The US Amazon marketplace is the largest in the world — significantly bigger than all European marketplaces combined. For ambitious UK sellers, selling on Amazon.com offers massive scale. But it comes with unique challenges that make it more complex than European expansion.
The Opportunity
Amazon.com has over 300 million active customer accounts and generates more revenue than any other Amazon marketplace. For products with proven demand in the UK, the US often represents a much larger addressable market with higher sales potential.
Getting Started
You can sell on Amazon.com with your existing Seller Central account — Amazon allows you to link your UK and US accounts. You will need to provide US-specific tax information (an EIN or ITIN for tax purposes, or claim treaty benefits through a W-8BEN form).
Product listings need to be created for the US marketplace. While the language is the same, terminology, measurements (inches, ounces, pounds), and customer expectations may differ. A product listing optimised for UK customers may need adjustments for US shoppers.
Shipping and Fulfilment
The biggest logistical challenge is getting your inventory to US fulfilment centres. Options include shipping directly from the UK to US fulfilment centres (expensive per unit), using a US-based prep centre that receives your shipments and forwards to Amazon, or working with international freight forwarders who specialise in Amazon FBA shipments.
Sea freight is the most cost-effective for bulk shipments but takes 4–6 weeks. Air freight is faster but significantly more expensive. The shipping costs need to be factored carefully into your margins.
Tax Obligations
US tax is complicated for foreign sellers. You may have sales tax obligations in multiple US states (sales tax nexus is created when your inventory is stored there). You may need to register for state sales tax in each state where Amazon stores your inventory.
Amazon's Tax Calculation Service can handle sales tax collection on your behalf in most states, but the registration and filing obligations remain with you. A US tax specialist is strongly recommended.
Is It Worth It?
For private label sellers with unique products and healthy margins, the US market can be transformative — the scale of demand is orders of magnitude larger than the UK. For arbitrage and wholesale sellers, the complexity of international shipping and tax compliance often outweighs the benefit.
The most common successful approach is to establish a solid UK operation first, then expand to the US with your best products once you have the systems, capital, and support in place. Do not try to conquer the US market until your UK foundation is rock solid.