Irish businesses can sell through Amazon.ie and other eligible Amazon stores using Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) or their own fulfilment arrangements. Before buying stock or enabling another country, check four things: where Amazon may store your goods, the VAT obligations for each route, what an order contributes after costs, and when the cash becomes available. FBA handles storage and dispatch. You still need to manage tax, profit and cash.
Our starting point is contribution by channel: what remains from sales after the costs of making those sales. Then we check the inputs. Landed cost, refunds, fulfilment charges and advertising can all be wrong while the dashboard looks convincing.
For an Amazon seller, the next question is where the stock sits. Moving a pallet can change which tax authority you answer to. Work that out before you enable the new storage country.
Understanding Amazon’s marketplace
Amazon.ie launched in March 2025. Irish sellers can use it and, where eligible, other Amazon stores. Account permissions, product approvals and fulfilment settings determine where you can trade. Amazon’s Irish seller guide explains the account requirements.
Keep three choices separate:
- Marketplace: where the customer shops, such as Amazon.ie or Amazon.de.
- Selling plan: Individual or Professional, with different charges and tools.
- Fulfilment: FBA, where Amazon stores and dispatches goods, or Fulfilment by Merchant (FBM), where you arrange it.
An Irish marketplace does not prove your stock is in Ireland. A Professional plan does not mean you have formed a limited company. An Individual plan does not remove your business tax obligations.
Setting up your Amazon seller account
Choose the legal seller and target stores before entering the account information. Have identity, contact, bank and payment-card details ready, together with the business documents Amazon requests. Supply your VAT number where applicable.
Match the account to the person or company that owns the stock and makes the sales. An account in one name, purchase invoices in another and bank receipts in a third create avoidable reconciliation and verification problems.
Approval and category checks can take time. Plan the launch around confirmed access, rather than a promised approval window.
Compare the plans
Amazon’s Irish pricing page lists these base charges, with referral and other fees additional.
| Plan | Base charge, excluding VAT | What to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | €0.99 per item sold | A small-volume test without the Professional subscription. |
| Professional | €39 per month | The tools and advertising access you need, as well as volume. |
At 40 units, the Individual plan charges €39.60, against €39 for Professional. That compares the plan charge only. It is not your total Amazon cost.
Can individuals sell on Amazon?
Yes, subject to Amazon’s verification, category and policy requirements. Incorporation is not compulsory simply because you use Amazon.
Distinguish selling occasional personal possessions from carrying on a trade. A sole trader accounts for business profit through the personal tax system; a company is a separate legal and tax entity. Choose the structure for the business, not the name of the selling plan.
The pros of individual selling
You can test eligible products at a small volume without the Professional subscription.
The cons
Per-item charges rise with volume, and some selling tools require Professional. Product, delivery and tax responsibilities remain under either plan.
Finding the right products to sell
Start with demand, landed cost and a selling price that leaves enough contribution. Landed cost includes the product and the costs of getting it ready for sale, including inbound freight and relevant import charges. Outbound fulfilment is a separate cost.
Check samples, quality, lead times, minimum orders, product identifiers, permissions and documentation before committing cash. Private labelling brings product and brand responsibilities; Amazon approval is not a substitute for meeting them.
For supplier-to-customer fulfilment, check Amazon’s current dropshipping requirements. Use Amazon’s seller learning resources for listing and category requirements.
A popular product can still be a poor investment if the reorder arrives before the first batch has paid for itself.
How do I sell things on Amazon?
After verification, match an existing catalogue listing or create an eligible new one. Prepare accurate titles, descriptions, images and identifiers, then confirm product and brand approvals.
Before setting the price, calculate the order.
Work out what an order contributes
Assume a VAT-registered seller charges €36.90 for a standard-rated product sold in Ireland.
| Per-order calculation | Amount |
|---|---|
| Customer price, including VAT | €36.90 |
| VAT at 23%, included in that price | (€6.90) |
| Sales excluding VAT | €30.00 |
| Landed product cost | (€12.00) |
| Assumed referral fee: 15% of the customer price, rounded | (€5.54) |
| Fulfilment | (€4.00) |
| Advertising allocated to the order | (€3.00) |
| Expected returns cost allowance | (€1.00) |
| Contribution before overheads | €4.46 |
This is an illustration, not an Amazon quote or client case. Costs exclude recoverable VAT; actual referral, fulfilment, storage and return charges depend on the product and programme. The returns allowance is for planning, not another deduction to post on top of actual recorded refunds.
