By Ali Khoddami, founder of Vela K Products Ltd., a registered British Columbia distribution company. Selling brand-direct on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com since 2021. Updated October 22, 2026.

Short answer: the fixed costs to open are small. A BC business registration and three months of Amazon's Professional selling plan come to about $160 CAD. The real money is inventory. In my experience, a first order with a North American brand is about $1,000 CAD, and you need money left over to reorder before Amazon pays out for what sold.

Below is every cost I would budget for before a first wholesale order, in Canadian dollars wherever the source gives it. Every fee and price has its source listed at the end of the article. The first-order figures are from my own buying.

What do you pay before you sell anything?

• Amazon's Professional selling plan: CAD $29.99 a month on Amazon.ca, plus selling fees. Amazon says a Professional seller is charged one monthly subscription fee for selling in North America, so adding Amazon.com later does not add a second plan fee. Once you list on both, the one fee can rise to US$39.99 a month in total.
• The Individual plan instead: CAD $1.49 for every unit sold on Amazon.ca, with no monthly fee. At about 20 units a month the two plans cost the same. Past that, Professional is cheaper.
• Registering the business in BC: $70 for a sole proprietorship ($30 to approve the name plus $40 to register), or $380 for a BC limited company ($30 plus $350). Priority name approval adds $100 to the $30 fee.
• Business number and GST/HST account: the business number itself has no fee. You must register for GST/HST once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter, or over four consecutive calendar quarters. You can also register earlier by choice, which can let you claim input tax credits on what you pay for stock, tools and fees. Registering also means filing GST/HST returns, so ask your accountant which fits your situation.
• Research tools: Keepa, which shows a product's price and sales rank history, has a monthly plan. Without that history you are guessing at what will sell.
• A business email on your own domain: a small monthly cost, and brands notice when it is missing. A Gmail address on a wholesale application usually gets ignored.

What does Amazon take when you sell?

• Referral fee: a percentage of each sale, set by category. Amazon says most categories fall between 8% and 15%.
• FBA fulfillment fee: a fee per unit to pick, pack and ship the order to the customer, set by size and weight. Amazon publishes the rate card on its pricing page.
• Monthly storage: on Amazon.ca, standard-size storage is CAD $40 per cubic metre from January to September and CAD $77 from October to December. Stock that sits through the fourth quarter costs almost twice as much to store.
• Getting stock to Amazon: boxes, labels and freight to the fulfillment centre. It depends on weight and where the brand ships from, so get the quote before you place the order, not after.

Run every product through Amazon's revenue calculator before you buy. If the numbers only work at a perfect selling price, they do not work. I wrote up the mistakes I see most often here: Why Do Beginners Calculate Amazon FBA Profit Wrong?

Why is the first order the real number?

In my experience, a first order with a North American brand is about $1,000 CAD, and it arrives in 7 to 10 days on average. Brand minimums vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, and the brand's application states it. Pick brands whose minimum fits the money you actually have. If you have not opened a brand account yet, start here: How Do You Get Brands to Approve You for Amazon Wholesale?

The part most budgets miss is the wait. Amazon says it generally settles seller accounts every two weeks, and it typically holds the money from a delivered order for seven days. So the money from the units that sell reaches you in pieces, after you have already paid the brand. If a product sells well, you want to reorder before that cash lands. That is why I tell people to budget for the second order, not just the first.

And the risks are real. Stock can sell slower than planned or at a lower price, and money can be lost. A brand can say no. Amazon can restrict a listing or an account. Careful numbers reduce these risks. They do not remove them.

What does a careful first 90 days look like?

• BC sole proprietorship: $70
• Amazon Professional plan for three months: about $90
• Keepa: its monthly plan
• First inventory order: about $1,000
• Shipping and prep to Amazon: quoted per order
• A reserve for the reorder: at least the size of the first order

Add it up and a careful start on your own is two orders plus a few hundred dollars in fees and tools. Starting with one order and nothing behind it is how people end up selling at a loss just to get their cash back.

What changes when you work with a mentor?

The fees above do not change. What changes is who checks your numbers before you spend them. Before any order, we go through the product, the brand's terms and every fee together, line by line.

Whatever you start with should be money set aside for a business. Not rent money, not living money, and not borrowed. I would rather someone wait and start properly than start with money they cannot afford to have tied up in stock.

Common questions

Can I start Amazon wholesale with $1,000? You can place one small order with a brand that has a low minimum. That leaves nothing for a reorder, a slow product or a fee you did not plan for. I would not start that thin.

Do I need a corporation to start? No. Brands ask for a registered business and a tax number, and a sole proprietorship in BC costs $70 to register. Many sellers incorporate later. That is a question for your accountant.

Do I need to register for GST/HST before I sell? You must register once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter, or over four consecutive calendar quarters. You can register earlier by choice, which can let you claim input tax credits on business costs, and you then file GST/HST returns. Ask your accountant first.

Should I start on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com? Many Canadians start on Amazon.ca, where there are fewer sellers per brand. Amazon charges a Professional seller one monthly subscription fee for selling in North America, so adding Amazon.com later does not add a second plan fee, though the one fee can rise to US$39.99 a month in total.

How long until Amazon pays me? Amazon says it generally settles seller accounts every two weeks, and it typically holds the money from a delivered order for seven days. Plan your cash around that, not around the day you make a sale.

Can I use a line of credit for the first order? I advise against it. A first order can sell slower than planned, and borrowed money turns a slow product into a monthly payment.

The short version

Opening costs are about $160 CAD. Tools are a monthly cost. The real number is the first order, about $1,000 CAD with a North American brand in my experience, plus a reserve to reorder. Fees come out of every sale, storage costs almost double from October to December, and Amazon generally pays out every two weeks. Budget for two orders, not one.

The Starter Training is free and includes the capital worksheet I use to plan a first order. When you want me to build your first brand account with you, you can apply for a call on the Programs page. New and existing sellers are welcome.

Sources

• Amazon.ca pricing: selling plans and monthly storage fees
• Amazon.ca: one monthly subscription fee for selling in North America
• Amazon staff answer on the Amazon.ca seller forums: the one fee, up to US$39.99 in total
• Amazon.com pricing: selling plans
• Amazon: referral fee range by category
• Amazon: how seller payments and reserves work
• BC Registries: name approval, proprietorship and company fees
• Government of BC: the business number
• Canada Revenue Agency: when to register for GST/HST
• Canada Revenue Agency: voluntary registration and input tax credits

Ali Khoddami is the founder of Vela K Products Ltd., a distribution company registered in British Columbia, Canada, with operations in Coquitlam, BC and Blaine, WA. He teaches brand-direct Amazon wholesale through Vela K Academy. Vela K Products Ltd. is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon.com, Inc. Fees and prices change, so check each source before you spend. This article is educational and is not legal, tax, or financial advice.