How to Start Selling on Amazon FBA: Beginner’s Guide | 2025
author
Feras Al-Musa
published
March 15, 2025
How to start selling on Amazon FBA for beginners in 2025!!
Have you been dreaming of greater financial independence, an exciting side hustle, or even launching a scalable online business? Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) might just be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.
Picture yourself finding everyday items at local stores or online marketplaces, reselling them on Amazon, and generating consistent profit. Imagine transforming your regular shopping trips into lucrative opportunities—sounds great, doesn’t it?
Good news: This isn’t just a hypothetical scenario; it’s a proven strategy that thousands of people, myself included, have used to achieve substantial financial success. Now it’s your turn.
In this ultimate beginner’s guide, you’ll learn everything essential to successfully start selling with Amazon FBA, including:
- Understanding exactly what being an Amazon FBA seller involves
- Why leveraging Amazon’s fulfillment services is essential for scaling your business effortlessly
- A detailed breakdown of the entire FBA process, from sourcing products to final sales
- Effective strategies for sourcing inventory on any budget (spoiler alert: you don’t need thousands to start!)
- An overview of the different Amazon selling methods—and identifying the best choice for beginners
My mission is simple: To provide you with clear, actionable information that motivates you to get started immediately and successfully.
But I realize you’re busy, and your time matters. You’re here because you crave financial and personal freedom. So let’s quickly confirm if Amazon FBA aligns with your goals:
Selling on Amazon FBA is perfect if you:
✔ Desire a profitable side hustle that fits your schedule
✔ Want the potential to replace or significantly boost your current income
✔ Prefer working from home and supporting your family comfortably
✔ Seek a flexible, scalable business opportunity
Amazon FBA may NOT suit you if:
✖ You’re hoping to make quick, easy money without effort
✖ You prefer a completely automated, hands-off business approach
✖ You require immediate financial results without patience or persistence
Alright, are we all clear now? Let’s go ahead and get started!
One quick note: I wrote this guide with the US based seller in mind. Although you can sell on Amazon if you live outside of the US, this guide is not the one for you.
The Basics of Selling on Amazon FBA
Before we dive into the step-by-step details, let’s quickly go over what selling on Amazon FBA actually means.
Many people assume that running an online store means creating your own website from scratch. Others might think selling on Amazon means starting an entirely separate Amazon store. But in reality, it’s much simpler than that.
When you become an Amazon seller, you’re essentially running your own online retail business, but your store is hosted directly on Amazon.com.
This setup works because Amazon allows independent sellers—like you and me—to list and sell products on their website. Surprisingly, a significant portion of products on Amazon aren’t actually sold by Amazon itself. Instead, they’re offered by third-party sellers.
You might not have noticed before, but many items available on Amazon come from these independent sellers, rather than directly from Amazon. Of course, Amazon does sell many products themselves. Here’s an example to help illustrate what it looks like when Amazon is the direct seller.
Before diving into the details, let’s quickly talk about what it means to sell through Amazon FBA.
A common misconception is that to sell online successfully, you must create your own website from scratch or open a completely separate Amazon store. Thankfully, that’s not the case!
When you become an Amazon FBA seller, you’re essentially setting up your own small online business, but instead of creating your own website, you’re selling products directly on Amazon.com.
Amazon allows independent sellers—regular people like you and me—to list and sell products right on their platform. Many shoppers might not even realize they’re buying from independent sellers because the buying process is seamless.
Sometimes, Amazon sells products directly, too. You’ll notice phrases like “Ships from and sold by Amazon.com,” which means Amazon is both the seller and handles shipping. When Amazon handles the shipping, these products are typically eligible for fast, free Prime shipping. That’s why, as a customer, you might see products available for delivery as soon as the same day.
Here’s an example to illustrate how it looks when Amazon itself is both the seller and shipper:
(Imagine a screenshot here highlighting “Ships from and sold by Amazon.com”)
However, many other products on Amazon are sold by independent sellers, like you’ll soon become! Here’s an example of what it looks like when the seller is independent, even if Amazon handles the shipping:
What Amazon Handles for FBA Sellers
In addition to giving you access to millions of Prime customers, using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offers another significant advantage: Amazon manages a substantial portion of the selling process on your behalf.
In fact, Amazon takes care of the most time-consuming and tedious tasks!To illustrate, here’s a clear breakdown of responsibilities between you—the FBA seller—and Amazon when using FBA:
Your Responsibilities as an FBA Seller:
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Find a profitable product to sell on Amazon.