The €36.90 sale leaves €4.46 to cover overheads and profit. Another €2 of cost reduces it to €2.46, a fall of about 45%, with sales unchanged.
Check the costs underneath the report. Have landed costs changed? Are refunds recorded? Are shipping bands current? Who updates the data and checks it against the accounts? Our inventory accounting guide covers the stock side.
Reconcile the settlement
The bank receipt is not revenue. It is the amount left after the movements included in that settlement.
Take 100 orders at €36.90. In this illustration, four orders are fully refunded, fees are deducted and Amazon retains an additional €400.
| Settlement movement | Amount |
|---|---|
| Customer sales including VAT | €3,690.00 |
| Four refunds including VAT | (€147.60) |
| Referral fees | (€554.00) |
| Fulfilment charges | (€400.00) |
| Additional amount retained in reserve | (€400.00) |
| Bank payout | €2,188.40 |
Net sales are €2,880: €3,000 less €120 of refunds, excluding VAT. Sales VAT is €662.40: €690 less €27.60. The €954 of fees are separate expenses. The reserve increase is a settlement balance still to track, not a fee or a reduction in sales.
This simplified example assumes no extra VAT is deducted on the fees, no marketplace-collected sales VAT and no other settlement movements. The fees shown remain after the refunds. A real payout must include every tax and adjustment on the report. The reserve balance increases from €300 to €700. Product costs and advertising need their own records.
Recording €2,188.40 as sales would understate the €2,880 net sales by €691.60 and lose the explanation of VAT, fees and retained funds. Accounting integrations can help, but somebody must prove the bridge.
The reports your accountant should be able to connect
Amazon’s report names and availability can vary by account. Start with its Amazon VAT Transactions Report, inventory reports and settlement detail, then establish this month-end evidence.
| Evidence | What it should explain | The check |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement statements and payment transactions | Sales, refunds, charges, reserves and the amount released. | Opening settlement balance plus movements less payouts equals closing balance; match the payout to the bank. |
| VAT Transactions Report and sales tax documents | Dispatch and destination, product tax treatment and who collected VAT. | Reconcile by route to the sales ledger and relevant returns, including Amazon-collected amounts. |
| Cross-Border Inventory Movement and inventory ledger/history | Where your own stock moved, including movements without a customer sale. | Check countries against approved storage settings and VAT registrations; reconcile quantities and value. |
| Fulfilled shipment and return records | Items sold, returned, damaged or no longer available. | Reconcile stock movements; a customer refund does not prove an item returned to sellable stock. |
| Fee, advertising and supplier invoices | The complete costs and their tax treatment. | Reconcile each invoice to the settlement or separate payment. Record a fee once, whether it was deducted from the payout or paid separately. |
A2X or Dext Commerce may help with multiple stores, volume and more complex reconciliation. Test the actual marketplace, payout and VAT mapping before choosing. See our accounting software guide.
Fulfilment options for Irish sellers
FBM leaves you or your fulfilment partner responsible for storage and dispatch. FBA moves much of that physical work to Amazon. It does not move ownership of the stock or every tax obligation.
| Route | Main trade-off | Before committing |
|---|---|---|
| FBM from an Irish warehouse | You control fulfilment, but must cost labour, packing, delivery and returns. | Confirm service levels, landed cost and each customer destination. |
| FBA with storage restricted to agreed countries | Amazon fulfils orders; storage, handling and replenishment still consume cash. | Confirm the actual permitted storage countries and SKU-specific charges. |
| Cross-border fulfilment from one storage country | Avoids spreading stock as widely, but cross-border delivery may cost more. | Identify the programme, dispatch country, destinations and VAT route. |
| Pan-European FBA | Local fulfilment can reduce delivery friction while creating a wider stock and compliance footprint. | Approve each storage country before enabling placement. Marketplace activation and storage permission are different settings. |
Use Amazon’s Irish FBA page, current rate card and product-specific Revenue Calculator. Charges vary with size, weight, destination and programme. Include storage, aged stock, removal, returns, inbound costs and applicable surcharges; do not rely on an old generic fee table.
