If you decide you don’t want to set up your own eCommerce website to sell products, there are lots of other options available. Platforms such as eBay or Amazon will certainly get your products noticed, but at the expense of some of the profits. Below, we’ll break down some of the benefits and pitfalls of using an existing eCommerce site to list your product.

How much does it cost?

The first thing you need to know when it comes to listing on Amazon is the number of items you’ll be selling. There are currently two main plans that exist when listing on Amazon, a basic plan and a professional plan.

Basic – sell a little

If you know that you’ll be selling fewer than 35 items per month, this is the plan that is recommended. Instead of paying a flat subscription fee, you’ll pay only when you sell something. The selling fees aren’t too steep either, at around 75 pence per item. However, you’ll still have to pay referral fees and closing costs on top of this.

Professional – sell a lot

If you want to exceed the 35 item limit, you’ll need to sign up to the professional plan. This will allow you to sell more than 35 items but at the cost of a regular subscription fee. This fee of £25 (excl. VAT) also allows you to make use of bulk listings, customise any shipping costs and offer special promotions. Any additional fees such as referral fees and closing fees will still apply though.

Additional costs

We’ve mentioned above that aside from the base fees for the account, you’ll still have to pay both referral and closing fees if they apply. This is one of the caveats of listing on such an established platform. For some businesses, this can reduce profits too much to be feasible.

Referral fees

A good way of looking at these fees is as a type of ‘members club admission’ for the pleasure of being able to sell on Amazon. With Amazon being one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom that has millions of customers visiting the site each day, this level of exposure and trust in the brand comes at a price.

The amount you pay in referral fees depends on a couple of things, the first being the category your product falls in, the second being which Amazon marketplace you’re selling through.

Depending on the category, these fees can range from 7% for “Computers” up to 45% for “Amazon Device Accessories”. For a full list of these fees, we recommend checking Amazon’s dedicated page.

Closing fees

These are the extra fees you have to pay Amazon when you make a sale on the marketplace. They may change frequently so make sure to check the official page for rates. These fees only apply if you sell the following though:

● Video games
● Books
● DVDs
● Gaming consoles
● Software
● General media items

It doesn’t matter which selling plan you enrol on, each UK Amazon seller will pay this fixed cost of 50 pence per media item sold.

If you’re looking to sell on Amazon, it’s worth doing a quick calculation to work out roughly how much you’ll lose on fees – after all, you don’t want to be caught out after the sale has gone through!

Check out our online accounting services for Amazon sellers. Call one of the team on 020 3355 4047.

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About The Author

Christopher Jones

Forensics graduate-turned copywriter and blogger. I love turning complex topics into easy to understand, yet engaging pieces of content.

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