How to Start Selling on Amazon FBA from Poland: A Guide

Amazon is the world's largest marketplace, but launching with the FBA model from Poland means handling several things at once: the logistics model, a seller account, an EORI number, and VAT settlement. This guide walks you through it step by step, no fluff.

How to start selling on Amazon FBA from Poland — the shortest answer

To get started with Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) from Poland, you practically need six things: a registered business, a seller account on the Professional plan, an EORI number, sorted-out VAT (usually OSS plus local registrations in the countries where your stock is held), a ready product with a GTIN code, and a first shipment prepared in line with Amazon’s requirements. FBA means your goods sit in Amazon’s warehouse, and the platform handles packing, shipping, customer service, and returns. You are responsible for the product, the listing, pricing, and restocking.

Below, I break the whole process down to its building blocks: when FBA makes sense and when FBM is better, how much launching really costs, how to handle customs and VAT, and how to publish your first listing. Prices and rates are approximate (as of 2026) — it is worth confirming every figure in the official price list at sell.amazon.pl/oplaty, because Amazon changes its fee schedules several times a year.

FBA or FBM — which model to choose at the start

This is the first decision that affects everything else: costs, price, customer service, and your shot at the Prime badge. With FBA, you hand logistics over to Amazon and automatically qualify for Prime, which genuinely boosts your listing’s visibility and conversion. With FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant), you ship yourself from your own or a third-party warehouse and keep full control — but also full responsibility for delivery times and returns.

A practical recommendation: if you sell small, light goods that move quickly, FBA usually wins thanks to Prime and scale. If you are just testing whether a product sells — or you have oversized goods — start with FBM, check the turnover, and only then ship your bestsellers to FBA. Many Polish sellers work in a hybrid way: they keep slow-moving SKUs in FBM and their hits in FBA.

Seller account: Individual or Professional

Amazon offers two plans. Individual has no subscription fee but charges a fixed fee on every unit sold (roughly about PLN 4/unit) and does not give access to some tools — including sponsored ads and the API. Professional is a monthly subscription, roughly PLN 165.91 net/month, regardless of your sales volume, plus selling commissions.

Simple math: the break-even point falls around 40 units sold per month. Above that level, Professional is cheaper per unit and unlocks the tools you need to really scale. For the FBA model you practically need a Professional account anyway, because it grants API access — a prerequisite for later plugging in inventory integrations and avoiding the manual copy-pasting of stock levels. You can switch plans at any time.

For registration, prepare: your company details, an ID document, a credit card that settles internationally, a bank account number, and contact details. Amazon runs an identity and business verification — that is a normal stage, so budget a few days for it.

Formalities: EORI, customs, and VAT — where people trip up most

This is the part that beginner sellers most often underestimate, and it is the one that can block your shipment to Amazon’s warehouse. Let’s break it into three elements.

The EORI number

EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is a number that identifies an entity in customs operations across the EU. It is required when you import goods from outside the Union and when you move goods to Amazon warehouses in other countries — without it, you cannot declare goods at customs clearance. In Poland, you can obtain an EORI free of charge through the PUESC platform (the Electronic Tax and Customs Services Platform); for companies registered in Poland, it is usually assigned quickly. An EORI number is also practically essential if you are planning the Pan-EU program.

Customs and importing goods from outside the EU

If you bring goods in from, say, China, importing into the EU means paying customs duty (the rate depends on the customs tariff code — the HS code) and import VAT. Exports and movements outside the EU are declared in the customs system (e.g., ECS). It is worth knowing your product’s HS code from the outset, because it determines the duty rate and any requirements. For customs settlements, sellers usually work with a customs agency — a sensible choice at the start so you do not get stuck on paperwork.

VAT: OSS and local registrations

The logic here is simple in principle but complex in the details: you settle VAT where your goods physically sit and where you ship to customers. If you store goods only in Poland and ship to customers in the EU, in most cases domestic VAT plus the OSS (One Stop Shop) procedure is enough — a single quarterly return for all your distance sales to other EU countries. The problem appears in the Pan-EU program: Amazon shuffles your goods between warehouses in different countries, and that forces a local VAT registration in every country where stock is held. As of 2026, to maintain full Pan-EU, Amazon requires VAT numbers in at least five countries (including Germany, France, Poland, Italy, and Spain) — confirm the exact scope in Seller Central, because the rules change.

A practical rule: OSS covers cross-border distance sales, but it does not exempt you from a local VAT registration where Amazon holds your goods. The Pan-EU model lowers fulfillment fees but multiplies your VAT obligations — do the math in advance with an accountant who specializes in e-commerce.

If you also issue invoices in Poland and the KSeF obligation applies to you, it is worth setting up your invoicing process right away — more in our post on KSeF 2026 for e-commerce sellers.

How much it really costs — the FBA fee structure

The cost of selling on FBA is made up of several layers. Below is a map of them — the values are approximate and depend on the category and the product’s dimensions and weight; you can check current rates in the calculator at sell.amazon.pl/oplaty.

Two pieces of good news for 2026. First, Amazon rolled out one of the biggest fee cuts in its history — on average roughly PLN 0.68 less per unit sold in European stores. Second, commissions dropped sharply in several categories, for example for home products from 15% to 8% (for cheaper items), and for some grocery and supplement categories from 8% to 5%. At the same time, the aforementioned 1.5% fuel and logistics surcharge went up, along with minor storage and returns fees. The takeaway: calculate the margin on a specific SKU, not by eye — the same percentages at different weights give a completely different result.

Before you ship, run every product through Amazon’s fee calculator: enter the target price, category, weight, and dimensions, and you will see the projected margin after all fees. It is the only way to avoid the classic trap: sales grow, but after FBA fees the account slips into the red.

