The Big Question: Can You Sell Your Amazon Seller Account?
Selling your account can be a great idea if you’re ready to transition away from selling on Amazon and want to focus on building your business elsewhere — or if you’re going to focus on other areas of life. It can open avenues of new opportunities and take a break you rightfully deserve for years of effort and hard work.
“Can I sell my Amazon seller account? What’s the right time to sell my Amazon business? How can I sell my business as an individual Amazon seller” – all these are legitimate and important questions that we’ll answer in this blog. So, let’s get started.
Can I Sell My Amazon Seller Account?
The short answer is yes. You can sell your Amazon seller account. However, many sellers feel confused and disappointed when they come across Amazon’s categorical statement that says sellers are not allowed to sell or transfer their accounts. Yes, Amazon discourages the sale and transfer of seller accounts to ensure people with suspended and banned accounts (due to fraudulent activities) don’t get near the platform again.
However, suppose you’re running your seller account while complying with all Amazon TOS and now want to hand over your business to another legitimate party. In that case, it is possible, and Amazon will allow that. You can reach out to Amazon Seller Support and formally inform them you want to transfer the ownership of your business and thus need to change the account and business information. Amazon is more likely to entertain your request.
If you’re still not sure about this and fear that Amazon might suspend your account on the pretext of the transfer request, you should hand out this task to someone specialized in doing this. One of your best bets would be to work with a seasoned Amazon broker who has experience in transferring seller accounts to ensure your transaction goes smoothly.
Who Would Buy My Amazon Seller Account?
If you have a flourishing Amazon seller account, the right question is, “Who wouldn’t?” Established Amazon businesses with a steady revenue stream are lucrative investments for individuals and seasoned investors, and let’s not forget Amazon aggregators who live and breathe mergers and acquisitions.
Individual buyers are looking to jump into the Amazon space and want to make money without investing significant time and effort. Some come from a business background, while others hire professionals to do their bidding.
Seasoned investors are those individuals who invest in businesses for a living, not necessarily in the Amazon space or even the e-commerce industry, for that matter. These investors have a solid understanding of business acquisitions and are likelier to take your business forward.
Amazon aggregators are professionals who acquire and incubate Amazon FBA accounts with great sales potential and scale them to earn maximum revenue for their investors. These aggregators have an excellent understanding of the Amazon market and operate a portfolio of Amazon seller accounts.
Which buyer profile is best suited for your Amazon seller account? Any of these profiles, as long as you get a fair value for your business. A seasoned Amazon business broker can connect you with interested parties willing to pay you the best value for your business.
How Can I Sell My Amazon Seller Account?
Many Amazon business owners are a bit skeptical about parting ways with their Amazon seller account, and it’s understood, given the concerns surrounding the Amazon guidelines. However, if done via an Amazon business broker, the transfer of ownership can be seamless and hassle-free.
Here’s the process of selling an Amazon seller account via brokers:
- Non-Binding Consultation
Step one involves doing an initial consult. It’s an opportunity for you to sit down with your potential broker and discuss your seller account and your expectations. After exchanging information and documents, the next step would be to determine the cost of selling and the value of your business.
- Preparation
Once you sign an engagement letter with the broker, they will start working on preparing an anonymous sales exposé and create a list of potential buyers who’d be interested in your business. This is an important stage that requires a lot of consideration and expertise.
Most brokers prefer signing an exclusive deal that gives them the exclusive right to sell your business, just as the name states. The exclusivity period is typically three months but may vary. It favors both broker and seller as exclusivity incentivizes brokers to put in more effort and commitment.
- Marketing
Once your broker has done the sales preparation, they’ll start reaching out to potential buyers. Reputable brokers have an extensive network of credible buyers, making this process smooth and safe. They also evaluate the qualification of interested parties and perform due diligence on Amazon’s business.
In addition, your broker will obtain confidentiality declarations to ensure your Amazon seller account protection throughout the negotiation. They will keep sensitive information hidden, such as profit and loss statements and traffic numbers, unless interested parties show proof of funds.
