Are you selling on Amazon in the U.S. and looking for a way to expand and grow your sales? There are numerous methods. While you can, of course, look to sell more products, this involves more research and investment. Why not just expand the product you already have into new markets?
Fortunately, if you are already selling in the U.S. or if you have just spotted an opportunity in the Canadian market, it is pretty straightforward to start to ship your products into Canada.
There are two methods for selling in Canada. You can either sign up directly for a Seller Central account in the country, or take advantage of something called a North America Unified Account. Let’s dive into the methods to take your business north to Canada.
Why bother selling on Amazon in Canada? The population of the whole of Canada is less than the population of California. That’s quite an incredible statistic. So, is there any point?
The answer is YES.
Selling on Amazon can allow you to build up your business while the competition is relatively low compared to Amazon in the U.S. There are nowhere near as many sellers trying to get to the top of the rankings, but the country still has plenty of buyers.
Done well, expanding to Amazon in Canada can boost your sales by 10-20%. This may not sound like loads, especially when compared to the idea of adding more products in the U.S., which could double your sales or even more. However, not expanding into Canada is definitely leaving money on the table.
- Amazon CA has a “Start Selling Online” page where you will find all the information you need to get started.
- You can choose to sell under an individual or business plan. On the individual plan, you just pay a flat fee per sale of $1.49 CDN. If you plan to sell only a few items each month then you will probably want to go for this plan.
- The professional plan has a monthly fee of $29.99 CDN. This is great for selling larger volumes of items.
- Keep in mind that you don’t have to have a Canadian address to start selling.
- To sign up, navigate to the Start Selling Online page, then click on “Start Selling.”
Follow the instructions to give information on whether you are an individual or a business, and you’ll also be prompted to give information on your business type, and declare if you are one of the following:
Then, you’ll need to give your personal info as well as banking details. You’ll also name your store and choose which plan you’re going to sell under.
Amazon needs to verify your account, so they will give you instructions on how you can do this to ensure that you are not a scammer and you are indeed who you say you are. After this, you’re ready to start listing products and selling in Canada.
This is pretty simple, right? There is an even simpler method for those who have already been selling in the U.S.
A North America Unified Account is a method of selling not just in the U.S. but in all of North America.
It has what is called a “source marketplace” which is where you lived when your Seller Central account was first created, but also a “target marketplace” which refers to the location you want to sell products next.
It means that U.S. sellers can quickly and easily start selling in both Canada and in Mexico.
It may be the case that your account has already been set up as a North America Unified Account. When you log in, you will see a flag switcher at the top of your screen. If you get this within seller central, click on the Canada or Mexico options, and see if you are able to sell on other marketplaces.
You’ll be able to sell as FBA products or you can even sell products and fulfill them on your own.
If you have a Seller Central account that you set up in the U.S. you can chat to the support on Amazon and ask if they can turn your account into a North America Unified Account.
Healthy accounts are much more likely to be approved. In fact, Amazon will usually take a matter of days to upgrade you.
Interestingly, if you’re an individual seller based in Canada, you can sell to the United States anyway, but registering in the U.S. means you will need to get approval.
If you still have questions about this method of selling, check out Amazon’s explainer for the North America Unified Account system.
Canadian sales tax is different from that in the U.S.
There are different types of tax, including sales tax, called Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Harmonized Sales Tax (HST.)
Wherever you live, if you sell in Canada you might well have to pay GST/HST tax, and while you won’t be responsible for income tax in the country, you’re still responsible to pay something.
If you are in any doubt at all about sales tax, it is best to speak to an accountant about what you are liable for.
Canada’s population may only be 10% of that of the United States, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore this as a sales market. It’s also less competitive, so you might find that you get a boost to sales that far exceeds that expected 10%.
While you can always sign up for a seller account in Amazon, it may be even simpler if you already sell in the U.S. as the clever North America Unified Account plan makes it easy to take your listings to the whole of North America.
