Amazon Seller Central Listing Basics

In this article, I’ll walk you through the essentials you need to know before creating an Amazon listing.

I’m not going to waste time debating LLC vs Ltd, or whether you should register in Delaware, the UK, or Dubai. That’s a conversation for your accountant – not here.

What I will cover is what actually matters to get started:

• The difference between FBA and FBM
• What Amazon fees will eat your margin alive
• How placement fees work (and why they’re sneaky)
• Why trademarks matter if you’re building a real brand
• How to test your listing BEFORE you place a massive order

These aren’t “nice to haves.” These are the steps that stop your first product from turning into a slow-motion car crash.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Choose the Right Fulfillment Method
• Step 2: Understand FBA Fees
• Step 3: Understand Placement Fees
• Step 4: Create a Dummy Listing
• Step 5: Register a Trademark
• Wrap-Up

Let’s get into it.

Step 1: Choose the Right Fulfillment Method

Before you create your listing, decide how you’ll fulfill orders. That choice affects shipping speed, margins, visibility, and your sanity.

For 99% of new sellers it’s between:
FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) or FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant).

SFP (Seller-Fulfilled Prime) exists, but if you’re new, ignore it. It’s for FBM sellers who can hit 1-day shipping consistently without screwing up. This is not the fulfillment you’re looking for.

Use FBA unless you have a reason not to.
It gets you the Prime badge, better search placement, faster delivery, and fewer headaches. Yes, it costs more, but Amazon handles warehousing, packing, support, and returns so you’re not drowning in admin.

Your PPC WILL be more effective with FBA; often 4–5x better. That can make the difference between a winning product and a failed one.

FBM works only if:

• Your product is oversized/heavy with huge FBA fees
• You already have warehouse space or a 3PL
• You need full control of shipping and service

For everyone else: FBA.

Here you can see the difference. The green marked is FBA and 1-2 day delivery, and the yellow is FBM and has a much slower delivery.

Bottom line:
If you’re not running a real logistics operation, FBA gets you moving faster and selling better.

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Step 2: Understand FBA Fees (Before You Nuke Your Margin)

FBA is convenient, but it’s not free, and it’s not simple.
If you don’t know how the fees stack up, you’ll price too low, burn your margin, and wonder where the money went. Hint: Bezos’ yacht.

The two core FBA fees:

• Fulfillment fee – Amazon charges you per unit to pick, pack, and ship. This isn’t flat; it depends on size and weight.
• Storage fee – Charged monthly per cubic foot of space your inventory takes up in Amazon’s warehouse.

But here’s the catch: those two “core” fees multiply fast when you add variables:

• Product size tier: A standard-size item (like a phone case) might cost ~$3 to fulfill. A “large standard” (like a coffee grinder) can push $5+. Oversize products? $8–$15 each, before you even advertise.
• Weight: Amazon includes packaging in the calculation. A 900g item that ships in a 200g box? You just crossed the 1kg threshold and bumped yourself into the next bracket.
• Time of year: Storage fees triple in Q4. Think $0.87 per cubic foot going to $2.40. That Christmas stockpile looks less clever when storage alone is eating thousands.
• Aged inventory fees: Keep stock longer than 181 days and you’ll get hit again. For slow-moving items, these charges can wipe out what little profit you thought you had.

Watch out for Dimensional Weight:
Amazon doesn’t just look at actual weight, they also calculate “dimensional weight,” which is based on how much space your package takes up.

• A light but bulky item (like a pillow) can be charged as if it weighs 5kg, even if it only weighs 1kg.
• The formula: (Length × Width × Height) ÷ 139 (inches) or ÷ 5000 (cm).
• Whichever is higher – actual weight or dimensional weight is what Amazon charges against.

Why it matters:
You can have a product that “feels” cheap to ship, but once Amazon applies dimensional weight, your fulfillment fee doubles. That’s how sellers get blindsided with margins disappearing.

Always run the numbers in the FBA calculator before setting price.
It shows your total costs, not just referral fees. It’s important you enter YOUR cost of goods in the section marked with yellow.

Example:

• You sell a water bottle for $15
• Amazon takes ~$8 in fulfillment + storage + referral fees
• You land ~$7 before ads, shipping to Amazon, or product cost

Many sellers think they’re profitable until they realize Amazon is pocketing half.

Focus on margin percentage, not just profit per unit.

