Selling on Amazon.ca

Is selling on Amazon.ca right for your products?

Amazon.ca is where a large share of Canadian online shoppers start their product searches. For a small brand, that's an enormous shop window you could never build yourself. The trade-off is that you play by Amazon's rules, pay its fees, and compete side by side with similar products. Selling on Amazon.ca works best for products that are easy to ship, priced high enough to absorb fees, and searched for by type: "bamboo cutting board", "dog cooling mat", "wool socks for hiking".

It's a harder fit for custom-made items, very cheap products, heavy or fragile goods, and anything that needs a long explanation before purchase. Before setting up an account, I'd rather spend 30 minutes with you checking whether your products have room in the numbers.

Getting the account right the first time

Registration happens in Seller Central, where you choose a selling plan and go through identity and business verification. The details have to match exactly across your documents, bank account and business registration. Small inconsistencies, such as a different address format or a name spelled differently, are the most common reason verification drags on. The account is opened in your name, with your business details and your payout account. My partner and I work with delegated user access, never with your password.

Some categories are gated, meaning Amazon asks for extra information, invoices or approvals before you can list. Checking this before ordering inventory saves unpleasant surprises.

Listings that rank and sell

A listing does two jobs: it gets found in Amazon search, and it convinces the shopper once they're there. That means:

• A title with the product type and key features near the start, in plain language.
• Bullet points that answer the questions people actually have: size, material, use, what's in the box, care.
• Images that show the product clearly on white, in use, with scale and with detail. Seven good images beat two great ones.
• Backend keywords for synonyms and terms that don't fit naturally in the text.
• A+ content, once you have Brand Registry, to tell the brand story with images and comparison charts.

If you sell to Quebec, French listings help (that text comes from your own team or translator, as my work is in English), and product packaging needs to meet labelling rules in both languages for most consumer products. Good product photography and clear copywriting are the cheapest ways to improve conversion.

Fulfilment: Amazon's warehouses or yours

With Fulfilment by Amazon, you send stock to Amazon's fulfilment centres, and Amazon stores, packs, ships and handles returns. Products usually become Prime-eligible, which helps conversion. You pay fulfilment and storage fees, and you need to manage inventory carefully, since long-term storage gets expensive and running out of stock hurts ranking.

Shipping orders yourself gives you more control and can be cheaper for some products, but you have to meet Amazon's standards for delivery speed and tracking across a large country. For many Canadian sellers outside major centres, that's the deciding factor.

The launch phase

A new listing starts with no sales history and no reviews, so Amazon has little reason to show it. The launch plan typically combines a competitive starting price, Amazon ads focused on a handful of relevant searches, and legitimate ways to get early reviews, such as Amazon's own programs where available and good follow-up through Amazon's messaging tools. Buying reviews, offering rewards for positive ones, or asking friends to post them breaks Amazon's rules and Canada's Competition Act rules on fake reviews, and can end the account.

How the work is delivered

I deliver this with a trusted partner who works with Amazon seller accounts daily. The contract, deadlines and communication stay with me: one written agreement, one person to call, reports every two weeks in plain language. The work is quoted individually after a short call. For the bigger picture, including Walmart.ca and your own store, see my marketplace advertising overview or the e-commerce strategy service.