Selling items on Amazon - is it worth it?

In this article you can read whether it is worth selling your own articles on Amazon. Selling products at Amazon has both advantages and disadvantages - we will show you what costs you will incur.

Selling on Amazon: advantages and disadvantages at a glance

• Confusing price structure: Different fees apply for different article groups. In addition there are flat but very low postage credits and 15% sales tax.
• Shipping fees cannot be set yourself - so you pay for parcels.
• There are no setup fees. For comparison: Ebay demands from private sellers from the 21st sale an offer fee of 50 cents within a month.
• Amazon initially retains the money earned from new sellers for 14 days. The transfer to your account can take several days.
• Your articles will be placed very prominently. If someone searches for your item, they will also see your offer, listed in a price scale for the cheapest offer in the "All offers" column.
• Depending on the selection, the items offered exclusively at a fixed price are listed for sale indefinitely. You have the option of setting the duration and adjusting the sales price depending on the competition. So you can let your fixed price item sit in the offer for a long time until you eventually find someone interested.
• However, it is difficult for private sellers to get exempt from the flat-rate sales tax. More on this in the following section.

Sales via Amazon: sales tax and fees

• Different fees apply depending on the product group. In addition, a flat 15% sales tax is withheld from Amazon. You can only be exempted from this if you provide Amazon with a VAT identification number (VAT ID number) and request this explicitly. Private sellers usually do not have this and are thereby disadvantaged.
• The "cheapest" are large electrical appliances with a 7% pure sales fee; Books, CDs or DVS are charged at 15% for each article, and Amazon is the most popular for Kindle accessories: 35%!
• There is also a credit of 3 euros for the shipping costs per item, which cannot be set according to the shipping method. If you send with DHL package, you have to pay extra. If a buyer does not receive a report, it may be important to have a shipping number to be able to prove the shipment, otherwise you effectively bear the shipping risk.
• But be careful: Amazon also charges a fee for the postage credit! On average, you will therefore receive a postage credit of 2 euros per item shipped domestically.
• There is also a flat fee of 1.14 euros per item, from which only power providers are exempted if they pay Amazon 44.85 euros per month.

Conclusion: prominent product placement at good prices but high costs

If you want to quickly sell a few books or CDs at the best price, Amazon is the right place for you, because there are only fees for the sale. With a little over 30% compared to the competition (eBay 9%) they are steep, but your sale will be advertised in a prominent place at no extra cost. The cheapest are classified ads like eBay classified ads, which do not incur any fees.

Tip: In this practical tip, you can read which tricks you can earn even more money with on eBay classifieds.