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List your product on Amazon.com (note: your product isn’t available for purchase just yet).
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Prepare your products for shipment to Amazon’s warehouses (located nationwide).
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Ship your products directly to Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
Amazon’s Responsibilities:
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Unpack and securely store your products at their fulfillment centers.
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Activate your product listings, making them available for purchase on Amazon.com.
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Display your product as “Prime Eligible,” boosting its appeal to millions of Prime shoppers.
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When customers order your product, Amazon staff will locate, pack, and promptly ship it.
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Prime customers will receive their items either the same day or within 1- to 2-day shipping (non-Prime customers also enjoy free standard shipping).
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Ensure customer satisfaction by managing all customer service issues, including refunds, returns, and exchanges—without involving you directly.
How to Start Selling on Amazon FBA
Now that you understand what Amazon FBA is and how you can benefit from it, and familiar with all the amazon acronyms let’s dive into how to get started!
Sign Up as an Amazon Seller
The first step in your Amazon FBA journey—even if you’re not entirely sure about selling yet—is creating your Amazon Seller account. Why? Because having a seller account grants you access to Amazon’s free tools, allowing you to explore opportunities without upfront commitment.
How to Create Your Amazon Seller Account
Visit Amazon Seller Central to get started.
Before clicking the big yellow “Start selling” button, pause briefly to make an important decision:
Professional Seller Account:
Cost: $39.95 monthly subscription.
Offers advanced seller features beneficial for scaling your business.
Ideal if you’re ready to jump fully into selling, but note you’ll be billed immediately.
Individual Seller Account:
No monthly fee.
Great if you’re just testing the waters or planning to sell fewer than 40 items per month.
To select this, simply scroll further down the same page and click the link labeled “Sign up to become an Individual seller.”
Flexibility is Key!
Remember, this decision isn’t permanent:
You can upgrade from Individual to Professional at any time.
Likewise, downgrading from Professional to Individual is simple if your needs change.
So, don’t overthink this step. Jump in and start exploring what selling on Amazon has to offer!
Find Products to Sell
There are several effective ways to find products to sell on Amazon, and we’ll explore each in greater detail later. Some sellers design and produce their own unique products, while others buy items in bulk from wholesale suppliers.
My strategy? I source everyday items from retail stores such as Walmart and Big Lots and resell them on Amazon. This approach is cost-effective, beginner-friendly, and has reliably worked for me for over ten years.
We’ll cover more detailed methods shortly, but remember these two key points when selecting products:
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Profitability: Choose products with clear potential for profit.
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Demand: Confirm that customers are actively purchasing similar items on Amazon.
The best part is, once your Amazon Seller account is active, you’ll gain access to the free Amazon Seller App. This invaluable tool will be your secret weapon, guiding you to easily discover profitable products with genuine customer demand.
List Your Products on Amazon
After purchasing your inventory, the next step is listing your items on Amazon.
This process is surprisingly simple if you follow the methods I teach. Since my strategy involves reselling retail items already available on Amazon, you won’t need to:
🚫 Take product photos
🚫 Create new listing pages
🚫 Write descriptions or optimize keywords
🚫 Pay for ads to drive traffic to your listings
Instead, you just need to find an existing Amazon listing that matches your product exactly.
Once you’ve located the correct listing, you’ll enter your price and item condition. At this stage, you’ll also need to select your Fulfillment Channel. Ideally we want to ship them to amazon so that amazon can handle shipping and handling to customers
This is where you decide how you want to handle shipping—do you want to ship it yourself or have Amazon do what it does best?
If you choose the first option, your item will be available for sale immediately. That means if someone buys it, you’ll need to pack and ship it yourself, which can be time-consuming and more expensive.
The better option is selecting Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA)—the second button. With FBA, Amazon takes care of storage, packing, and shipping for you, making the process much more efficient.
Another key step here is setting your price. You’ll typically want to match the lowest price of other sellers using FBA, since Prime sellers are your main competition.
The best part? You can adjust your price anytime. Set an initial price now, and once your inventory arrives at Amazon, you can always go back and tweak it as needed.
Now its Time to Ship Those Products to Amazon
Once you’ve listed your first group of items, it’s time to send them to Amazon. But you can’t just toss everything into a box and ship it off—there are a few steps you need to take to properly prep your inventory.