Amazon’s Pan-European guidance explains placement and relevant stock reports. A country where your offer is active is not automatically a country where your stock is stored. Check both.
Does cheaper fulfilment actually pay?
Assume a new route reduces fulfilment cost by €1 per order, with other costs unchanged. Extra recurring compliance and administration cost €300 a month. First calculate that saving, then test the sales mix, VAT and cash.
| Monthly orders on the changed route | Fulfilment saving | Extra fixed cost | Monthly improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | €200 | €300 | (€100) |
| 300 | €300 | €300 | €0 |
| 1,000 | €1,000 | €300 | €700 |
These are assumptions, not a quote. The recurring break-even is 300 orders. Add setup, transport and finance costs separately.
Changing the warehouse does not itself change the VAT rate on the same destination-taxed customer sale. Expanding into a different customer market can change what you keep, though. A fixed €36.90 consumer price leaves €30 before costs at 23% VAT, but about €29.06 at 27%. If your new orders attract that higher rate and you keep the price, roughly €0.94 less net revenue absorbs almost all of the €1 saving. Check the product rate, price and sales mix for the actual destination.
Then test cash. An extra 500 units at €12 landed cost commits €6,000 before sales. A 30% fall from the assumed 1,000 monthly orders leaves a €400 recurring improvement, but that does not release the €6,000 sitting in stock. Model the supplier payment, stock receipt, sale and settlement dates in a cash-flow forecast.
The question is not whether Amazon can ship it more cheaply. It is whether the complete route improves contribution and leaves enough cash to operate.
Managing taxes and legal obligations for Irish Amazon sellers
Irish VAT
Revenue’s main domestic thresholds are €85,000 for goods and €42,500 for services for eligible Irish-established businesses, with mixed-supply and other exceptions. The test concerns calendar-year turnover excluding VAT, not profit.
Foreign purchases or services can create obligations below the normal sales threshold. Use our VAT threshold guide for the domestic test.
EU customers and overseas stock
The combined €10,000 cross-border test, excluding VAT, is not a limit for each country or marketplace. It applies only under the qualifying conditions, including establishment in one Member State and goods dispatched from that state. Test the previous and current calendar years separately.
Where destination VAT applies, the Union One Stop Shop (OSS) can report eligible cross-border consumer sales through one registration. It does not replace every domestic return or the obligations created by stock held abroad. Revenue’s Union OSS guidance and the European Commission’s explanation set out the scope.
The table below assumes an Irish-established seller selling ordinary taxable goods to consumers. Product rates, exemptions, stock movements and transaction evidence still need checking.
| Stock and customer route | Main VAT distinction |
|---|---|
| Irish stock to an Irish consumer | Domestic Irish VAT rules. An ordinary seller does not put that domestic sale into Union OSS. |
| Irish stock to a consumer in another EU country | Qualifying €10,000 rule may retain Irish treatment. Destination VAT applies when required or elected; eligible sales can go through Union OSS. |
| German stock to a German consumer | A German domestic sale with local obligations. Union OSS does not replace that ordinary seller’s domestic reporting. |
| German stock to a French or Irish consumer | A cross-border distance sale: destination VAT and potentially Union OSS. Dispatch from Germany does not receive the Irish-dispatch €10,000 shelter. |
| Your stock moves between EU FBA warehouses | Usually an own-goods transfer requiring checks in both countries, not sales revenue or a consumer transaction for OSS. Specific exceptions need review. |
| Irish stock to a Northern Ireland consumer | EU distance-sales rules for goods, including the qualifying combined threshold. UK destination VAT can be reported through Union OSS where applicable. |
| Irish stock to a Great Britain consumer through Amazon | Export/import route. For qualifying consignments no more than £135, marketplace VAT rules can apply. Higher-value imports and the named importer need separate checks. |
| Great Britain FBA stock to a local consumer through Amazon | Amazon generally accounts for customer VAT under marketplace rules. Your import obligations and registration/recovery position still need checking. |
For EU-stock sales by an Irish-established seller, do not assume Amazon becomes the VAT supplier. The EU deemed-supplier rules cover specific cases, not every marketplace sale. Revenue explains those cases.
