How To Set Up An LLC In the US As A Foreigner

Companies can make a lot of money by opening an Amazon seller account and starting to make sales. In 2022, Amazon accounted for 39.5% of all U.S. retail online sales. Just like in any other country, making an Amazon selling account in the US is pretty easy.

A lot of questions will come up, though, if you are not a U.S. citizen. Not a member of the United States? Here’s how to set up an Amazon seller account.

To sell on Amazon in the US, do you need a business license? What exactly can you sell on Amazon? This blog will talk about the important parts of creating an Amazon U.S. selling account.

Business Registration

Getting a business registered in the US may or may not be part of your first step toward getting things official.

You don’t need to have a business presence in the US. If you already have a legal business presence in your home country, you can keep running your Amazon.com business as that one without having to register a US company.

Of course, it may be easier to set up an LLC in the US, but it depends on where you live and the business forms you can use. In the following cases, it might be smarter to set up an LLC in the US:

You want to do most of your work in the US but don’t have a business yet.
For US citizens who are traveling or living in another country
There isn’t a business arrangement in your country that is as good as a US LLC.

Set Up Your US Bank Account

It’s not necessary to do this step again. To keep things simple, you might choose to keep using the business account you already have in your home country. It’s important to know about exchange rates and how fees will cut into your income, though. Remember that this is not the end of the world.

Since you can keep your dollars “in dollars” instead of having to deal with exchange rates and moving them back and forth, having a US business bank account is usually the best choice. If the value of one of your currencies drops, you can still buy what you need with the currency that costs the least.

This can be good for your business. Cut down on exchange rate fees with a Transferwise Borderless account or a service like it. When you want to open a bank account in the US, you will also need a real business address.

Although it’s ultimately your choice, it is usually more practical to be paid straight in dollars, which you can then spend however you wish.

Set Up Your Amazon.com Seller Account

To finish the registration process and start selling on Amazon, you will need to give information about yourself and/or your business. These specifics are:

A valid phone number
Government ID
Tax Information
A bank account
A chargeable credit card
An Amazon customer account or a business email address

Expert Tip: Seller Central is the website where buyers can keep an eye on their sales. Users can add new goods, contact seller support, keep track of inventory, talk to buyers, and get many other features and reporting options that are necessary for running an online business.

Fill Orders Yourself or Use Amazon Fulfillment

Once you have a Seller Central account, the next most important thing to do is choose the fulfillment way that works best for you. How you sell your items to people who might buy them is called a delivery method on Amazon.

You can use either FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) or FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) to do this. How do both of these methods work?

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

The seller sends the items to an Amazon warehouse or delivery center to be stored using the delivery by Amazon (FBA) method. Amazon ships the item to the buyer and handles any customer service issues that come up every time a seller gets an order.

Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)

Selling a product on Amazon FBA is easy with this method, but buyers have to store, ship, and help customers on their own. Some people decided to hire outside service providers to handle these tasks.

The most common choice is FBA. One seller report shows the following split for both fulfillment methods:

Amazon Fulfillment Method Breakdown

After looking at these numbers, it looks like FBA is the better choice, right? Actually, it is, but the extra ease of use comes with a price: FBA fees. The type, category, and size of the goods affect this fee. This link has a full list of all the prices associated with FBA.

In addition to the FBA fees, sellers also have to pay Referral fees and long-term storage fees, no matter which delivery method they choose.

Know Thy Niche

It’s good to know that 85% of Amazon sellers make money. But the trick is to stay away from product niches where most sellers have a hard time making a profit. There are 36 areas where third-party sellers can list their goods. For new sellers, the best ones are the ones below:

Home & Kitchen
Office Products
Clothing
Jewelry
Pet Supplies
Health & Personal Care
Patio, Lawn, and Garden
Computers

What Kind Of Business Plan Do You Want To Use?

It would be easy to say that Amazon is a big market. It’s responsible for almost half of the whole US eCommerce shopping market. Because of this, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are different ways to sell on the site. Some of these are:

Private Label
Retail Arbitrage
Online Arbitrage
Dropshipping
Handmade

Selling Method #1: Private Label

Amazon’s private label option is by far the most popular way to sell. According to this method, third-party sellers buy goods from makers and sell them under their brand name. Amazon FBA even sells things made by other companies under its brand name, AmazonBasics.

Private Label costs the most but has the most possibility for making money and sales compared to the other business models on this list.

Selling Method #3: Retail Arbitrage

The traditional way to sell things online is through retail arbitrage. Buying things from shops and then selling them online is required. Additionally, sellers must keep an eye on the FBA seller fees to make sure they make enough money from each sale.

