How to start an Amazon store: demand, costs, competitors
This page collects sourced data on starting an Amazon store: search demand, start-up costs, competitors, verbatim seller and buyer complaints, and risks. It also shows how three real ideas in the niche scored when checked against the market.
How many people search for how to start an Amazon store?
490 searches a month over 2 founder phrases
- The query “how to start a amazon store” gets 480 searches a month in the US.
- Far fewer people look for a plan: “amazon store business plan” gets 10 searches a month.
What it means: Interest in starting is real, but few founders plan ahead, so writing out your numbers first already puts you ahead of most.
What the top articles say and what they leave out
What the first page of results misses
- You get no realistic breakdown of what first inventory, samples, branding and launch ads actually cost for a private label product.
- You won't find unit economics showing how FBA fees, referral fees and ad spend eat into your margin per sale.
- You aren't shown how to measure demand for a product or size up the sellers already ranking in your category.
- You hear only success stories, with nothing on why many new Amazon sellers stall or shut down.
- The top guides skip a realistic breakdown of first inventory, samples, branding and launch ad costs for a private label product.
- They don't show how FBA fees, referral fees and ad spend cut into your margin on each sale, or how to size up sellers already ranking in your category.
- They share success stories and say nothing about why many new sellers stall or shut down.
What it means: Use the guides for setup steps, then work out your own costs, fees and competition before you buy inventory.
The articles we read
- Sell Products Online with Selling on Amazon. amazon.com
- Sell on Amazon | Start selling on Amazon.com today sell.amazon.com
- If I open a store on Amazon, can I really make a lot of money? - Reddit reddit.com
- How I literally started an Amazon business in about 1 month ... - Reddit reddit.com
- Free Amazon FBA Business Plan PDF [2026 Template + Sample Plan] liveplan.com
- How to build an online store in 5 steps - Sell on Amazon sell.amazon.com
- Amazon Business | Sell on Amazon sell.amazon.com
- How to Start an Amazon Store: the Full Guide 2025 - AMZScout amzscout.net
What it costs to open an Amazon store
2 cost items with a source
- The Professional selling plan has a monthly fee of $401.
- One source puts a reseller startup budget at $5002.
- Sellers say the fees don't stop at the plan, listing “FBA fees on every sale, Inventory storage fees, Inventory placement fees, PPC costs”3.
What it means: Budget for the account fee plus per-sale, storage and ad costs, not just your first inventory order.
Estimate the start with FoxWho you compete with
| Player | What it does | Prices |
|---|---|---|
| Moonkie11 moonkieshop.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Silicone feeding gear, bibs, plates | $40, $19, $20 |
| EKOBO USA12 ekobo.co · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Eco-friendly silicone baby feeding sets | — |
| Faithful Companions13 faithful-companions.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Hand-carved wooden pet urns, engraved nameplates | $35, $35 |
| Aura14 goaura.com · indirectCheck: business · site & SEO | Amazon retail arbitrage guide | $100 |
| Hurd & Honey15 hurdandhoney.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Walnut engraved pet urn keepsake boxes | $59 |
| Munchkin16 munchkin.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Silicone self-feeding starter sets | $13, $20 |
| Seller Assistant17 sellerassistant.app · indirectCheck: business · site & SEO | Online arbitrage blog and tools | — |
| Online Selling Experiment18 onlinesellingexperiment.com · indirectCheck: business · site & SEO | Amazon arbitrage beginner guide | — |
| Tactical Arbitrage19 tacticalarbitrage.com · indirectCheck: business · site & SEO | Arbitrage sourcing software for FBA | — |
| Wags and Willows20 wagsandwillows.com · directCheck: business · site & SEO | Memorial shadow boxes for pets | $37, $32 |
25 players in buyer searches
- The niche's checks found 25 players.
- For baby feeding sets, established brands such as Bumkins, Munchkin and Moonkie already sell directly.
What it means: Pick a product where you can name a clear difference from the brands already selling it.
What sellers and buyers complain about
“Heard nothing for 10 weeks.”
“Ze verzenden zonder track en trace.”
“The photo box itself was chipped and poorly made, despite being advertised as a pine or oak memorial box.”
“They really seem to be taking advantage of grieving pet owners.”
“Major delays prior to item being shipped.”
“We waited 2 weeks and never received the urn.”
19 verbatim complaints: 6 — price, 6 — quality, 4 — reliability and trust
- One seller wrote: “So far I have sold 1893 units and have netted about -$400 total while Amazon has collected nearly 17k in pay per click and fba referral fees.”4
- Another said: “their support for resolving issues is virtually non-existent.”5
- Buyers in the pet memorial space write: “We waited 2 weeks and never received the urn.”6
What it means: Model fees and ad spend before launch, and plan for reliable shipping, since trust complaints come up again and again.
Prices and unit economics in the checked ideas
| Check | From | Median | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden pet memorial boxes on Amazon Handmade in Vermont per item, 5 prices | $32 | $35 | $59 |
| Silicone baby feeding sets on Amazon FBA in Charlotte per item, 7 prices | $13 | $19 | $40 |
| Check | Ticket | Margin | LTV | CAC | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden pet memorial boxes on Amazon Handmade in Vermont E-commerce | $35 | 25 % | $70 | $25 | 2.9 mo. |
| Silicone baby feeding sets on Amazon FBA in Charlotte E-commerce | $19 | 25 % | $46 | $25 | 4.4 mo. |
| Clearance toy arbitrage on Amazon from Columbus, Ohio E-commerce | $25 | 25 % | $50 | $25 | 4 mo. |
2.8 LTV/CAC in the check “Wooden pet memorial boxes on Amazon Handmade in Vermont”
- Pet memorial box competitors charge from $32 to $59 per item, median $35ch.
