7 Steps to Start Selling on Amazon UAE

We have summarized below in 7-steps how to sell on Amazon UAE.

1. Understand the Market

In 2017, Amazon acquired the Middle-East largest ecommerce retailer SOUQ.com. In May 2019, “SOUQ, an Amazon company” officially became amazon.ae. Today, when you register your Amazon AE Seller Central account, you access a very large and valuable customer base. The United Arab Emirates has a fast-growing ecommerce sector with a young and wealthy population (30.3 avg. years old and 43$K GDP per capita, vs. 42$K in UK according to World Bank 2019 report), leading to a strong demand for high-end branded products. Amazon has put in place and continuously improves its state-of the art logistics and powerful tools to help you sell in the UAE while complying with tax and product regulations, in more than 30 product categories.

2. Learn about UAE restricted products

Be aware that safety and compliance regulations in UAE differ from those in your or other geographic regions. Customers trust that they can always buy with confidence on Amazon so it is your responsibility to make sure that you and your products comply with all applicable laws and with Amazon’s policies concerning Category, Product and Content Restrictions. You can review the requirements by category here.

3. Register and Verify your account

Selling on Amazon will help you accelerate your growth and potentially reach millions of new customers. We summarized below a 7-step process to get started:

1. Log out of your current Seller Central Account

2. Register for free on sellercentral.amazon.ae

3. Submit your ID and Bank statements

4. Finalize your account setup

5. Link your current account to your AE account via Seller Central -> Inventory -> Sell Globally

6. Verify the restricted product categories and legal restrictions

7. Upload your listings and select a shipping carrier

Note: After you register (but before you start selling), Amazon will verify your identity with the Seller Identity Verification process (SIV).

4. Understand the listing tools available in UAE

1. Listing in small batches or in bulk: You can list a limited number of products using the Add-a-Product tool, or you can use inventory files to list your products in bulk. Inventory file templates allow you to add or edit product listings in bulk. You can create a template to suit your specific requirements and list different types of products across multiple categories using one template.
2. Build International Listings: You can create and update offers from a source marketplace to other destination marketplace(s). Therefore, you save time and effort as the tool will allow you to update, in your origin marketplace, eligible offers and prices for the target marketplaces based on settings that you specify and currency exchange rates.
3. High quality content (detail page and images): Good quality listings improves your conversion rate. For step-by step instructions on improving your listing quality, visit Enhance your listings.
4. The Buy Box: You must meet performance-based requirements to be eligible to compete against Amazon or other sellers. Reach out to us and we can tell you how the Amazon Buy Box works, how it can increase your sales, and how you can become eligible to win it.

5. Learn about the fulfillment options in the UAE

You can store and fulfill the products you sell on Amazon from your own local inventory, or via Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). It is very important to remember that if you choose to manage your own shipping, you are responsible for the customer experience from shipping to customer returns. We recommend using international carriers and select duty delivery paid. With FBA, you just send your inventory to one of Amazon fulfillment centers in Dubai and Amazon will pick, pack and ship to the end customers. Amazon will offer some additional services such as the customer service, refunds and returns.

6. Understand the import / export / VAT restrictions

Goods that are imported into UAE are subject to a value added tax (VAT). The rate of VAT that applies to most supplies of goods and services in the UAE is currently 5% and may vary at the time of actual sale. It is very important to know that you are responsible, and not Amazon, for your own VAT obligations when selling to UAE customers.

If you are a non-UAE resident supplying goods to a UAE customers locally through Amazon’s FBA channel, then you will be required to register for VAT irrespective of your revenues. You can register online on the tax authority’s website. We would be happy to support you further on this matter if you have any questions.

Important: Information on this page does not constitute tax, legal, or other professional advice and must not be used as such. You should consult your tax advisor for if you have any questions.

7. Run your marketing

We can write a 10 pager on this 🙂 Let’s have a chat and we can help you unlock growth leveraging the key marketing tools such as Sponsored Ads, Brand Registry, Coupons, Lightening Deals and much more…

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