You have a product and a brand name, and now you want them on Amazon.in. None of the steps is hard, but the order matters. If you get it wrong, you can lose weeks waiting on a stuck approval.
This is the roadmap we follow when a brand starts from nothing on Amazon. It runs from an empty Seller Central account to the first orders. It uses only what Amazon.in confirms as of September 2026. Rules change often, so check any number that affects your margin in Seller Central first.
Before you start: what you’ll need
- An email ID and an active mobile number
- Your 15-digit GSTIN, or PAN details if you sell only GST-exempt goods (ask your CA whether yours qualify)
- An active bank account in your business’s name
- A pickup address in the same state as your GST registration
Each account supports one pickup address. Each store name needs its own seller account, and each extra account needs a different GST number.
Step 1: Register on Seller Central India
- Sign in with an Amazon customer account, or create one.
- Enter your GSTIN. You can carry on while Amazon verifies it.
- Choose your store name and add your pickup address.
- Pick Easy Ship or Self Ship as your shipping method.
- Add your bank account and a default tax rate (Product Tax Code).
- List at least one product. You can’t skip this step.
- Click “Start selling”.
Amazon says setup takes about 15 minutes, but GST verification can take up to 72 hours. If it fails, upload your GST certificate (Reg-06 with Annexures A and B).
Step 2: Check category approvals early
Many categories that brands launch in are gated. These include beauty, health and personal care, grocery, clothing, shoes, jewellery and watches.
Go to Add Products and search for your product. You’ll see “Sell this product”, “Apply to sell” or “Not Available”. One product can need more than one approval. Applications usually ask for:
- Purchase invoices dated within the last 180 days
- Clear photos of the product from all sides
- A brand authorisation letter or safety certifications, where they apply
Some categories need Indian licences. Grocery, for example, needs an FSSAI licence and a food declaration. Review takes 2–7 business days. You can’t appeal a “Your account does not qualify” decision, so get the paperwork right the first time.
Step 3: Know the fees before you set a price
Registering and listing on Amazon.in are free. You pay only when you get an order. New sellers start at the Standard level of Amazon STEP, a programme based on performance. Higher levels unlock benefits such as fee waivers and faster payments.
Amazon charges four kinds of fee, plus 18% GST on each:
- Referral fee: a percentage of the selling price, set by category, from 0%
- Closing fee: a fixed amount by price band and fulfilment channel, from ₹2
- Weight handling fee: for FBA and Easy Ship, from ₹37 per item
- Other fees for certain channels or programmes
From 16 March 2026, Amazon cut referral fees to zero on products priced up to ₹1,000 in more than 1,800 fee categories. Amazon says this covers over 12.5 crore products. Still, check your exact category:
- Face wash and sunscreen are zero only up to ₹500.
- Supplements and many electronics accessories are zero only up to ₹300.
- Mobile phones have no zero band at all.
From 7 September 2026, closing fees on FBA, Easy Ship and Seller Flex orders rose by ₹1 for products up to ₹500 and by ₹3 above ₹500. Self Ship wasn’t part of this change.
You can be paid 7 days after delivery, and Amazon pays out every 7 days. Amazon also advertises new-seller incentives worth up to ₹41,000, subject to terms. Some are time-bound. The Try FBA fee waivers in that total run only until 30 September 2026, so check Amazon’s new-seller offers page when you launch.
Step 4: Create listings that follow the rules
If your product isn’t on Amazon.in yet, use “Create a new listing”. If it has no barcode, apply for a GTIN exemption. MRP is mandatory in every category except books.
Titles. Since 27 July 2026, titles in all categories except media must be 75 characters or fewer, including spaces. A new Item Highlights field gives you 125 more characters for materials and use cases, written as comma-separated phrases. Amazon is replacing longer titles with its own AI-recommended version, so write yours first.
Amazon suggests this order: brand, style, product type, key attribute, colour, size or pack count. Don’t use promotional phrases, all caps or “best seller”, and don’t use any word more than twice.
Bullet points. Write at least three. Cover features and benefits, not your brand story. Leave out ™ and ® symbols, emojis, guarantees, links, competitor comparisons and claims such as “eco-friendly”.
Images. The main image must be a real, professional photo on a pure white background, with the product filling about 85% of the frame. Show the whole product, once. Don’t include props that don’t come with it, and don’t add text or badges. Amazon recommends at least six more images and a video.
For image sizes, check Amazon’s image guidelines. Your images need to be large enough for shoppers to zoom in. A listing without a compliant main image can drop out of search.
Our cataloguing and product photography pages show how we handle both.
