Amazon FBA Setup for US and Non-US Founders

Overview

Amazon FBA is the fastest route to US retail distribution ever built, and also the one with the most administrative surface area. You are simultaneously a seller, an importer, a taxpayer in multiple states and a brand owner, and Amazon assumes you already know that.

This Doc sets out the whole sequence for both US and non-US founders: what to form, how to register and verify Seller Central, how inventory placement creates tax obligations, and how to keep the account healthy once orders start.

Step 1: Entity and Foundations

You can technically sell on Amazon as an individual in many countries. You should not, once you are serious:

• Liability. Product liability is real in the US. An LLC or Corporation separates business risk from personal assets.
• Banking and payouts. A US entity with a US bank account makes disbursements simple and avoids currency conversion on every payout.
• Sales tax registration. States register businesses, and doing it as a foreign individual is significantly more awkward.
• Brand Registry and exit. Trademarks and eventual sale of the business are far cleaner under an entity.

What to put in place before touching Seller Central:

1. US LLC or Corporation. Wyoming is the common default; see our Bizvee Doc on Wyoming LLCs and our formation service at $119 plus state fee.
2. EIN. Required for tax interviews and state registrations. Non-residents file Form SS-4 — allow two to six weeks, or use our EIN service.
3. US business address — for the account, correspondence and returns. $149/year through Bizvee.
4. US business bank account. Amazon disburses here. See our banking guide.
5. A credit card that can be charged for fees.

Step 2: Register Seller Central

Choose the plan: Individual (per-item fee, no monthly charge) suits fewer than about 40 units a month; Professional (monthly subscription) is required for advertising, Buy Box eligibility, bulk listing and most serious sellers.

You will provide:

• Legal business name exactly as filed, and the entity type
• Business address and phone
• EIN
• A chargeable credit card
• Bank account for disbursements
• Government photo ID for the primary contact and beneficial owners
• A business document, often the certificate of formation or a utility bill matching the address

Identity verification may include a video call or document review. Non-US founders pass this routinely with a passport. What fails it is inconsistency — a name spelled differently across documents, an address on the utility bill that does not match the account, or a blurry scan.

Step 3: The Tax Interview

Amazon runs an electronic tax interview during registration.

• US entities complete the equivalent of a W-9 using the entity name and EIN.
• Foreign entities without a US entity complete a W-8BEN-E, which may result in withholding on US-source income.

This is one of the strongest arguments for forming a US entity first: with a US LLC or Corporation and its EIN, you complete a W-9, and the withholding question largely disappears. Fill it in with the exact legal name — a mismatch against IRS records causes Amazon to flag the account later.

Step 4: Product, Brand and Compliance Before Launch

Trademark and Brand Registry. A registered US trademark unlocks Brand Registry, A+ Content, Sponsored Brands and stronger protection against hijackers. Applications take months, so start early — see our US trademark registration service.

Product compliance. Depending on category: FDA registration for food, supplements and cosmetics; CPSC requirements and CPC certificates for children's products; FCC for electronics; Prop 65 labelling for California. Amazon will ask for documentation, sometimes retroactively, and will suspend listings without it.

GTIN/UPC codes. Buy them from GS1 in your own company's name. Cheap resold codes are a well-known cause of listing suspensions.

Packaging and labelling. FNSKU labels, suffocation warnings on poly bags, and the correct prep for fragile or liquid items. Getting this wrong means unfulfillable inventory sitting in a warehouse accruing storage fees.

Step 5: Importing Into the US

Non-US sellers importing goods hit customs mechanics quickly:

• You will typically need an importer of record. Amazon will not act as importer of record for your shipments.
• Foreign entities may need a customs bond and, in some cases, a customs assigned number; a US entity with an EIN simplifies this considerably.
• Use a customs broker. The savings from DIY clearance are dwarfed by the cost of a held container.
• Duties, tariffs and Section 301 rates depend on HTS classification and origin. Classify accurately; misclassification is a penalty, not a saving.
• Do not ship directly from your supplier into an FBA warehouse on your first order. Use a prep centre to inspect, label and repack. One bad batch discovered at the warehouse becomes a removal order and a lost quarter.

Step 6: Create the Shipping Plan

In Seller Central: create the listing, convert it to FBA, create a shipping plan, and Amazon assigns destination fulfilment centres — often several, splitting your shipment. Print FNSKU labels, apply carton labels, book the partnered carrier if it is cheaper, and track receipt.

Expect check-in to take days after delivery. Inventory is not sellable until it is received and reconciled.

Step 7: Sales Tax — The Part Sellers Discover Late

This is the single most misunderstood area of FBA, so read it carefully.

Marketplace facilitator laws mean Amazon collects and remits sales tax on your behalf for orders placed through the marketplace in effectively every state that has sales tax. That is genuinely helpful and it does not end your obligations.

Physical nexus from inventory. Your goods stored in an Amazon warehouse in a state can create physical nexus in that state — and Amazon moves inventory between fulfilment centres without asking you. Depending on each state's rules and your other activity, that can create a registration and filing requirement even though Amazon collects the tax.

Off-Amazon sales. If you also sell through your own Shopify store, those sales are yours to collect and remit, and they count toward economic nexus thresholds.

Income tax nexus. Some states assert income or franchise tax nexus from inventory presence, separately from sales tax.

The practical approach: pull your Amazon inventory-by-state report quarterly, review it against state thresholds, register where required, file even zero returns, and keep the records. Our sales tax registration and filing service does this for FBA sellers routinely.

Step 8: Accounting for FBA

FBA bookkeeping is not like normal retail bookkeeping, and doing it badly is how sellers end up thinking they are profitable when they are not.

• Amazon settles net. Each disbursement is gross sales minus referral fees, FBA fees, storage, advertising, refunds and reserves. Record gross revenue and each fee category separately.
• Inventory is an asset, not an expense, until it sells. Track cost of goods sold properly or your profit figure is fiction.
• Landed cost matters. Include freight, duty, prep and inbound shipping in unit cost, not just the supplier invoice.
• Advertising is a real cost per unit. Track TACoS, not just ACoS.
• Returns and reimbursements need their own categories.

Our ecommerce bookkeeping service reconciles Amazon settlements line by line so the numbers you make decisions on are true.

Step 9: Account Health

Amazon measures you continuously. The metrics that suspend accounts:

• Order Defect Rate below 1%
• Late Shipment Rate and Valid Tracking Rate (for merchant-fulfilled orders)
• Policy violations — intellectual property complaints, restricted product claims, review manipulation
• Inventory Performance Index, which governs storage limits

Respond to every notification promptly and in Amazon's format: root cause, corrective action, preventive action. Suspensions are resolved with structured plans of action, not with appeals written in frustration.

Step 10: Compliance Calendar

Common Mistakes

Selling as a foreign individual and then trying to restructure after building the brand.

Shipping directly from supplier to FBA without inspection.

Assuming marketplace facilitator collection ends your tax obligations.

Ignoring landed cost and pricing on supplier cost alone.

Buying cheap UPC codes.

Launching in a regulated category without the certificates.

Where Bizvee Fits

Bizvee handles the entire non-selling half of an FBA business: US company formation, EIN, registered agent, US business address, banking support, trademark registration, sales tax registration and ecommerce bookkeeping. Start there, or book a founder consultation to map the sequence for your specific product and origin country.