have a US bank account (looks like you already do). There are a couple of different services out there that can receive the products for you, label them, and send them into your Amazon FBA account. As long as you trust your suppliers and you are okay with not checking the quality you should be all good. I've been doing Amazon FBA for almost 3 years now. I'm in the US, but I know several folks doing it from outside of the US.

Edit: Make sure that your suppliers are sending in quality stuff. You'll get banned quickly if you get bad reviews right off the bat.

 

It means Amazon will package and ship the item to you, and handle the paperwork. Amazon and not some other company. If it doesn't say "fulfillment by Amazon," that means somebody else will ship it to you, someone that has an arrangement with Amazon.

"Fulfillment by Amzon" sounds like the product is in Amazon's warehouse, but it could also mean it's in some other warehouse and then Amazon goes there and gets it, or has it sent over to them for packaging & shipping. But in any case it means the product will be shipped to you directly from Amazon.

Fulfillment by Amazon is generally a good thing. At least, there's no way it's a bad thing, because in case there is any problem, it's simpler to deal directly with Amazon instead of possibly having to deal with both Amazon and the other merchant who ships you the product. But even if your order is fulfilled by the merchant and not by Amazon, everything is still almost certainly OK, because it is very important to all of those merchants to stay on very good terms with Amazon, because it means a lot of extra business for them. They don't want to have their account banned by Amazon for causing problems.

So it rarely matters whether the fulfillment (that is, the record-keeping, packing & shipping) is done by Amazon or one of the merchants. I've ordered a lot of things both ways, and never had a problem either way. But I still always feel a little bit better when there's fulfillment by Amazon, because they're the ones in charge of everything.

 

Thanks Wealth-isalnd, can I participate in Amazon FBA from outside the USA?