Selling on Amazon in Italy: account, costs and VAT
If you want to start selling on Amazon, the first useful step is not opening random accounts. You need to separate four different layers clearly: the type of Amazon account, the real costs of selling, the fulfilment model and the Italian tax setup.
Understand what really changes between the Individual plan, the Professional plan and Seller Central.
See the real costs beyond Amazon's fee alone: marketplace fees, fulfilment, advertising, VAT and margin.
Before you lock in catalogue decisions, always re-check Amazon's latest official pricing and policy guidance.
Selling on Amazon in Italy: the short answer
The useful answer is not only “yes, you can”. The useful answer is: “yes, you can, but do not confuse the Amazon account, the real costs and the Italian obligations”.
Seller Central: what it is, how it works and where to access it
Seller Central is the operating dashboard for your seller account. This is where you manage offers, inventory, orders, advertising, payments, returns and many operational controls.
Anyone searching for “Seller Central login” usually just wants the right access point. It is still worth clarifying that Seller Central is an operational tool, not your tax position and not proof that the selling model has already been set up properly.
Catalogue, pricing and product availability
Orders, shipping, returns and account performance
Payments, reports and advertising tools
FBA services, Brand Registry and category approval requests
Amazon Individual or Professional: the real differences
Use this comparison to understand volume, tools and day-to-day operations. Do not use it as a shortcut for saying “private seller” versus “VAT-registered business”. Amazon Italy currently still shows an Individual plan with a per-item fee and a Professional plan at EUR 39 + VAT per month.
Individual: no fixed monthly fee, but a fee is charged for each item sold.
Professional: fixed monthly fee and no fee on each individual item sold.
Testing phase, low volume and still a small catalogue.
Regular selling, stable catalogue and the need for more complete tools.
Essential operating base, with fewer advanced tools and less room for automation or advertising.
Advertising, more useful reports, some integrations and more flexibility on categories and account control.
When you start selling consistently or want to take logistics, sponsored activity and category management seriously.
When you already have regular volume and need to scale without the per-item fee of the Individual plan.
| Criterion | Individual | Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Entry cost | Individual: no fixed monthly fee, but a fee is charged for each item sold. | Professional: fixed monthly fee and no fee on each individual item sold. |
| When it makes sense | Testing phase, low volume and still a small catalogue. | Regular selling, stable catalogue and the need for more complete tools. |
| Tools available | Essential operating base, with fewer advanced tools and less room for automation or advertising. | Advertising, more useful reports, some integrations and more flexibility on categories and account control. |
| When to switch | When you start selling consistently or want to take logistics, sponsored activity and category management seriously. | When you already have regular volume and need to scale without the per-item fee of the Individual plan. |
It is better to avoid absolute thresholds such as “above X units”. Amazon uses different benchmarks depending on context; for this page the key principle is light testing versus stable operations.
Selling on Amazon without a VAT number: what that really means
This is the section to read most carefully. Your Amazon selling plan and your Italian tax setup are not the same thing.
Amazon also allows registration as an individual seller. But the fact that the platform offers that plan does not automatically turn an organised online selling activity into simple casual private selling.
The EUR 5,000 threshold is not the rule that automatically authorises you to sell online without VAT registration.
For a marketplace business, what matters most is whether the activity is regular, organised and aimed at re-selling. If the doubt is tax or company related, speak to an accountant before setting up catalogue, logistics and account documents.
When it can make sense to talk about selling as a private individual
You are disposing of personal items you already own on an occasional basis.
There is no stable buying-and-re-selling structure.
You do not have a catalogue built for ongoing marketplace sales.
When you need to stop and set the activity up properly
You want to buy and re-sell on a regular basis.
You are organising margin, sourcing, advertising and logistics in a stable way.
You plan to list several products with an ongoing marketplace presence.
You need documents, authorisations, invoices and operating consistency suited to a business, not to occasional disposal of personal goods.
The Individual plan is not a tax shortcut. Treat it as a choice about Amazon fees and tools, not as implied advice on your position in Italy.
What selling on Amazon really costs
Amazon costs do not stop at the monthly fee. The real economics only become clear when you add marketplace fees, fulfilment costs and the costs Amazon does not absorb for you.
Core Amazon costs
Individual plan with a per-item fee or Professional plan at EUR 39 + VAT per month.
Referral fees that vary by category: often around 8% to 15%, but not the same for every product.
Any FBA fees for fulfilment, storage, removals or related services.
Costs Amazon does not cover
Product cost, packaging and inbound logistics.
VAT, tax advice and administrative structure.
Advertising, promotions and traffic acquisition costs.
Software, analytics, returns, waste and the cost of capital tied up in stock.
Amazon's calculator is useful for estimating fees and margin inside the Amazon ecosystem. It does not replace the full profit-and-loss view of the project.
Amazon FBA: how it works and when it makes sense
With FBA you send stock to Amazon fulfilment centres and Amazon handles a significant part of the logistics. You do not have to use FBA for the whole catalogue, and it is not automatically the most convenient choice for every seller.
FBA: easier to scale when catalogue turnover is healthy and in-house logistics are a bottleneck.
FBM: more direct control over shipping, stock and internal processes.
FBA: fulfilment and storage fees that must be weighed carefully against the margin on each product.
FBM: more costs sit in your own structure, but with more operational work and direct responsibility.
FBA: more straightforward path to Prime offers and consistent logistics standards.
FBM: possible, but it requires far more disciplined internal processes to avoid harming performance and delivery times.
FBA: standardised products, healthy turnover, manageable dimensions and a need to scale.
