E-commerce with e-Residency

Should you sell on Amazon or through your own website?

When starting a business related to e-commerce, many e-resident entrepreneurs stumble upon a decision — that is, whether to start selling goods on Amazon or do it through their own online store. The previously published article explored the advantages of Amazon trading.

In this blog post, we introduce a more in-depth analysis of the benefits of using Amazon. We’ll also cover the step-by-step process of how your Estonian company can become an Amazon seller.

Trading through your own online store is appropriate if your brand, product, or company is already well-known in the market. However, if you are introducing a new company or product to the market, then in order to test the demand, trading on Amazon is a much easier and cheaper option to start. Later, if it goes successfully, you will have all the reason and resources to invest in your own website.

In this case, potential buyers do not have to search for your company using a search engine or even through trading platforms. When searching for a product, they will find your listing on the most popular marketplace in the world with ready-made customer traffic. Amazon attracts over 180 million monthly visitors and offers over 500 million products.

Hence, the main advantage of becoming an Amazon Seller is a multi-million dollar customer base willing and able to buy products across various categories. This can translate into much higher conversion rates and, therefore, more sales while maintaining low startup costs (compared to starting and advertising your own online store).

5 steps to become an Amazon seller as an e-resident entrepreneur

STEP 1. Register Your Company in Estonia

e-Residency allows you to register a company in Estonia remotely (without visiting Estonia). Estonia has arguably the most favourable conditions for trading on Amazon in Europe. This is due to Estonia’s seamless digital solutions, low bureaucracy, and low-cost, remote business management tools.

Company in Estonia OÜ offers full legal support for e-residents who want to start trading on Amazon. We will be happy to offer you some necessary tools for launching an Estonian company, including a legal address in Tallinn, contact person services, and support with company registration.

STEP 2. Open a Corporate Account with Payment Service Provider (PSP)

An IBAN account from a PSP enables Sellers withdraw money from their Amazon account, store funds in multiple currencies, and receive a credit card that can be used to pay for Amazon services. PSPs are suitable for the following platforms:

• Amazon.co.uk (UK)
• Amazon.de (Germany)
• Amazon.fr (France)
• Amazon.it (Italy)
• Amazon.nl (Netherlands)
• Amazon.es (Spain)
• Amazon.com.tr (Turkey)
• Amazon.se (Sweden)

After establishing a company in Estonia, the specialists of the Company in Estonia OÜ can provide you with a list of PSPs suitable for joining Amazon.

STEP 3. Register a VAT Number

It is difficult for Sellers wishing to trade on Amazon to register as a VAT payer in Europe without having a company in the EU. It is essential to register as a VAT payer both in the country of trade and in the country of business registration (Estonia).

Company in Estonia OÜ can help you obtain a VAT number in Estonia, the UK, or Germany within 2–4 weeks.

STEP 4. Create Your Amazon Seller Account

Once you have a company and a corporate account, you can proceed to creating an FBA Seller Account. It usually takes a short time to sign up, as the procedure involves only a few steps. It’s important to note that it is required to link a credit card to withdraw funds received from sale of goods on Amazon.

STEP 5. Set Up Accounting Services

Amazon companies need to maintain regular accounting records to avoid fines, financial problems, and blocking of funds on their Amazon accounts.

Company in Estonia OÜ offers specialised accounting services for companies trading on Amazon at a fixed monthly cost.

We will take care of all of the above-mentioned steps. Our freshly-introduced complete package for trading on Amazon Europe includes the following:

• registration of an Estonian company
• obtaining a VAT number in the UK, Germany or another country
• creating an Amazon Business Account
• opening a corporate account to receive payments from Amazon
• specialised accounting services (both in Estonia and in the country of trade).

If necessary, we can help select a logistics company to deliver goods to Amazon warehouses and consult Amazon Sellers based on our 5+ years of trading experience.

But don’t just take our word for it — let our numbers convince you!

• We process about 50+ new requests every day in 5 languages.
• 100+ regular client-companies are set for permanent accounting.
• We offer flexible opening hours and guarantee a prompt quote from a company representative within 60 minutes.