- Silicone baby feeding sets sell from $13 to $40 per item, median $19ch.
- The unit model for feeding sets shows LTV/CAC 1.8 and customer payback 4.4 months, but it is an estimate on general e-commerce category norms, not data from this marketch.
What it means: Treat the unit model as a starting assumption and replace it with your real fees, costs and ad results as soon as you have them.
Who closed and what can go wrong
2 closures with a source
- Competition. The closest competitor already offers about 75% of the same product, so buyers may not see a reason to switch to a garage-made box.
- Demand. Without search-volume data, demand may be smaller than the market size suggests, so sales may stay low.28
- Operations. Handmade output from one garage workshop limits how many orders can be filled, which caps growth.
- Trust. Buyers already complain about reliability and trust, and a small unknown seller must earn that trust from the start.21
- Active Amazon sellers fell from 2.4 million in 2021 to 1.65 million by the end of 20257.
- Amazon may reject listings or restrict accounts when a seller can only show store receipts, blocking the FBA model for clearance stock8.
- For a new seller with unproven supplier quality, negative reviews can be hard to recover from on Amazon9.
What it means: Check Amazon's sourcing documentation rules and test supplier quality before you scale up orders.
Ideas in this niche that were checked against the market
Not “amazon store in general” but concrete versions, each with its own real check.
- “Clearance toy arbitrage on Amazon from Columbus, Ohio” scored 69 of 100, “Worth building”ch.
- “Wooden pet memorial boxes on Amazon Handmade in Vermont” scored 62 of 100, “Possible, with caveats”ch.
- “Silicone baby feeding sets on Amazon FBA in Charlotte” scored 59 of 100, “Possible, with caveats”ch.
What it means: Run your own idea through the same check to see its competitors, prices and risks before you commit money.
Check your idea: amazon store
Say where and for whom — Fox counts the demand and finds the competitors and complaints in a minute. 3 free checks without signing up
See also
Dropshipping
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
MarketAmazon storefront
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
MarketEtsy shop
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
MarketEbay store
Demand, start-up costs, players and checked ideas
ToolUnit economics calculator
LTV, CAC and payback on your numbers
GuideHow to write a business plan
Where to find the numbers for each section
Questions before you open
How much does it cost to start selling on Amazon?
Is retail arbitrage still a workable way to start?
Are there fewer Amazon sellers now?
Yes. Active Amazon sellers fell from 2.4 million in 2021 to 1.65 million by the end of 20257.
What do Amazon sellers complain about most?
Fees and support come up often, for example: “Amazon FBA Fees are High – 40 bucks a month for your account, FBA fees on every sale, Inventory storage fees, Inventory placement fees, PPC costs, etc etc.”3
Can I trust the margin figures on this page?
The unit models are estimates built on general e-commerce category norms, not measured in this market, so your real margin may be lowerch.
Sources
- amazon.com — Sell Products Online with Selling on Amazon.
- liveplan.com — Free Amazon FBA Business Plan PDF [2026 Template + Sample Plan]
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- reddit.com
- trustpilot.com
- repricer.com
- sellercentral.amazon.com — How is retail arbitrage through Amazon NOT dead?, 2019-07-15
- reddit.com — Advice on silicone baby products?, 2022-04-28
- sell.amazon.com — Sell on Amazon | Start selling on Amazon.com today
- moonkieshop.com — Moonkie, 2026-10-14
- ekobo.co — ekobo, 2026-10-14
- faithful-companions.com — Faithful Companions, 2026-10-14
- goaura.com — Retail Arbitrage on Amazon: 2026 Profit Guide (Real Margins), 2026-07-10
- hurdandhoney.com — Hurd and Honey, 2026-10-14
- munchkin.com — Munchkin, 2026-10-14
- sellerassistant.app — Seller Assistant, 2026-10-14
- onlinesellingexperiment.com — Online Selling Experiment, 2026-10-14
- tacticalarbitrage.com — Tactical Arbitrage, 2026-10-14
- wagsandwillows.com — Wags and Willows, 2026-10-14
- trustpilot.com
- nz.trustpilot.com
- uk.trustpilot.com
- reddit.com
- uk.trustpilot.com
- linkedin.com — Less than a year later, the business was shutting down.
- empireflippers.com — Retail arbitrage has its downsides.
- fortunebusinessinsights.com
The page’s figures come from real idea checks in the niche, our search data and the articles we read; each has its source. The customer model is an estimate on the category’s norms.
How we made this page. The niche’s figures come from the real idea checks “Wooden pet memorial boxes on Amazon Handmade in Vermont”, “Silicone baby feeding sets on Amazon FBA in Charlotte”, “Clearance toy arbitrage on Amazon from Columbus, Ohio” and our search data. Every figure from outside data has its source, linked under “Sources”. Data as of 14 October 2026.