FBM: more selective catalogues, complex products or margins that suffer too much under FBA fees.
| Criterion | FBA | FBM |
|---|---|---|
| Operations | FBA: easier to scale when catalogue turnover is healthy and in-house logistics are a bottleneck. | FBM: more direct control over shipping, stock and internal processes. |
| Costs | FBA: fulfilment and storage fees that must be weighed carefully against the margin on each product. | FBM: more costs sit in your own structure, but with more operational work and direct responsibility. |
| Prime and customer experience | FBA: more straightforward path to Prime offers and consistent logistics standards. | FBM: possible, but it requires far more disciplined internal processes to avoid harming performance and delivery times. |
| When it works best | FBA: standardised products, healthy turnover, manageable dimensions and a need to scale. | FBM: more selective catalogues, complex products or margins that suffer too much under FBA fees. |
The right question is not “FBA or not”. The right question is: “for this product, with this margin and this operating model, does FBA work better or does direct fulfilment work better?”.
What you can sell on Amazon and which categories need approval
Not everything you see on Amazon can automatically be sold by everyone. Some categories are open, some require a Professional account, some need approval or extra documents, and others remain prohibited or high risk.
Open categories
Products with relatively straightforward access and standard documentation.
Suitable for early testing only if the supply chain is clean and the margin makes sense.
Approval-gated categories
Beauty, grocery, jewellery, watches and other categories that may require gating or extra checks.
Your practical ability to sell depends on the account, documents and seller history.
Categories with extra requirements
Products with safety, compliance, age verification, technical documentation or specific logistics requirements.
You need to separate product eligibility, FBA eligibility and document eligibility.
Prohibited or high-risk products
Counterfeit, unlawful, unsafe, non-compliant products or products that breach Amazon policy and applicable rules.
Here the risk is not only commercial: it can quickly become an account health or suspension issue.
This page explains the logic; it does not replace the final operational check. Before listing products, it is always worth checking Amazon's latest guidance on categories, documents and limits.
Useful internal pages if the issue turns into a compliance problem
Selling other brands on Amazon: yes, but not in any way you like
You can re-sell other brands' products, use existing ASINs and source from third parties. But it is not accurate to frame this as a rule-free space.
If the product is genuinely the same one, in many cases you can attach to an existing ASIN; the key point is that brand, authenticity, supply chain and documents must stand up.
For protected brands or sensitive categories, Amazon may expect you to be the brand owner or an authorised reseller, with evidence Amazon sees as credible.
Arbitrage, wholesale and sourcing need to be read more critically than the promotional tone often seen online: the real question is always whether the supply chain and documentation are genuinely strong enough.
If the risk is already around brand authorisation, IP or authenticity, it is better to stop thinking about this as simple onboarding and move to the proper compliance route.
Selling on Amazon without holding products: what people are really asking
Usually four different ideas get mixed together here: dropshipping, re-selling other people's products, arbitrage/wholesale and models such as print-on-demand or handmade. The page should separate them, not present them as one universal shortcut.
If you use dropshipping, Amazon expects it to be clear that you remain the seller of record to the end customer.
Packing slips, invoices, outer packaging and customer communication must not make another retailer look like the real seller.
Describing it as “no warehouse and no investment” in a safe, standard way is misleading: policy and operational risk depend on execution, documents and supply-chain control.
Dropshipping does not mean handing the customer relationship to another retailer.
If the model is weakly controlled, the problem is not only margin. It can quickly become a policy, customer experience or document credibility issue.
Amazon Vendor or Amazon Seller? They are not the same thing
Anyone searching for Vendor often wants to know whether it is an alternative model or an automatic upgrade. It is neither. Seller Central and Vendor Central are two different ecosystems.
Seller: you sell to the end customer through the Amazon marketplace.
Vendor: you sell wholesale to Amazon, which then re-sells as first party.
Seller: you keep more control over catalogue, pricing and day-to-day operations.
Vendor: Amazon has a more direct role in retail pricing and the commercial relationship.
Seller Central: the standard route for the vast majority of marketplace sellers.
Vendor Central: usually by invitation or through a specific wholesale relationship with Amazon.
Seller: sellers and brands that want to operate as 3P.
Vendor: 1P wholesale models with a different commercial logic from the seller marketplace.
| Criterion | Seller | Vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Who buys the product | Seller: you sell to the end customer through the Amazon marketplace. | Vendor: you sell wholesale to Amazon, which then re-sells as first party. |
| Control and pricing | Seller: you keep more control over catalogue, pricing and day-to-day operations. | Vendor: Amazon has a more direct role in retail pricing and the commercial relationship. |
| Access | Seller Central: the standard route for the vast majority of marketplace sellers. | Vendor Central: usually by invitation or through a specific wholesale relationship with Amazon. |
| Who it suits | Seller: sellers and brands that want to operate as 3P. | Vendor: 1P wholesale models with a different commercial logic from the seller marketplace. |
Vendor is not the premium level of Seller. It is a different commercial model, with a different economic relationship with Amazon.
Useful tools and special cases
You do not need ten tools on day one. A few are enough, used properly, to understand fees, fulfilment choices and real operational discussions.
Amazon pricing and revenue pages
Use Amazon's official pricing and revenue pages to start from fees, selling-plan structure and margin basics before opening campaigns or holding too much stock.
Amazon seller forums
Useful to see how other sellers read practical cases, but not a substitute for policy, economics or tax advice.
Sellerboard
Third-party analytics and margin tool. It can help, but it is not an official Amazon tool and should not become the basis of the initial decision.
Third party, not an official Amazon tool.
Amazon Business
Amazon Handmade
FAQ about selling on Amazon
These answers are here to remove practical ambiguity. If the question becomes tax-related or involves a real account block, the right reading changes.
If you want to start properly, clarify account, costs, logistics and compliance first.
This page is here to clear the initial fog. If you still have doubts about the operating model, documents or starting structure, use the standard contact route. If the problem is already an account block, go straight to the dedicated guide.