2020
The State of the Amazon Seller
Insights from 1,046 Amazon sellers. Explore the key findings here and download the full report for more.
More than half of Amazon’s $280 billion revenue in 2019 was fueled by its third-party sellers. This segment comprises a wide range of sellers — from budding entrepreneurs to small and mid-sized businesses to major global brands — all leveraging the world’s largest retail platform to build their businesses.
So how do Amazon sellers make up such a massive portion of the Amazon machine?
Jungle Scout conducted a survey* among thousands of Amazon sellers to drill into their sales and profits, the diversity of the market, and the critical challenges and concerns Amazon sellers are facing in 2020 and beyond.
Download the full reportSelling on Amazon in 2020 is
Profitable
86%
of Amazon sellers are profitable
While just 40% of other small businesses have achieved profitability, more than double the rate of Amazon sellers have done so.
New Amazon sellers are earning between $26,000 – $810,000 per year in profits.
67%
Amazon sellers are profitable within their first year selling
61%
Sellers say their Amazon profits increased during 2019
92%
Amazon sellers are planning to continue to sell on Amazon in 2020
Selling on Amazon in 2020 is
Diverse
How are products sold on Amazon?
From individual entrepreneurs to small businesses to major global brands, Amazon sellers have different ways of using Amazon’s global platform to reach consumers.
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Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): A method of selling on Amazon in which a seller (or a seller’s supplier) sends their products directly to Amazon’s warehouses. Amazon then stores the inventory and ships it directly to the customer (often through 2-day Prime shipping) and manages customer support.
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM): A method of selling on Amazon in which a seller lists their products on Amazon, but manages all storage, shipping, and customer support themselves (or through another third party).
Selling on Amazon in 2020 is
Diverse
Who are the third-party Amazon sellers?
There is no single type of Amazon seller. Amazon sellers represent a wide range of skill sets, backgrounds, and characteristics.
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While the majority of Amazon sellers (57%) are between 25 and 44 years old, more than a third of sellers (35%) are over age 45.
Top 5 Reasons for Selling on Amazon
Selling on Amazon in 2020 is
Challenging
What challenges do Amazon sellers face in 2020?
86% of Amazon sellers think Amazon is a good company for consumers
58% of Amazon sellers think Amazon is a good company for sellers
The authority of Amazon
76% of sellers are concerned about Amazon shutting down their account without reason
53% say Amazon sells its own products that directly compete with the seller’s
46% of sellers are concerned about Amazon protecting their privacy and security
China
68% of sellers are concerned about Chinese suppliers selling their or similar products at lower costs
Tariffs
57% of Amazon sellers are concerned about the impact of tariffs on goods from China
47% of sellers have had to pay more for their products due to higher tariffs on goods from China, and 34% have in turn raised the prices of their products.
Tariffs: Nearly half of Amazon sellers (47%) have had to pay more for their products due to higher tariffs on goods from China, and 34% of sellers have passed on those costs to their customers with higher prices.
Explore all the data
In this report, you’ll find:
- Full Amazon seller demographics
- Amazon product category breakdown
- Sales and profit data, including “million-dollar sellers”
- Capital, time, and other investments to start selling on Amazon
- Amazon seller pain points and 2020 focus areas
- Segmented data, including seller breakdowns by:
- Business model type
- Demographics, including gender
- Size of Amazon customer by sales volume
- More as requested!
In this report, you’ll find:
- Full Amazon seller demographics
- Amazon product category breakdown
- Sales and profit data, including “million-dollar sellers”
- Capital, time, and other investments to start selling on Amazon
- Amazon seller pain points and 2020 focus areas
- Segmented data, including seller breakdowns by:
- Business model type
- Demographics, including gender
- Size of Amazon customer by sales volume
- More as requested!
*Methodology
Between November 14 and December 10, 2019, Jungle Scout surveyed 1,046 experienced Amazon sellers who have more than a year of selling experience and at least one live product listing.
Respondents represent 93 countries, all 14 Amazon marketplaces, and all relevant Amazon product categories. They are ages from 18 to 80+, as well as all genders and levels of education.
Using the data
Jungle Scout is the leading all-in-one tool for selling on Amazon, with the mission of providing powerful data and insights to help entrepreneurs and brands grow successful Amazon businesses.
We encourage you to explore Jungle Scout’s State of the Amazon Seller Report and to share, reference, and publish the findings with attribution to “Jungle Scout” and a link to this page.
For more information, specific data requests or media assets, or to reach the report’s authors, please contact us at [email protected].