Labeling Your Products
The most important step is applying a special barcode label to each of your products. This barcode is unique to your Amazon seller account, ensuring that when Amazon receives multiple shipments of the same product from different sellers, they can accurately track which items belong to you.You’ll generate and print these labels during the listing and shipping stages, and it’s your responsibility to apply them to each item.
Additional Prep Work
Some products may require extra preparation, like bubble wrap or poly bagging, depending on Amazon’s requirements. If this applies to your items, Amazon will provide specific instructions during the shipping process.
Shipping Your Inventory
One of the biggest advantages of Amazon FBA is that you can send multiple items to Amazon at once instead of shipping them one by one to customers.
Amazon will decide which fulfillment centers will receive your products. You may need to send everything to a single warehouse, but more often, Amazon will split your inventory across multiple locations, sometimes requiring shipments to two or three different warehouses.
To keep costs low, Amazon offers discounted shipping rates through UPS, which is significantly cheaper than using standard shipping rates on your own. This built-in discount is one of the reasons why FBA is so profitable.
Important Shipping Notes
- You must ship your inventory to the warehouse(s) assigned by Amazon. Even if you live near an Amazon facility, you cannot drop off your products in person.
- Once you pack your boxes, purchase your discounted shipping labels through Amazon, and drop them off at UPS (or schedule a pickup), your inventory is in Amazon’s hands. From there, they handle storage, order fulfillment, and shipping to customers.
Now that your products are on their way, you’re one step closer to making sales!
Amazon Stores Your Products in Their Distribution Centers
A few days after shipping your boxes, your shipment will go through several stages before your inventory is officially available for sale:
- Delivered – UPS has delivered your shipment to the assigned Amazon warehouse.
- Checked In – Amazon scans the shipping label on your box and acknowledges receipt of the shipment.
- Receiving – Amazon employees unpack, scan, and process each individual item. Your products will start becoming available for sale at this stage.
- Received in Full / Closed – Amazon has successfully received all the items in your shipment.
Once your inventory is fully processed, your products will be live and available for purchase on Amazon.com—an exciting milestone! 🚀
Your Product is Finally Live and Available for Purchase to All Customers
Now that your inventory is live, it’s time for sales to roll in! 🎉
Just like with the Lysine pet supplement example I shared earlier, your items will now be visible to Amazon customers. They’ll see your product listed as “Sold by YourStoreName and Fulfilled by Amazon.” Prime members will also see the Prime logo, which boosts trust and increases the likelihood of sales.
With inventory in stock, sales can come in anytime—day or night. The best part? You don’t have to lift a finger once an item sells—Amazon handles everything! 🚀
Amazon Will Ship Your Sold Products
You may wonder, what happens when your item sells?
Nothing!! Really You don’t have to do anything! 🎉
Congratulations—you’ve just received your first Amazon “paycheck!” 💰🚀
When a customer places an order:
✅ Amazon finds your item, packs it, and ships it directly to the buyer.
✅ If the customer qualifies for free 2-day or same-day shipping, Amazon ensures fast delivery—even if your product is in a warehouse in Virginia and the buyer is in Montana.
✅ You are not charged for shipping—Amazon handles it all as part of the FBA program.
Once the item ships, your account is credited with the selling price minus Amazon’s fees. The more you sell, the more your balance grows!
Then, every two to 3 days, Amazon deposits your earnings directly into your bank account. when you see the first payout, you will feel like a new paycheck is coming your way.
i can’t really describe the feeling, especially the first time you get the payout. It just feels so goo. You should be proud of your self.
Happy Customer Happy Amazon Happy You
Seriously, Amazon works from the bottom up. Their entire business model starts with a happy customer, so staying on their good side when it comes to customer service is essential.
With FBA, your job is mostly done once the sale happens! The customer receives their order quickly and conveniently, thanks to Amazon’s efficient shipping. If there’s ever an issue, they’ll contact Amazon directly—not you. Amazon will handle returns, exchanges, and customer service, ensuring a smooth experience for the buyer.
While Amazon’s generous return policy can sometimes frustrate sellers, it’s one of the reasons millions of people trust and shop on Amazon—it gives buyers peace of mind.
Occasionally, a customer might leave you Seller Feedback, but unlike eBay, it’s not essential for running a profitable store. With FBA, you can keep selling successfully without worrying about accumulating reviews.
