One of the first big decisions you will need to make as a new Amazon FBA seller is the type of seller plan you will choose to use.
Currently, there are two types of Amazon FBA seller plans: individual and professional. This article defines and compares Amazon individual vs. professional seller plans, as well as the fees and other features of each.
READ MORE | If you’re interested in more information on how to sell on Amazon, check out our free resource:How to Sell on Amazon FBA for Beginners.
Amazon individual vs. professional seller plans: What are the key differences?
The primary difference between individual and professional Amazon seller plans is your projected volume of sales.
- Individual Amazon seller plans — for sellers who will sell less than 40 units each month.
- Professional Amazon seller plans — for sellers who plan on selling more than 40 units per month.
Here’s a look at more of the primary differences between Professional and Individual seller plans:
Which Amazon seller plan is right for you?
Having trouble figuring out which plan is best for you? Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you start selling products on Amazon:
Are you going to sell more than 40 products per month?
If you answered “yes,” then you should sign up for the professional seller plan. Here’s why:
- Subscription fees. The professional seller plan on Amazon comes with a monthly subscription fee of $39.99. In contrast, the individual seller plan on Amazon does not have a monthly subscription fee.
- Transaction fees. However, individual sellers are required to pay a $0.99 fee for each of their sales transactions; the professional seller plan does not.
Therefore, if an individual seller sells 41 products in a month, they will have to pay $40.59 (41 x $0.99) in seller fees.
On the other hand, professional sellers only pay the $39.99 subscription fee, regardless of the number of products they sell.
Note: these fee calculations exclude referral fees, special fees, and/or fulfillment fees which are the same for both individual and professional seller plans.
Do you want to sell in restricted categories?
Both Amazon individual and professional sellers can sell in 20 Amazon categories. Professional sellers, though, have access to an additional 10 restricted categories.
The 10 bonus categories include:
- Automotive Parts & Accessories
- Business to Business (B2B) products
- Collectibles Coins
- Fashion Jewelry
- Fine Jewelry
- Fine Art
- Grocery, Food & Gourmet
- Industrial & Scientific
- Professional Services
- Sports Collectibles
- Video, DVD, & Blu-ray
- Watches
In addition, certain variations of products —such as Collectible Books — may require a professional seller account.
If you want to sell in any of these categories, you should consider an Amazon professional seller account.
READ MORE
Amazon Restricted Categories: Your Guide to Getting Ungated
Do you want to win the Buy Box?
One of the biggest advantages that Amazon professional sellers have over Amazon individual sellers is their eligibility to win the all-important Buy Box. The Buy Box is the section of a product listing page that allows buyers to automatically add your product to their shopping cart. 🛒
But, if you aren’t an Amazon professional seller — and even if you are the only seller on a listing — buyers will have to go through more steps in order to make a purchase.
According to Statista, 82% of all purchases happen through the Buy Box.
Do you want to advertise your products on Amazon?
Another huge advantage that Amazon professional sellers have over individual sellers is the ability to create sponsored listings on Amazon.
Using Amazon’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, Amazon professional sellers can spend money to boost their products to the top of Amazon’s search results. This often results in more sales and profits for the sellers.
Amazon individual sellers, however, cannot create advertisem*nts for their products on Amazon.
Other Amazon professional seller features
In addition to the reduced cost when selling more than 40 products per month, and bonus categories that come with using an Amazon professional seller plan, here are some additional advantages Amazon professional sellers have over individual sellers:
- Inventory management. Manage inventory through feeds, spreadsheets, and reports
- Shipping fees. Set your own shipping fees for non-media products
- API. Increase selling efficiency with API integration
- Promotions. Create promotions including free shipping for FBM offers
- Bulk listings. Create listings in bulk using inventory files
- Taxes. Calculate US sales and use taxes on your orders
- Multiple users. Grant use permissions and account privileges to other users
Why become an Amazon individual seller?
The biggest question you need to ask yourself when choosing an Amazon seller account is how involved you want to be in your Amazon business.
The individual seller plan is good for people who want to get rid of a few extra items around the house. It’s also a good plan for those who want to give selling on Amazon a try before going all in and expanding their business to something like private label.
Finally, an individual seller account is a good way to gain access to Amazon’s seller dashboard and forums without committing to a $39.99 monthly payment.
Amazon Professional Seller vs. Individual: Which one will you choose?
Ultimately, the plan you choose to use boils down to the reasons why you’re planning to sell on Amazon in the first place.
If you only want to get rid of a few items and make a little spare change, then select the individual seller plan. However, if you want to actually build a business and make a regular income selling on Amazon, signing up for the Amazon professional seller plan is the smarter option.
What made you decide to become either an individual or a professional Amazon seller? Let us know in the comments below, along with any questions.
If you’re ready to start a real business on Amazon, check out Jungle Scout, the all-in-one solution for Amazon sellers.
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