How to Sell on Amazon from Ukraine — Recommendations for Beginners

Amazon is not just an online store, but an entire ecosystem, a global marketplace with millions of visitors. It’s rightly called an e-commerce giant: Amazon has 21 localized websites in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Do you know what you want to offer to customers worldwide? Start a business on Amazon, and DiFFreight experts will show you how to become a successful entrepreneur.

How to Start Selling on Amazon

The international marketplace strictly regulates trade — study all conditions, fees, payments, and charges before registering an account. After creating and verifying your profile, a huge market opens up!

How to Sell on Amazon Europe

For the European market, the platform offers a European Unified Account, which allows managing sales in different European countries (Germany, France, Spain, etc.) from a single account. Note that after Brexit, the UK left this system.

The Pan-European FBA (PAN-EU) program allows storing products in Amazon warehouses across Europe. When a customer places an order, the platform ships it from the nearest warehouse.

In this scheme, Amazon acts as a “conditional supplier” and charges tax from the seller. The main requirement of Pan-EU — the seller must register as a VAT payer in all countries where their goods are stored and file reports independently. This model does not apply to B2B sales.

How to Sell on Amazon Canada

Selling in Canada is possible with a North America Unified Account (covers the USA and Mexico). Thanks to a unified logistics network, you can ship products to a US warehouse, and they will be available to Canadian customers.

The Canadian market is a great start for new sellers:

• Lower competition, making it easier to enter the niche and get first sales.
• Advertising costs on Amazon.ca are lower — with less spending on promotion.
• Product prices are higher (even considering currency conversion), which positively affects margin and profitability per unit.

Canada applies Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), depending on the province. Usually, Amazon automatically collects these taxes from sellers.

How to Sell on Amazon USA

The US Amazon market is oversaturated: entrepreneurs often engage in “wars” for customers. This makes starting a business stressful for beginners. Amazon USA is for those ready for high volumes and tough competition.

For selling in the US, you need to understand the local taxation system. Amazon automatically calculates and collects sales tax in most states.

In addition to standard documents, additional certificates may be required for cosmetics, children’s toys, and electronics in Europe, the USA, and Canada.

Choosing Products to Sell on Amazon from Ukraine

The main success factor in how to work with Amazon from Ukraine is offering competitive products. They must stand out from competitors in terms of quality, features, or price. Let’s name three first steps:

• Niche and Competitor Analysis

Amazon is especially complicated because of the hundreds of thousands of sellers. Don’t rely on intuition or personal preferences. Success is built on data!

• Use paid services to analyze competitors’ sales volumes, buyer search queries, and keyword competition. Jungle Scout, Helium 10, Viral Launch, and others will work. It’s also helpful to check queries via Google Trends.
• Look for the “pain points” of buyers. Go to an interested category and check reviews. Negative ones are a source of very useful information. What problems have arisen with the products? Can you offer a solution?
• Evaluate demand and competition. The ideal scenario for a successful start is high demand with moderate competition. Avoid niches dominated by big brands with thousands of reviews and huge advertising budgets.

Is it profitable to sell Ukrainian products on Amazon? Yes, if your product interests not only the diaspora. However, locally manufactured products are more expensive than Chinese-made ones, but it depends on the niche.

• Profitability Assessment

Selling on Amazon from Ukraine involves the following expenses:

• Purchase price from the supplier. Find reliable manufacturers, often starting with Chinese goods. They are inexpensive in cost and fairly high-quality. Another undeniable advantage is the established logistics from China to the USA.
• Shipping costs to the Amazon warehouse if you choose fulfillment. Logistics takes up a large portion of costs, especially for bulky or fragile goods. Consider freight, insurance, customs clearance.
• Amazon fees. The platform charges fees for sales and FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). The product is stored in a special warehouse, packed, and then delivered to the customer. The marketplace also accepts returns.
• Marketing costs, such as advertising on Amazon.
• Other expenses: returns, taxes, employee salaries, etc.

A helpful tip is to choose products that allow for good margins while maintaining competitive prices. These are often small, lightweight, and durable items that are simple to manage in logistics.

• Studying Delivery Options

Customers are located worldwide, but there is a service for shipping products to Amazon warehouses in Europe and the USA. From there, packages are shipped to reduce waiting times for customers. How Amazon operates in Ukraine (it doesn't) complicates life for sellers. More details in the next section.

What “Red Flags” to Avoid:

• If you are a beginner, starting with highly seasonal items (like Christmas decorations) is risky. You might miss the peak or end up with unsold items.
• Products with a high rate of defects or returns. Clothing, electronics, and fragile items are among those that will increase costs and lower your rating.
• Patent or trademark issues. Ensure that the product or its components do not violate others' patents. The marketplace is strict about copyright issues.
• Banned or restricted categories. Amazon has a list of products that are prohibited to sell. Some require special permissions, such as cosmetics, food products, and electronics with batteries.

In the beginning, focus on increasing sales to improve your rating. Therefore, it’s better to choose products that are consistently in demand.

Shipping Goods from Ukraine to Amazon Warehouses

How to sell on Amazon from Ukraine — here are the options:

• Shipping goods to Amazon FBA warehouses — fulfillment by the marketplace. It accepts, stores, packs, and delivers the product to customers. Pros: speed, inventory management, return handling. Cons: this service is paid.
• Shipping goods to Amazon in the USA or Europe on your own. Use DiFFreight’s services: we offer fulfillment in our New Jersey warehouse. You won’t depend on the platform. We organize both logistics to the warehouse and order fulfillment, including returns handling.

The third option: shipping packages through international postal operators, which is not suitable for business. Delivery takes a week, and customers don't like waiting. Plus, it will cost significantly more, which will hurt your profitability.

How to Sell on Amazon from Ukraine Without Making Mistakes

What to pay attention to, according to DiFFreight:

• Choosing the Right Account. You can sell on Amazon as an individual entrepreneur or as a company. In both cases, you need verification. Watch for notifications. If you fail to provide all the documents or try to deceive the system, your account will be banned.
• Business will have ups and downs. To make the ups more frequent, don’t forget about optimization, buying ads, and adapting to new algorithms and platform requirements.
• Honestly assess your delivery capabilities. While fulfillment from the platform is not free, it reduces customer wait times. Speed is a very important factor.

We recommend our article on Typical mistakes when working with Amazon. DiFFreight experts invite you to a consultation. We will answer your questions about successful selling on the platform, delivery nuances, and fulfillment. We wish you success in conquering the international market!