Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Program/Service

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hlw777

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Hi All,

I have an Amazon.com account and have sold a couple of items as an Affiliate.

I would love to apply to become a Seller on Amazon, and sell my own private labelled products using their Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA) Program.

However, when I checked the Amazon website, I discovered that South Africa is not on the list of the countries currently accepted to register for selling on Amazon.com.

What is even more disturbing to me is that I see the following African Countries that are accepted:
Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, etc, etc.

You can view the rest here:

HTML: 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_rel_topic?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200417280


What I cannot understand is, that South Africa is probably one of the most developed and stable economies in Africa.
In fact, we are supporting many countries on the continent.
People in countries like Chad, Mali, Niger, Togo, etc are allowed to sell through FBA.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not marginalizing the above mentioned countries.
I just think South Africa is a much stronger country than many of these.

How come we are not accepted?
Is it an exchange control thing, government regulations, or what else?

I contacted Amazon.com about it but they just referred me to the list of accepted countries, so no clear answer there.

Can anyone perhaps please shed some light on this matter?

Thanks.
 
Hi there. Did you ever get an answer on this. this is something I am interested in by sourcing globally and going the FBA route.
 
hlw777 said:
Unfortunately not my friend.
Click to expand...


I've been told by someone that works for Amazon here in Cape Town in the development center that its all the crappy red tape around exchange control and customs that puts them off.
 
FBA

Thanks for the input Kalle.

What the hell is going on in our country?
When are we going to open up and remove these barriers?
I'm surprised that we are not yet pressurized by some of the BRICS countries.

We allowed a very limited version of Wallmart who is no competition for PnP, Shoprite,Checkers, etc. etc.
A couple of years back we allowed a limited version of Paypal and I cannot see any prospects for full Paypal here in South Africa.
We as consumers just do not benefit at all.

This is just my opinion and frustrations.


Kalle said:
I've been told by someone that works for Amazon here in Cape Town in the development center that its all the crappy red tape around exchange control and customs that puts them off.
Click to expand...
 
I feel your pain, and well picked up. So many topics show how SA fails compared to USA, Europe, and so forth. Then economies of scale are brought up. Yet against less developed economies is where SA truly fails. Against countries it should 'on paper' easily outperform. It's time to stop looking at how SA fails against U.S., Europe, and focus on how SA repeatedly fails against even less developed economies than it's own. Visiting countries like Philippines for example, shows how SA fails in service skills, customer interaction, human development. Very disappointing.
 
This is all from the days of the National Party and the isolation from the rest of the world. Basically protection of local assets. That's why our customs are so draconian. Back in the day the Nats had to contend with many English speaking South Africans who could travel to UK and bring back stuff - so someone had to tax them. Exchange control is to protect the currency which needs these artificial protections. We get the same because this is still profitable for the government. You could be exporting stuff from SA - I know "what stuff" there's not much made here which people would find of benefit elsewhere - but even that requires SARS approval. SA is not a good country to do business in and it shows where our Rand is despite the exchange controls.
 
Loosewires said:
Hi there. Did you ever get an answer on this. this is something I am interested in by sourcing globally and going the FBA route.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the Necro. I just came across this thread and thought I would answer it just in case someone needs the answer.

It is possible for you to sell on Amazon living in South Africa. There are a lot more steps and money involved to start. After that, it's actually better than selling straight from SA.

My own experience(I'm really just going to summaries, leaving out a lot of detail):
I was lucky. I already had a US bank account. I just opened it when I traveled there for the first time. I won't get into the specific reason, but it certainly wasn't to sell on Amazon in the future. I was also gutted to see South Africa wasn't on the list when I wanted to expand my brand to Amazon.com.

I formed an LLC in the US (Florida, to be specific). Just like in South Africa. The LLC I formed (Almost like a CC in SA) is a legal entity. So I registered my Amazon sellers account with my new LLC. I had to get an EIN for my LLC, for tax purposes and the fact that Amazon requires it. They basically don't care where I am situated, as long as the legal entity I registered is in the US.

There's plethora of other small things that you have to sort out. In short, it's possible.

I think there is a way around it if you don't have a US bank account. You will just have to research that.
 
This really sucks!

Cannot believe that South Africans cannot sell on Amazon - which is the biggest retailer in the world!