• $2 profit on a $15 item = 13%. That won’t cover ads or growth.
• $7 profit on a $25 item = 28%. That’s viable.

If you’re under 25–30% after all costs, scaling is painful. You’ll bleed cash every time you turn ads on. Ideally you want a margin of 35% or higher.

Bottom line:
If the numbers don’t work on paper, FBA won’t magically fix them in practice. Know your fees up front or Amazon will erase your margin before you’ve even started.

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Step 3: Understand Placement Fees (Amazon Now Charges to Take Your Stock)

It used to be simple: you shipped your products to one Amazon warehouse, Amazon handled the rest. Not anymore.
Now Amazon wants inventory closer to customers, so they often split your shipment across several fulfillment centers, and if you don’t play along, they bill you for it.

How it works:
When you create a shipment, Amazon assigns one or more fulfillment centers. You might be asked to send 300 units to BHX2 (Birmingham), 400 to LTN1 (Luton), and 300 to MAN2 (Manchester). If you’re shipping from China or even a local 3PL, that means multiple boxes, multiple labels, and higher freight costs.

If you tell Amazon, “No, I’ll ship everything to one warehouse,” they’ll do the redistribution themselves, but they’ll charge you a placement service fee per unit for the privilege.

What the fees look like:

• Standard-size: roughly $0.21–0.68 per unit
• Oversize: up to $2.50 per unit

(These numbers shift every year. Always check the current fee chart.)

Your options:

• 1. Accept the split: Ship directly to the multiple warehouses Amazon assigns. You avoid placement fees, but your own freight bill may spike, especially if you’re splitting containers or cartons.
• 2. Pay placement fees: Ship everything to a single warehouse. Amazon spreads it out internally, but you pay per-unit placement charges. Easier, but it can add thousands if your volumes grow.
• 3. Use a 3PL: Send all your stock to a third-party logistics provider. They can break down pallets and forward smaller shipments to Amazon’s assigned destinations. This reduces headaches but adds another cost layer.

Bottom line:
Placement fees are a hidden tax. If you don’t factor them into cost per unit, you’re flying blind.
Ship 1,000 units with a $0.50 placement fee? That’s $500 gone before your first sale. Multiply that across multiple SKUs, and suddenly you’re losing margin on logistics, not just ads.

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Step 4: Create a Dummy Listing (Avoid a 5,000-Unit Disaster)

Amazon will happily let you order and ship 5,000 units from your supplier and then tell you after the fact that your product needs special approval, certification, or labeling before you can sell it. At that point, you’re stuck with unsellable inventory.

That’s why you create a dummy listing first. It’s not for customers, it’s for Amazon’s system.

Why do it?

• Category/brand gating: Grocery, Health & Personal Care (ingestibles/topicals), some Baby categories, and many brands require approval before you can list.
• Age/child restrictions: Some items are age-gated; baby/child products trigger extra review and labeling rules. Toys typically require CPSIA/CPC + age grading even if not “age-gated.”
• Hazmat checks: Lithium batteries, liquids, powders, aerosols – even “harmless” items can trigger hazmat review.
• Compliance docs: CE/UKCA, SDS/MSDS, CPSIA/CPC for toys/child products, choking-hazard/age warnings, jewelry etc.
• Restricted products: Weapons, medical devices, supplements with flagged ingredients, and other restricted SKUs.

Tip: Amazon keeps official, constantly updated lists of what needs approval or is outright restricted. Check them before you commit:

• Approval Required Categories
• Restricted Products List

What about barcodes (GTIN/UPC)?
Amazon requires every product to have a unique product identifier (UPC, EAN, or ISBN). Normally you buy these from GS1, but they aren’t cheap.

• Option 1: Buy an official GTIN from GS1. This is Amazon’s preferred route, but costs more upfront.
• Option 2: Apply for a GTIN exemption. If your product is handmade, private label, or doesn’t have a barcode, Amazon may approve you to list without one.

The catch? Without an exemption or a valid GS1 code, you can’t even create the listing draft. This is why doing a dummy listing early matters – you’ll find out immediately if Amazon expects a GTIN or if you qualify for an exemption.

Why you let it sit:
Amazon’s system doesn’t always throw flags instantly. Hazmat checks, restricted product reviews, and documentation requests can take a day or two to appear in your dashboard. By letting the dummy listing sit for a few days, you give Amazon time to do its internal review. If issues pop up, you’ll see them before you’ve paid for production or freight.

