How to Choose Between Amazon’s Free and Paid Seller Plans — My Shocking One-Month Experience
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s worth paying $39.99/month for Amazon’s Professional Seller account, you're not alone.
I had the same question. So, I decided to downgrade my account to the free Individual plan for one month to test how it would perform compared to the paid version.
The results were eye-opening.
If you're just starting out on Amazon or thinking of saving a few bucks by avoiding the monthly fee, read this first.
Here’s what I learned — and why I’m going back to the paid plan.
1. Shipping, Fees, and the Hidden Costs of the Free Plan
With the free Individual plan, Amazon sets a flat $3.99 shipping fee for each order — regardless of the item’s weight. For books, especially heavy ones, this caused a real problem: I ended up losing money on shipping.
To fix this, you'd need to manually set individual shipping rates for each listing — a tedious task unless you’re only selling one type of item in bulk.
Muzammil Khan
Then there’s the $0.99 fee per item sold on the free plan.
At first, it doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re selling even 50 items a month, that’s more than the Professional plan's monthly fee!
The free plan may seem cheaper up front, but you pay more as you grow.
2. Lost Tools = Lost Sales
One of the biggest hits I took was losing access to promotions and discounts.
With the paid plan, I could offer coupons or small discounts — even just $1 off or 5–10% helped make my listings more attractive.
That psychological nudge often led to more sales and faster-moving inventory.
Also, the paid plan includes Automated Pricing, a powerful tool that keeps your product competitive and helps you win the Buy Box.
Without it, I had to change prices manually — which isn’t scalable and led to a drop in visibility and conversions.
3. Sales Performance: Paid vs. Free
Let’s talk numbers.
- With the Professional plan, I made between $250 per month in sales.
- With the Free plan, my sales dropped to just $20 to $40 per month.
That’s a massive difference.
If I had started my Amazon journey with the free plan, I might’ve given up completely, thinking “Amazon doesn’t work.”
But the truth is, the tools and benefits of the Professional plan set you up for success.
It’s not just about paying for a subscription — it’s about unlocking the features that help you sell smarter and grow faster.
TLDR:
If you're serious about selling on Amazon — even just part-time — the $39.99/month Professional plan is 100% worth it.
It saves time, reduces hidden costs, and gives you access to powerful tools that directly impact your sales.
So before you write off Amazon Seller Central, consider this: sometimes you have to spend a little to earn a lot.
References:
Muzammil Khan
Auomated Pricing Link: https://sell.amazon.com/tools/automate-pricing
https://sell.amazon.com/blog/amazon-professional-vs-individual-selling-plan