Your broker will help you in every step of the discussion with interested parties to facilitate the initial discussions that ultimately lead to the negotiation stage.
- Negotiation
One of the most challenging stages is getting an Amazon business deal across the finish line. Seasoned brokers can help you draw a deal structure so that it’s hard for a potential buyer to walk away from it while ensuring you’re able to get the maximum value for your business.
The key areas of negotiation involve understanding the objective of a potential buyer, the ways a deal is structured, substantiating the growth potential, and overall knowing the Amazon market. All of these require tons of experience and expertise to get right.
Your broker will help with soliciting offers, letters of intent (LOI), and term sheets. A letter of intent (LOI) is a document declaring the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another. The letter outlines the chief terms of a prospective deal.
The broker will also advise on deal financing and structuring and help with due diligence.
- Closing and Handover
The closing stage is where the purchase contract is signed between both parties, the buyer and seller. You may be wondering how to transfer the account ownership to the buyer.
Do you simply change all the information on your account? Well, yes, but not exactly. While you must change the charge and deposit method, along with the account name, email address, and tax information – all of these shall be done in a step-by-step process.
However, your broker will see it through to ensure everything goes smoothly. The transfer of assets takes place once the asset purchase agreement is signed and the buyer’s money is in escrow. Depending on the complexity and size of the Amazon business, the closing process can take days to weeks.
Typically, most sellers commit to roughly 40 hours to provide consultation and training to a new owner of their Amazon seller account so they can successfully run the business post-acquisition. This can be paid or unpaid commitment, depending on your sales agreement.
How Do I Value My Amazon Business?
Now that you are familiar with selling your Amazon seller account, it’s time to understand how an Amazon business is valued before a sale. There are different ways to calculate the value of an Amazon business, but most brokers usually use this general formula to calculate the estimated value:
Average Net Profit * Business Multiple = Business Valuation
The average net profit can be easily extracted from the profit and loss statement. Typically, a prior 12-month period is used to calculate the average net profit. The business multiple typically ranges between 20 times and 45 times for Amazon FBA businesses, depending on numerous factors, such as:
- Sales performance: The number of top-performing SKUs, best-seller rank, etc.
- Profitability: Gross and net profit margins.
- Optimization: Organic sales, advertising costs, etc.
- Account Health: Account history, customer feedback scores, penalties, etc.
- Diversification: Secondary sales and marketing channels and their performance.
These are some of the many aspects factored to calculate the multiple. From the owner’s involvement to the business model type – many non-quantifiable factors play a part in determining the final business multiple used to calculate the Amazon FBA business value.
Things to Consider Before Selling an Amazon Seller Account
Before selling your Amazon seller account, there are various points to remember. For starters, you will need to be an active Amazon seller if you want to sell your account. That means you’ll need to maintain a steady business with active listings and ship products to customers on an ongoing basis.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg; if you want to transfer the ownership of your Amazon business to someone else, here are some essential things to consider
Sort Your Financials
Buyers are primarily interested in the bottom line of your Amazon business, so you must get your finances in check. You can use cash and accrual accounting to generate your Amazon business’s profit and loss statement. Accrual accounting is preferred for Amazon businesses as most of the business cash is tied up in inventory, and payments from Amazon also take a while to process.
Since accrual accounting paints a more accurate picture than its cash-basis counterpart, it is considered a better choice to sort your financials for valuation.
Once you’ve figured out a clear profit and loss statement, you must prepare your own expenses and salary by creating an add-back schedule. Your broker can help you prepare this schedule and determine how to record Amazon fees, as it can be a conflict-ridden matter in many Amazon deals.
Get Your Taxes Information in Order
In addition to finance, you must keep your tax information in order, as buyers want to avoid purchasing Amazon seller accounts with tax problems. It’s essential to make sure that your taxes are correctly paid. You should hire a professional tax accountant to ensure your taxation is in order.
Prepare Additional Documentation
Also, prepare additional documentations that can be useful for the future owner of your Amazon Seller Central account. These may include competitor analysis, employee records, or other relevant documents that are useful to manage operations smoothly or maintain a competitive advantage.