Step 5: Enrol in Brand Registry
Brand Registry is free, and most of the later steps depend on it. It unlocks A+ content, a Brand Store, Sponsored Brands, Vine and tools that protect your product pages.
You need a registered trademark or a pending trademark application. Your brand name or logo must also be permanently on the product or its packaging. Our Brand Registry guide for India covers who qualifies and every step. Start early.
Step 6: Choose how you’ll fulfil orders
- FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon): Amazon stores, packs, delivers and handles returns. Every FBA product gets the Prime badge.
- Easy Ship: you store and pack, and Amazon picks up and delivers. You get the Prime badge only if Amazon invites you.
- Self Ship: you deliver through your own staff or a courier, and handle returns yourself.
- Seller Flex: invite-only. You fulfil orders from your own warehouse, and your products get the Prime badge.
Amazon says FBA suits high-volume products with higher margins. Easy Ship suits sellers with their own warehouse and tighter margins. You can choose a channel for each product, and most sellers use a mix.
A sensible start is FBA for your hero products and Easy Ship for the rest. Amazon says FBA can improve your chance of winning the Featured Offer.
Before your first FBA shipment, Amazon asks you to add the fulfilment centres you’ll use to your GST registration as an Additional Place of Business. Your CA can do this.
Step 7: Add A+ content and a Brand Store
On Amazon.in, Basic and Premium A+ content (also called EBC, or Enhanced Brand Content) are both free. Premium adds video, hotspots and carousels. Amazon says Basic A+ can lift sales by up to 8%, and well-built Premium A+ by up to 20%. Keep prices, warranty details, competitor comparisons and QR codes out of it.
A Brand Store is free too. You build it from templates in the advertising console, submit it for review, and then point your Sponsored Brands ads at it.
Step 8: Earn your first reviews the right way
Amazon says a product’s first review can raise its sales by up to 3.5 times, but don’t take shortcuts. Amazon.in has zero tolerance for review manipulation. That means:
- No free products, discounts or refunds in exchange for reviews
- No reviews from staff or family
- No package inserts asking for good reviews
Penalties can go as far as losing your selling privileges for good. You’re also responsible for anything an agency does on your behalf.
Use Amazon’s own tools:
- Request a review. Use the Request a Review button once per order, between 5 and 30 days after delivery. If you don’t use the button, you can send one neutral request through Buyer-Seller Messaging instead. Don’t offer incentives, and don’t ask only happy customers.
- Amazon Vine. Open to brand-registered FBA products with fewer than 30 reviews, priced at ₹50,000 or less. You can enrol 1–30 units per product, once only. One or two units are free. Enrolling 3–10 units costs ₹1,000, and 11–30 units costs ₹2,600, plus GST. The fee is charged only if a Vine review is published within 90 days. Reviews aren’t guaranteed. Vine has its own India help pages, but some sellers still get a GL-422 enrolment error, which Amazon’s forum team calls a known technical issue.
Step 9: Launch your first ads
Start with Sponsored Products. These are cost-per-click ads for single listings, with no monthly fee. You set a maximum bid, then choose keywords or let Amazon target automatically. Once you’re brand registered, add Sponsored Brands, which show your logo, a headline and several products.
New sellers who have started Amazon Ads since 1 March 2026 get ₹1,000 in ad credits when they sign up, valid for 180 days. They get more credits on their first wallet recharge. Start small, find the search terms that bring orders, and move your budget to them.
Your first 90 days: a checklist
- Keep your Order Defect Rate under 1%. On orders you ship yourself, keep cancellation and late shipment rates under 2%.
- Schedule Easy Ship pick-ups before 1:45 p.m. on the estimated ship date.
- Watch your Account Health Rating. New sellers start at 200, the bottom of the Healthy band.
- Keep your stock counts accurate to avoid cancellations. If you can’t fulfil an order, cancel it promptly yourself, and never ask the buyer to cancel. Since 17 August 2026, a seller cancellation on Easy Ship or Self Ship costs a share of the order value (10% below ₹10,000), plus GST. After the estimated ship date, it costs 1.5 times that.
- Check Review Listing Changes every week. Brand owners get 14 days to review Amazon’s title changes.
- Request a review on every eligible order.
- Check your first payment report against your pricing sheet.
- Use your ad credits before they expire.
Amazon says 60% of new sellers make their first sale within four weeks, on average. If you’re past four weeks and orders are slow, fix your main image, title and price before you spend more on ads.
The short version
Register with the right documents and clear approvals early. Price using the real fees, and build listings to the new rules. Then get Brand Registry, reviews and ads working together. Our onboarding and account management work covers every step.
If you’d rather hand it over, tell us what you sell, and we’ll tell you what to fix first.