In the end, the customer is happy, Amazon is happy, and you? You’re making sales with minimal effort. 🚀
What to Sell on Amazon
If you’ve already created your Seller Account, the next step is finding products to sell on Amazon FBA.
There are five main ways sellers source inventory for Amazon:
✔ Retail Arbitrage
✔ Online Arbitrage
✔ Private Label
✔ Wholesale
❌ Dropshipping
Notice the big strike-through on dropshipping? That’s because dropshipping is against Amazon’s Terms of Service and could result in your account being suspended!
But if you’re using FBA, there’s no need to worry about drop-shipping anyway—Amazon handles fulfillment for you.
Selling on Amazon FBA with Retail Arbitrage
In our Amazon Boot Camp course, we teach people how to source (find products) using a method called Retail Arbitrage.
This means buying products from retail stores and reselling them on Amazon for a profit. It’s closely related to Online Arbitrage, with the main difference being whether you’re physically shopping in stores or sourcing deals online.
All the Retail Arbitrage tips in this post apply just as well to Online Arbitrage too!
How Retail Arbitrage Works
The goal is to find discounted products in stores that can be flipped on Amazon for a profit, even after covering costs and Amazon’s fees (which are around 30% of the selling price).
Here’s how we do it:
📱 Head to local stores with a smartphone
🔍 Use a scanning app to check the item’s selling price on Amazon
💰 Enter the cost of the item to see if there’s profit potential
We scan all kinds of products, usually starting with clearance items, then moving to seasonal or specialty products.
What Kinds of Products Can You Sell?
Pretty much anything that turns a profit! We’ve sold:
✔ Everyday essentials like toilet wands and iced tea bags
✔ Popular toys like Hatchimals and Nerf Guns
And the best part? We don’t need special stores to find inventory—just regular stores like:
🏬 Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens
🔧 Home Depot, Lowe’s
🛒 Even grocery stores!
Ready to Learn More?
I have a step-by-step blog post that walks you through the entire Retail Arbitrage process, including:
✅ How to use the free Amazon Seller scanning app
✅ Understanding Amazon’s fees
✅ Finding fast-selling products
✅ My favorite stores for sourcing profitable inventory
Check it out here: Retail Arbitrage 101 – The Ultimate Guide for Buying Retail and Reselling on Amazon 🚀
The Retail Arbitrage 101 post will teach you about using the free Amazon Seller scanning app, understanding fees, and finding items that will sell quickly. I even share my list of my favorite stores for doing Retail Arbitrage.
Why All Amazon Sellers Should Start with Arbitrage
I’ve tried every sourcing method—except for dropshipping (which is against Amazon’s rules). And based on my experience, my best advice is this: all new sellers should start with Retail Arbitrage and build up to other models if they want to turn this into a full-time business.
It’s not that Wholesale or Private Label aren’t great options—they absolutely are. But when you’re just starting out, Arbitrage is the best way to learn the ropes while keeping costs and risks low.
Here are three big reasons why I believe every new seller should begin with Arbitrage:
1️⃣ Low Startup Costs – No need to invest thousands upfront. You can start small, test products, and reinvest profits.
2️⃣ Quick Learning Curve – Arbitrage helps you understand Amazon’s marketplace, fees, and sales process without committing to bulk inventory or branding.
3️⃣ Lower Risk – Since you’re sourcing existing, proven products, there’s no need to worry about manufacturing or launching a brand from scratch.
Starting with Arbitrage allows you to gain experience, build capital, and scale your business before expanding into Wholesale or Private Label. 🚀
Easy Way to Get Your Feet Wet
One of the biggest advantages of Arbitrage is that it lets you test the waters before fully committing. Unlike Wholesale or Private Label, which require a bigger upfront investment and long-term planning, Arbitrage gives you flexibility to start small and see if selling on Amazon fits your lifestyle.
You can start by:
✅ Learning how to use a scanning app in retail stores or online
✅ Buying a small batch of inventory (around 20 items) to test the process
✅ Sending in your first test shipment and seeing how it sells
If you decide that Amazon selling isn’t for you, there’s no long-term commitment. You’re only out a few hours of scanning and a few hundred dollars, not thousands.
Low Risk, High Learning Potential
This all ties into another huge benefit—Arbitrage is low risk compared to other Amazon business models.