Your first listing, step by step

Once you have an account, an EORI, and your VAT sorted out, it is time for the product. Here is a minimal, orderly path to your first offer and shipment:

1. Get a GTIN/EAN code. New products require a barcode (usually EAN/UPC). Buy them from a reputable source, because Amazon verifies where codes come from.
2. Check whether the product already exists in the catalog. If it does, you join the existing listing (an offer). If not, you create a new product listing from scratch.
3. Build the listing. A title with your most important keywords, 5 bullet points highlighting benefits, a description, photos on a white background (the main one at least 1000 px so zoom works), and backend keywords. This determines visibility and conversion.
4. Set a price with a margin after fees. Factor in the commission, fulfillment, storage, and the 1.5% surcharge. Check competitors’ prices on the same listing.
5. Choose the fulfillment model for this SKU. FBA (ship to Amazon’s warehouse) or FBM (you ship yourself).
6. Prepare the FBA shipment. Create a shipping plan in Seller Central, mark and label products per the requirements (FNSKU labels), pack the boxes to standard, and send them to the assigned warehouse.
7. Launch and monitor. Once the goods are received, the offer goes live with the Prime badge. Watch your sales, stock, and first reviews.

Do not leave the listing to fend for itself. The first reviews, sales pace, and restocking in the opening weeks strongly influence your ranking. Plan your stock levels so you do not run out (out of stock), because that costs you a position that is hard to rebuild later.

Amazon is rarely the only channel — think about it from the start

Most Polish sellers do not sell exclusively on Amazon — they also operate on Allegro, in their own store, or on Empik. That creates the classic multichannel problem: the same goods in many places and the risk of overselling, i.e., selling something that is no longer in stock. So before you grow, build one coherent picture of stock levels and orders across all channels. If you are planning to combine marketplaces, take a look at our post on how to sell on Allegro and Amazon at the same time — it shows the typical synchronization pitfalls.

Ultimately, this work is taken over by a multichannel panel that ties stock, orders, and labels together in one place — that is the direction we are building Nimo. At the start, though, you do not need advanced tools right away: discipline in a single stock file and the awareness that, at greater scale, manual updates stop being enough are all it takes. More on the mechanics itself in our piece on inventory synchronization.

Before you order goods: product and competitor research

The most expensive mistake on Amazon is not a bad label or a botched VAT — it is shipping a batch of a product that nobody wants, or one with no margin, to the warehouse. So make your first-product decision on data, not on a hunch. Check three things: demand (whether people actually search for and buy on the given keywords), competition (how many sellers are already on the listing, what their ratings and review counts look like), and margin after all fees (market price minus the cost of goods, shipping, customs, commission, and FBA fees).

At the start, avoid gated categories — such as some electronics, cosmetics, supplements, or toys with certification requirements — because they demand extra approvals and documents, which can block sales for weeks. Also pay attention to the Buy Box: it decides who actually sells when there are multiple offers on a single listing. Price, availability, fulfillment method (FBA helps), and account health are the main factors that determine it. A good first product decision gives you an edge you will not make up later with listing optimization alone.

The most common launch mistakes (and how to avoid them)

The same slip-ups recur with most new sellers. Go through the list before you send your first shipment:

• No EORI before the first shipment. Customs formalities are done in advance, not on shipping day — otherwise the goods get stuck at customs clearance.
• Calculating margin without the full list of fees. Leaving out storage, returns, or the 1.5% surcharge turns an apparent profit into a loss.
• Ignoring VAT obligations in Pan-EU. Turning on Pan-EU ‘for lower fees’ without local VAT registrations is a straight road to tax arrears.
• Bad labels and shipment packing. Incorrect FNSKUs or boxes that do not meet the standards end in a rejected delivery or surcharges for manual preparation.
• Running out of stock (out of stock). Stockouts knock down your ranking and Buy Box; plan restocks ahead of time to account for transit and receiving.
• A weak listing. Low-quality photos and a title without keywords mean lower visibility and conversion from day one.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a registered business to sell on Amazon FBA from Poland?

Yes. To sell on the professional plan and via FBA, you need a registered business (or company), a NIP (tax ID) number, and — for customs operations and Pan-EU — an EORI number. FBA selling is a for-profit activity, so you account for it like any other business, including VAT and possibly OSS.

How much does launching on Amazon FBA really cost?

The Professional subscription alone is roughly about PLN 165.91 net/month. On top of that come: the cost of goods, any customs duty and import VAT, transport to the warehouse, commissions of 8–15%, and FBA fees for fulfillment and storage. So your real startup budget depends mainly on how much stock you buy for the first batch — the account and formalities are the smallest part of the costs.

Do I need an EORI number if I only sell via FBA Poland?

An EORI is always required when you import goods from outside the EU and when you move them to Amazon warehouses in other countries (Pan-EU, EFN). If you bring goods in from, say, Asia or plan to use Pan-EU, an EORI is essential. In Poland, you can obtain it free of charge through the PUESC platform.

When is it worth switching from FBM to FBA?

When the product has proven it turns over, is light and small, and Prime will genuinely lift sales. It is worth keeping FBM for heavy, oversized, slow-moving, or low-margin items, where FBA storage and fulfillment fees would eat the margin. A hybrid model — some SKUs in FBA, some in FBM — is entirely allowed and often the most profitable.

How do you handle VAT when selling in several EU countries?

If your goods sit only in Poland, domestic VAT plus the OSS procedure for distance sales to other EU countries is usually enough. In Pan-EU, where Amazon stores goods in multiple countries, you need local VAT registrations in each of those countries. This is a decision best discussed with an accountant who specializes in e-commerce before you turn on Pan-EU.