Even if you open a company in the US (e.g. Delaware), you still need a credit card to be charged against your account with Amazon Seller Central. Amazon does not use prepaid cards that you get with US banks as a non-resident business owner.

So we are left with very few options. The best option is to cross the border to Namibia, Botswana or Mozambique (which are accepted by Amazon) and get an account + Credit Card.

You definitely need a Credit Card which definitely country based! That means that unless you have a credit card issued outside South Africa, then you will have to rely on Friends or Relatives who can trust you with their Credit Card!
 
We have a junk status. We don't deserve to sell on Amazon with a criminal for a president
 
chomchum said:
This really sucks!

Cannot believe that South Africans cannot sell on Amazon - which is the biggest retailer in the world!

Even if you open a company in the US (e.g. Delaware), you still need a credit card to be charged against your account with Amazon Seller Central. Amazon does not use prepaid cards that you get with US banks as a non-resident business owner.

So we are left with very few options. The best option is to cross the border to Namibia, Botswana or Mozambique (which are accepted by Amazon) and get an account + Credit Card.

You definitely need a Credit Card which definitely country based! That means that unless you have a credit card issued outside South Africa, then you will have to rely on Friends or Relatives who can trust you with their Credit Card!
Click to expand...
A have a seller account on Amazon UK and my South African credit card works for the FBA fees. I use Payoneer to get the money from sales.
 
phil77 said:
A have a seller account on Amazon UK and my South African credit card works for the FBA fees. I use Payoneer to get the money from sales.
Click to expand...

Hi Phil77

Can you please elaborate on how you managed to do this? Does Amazon UK work different than Amazon US? Because I know US doesn't have South Africa on their "accepted countries" list.

Thanks in advance
 
Hi all, have any one here perhaps found a easier method of selling on Amazon US?

My only obstacle is getting a approved countries Credit Card that matches my details. Pre Paid credit cards does not work anymore. I have used Payoneer for US Bank account, have a virtual shipping US address and phone number.

If I am not able to get a Credit Card that will work, the next option is probably registering a LLC in the US. But that will be a lot of money.

Any advise will really be appreciate!
Thanks
 
Gatfol said:
Hi Phil77

Can you please elaborate on how you managed to do this? Does Amazon UK work different than Amazon US? Because I know US doesn't have South Africa on their "accepted countries" list.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Hi Gatfol, register an account with payoneer. Once your account is approved you will get banking details for EU. Then register with UK sellers account (separate than the US).

Here is some information that might help:
http://blog.payoneer.com/how-to/get...sements-from-amazon-to-your-payoneer-account/

South Africa is approved to sell on UK, but unfortunately not on US. Amazon US is about 10 times bigger than the UK version.

Hope this helps.
 
Vitality said:
Sorry for the Necro. I just came across this thread and thought I would answer it just in case someone needs the answer.

It is possible for you to sell on Amazon living in South Africa. There are a lot more steps and money involved to start. After that, it's actually better than selling straight from SA.

My own experience(I'm really just going to summaries, leaving out a lot of detail):
I was lucky. I already had a US bank account. I just opened it when I traveled there for the first time. I won't get into the specific reason, but it certainly wasn't to sell on Amazon in the future. I was also gutted to see South Africa wasn't on the list when I wanted to expand my brand to Amazon.com.

I formed an LLC in the US (Florida, to be specific). Just like in South Africa. The LLC I formed (Almost like a CC in SA) is a legal entity. So I registered my Amazon sellers account with my new LLC. I had to get an EIN for my LLC, for tax purposes and the fact that Amazon requires it. They basically don't care where I am situated, as long as the legal entity I registered is in the US.

There's plethora of other small things that you have to sort out. In short, it's possible.

I think there is a way around it if you don't have a US bank account. You will just have to research that.
Click to expand...

Sorry for nerco but how is your Amazon FBA venture going? Are you still doing it? How profitable was it?
 
Hi there,

Zentraedi Online offers an end-to-end solution for South African business owners who are interested in trading their products on Amazon.
Our service covers the following elements:
  • Complete logistics cover (local and international courier)
  • Full set-up on Amazon (keyword research, SEO, professional images)
  • Inventory management (replenishments, returns, stock count)
  • Product compliance (drafting of MSDS documents and FDA certificates)
If you’re interested in trading your products, then please reach out to one of our Amazon Consultants on our website.

Cheers
 
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