For Great Britain, marketplace-only sales, direct website sales and sales to VAT-number businesses can have different consequences. An overseas seller should not use the normal UK-established turnover threshold as a shelter, but marketplace-only arrangements can have registration exemptions. Check the actual sales mix and import-VAT recovery. HMRC’s marketplace guidance explains the distinction.
Northern Ireland is different for goods. Use HMRC’s current EU-to-NI manual, rather than treating every UK order as a Great Britain order.
Our ecommerce VAT and OSS guide covers the wider regimes. Agree the registrations and returns before stock moves, not after the first sale.
Amazon fees and services from abroad
Read the invoice: supplier, country, service and VAT shown. Do not assume every Amazon fee has the same treatment or comes from the same entity.
Received taxable services from abroad can require Irish reverse-charge accounting even below the normal sales threshold. Input VAT recovery depends on entitlement. Revenue’s received-services guidance explains the rules.
Profit tax and records
A sole trader accounts for business profit through the personal tax system. A company accounts for profits under Corporation Tax rules. Neither is calculated from the net Amazon payout alone.
Keep sales, settlement, fee, refund, purchase, stock-movement and tax documents. A bank feed cannot reconstruct all of them.
Marketing and promoting your products on Amazon
Listings and advertising can bring orders. Judge the resulting contribution by SKU, marketplace and channel, then reconcile it to the accounts. Treat attributed advertising sales as a marketing measure, not another set of revenue to add to actual sales.
Separate Amazon from Shopify and other channels. Recheck contribution when prices, landed costs, fees, shipping, advertising or returns change.
Common challenges and how to overcome them
Before replenishing stock or enabling another storage country, agree who owns these checks:
- The legal seller, stock owner and named importer.
- Enabled storage countries and any unplanned inventory movements.
- Product-specific fulfilment charges, complete landed cost and tax-inclusive pricing.
- The VAT registrations, return routes and document retention.
- Settlement reconciliation, reserve balances and refunds.
- Stock quantities and values, including unsellable and in-transit items.
- SKU/channel contribution and a cash forecast that includes the next stock purchase.
Your operations team needs to confirm the stock settings and records. Your accountant needs those facts to assess the tax and build reliable reporting. Neither should assume the other has checked.
Discuss your Amazon finance setup
Around Finance works with growing Irish ecommerce and retail businesses, including sellers using marketplaces alongside Shopify and other channels. Our role is to connect the agreed bookkeeping, reconciliation and VAT work with the reporting needed for stock, margin and cash decisions.
We organise ecommerce work around the sector’s operational problems: platform payouts, landed costs, foreign stock and cash tied up before an order pays out. Your team still owns accurate stock quantities and purchase records. Reporting depth, inventory-system work and overseas filing responsibilities are agreed in the proposal.
If your Irish business turns over €250,000 or more, bring your marketplaces, enabled storage countries and current reports to a Finance Fit Call. We can discuss the gaps, responsibilities and likely monthly scope. See our ecommerce accounting service for the wider support.
FAQs
Check the requirements for your selected stores and fulfilment method. FBA includes customer-service functions, but you retain responsibilities as the seller. Confirm what Amazon covers and what your team must handle.
Verification, product approval and fulfilment setup vary. Plan around confirmed approval and available stock, not a universal 24–48-hour promise.
Use accurate listings and a competitive offer, then check contribution after all channel costs. More advertising is not an improvement if it buys orders that fail to cover their costs.
You need accurate product listings in the language required by each store. Arrange reliable translation and check product terminology before launch. Customer-support responsibilities are a separate check.
They depend on the fulfilment route, storage country, destination, product size and weight. Compare the complete current quote, including handling, storage, returns and surcharges.
Yes, subject to applicable product, brand and Amazon requirements. Confirm rights, identifiers and category approvals before ordering or listing.
Yes, subject to Amazon’s eligibility and programme requirements. Confirm where your stock may be stored and the resulting tax obligations before enabling the route.
No. Union OSS can simplify eligible cross-border consumer sales reporting. Local stock, domestic sales, imports and own-goods transfers can still create other obligations.
No. Marketplace VAT rules depend on seller establishment, stock location, transaction and destination. Amazon collecting VAT on one route does not settle every return or registration.
No. Reconcile gross sales, refunds, VAT, fees, reserves and settlement adjustments to the payout. Separately record costs such as advertising and stock.
