How to sell on Amazon with Printful’s integration: 8 steps
Just a quick word before we begin—the Amazon integration can be tricky. Amazon isn’t for beginners, and it’ll require more time and money to keep it going. But if you’re ready to take the plunge and wondering how to start a clothing brand on Amazon, let’s get started.
Step 1: Create an Amazon selling account
Head to Amazon Seller Central and create your account. When signing up, you need to pick the Professional selling plan, which costs $39.99/month. Amazon requires you to have a paid plan to use their API, which you’ll need for the Printful integration to work.
Remember that you’ll also have to pay referral fees for each product you sell. The fees depend on the product category and listed retail price, but they can be up to 20%.
Source: Amazon
Amazon can take a while to approve your account, so you might need to be patient. Make sure to double-check all the info you enter when signing up to avoid any delays later.
When your Amazon selling account is ready, continue with the next step.
Step 2: Select the regions you want to sell in
Go to Amazon Seller Central to choose the marketplaces where you’ll sell your products. In the sidebar, go to Inventory > Sell Globally and select your sales locations. But keep in mind that picking several regions will increase the monthly fees you have to pay Amazon.
Source: Amazon
Now, let’s head to the Printful side of things.
Step 3: Create an Amazon store on Printful
In your Printful Dashboard, go to Stores > Choose platform to create an Amazon integration.
Source: Printful
Find Amazon in the list of available integrations and click Connect.
Source: Printful
Then, proceed to the next step.
Step 4: Select selling regions on Printful
In the new page that’s opened up, you can pick the regions where you want to sell. With Printful, you can sell your products in North America and Europe.
Pick the region you’re interested in and click Authorize. You’ll be asked to log in to your Amazon selling account. Then, confirm that you want Printful to connect to your account.
Source: Printful
After the confirmation, you’ll be taken back to the Printful page, where you have to select the marketplaces where you want to sell. Pick the ones you need and click Save.
Source: Printful
Once that’s done, go to the next step.
Step 5: Get a GTIN exemption
GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number and is used to identify products or services. To be able to sell Printful products on Amazon, you’ll need to request a GTIN exemption.
It’s possible to use the integration without a GTIN exemption if you have a registered brand on Amazon. But to register a brand, you need to get a trademark, which is a time-consuming process. Unless you already have a trademark or plan to get one, we recommend going with the GTIN exemption process instead.
To apply for a GTIN exemption, go to your account on Amazon Seller Central. There, head to Catalog > Add Products. Choose the I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon option and select the category and product type you need.
Source: Amazon
Mark two checkboxes on the Product Identity page—This product does not have a brand name and I don’t have a Product ID. After that, click Next.
Source: Amazon
Then, you’ll see a GTIN exemption application link appear. Click Apply now and complete the rest of the application form, including your product name and photos.
You’ll need 2 to 9 photos showing your product and its packaging from different sides. The Amazon guidelines recommend holding or placing the product on a table when taking photos.
Printful lets you order samples of your products with 20% off—use this offer to get the photos you need. Read this FAQ to learn more about samples.
After completing the form, submit your GTIN exemption request to Amazon. They’ll review it, and you’ll receive an email approving or rejecting your application. Amazon says you should receive a response within 48 hours.
Remember that you need to apply for GTIN exemptions for each product category you want to sell.
Step 6: Finish integrating with Amazon
After receiving your GTIN exemption, it’s time to finish connecting Printful with Amazon.
Go to your Amazon store on the Printful Dashboard. Select the I already have GTIN exemption option and click Create store. On the page that opens, click the Yup, I have a GTIN exemption button to confirm.
Source: Printful
Now, with the most challenging part done, the fun part of the process can start.
Step 7: Add products to your Amazon store
With the connection between Printful and Amazon all set up, you can now create the products you want to sell.
Go to the Amazon store on your Printful Dashboard and click Add product. Choose the product and customize it.
Source: Printful
Whether you’re going for t-shirt printing, embroidery, or anything else, the steps are the same: add your design, pick the colors and sizes you want to sell, and set the prices.
Remember to pick only the product categories for which you’ve received GTIN exemptions.
Make sure to customize the titles and descriptions to increase the chances of customers finding your product. Amazon offers guidelines and policies on this topic, so it’s a good idea to follow their recommendations.
Amazon also has strict product image requirements. But the good news is that the mockup images Printful offers comply with these guidelines, so you can add them to your store without worries.
When all your products are ready, there’s one final step.
Read more: 20 Best-Selling Items on Amazon
Step 8: Set up shipping and taxes
The Amazon integration only supports flat shipping rates. We recommend using Amazon’s default rates, which are calculated based on industry standards for each product category.
If you want to, you can change the shipping and return addresses to Printful locations. You can do that in the Settings of your account on Amazon Seller Central.
Source: Amazon
When it comes to sorting out your taxes, we recommend consulting an accounting professional because each situation is different depending on where you’re located and who you’re selling to. You can also look at Amazon’s resources (you have to be logged in to Seller Central to view them).
And that’s it! Your products are now available on the biggest marketplace on the planet.
A couple of things to keep in mind
Amazon’s top priority is always the buyer. It wants its customers to keep coming back and spending more. That’s why they have strict rules for sellers—to ensure the buyer has a good experience.
If your store’s performance metrics don’t meet Amazon’s standards, they’ll issue warnings and penalties if nothing is improved. If there are too many infractions, your Amazon account will be suspended. So, it’s best to keep an eye on your statistics before things get out of hand.
To see how your store is doing, go to the Account Health section in Seller Central. There, you’ll see the metrics Amazon measures and how your account is performing.
Source: Amazon
To help you avoid penalties for late orders, we automatically set the production time for Amazon products you push through Printful to 6 days. This is, on average, the longest time it takes us to fulfill a product. As long as your orders ship out within 6 days, your account won’t get penalized for late shipments.
We don’t suggest changing this because if you set it to a time that Printful can’t work with, your orders will count as late, which could mean trouble for your account.
Ready to start selling on Amazon?
There are many hoops to jump through to become a seller on Amazon, but we have some more statistics to convince you it’s worth a try. In 2023, Amazon was the biggest online retailer in the US, claiming over 37% of the market. On top of that, 57% of buyers in the US start with Amazon when they want to buy something online—custom clothing, electronics, accessories, books, you name it.
Without a doubt, Amazon is a trusted marketplace. It’s practically become synonymous with online shopping, so being an Amazon seller adds legitimacy to your business. Plus, multichannel selling is a winning ecommerce strategy. You should sell products not only on your online store but also on marketplaces where you can access previously untapped audiences.
Amazon may be a steep learning curve, but if you have the time to master it, get started now!
Need help to start selling with Amazon? Request onboarding support directly from Amazon.
Already selling on Amazon? Share your experiences in the comments!
Read also: How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory: 4 Top Methods for Sellers