Consider Amazon Brand Registry
Thousands of brands use Amazon Brand Registry to take advantage of the numerous benefits that it has to offer. For starters, it protects your listings from other sellers, so no one can fraudulently use your Amazon brand’s name. Then, the Brand registry comes with advanced analytics that helps you understand your target consumer base with all its fine details. Understanding the consumer base inside out can help you maximize your conversion rates, profitability, and revenue. Then, the exclusive A+ Content feature of Brand Registry allows you to stand out with your listing among competitors.
The bottom line is that having a registered brand strengthens it and puts you in a position to demand a higher price for your account.
Determine the Costs
There are many significant costs involved in the selling process that you might overlook. The transfer of ownership would involve a lot of legal documentation and paperwork. So, you’ll need to acquire professional legal services, which can be expensive.
Moreover, selling your Amazon seller account will raise your capital gains tax. If you do your taxes, now would be the best time to ditch the DIY approach and hire a tax accountant to see the tax implications of the sale. You may be eligible for certain tax deductions and advantages.
Or selling your business at a specific time could result in a more considerable tax liability. The amount can be significant, so you must know how the sale of your Amazon account will impact the amount of taxes you owe in the foreseeable future.
Finally, if you’re using a broker, you must pay them the commission. Though this cost is likely to get offset because a professional broker can help you fetch a much higher price for your Amazon account than you’d get if you do it on your own.
Figure Out the Right Time to Sell
Starting with the obvious – it’s not recommended to sell an Amazon account that’s just a year old, as you’d not get a decent return on investment. It would help if you gave your business at least a few years, at a minimum, so that you can showcase proper growth and stability to potential buyers.
When is the right time to sell your Amazon seller account? The answer is “it depends”. The ideal time to sell your Amazon seller account is if you’re looking to cash out. Moreover, if your account is churning steady revenue and you expect to get its valuation at a good multiple, it’s also the right time to sell it.
Be proactive when you decide to sell your Amazon seller account. Selling your account for breakeven or less than the total investment amount is not something you’d want in any scenario. Also, if you must sell your business in a shorter timeline, work with an experienced broker to expedite the deal.
Shall I Delay the Sale to Increase the Value of My Account?
It’s important to analyze whether it’s possible to increase the value of your Amazon FBA business before listing it. Of course, the higher value, the merrier. But you may miss some great offers if you overestimate the future potential of your Amazon business or if things play out differently than you want.
Several factors, such as supply chain issues, reduction in demand, new competitors, or Amazon’s new policies, can hamper your business value. So, it would help if you plan accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions: Selling My Amazon Seller Account
Before signing off, let’s answer some frequently asked questions about selling an Amazon seller account.
Can I Give My Amazon Seller Account to Someone Else?
Yes, you can give your Amazon seller account to someone else, given that the transaction is not ill-intended and doesn’t involve fraudulent practices. You can take Amazon’s permission beforehand to ensure the account remains safe from suspension due to alleged misconduct and violation of terms later on.
Can Two People Use the Same Amazon Seller Account?
Yes. Users can add multiple users to a professional Seller Central account, so two individuals can use the same Amazon seller account without any hassle. In Amazon Seller Central, go to User Permissions, add the information about the new users, send an invitation, and voila, you’re good to go.
How Many Seller Accounts Can I Have on Amazon?
As per Amazon guidelines, you can only have one seller account for each region you operate in unless you have a legitimate business need to open a second account (e.g., owning multiple brands and wanting separate businesses for each).
Conclusion
As you can see, selling your Amazon seller account isn’t a tough assignment — as long as you take the correct and TOS-compliant steps, there’s nothing to worry about. But before parting ways with your Amazon business, you must consider the few things we highlighted in this blog.
Looking to sell your Amazon seller account and want to keep the process smooth sailing? You’re at the right place.
At Dragonflip, we pride ourselves as the leading M&A advisor for e-commerce companies and European product brands. We specialize in the sale of private-label e-commerce companies. If you plan to sell your Amazon seller account, book a non-binding consultation to get started right away!