What you gain:

• Advance warning if your product will be blocked, restricted, or delayed.
• Time to gather documents (or change suppliers) before money is locked in inventory.
• A chance to adjust packaging or product specs before your first big shipment.

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Step 5: Register a Trademark (If You’re Building a Brand)

If you’re just flipping generic spatulas and hoping to disappear in three months, skip this.
But if you want a business that lasts, a trademark is non-negotiable. Amazon’s Brand Registry is built on it.

Don’t waste money on a trademark until you’ve done real research, and created a dummy listing – otherwise you might lock in a brand for a product Amazon won’t even let you sell.

Why it matters:

• A+ Content: Unlocks richer product pages with graphics, comparison charts, and better storytelling.
• Brand Analytics: Amazon gives you search and competitor data you don’t get otherwise.
• Sponsored Brand Ads: Lets you run headline ads with your logo and multiple products which is huge for visibility.
• Listing control: With Brand Registry, random sellers (or Amazon bots) can’t edit your title or bullets. You control your page.
• Protection: Hijackers exist. If you don’t own the trademark, Amazon won’t help you much when someone jumps on your listing.

What kind of trademark you need:

• Must be active or pending with a government registry (USPTO, UKIPO, EUIPO, etc.).
• Word mark (preferred) or logo mark tied to your brand name.
• File it under a relevant class – e.g., Class 25 for clothing, Class 35 for retail services. You can search the classes on the respective trademark websites.

Important:
Don’t overthink it. File directly through your country’s IP office, or use a filing service, but make sure you are listed as the legal owner. Agencies sometimes file under their own name. That means they technically own your brand, not you.

Note for international sellers:
Amazon accepts trademarks from many countries across their marketplaces. So if you file in the UK or EU, you can still use that mark to unlock Brand Registry in the US.

It’s true that legal protection is technically regional, but for small brands the real win isn’t lawsuits – it’s access to Brand Registry features (A+ Content, ads, listing control). That’s what protects your business day to day.

When to do it:

• Best case: File before launch. Amazon accepts pending trademarks once they appear in their system, so you don’t have to wait for full approval.
• Worst case: You launch, your brand takes off, and someone else trademarks your name first. At that point, you could lose your own listing.

Practical tip:
Avoid “BestGear,” “KitchenPro” and other generic names. They’re impossible to defend and forgettable to customers. A unique, ownable name is easier to trademark and easier for shoppers to remember.

Also, don’t try to be “clever” with names that sound like Amazon itself, such as names like “PrimeSeller”, “FreeShipping” or “AmazonDeals”. Amazon will deny your Brand Registry application instantly, and you’ll waste months waiting for a mark you can’t even use.

And here’s the big one:
If you launch your product as “Generic” (no brand), you can’t change it later. Amazon used to allow it – they don’t anymore. You’ll have to relaunch under your new brand, starting from scratch with no reviews or sales history. I can’t stress this enough: Don’t go live as Generic if you ever plan to build a brand. Register it before you launch.

Bottom line:
A trademark isn’t just paperwork. It gives you control, unlocks the best tools on Amazon, and protects the brand you’re investing in.

If you’re serious, file early and file in your own name.

Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice. This is practical guidance based on how Amazon works in real life. If you want legal protection strategies beyond Brand Registry, talk to an IP attorney.

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Wrap-Up: Get This Right or Fix It Later (At Twice the Cost)

These five steps aren’t optional. They’re the groundwork for selling on Amazon.

If you skip them, here’s what happens:

• Your listing gets suppressed the moment it goes live
• You discover hidden fees that nuke your margin
• You get stuck in hazmat review or compliance hell
• Or worst of all: Your entire order sits unsellable in Amazon’s warehouse

Every single one of these happens weekly to new sellers who rush in, copy someone else’s playbook, and don’t check the basics.

Here’s the truth: Amazon isn’t impossible. It’s just unforgiving. A little preparation up front saves months of lost sales, thousands in wasted stock, and endless stress.

You’re already ahead of most sellers just by reading this far. Now use these steps as your baseline – because the real growth work (ads, reviews, scaling) only works if you’ve built on solid ground.

This guide is background, not a launch service pitch. If you’re already running a real brand and struggling with Amazon, that’s when I get involved.

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