Selling Method #4: Online Arbitrage

Online arbitrage involves buying cheap goods from one website and selling them on another. For instance, buying towels on eBay and then offering them on Amazon. This way of selling is very dependent on FBA fees, just like store arbitrage.

Selling Method #5: Dropshipping

If an Amazon seller drops an item, they take orders from customers and get the item shipped straight from the maker. The best thing about Amazon dropshipping is how easy it is to use. because they don’t need to keep and store products.

Selling Method #6: Handmade

Selling handmade items on Amazon FBA is the smallest group of sellers. These sellers, as the name suggests, make things by hand, but demand is often low and seasonal, so they don’t make enough money from sales.

Conclusion: Pick Private Labels. As a result, sellers make the most money with the least amount of danger.

Begin Listing Your Products

After making an account, you can start selling things on Amazon. Yet, there are some issues that need to be resolved before you can begin selling.

Identify Your Amazon Store

A unique name for your online store is important because there are hundreds of millions of sellers on Amazon. Whatever name and image you choose should go with what you’re selling and not against Amazon’s Terms of Service.

Universal Product Codes

Universal Product Codes are numbers that are unique to each item. In addition to helping to identify the item, it also helps to keep track of it as it moves from the production hub to the customer.

According to Amazon, sellers must include UPCs for all items and products they list on their website. Using this link, you can get UPCs from official sites.

Trademark

Although Amazon FBA is the biggest online store in the world, it does have some bad people. When you file for a trademark action, you protect your brand’s identity and make sure that people who aren’t authorized to sell your products don’t start doing so.

Get started with the registration process by going to the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Ownership

Amazon additionally requests information about brand ownership (in this case, your brand name) and maker (the name of the company that makes the product).

Start Selling

Congratulations! You’ve now set up an Amazon seller profile and listed your goods. You’re ready to start selling! Start your journey as a seller at this time. Here comes the real challenge: you’ll have to go up against experienced sellers in your area.

There is a huge amount of information that you need to think about when figuring out fees and income, even with all the tools that Amazon gives as a seller.

How Much Does it Cost to Sell on Amazon?

Those who want to sell on Amazon FBA should be aware of the fees that come with it. These fees can change based on the type of account you have and the goods you sell. Here is a list of the most common fees that come with selling on the platform:

Referral Fees

For every item that is sold on Amazon, the company takes a small cut. This charge is different for each type of product and runs from 6% to 45% of the item’s price.

Fulfillment Fees

You will be charged a fee for each item based on its size and weight if you use Amazon’s fulfillment services to store and ship your items.

Contract Fees

If you are an Amazon professional seller, you will have to pay $39.99 every month for your contract. If you are an individual seller, you don’t have to pay this fee. However, you will be charged $0.99 for each thing you sell.

Tips to Sell Internationally on Amazon

When sellers want to take their business overseas, they face some problems. It’s very important to know what goods can be brought in. You have to think about the taxes, laws, and shipping rules in each country.

Drop Ship Internationally

One way you can sell things on Amazon FBA is through drop shipping. If you run a foreign business, you must follow Amazon’s drop-shipping rules. Also, you shouldn’t say who your supplier or maker is.

Any packing slips, bills, outside packaging, or other details about the product should list you as the seller. Another thing is that you are the one who needs to handle returns.

Ship Internationally Using a Third-Party Service

Some ways to ship abroad, like Amazon FBA, will cost you a few dollars a month if you can pay someone else to do the work for you. Amazon has centers where you can get your goods ready to sell on their site as part of this service.

Support International Payment Methods

In different parts of the world, there are different ways to pay. In Germany, a bank transfer is the best way to pay for things online. Over 40% of the Japanese credit card market is made up of JCB cards.

More people in the Nordic countries are using eWallets. So it’s important to pick a payment method based on the people you want to buy from your business. However, Amazon FBA does accept the following ways of payment:

Amazon Store Card
Amazon Secured Card
MasterCard/EuroCard
Discover Network
American Express
Diner’s Club (U.S. billing addresses only)
JCB
NYCE
STAR
China UnionPay (credit card only)

Support International Currencies

For each customer, it would be great if you could show the price in a different currency. In the linked currency and international markets, you can make a price swap by hand.

Offer Local Customer Service

People are more likely to spend money at companies that care about their customers and treat them well. You can get more local customers by giving them small gifts, fixing their problems quickly, or even letting them return items for free. This kind of small thing will keep your business coming back.

Tayyaba

Hi there! I’m the content marketing and branding specialist for AMZ One Step. I work hard to create engaging and informative content that helps our readers learn more about Amazon selling and how to make the most of their businesses. I love spending time with my family and exploring literary works when I’m not writing or working on projects.