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Blog

Amazon.Com vs Amazon.Ca

February 10, 2022 · By David Sroka, Strategic Account Manager at VENDO

SIZE OF THE MARKET

Population Difference: Canada has a population of ~38.4 million people (as of 2021), whereas the USA has a population of ~331.4 million people.

Website Traffic Difference: Amazon.com gets close to 2.9 Billion visits each month. Amazon.ca is currently receiving close to 203 Million visits each month.

Competition Difference: The total number of products listed on Amazon.com is around 350 million, whereas there are only 133 million on Amazon.ca.

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

If you currently sell on Amazon.com, selling on Amazon.ca is remarkably easy and you can use your same seller account. Amazon makes it fairly simple to sell in Canada from the United States. You do not need a registered Canadian business or a Canadian bank account to get started.  

Differences in Seller Central 
There are no real big differences between Amazon Seller Central Canada and Amazon Seller Central U.S.. There will be some differences on the backend as some programs have not been launched completely so your account may not have access to some of the things your amazon.com U.S. account has.  

Currency Converter
All you need to do is connect your U.S. bank account to your amzon.ca seller central account and use the Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers to route your earnings to your local bank, in your local currency. 

Taxes
Note: he total number of products listed on Amazon.com is around 350 million, whereas there are only 133 million on Amazon.ca.

Canada Revenue Agency / Agence du revenu du Canada

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT 

Shipping to Canada 
Sending your inventory from the U.S. into a Canadian Amazon warehouse is similar to sending FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) inventory to an American warehouse. Since Amazon.ca does not have any partnered carriers (unlike Amazon.com, which partners with UPS for cheap inbound FBA shipping for sellers), you will need to find your own carrier to ship inventory to Amazon. Make sure you ship with a carrier that provides DDP services (Delivered Duty Paid.) This ensures that all of your import taxes, duties, and fees are paid ahead of time, so Amazon doesn’t reject your shipment.

Remote Fulfillment
The program offers Prime customers free shipping in Mexico (five to nine days) and Canada (seven to 12 days). Customers pay import duties on the items they order, taking ownership after the shipping company picks up the items from the US fulfillment center. Returns go directly back to the U.S. and are subject to the FBA customer returns policy. 

Not all items are eligible to sell through Remote Fulfillment with FBA. To be eligible, a product must meet all trade compliance and in-country regulations and be enabled for FBA in the US, Canada, and Mexico .

Resources (note: only available to view with a Seller Central account)

  • Remote Fulfillment with FBA fees 

  • Remote Fulfillment with FBA  

    • Selling Price 
    To figure out how you should price your Canadian listing, just search Google for “USD to CAD.” Then, enter in your U.S. price and the currency converter will tell you the equivalent price in Canadian dollars. For instance, if your Amazon.com listing price is $29.99, your Amazon.ca price point should be at least CAD$37.86.  
    In some categories you can also charge more due to less competition. You should first look at what the market is selling your product for first, so you can maximize your profits!.

    Please note that you will still need to take shipping into account.

    MARKETING / RANKING 

    Internal Ads 
    Because there are fewer sellers and products on the Canadian Marketplace, CPC (cost per click) is significantly cheaper than the Amazon.com marketplace. There are also fewer searches and impression, so long-tail search terms will net you a smaller result than the .com side. 

    Ranking
    In similar fashion, it will be easier to rank your products on Page 1 and on the top of Page 1. You will still need to ensure your listing is optimized for what Canadians are searching for.

    Some residents, like those in Québec, prefer French, so you can maximize sales and increase customer satisfaction by including French keywords in the listing. 

    CANADIAN REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS 

    The largest difference between amazon.com and amazon.ca is in the Regulations Department: US Listing Restrictions  vs. Canadian Listing Restrictions   (note: will need access to a Seller Central account to view).

    Language and Translations 
    The Canadian Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act requires that all labels be bilingual with English and French, and that the following information appear on the package/label of consumer goods sold in Canada:

  • Product Identity Declaration: describes a product’s common or generic name, or its function. The declaration must be in both English and French.

  • Net Quantity Declaration: must be expressed in metric units of volume when the product is a liquid or a gas or is viscous; or in metric units of weight when the product is solid; or by numerical count. Net quantity may also be expressed in other established trade terms.

  • Dealer’s Name and Principal Place of Business: where the prepackaged product was manufactured or produced for resale. In general, a name and address is enough for postal delivery to be acceptable. This information can be in either English or French.

    • SCHEDULE YOUR FREE AMAZON.COM AND AMAZON.CA AUDITS!