• Selling on Amazon CA & MX

    By ZonSupport | Posted on October 29, 2022| Blog

    As an Amazon seller, you are constantly looking for ways to grow sales and get in front of new customers. Selling in Canada and Mexico can be a great way to do this, but there are some hoops you have to jump through on the front end with registration and added inventory logistics.

    Is there a way to test this out before committing to go into another marketplace like Canada or Mexico? The good news is… YES!

    Amazon’s North America Remote Fulfillment (NARF) program lets sellers test out these two markets using US based inventory.

    How does NARF work for Sellers…

    Sellers are able to sell in these two countries without the need to register with the government in either country or send inventory outside the US. This provides sellers with a great opportunity to test the interest in their product without the cost (and headache) of shipping inventory and maintaining a reasonable stock level.

    The program allows Amazon in Canada and Mexico to provide a wider range of products to their customers. These orders will appear in your Canada or Mexico seller account, based on where the customer bought your product.

    How does NARF work for buyers…

    When a customer purchases a product enrolled in NARF on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.mx, the product is shipped from a fulfillment center in the United States. Prime customers get free shipping in Mexico (5 to 9 days) and Canada (7 to 12 days). 

    However, customers have to pay applicable import duties and taxes on the items they order and take ownership after the shipping company picks up the items from the US fulfillment center. Returns go directly back to the US and are subject to the normal FBA Returns Policy.

    NARF is a great opportunity to test these two markets for your products

    The NARF program works particularly well for sellers with a large catalog of products. Based on the results, they can then look more closely at those products that showed promise. Remember, e-commerce is all about visibility – if a customer does not see your product in a search, then you will never know what opportunity you missed.

    What is the cost of enrolling in NARF?

    Amazon does not charge you a separate fee for this program. In order to be eligible, your account needs to be an active professional Amazon seller account that is a North American unified account with FBA export enabled.

    When you enroll, you will automatically connect to the Build International Listing tool, which will duplicate the US FBA listing(s) in one or more of the enrolled countries, and quickly make your listed items available for sale.

    As of July 1, 2022, if you’re an eligible seller for remote fulfillment in Canada or Mexico, or BOTH, you’ll be automatically enrolled unless you’ve specifically unenrolled yourself.

    Amazon will send you an alert on your Seller Central homepage notifying you of your upcoming automatic enrollment.

    Are all products eligible for NARF?

    Many sellers are surprised to learn that some of their products aren’t eligible for sale through NARF to Canada or Mexico (or potentially both). Products must meet these conditions to qualify for the program:

    The SKU must be enabled for FBA in the US and have valid offers in the country you plan to offer as NARF (Canada, Mexico, or both).

    Meet all trade compliance requirements and import regulations of the destination country.

    Some ASINS may be eligible for cross-border fulfillment under another fulfillment type, such as local Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) or Seller fulfilled, but they are not eligible for remote fulfillment with FBA.

    It might be because there are additional documents required, shipping/packing regulations, or product compliance regulations that Amazon doesn’t want to be responsible for on a per-order basis. 

    Ultimately, NARF is a great program for testing your products while avoiding the costs and logistics of registering your business in Canada or Mexico.

    Who doesn’t want extra sales! 

    You might just find that your products do sell in the NARF program and can justify the need to jump through the hoops for sending in local inventory.

    You can always mix up some of your offerings available as NARF while others are stored in a local fulfillment center.

    About the Author

    Kevin Sanderson from Maximizing Ecommerce helps Amazon sellers of all levels to find ways to expand their sales.  You can follow him by subscribing to his YouTube channel or podcast (both called Maximizing Ecommerce).

    As always, ask us anything. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll know someone who does!

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