Opening the Seller Central account

Everything in lessons 2 to 5 existed so that this lesson takes an evening rather than a month. The registration itself is not hard. What makes it hard is starting it before the documents exist, and then improvising — because Amazon's checks compare what you type against what your documents say, and improvisation shows up as a mismatch.

Before you click anything

Amazon publishes what to have ready: a government-issued ID, an email address, an internationally chargeable credit card, a bank account and routing number, a business licence or registration, proof of residential address from the last 180 days such as a bank or credit card statement, and tax information.¹

Lay them on the table and check one thing before you start: that they agree with each other.

The five steps, and what each really asks

1. Business information. Business location, business type — public, private, charitable or individual — the exact business name, company registration number, registered business address, and a phone number with country code.¹ The exact business name means exactly: the string on your Articles of Organization, including “LLC”.
2. Seller information. From your government-issued ID: full legal name including middle name, country of citizenship, country of birth, date of birth and residential address, plus phone numbers, and whether you are a beneficial owner, a legal representative, or both.¹ For a single-member LLC you are usually both, and saying so is correct rather than suspicious.
3. Billing. Bank account holder name, bank account and routing number, and an internationally chargeable credit card — Amazon lists American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard and Visa.¹ The card is for fees, and a card that declines international charges will stall you here.
4. Store and products. The business name as it will appear to shoppers, product codes such as GTINs or UPCs, any certifications, and whether you are the manufacturer or brand owner.¹ Your store name is public and changeable later; do not agonise.
5. Identity verification. Upload the ID and the proof of residential address from the last 180 days, then either take a photo of your face with the ID, or join or schedule a video call with an Amazon associate. Amazon states that verification usually takes three business days or less.¹

The video call

It is short and administrative. Someone confirms that the person on screen is the person on the identity document, and that the documents you uploaded are the documents you hold. Preparation is the whole job.

• Have the original documents in your hand, not photocopies or phone screenshots. You will be asked to show both sides.
• Sit somewhere with steady light and a stable connection. A frozen call is a rescheduled call.
• Know your own answers: the exact business name, the address you entered, what you intend to sell. Hesitating over your own company's name is a bad look.
• If the call is offered as an immediate option and you are not ready, schedule it instead. There is no prize for rushing.

Why registrations stall

Almost every stalled registration comes down to a document that does not support what was typed.

• A name that differs by a character. A missing middle name, a comma before “LLC”, an accent dropped from a surname.
• A statement older than 180 days, or one that shows a different address from the one entered.
• A document that is cropped, blurred, or missing an edge. If a corner is cut off, it will be rejected.
• A card that cannot be charged internationally, or that is in a name unrelated to the business or to you.
• A business address nobody can verify, or one given in a different format across documents.
• Using another person's identity. Not a technicality — it ends the account and any future account associated with you.

If the account lands under review

It happens to people who did everything correctly, and the instinct to do something dramatic is what turns a delay into a closure. The sequence that works:

1. Read what was actually asked, literally. Requests are usually specific: one document, in one format, showing one thing.
2. Send exactly that, once. Not that plus four extra files, and not the same case five times through different channels. Duplicate cases slow reviews down.
3. Keep the reply short and factual. No apologies, no life story, no promises about future behaviour when nothing has been alleged.
4. Wait the stated time before following up. Amazon says verification usually takes three business days or less; chasing on day one adds a case to the queue.
5. Do not open another account, and do not change your bank details mid-review. Both look like exactly what they look like.

The first hour after approval

• Choose your plan deliberately. You can switch or cancel your selling plan at any time after registration. The Professional plan adds bulk listing and pricing tools, automated pricing, brand features, Amazon Ads, Amazon Business selling, Global Selling and API access.³ If you are not using any of those this month, you do not need to pay for them this month.
• Turn on two-step verification with the phone number from lesson 3 — the one you control and pay for, and have tested for incoming messages.
• Complete the tax interview from lesson 5 before your first payout, not after.
• Add users with the least access that works. An assistant who uploads listings does not need access to bank details.
• Save the settlement report location. Lesson 12 will ask you to reconcile them; knowing where they live costs nothing now.

Mistakes that cost weeks

• Starting registration to “see what they ask”. A half-finished application with wrong data is harder to fix than a clean start.
• Typing a name from memory. Copy it from the document, character for character.
• Uploading a phone photo of a screen. Photograph the document itself, flat, in daylight, with all four corners visible.
• Using a personal email you share with an existing Amazon shopping account. Use a business address you control.
• Opening a second account when the first stalls. The most expensive mistake in this lesson.
• Panicking on day one of a review. Three business days is the stated norm.
• Skipping the tax interview. Payouts wait for it.

Next

Lesson 7 covers what you may actually list: gated categories and brands, how approval works, what a trademark costs and what Brand Registry gives you, and how intellectual property complaints end accounts.