Here’s how Arbitrage stacks up against other methods:
🚫 Private Label Risk: You rely on a supplier, which could lead to big headaches—messed-up designs, lost shipments, or even thousands of dollars in losses. not to mention, brand building, reputation, market fit and advertising to say the least
🚫 Wholesale Risk: Lower risk than Private Label, but still requires a large upfront investment and typically has lower profit margins. A few bad buying decisions as a beginner could mean losing money instead of making it. And then you have to consider the competition, the pricing wars and much more.
✅ Arbitrage: A safe way to learn Amazon’s system while keeping risk low. If you make a mistake, you’re only out $20 instead of thousands. Plus, since you’re spreading risk over multiple products, you’re not relying on one single item to succeed.
Arbitrage Prepares You for Bigger Opportunities
If you ever decide to transition into Wholesale or Private Label, starting with Arbitrage gives you a solid foundation. You’ll already understand:
✔️ How Amazon’s system works
✔️ How to price and sell products
✔️ How to manage fees and inventory
That experience helps prevent costly mistakes when scaling into more advanced business models.
Is Online Arbitrage a Better Fit for You?
All the benefits of Retail Arbitrage also apply to Online Arbitrage—but with a few extra perks!
Why Online Arbitrage Might Be a Better Fit
With Online Arbitrage, you get the same low-risk, high-reward benefits as Retail Arbitrage, but without the hassle of in-store shopping. Here’s what makes it different:
💻 No driving required – Shop from home without visiting multiple store locations.
⏰ Shop anytime – Websites never close, so you can source products at any hour.
📦 Easier to buy in bulk – Many online stores allow you to purchase higher quantities at once.
Who Should Consider Online Arbitrage?
Retail Arbitrage isn’t for everyone. Maybe you:
🚫 Hate standing in lines or shopping in crowded stores
🚫 Don’t have time to drive around town because of work or family responsibilities
If that sounds like you, Online Arbitrage is a fantastic alternative. Or, you can do what I do—combine both Retail and Online Arbitrage to maximize your sourcing opportunities.
🔗 Check out my Post : on [Online Arbitrage 101 – The Ultimate Guide to Sourcing Online and Reselling on Amazon] 🚀
Tools to Help with Online Arbitrage
The Best Tools for Online Arbitrage
One of the biggest advantages of Online Arbitrage is the ability to use powerful tools that make sourcing easier and more profitable.
When you’re in a retail store, you’re limited by how much research you can do on your phone. But when you’re at home, you can use advanced software on your laptop or desktop to make smarter buying decisions.
Here are my top tools that make Online Arbitrage easier—and more profitable!
1️⃣ Keepa – Your Product Research Powerhouse
Why it’s great:
✅ Gives you a complete sales history of a product
✅ Shows when Amazon has been in/out of stock
✅ Tracks price and rank history so you can see sales trends
With the Keepa browser plugin, you can see charts right on an Amazon product page, helping you make smart sourcing decisions instantly.
🔗 Learn how to read a Keepa graph here.
2️⃣ RevSeller – Instant Profit Calculations
Why it’s great:
✅ Calculates profit margins directly on the Amazon page
✅ Saves time—no need to manually enter numbers in the FBA Calculator
✅ Instantly displays weight, UPC, fees, and sales rank
Instead of opening a new window, RevSeller gives you everything you need right on the same screen—a huge time saver!
3️⃣ Source Mogul – Automated Sourcing Software
Why it’s great:
✅ Scans hundreds of online retail stores and compares prices to Amazon
✅ Helps you find profitable products automatically
✅ Allows you to filter by ROI, cost, profit, and category
If you want the most hands-off way to do Online Arbitrage, Source Mogul is the best automated sourcing software available today.
Want to Succeed on Amazon FBA? Here’s How I Can Help
Selling on Amazon with Retail Arbitrage is one of the easiest ways to get started and test the waters.
You could try figuring it out on your own—many YouTubers will tell you to just wing it and learn as you go. But that can lead to costly mistakes and wasted time.
If you want to fast-track your success and avoid beginner pitfalls, my Amazon Boot Camp is designed just for you.
It’s a step-by-step blueprint for building a profitable Amazon business, perfect for beginners who want a clear, proven strategy to start making money.
Like Matt, who hit $4,000 in sales in hir first month after enrolling in the Boot Camp.
If you’re ready to start selling the right way, I’m here to help! 🚀
