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How To Qualify For Financing For Amazon Sellers
Updated: Aug 26
Financing for Amazon Sellers has become more widely available over the last few years. Unlike consumer mortgages or car loans, there is a very wide variety of financing structures and terms available to Amazon Sellers depending on their business stage and other various factors.
There are usually Amazon Sellers in 3 different stages of their businesses looking for funding including;
1. Start-Up Funding,
2. Smaller or Struggling Sellers,
3. Medium - Large Profitable Sellers
Depending on the stage you are with your business, you will have different financing for Amazon Seller options available.
For Amazon Sellers looking for funding to start or launch their Amazon Business, there are limited options that will mostly rely on Amazon Sellers' personal connections, skills, and relationships. There are no banks or professional investors funding the launch of new Amazon businesses leaving would-be-sellers to rely on their personal resources.
Amazon Sellers have launched retail arbitrage and wholesale businesses with as little as a couple of hundred dollars and private label businesses with $5k-$20k. If you don't have any liquid cash to start your Amazon business, you still have some options including;
Often referred to (jokingly) as "blood money", investment from family and friends is a popular way for cash-strapped entrepreneurs to get start-up capital. Usually, these deals are structured as some sort of equity partnership or a simple loan. For entrepreneurs tight on cash but rich in relationships, this is the easiest and most popular route to get funding to start selling on Amazon. If following this path, know that you will probably be in for a lot of business questions over the holidays!
Many Amazon Sellers start their Amazon business with credit cards and if you have a decent credit score this could be a good option. When using your personal credit cards to start an Amazon business, it is very important that you start small, invest in education, and gain confidence in your ability to generate sales on Amazon. Using credit cards to start an Amazon business can be very risky if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
Entrepreneurs with strong marketing skills and a reasonable budget might want to explore crowdfunding on platforms like Kickstarter as a path to funding their new business. While technically anyone can launch a crowdfunding campaign, running a successful campaign can become a full-time job in itself so this method is really only recommended for those with a strong marketing background.
As you grow your Amazon business to at least $10k per month in sales, specialty Amazon Seller Financing options start to become available. While at this stage you won't be offered the best financing terms (in fact, you might be offered plain awful financing terms), you will start to have a lot more options than a start-up including;
Factoring is a popular financing method for Amazon Sellers but is usually not fully understood. With factoring, you are basically just selling the right to your Amazon Receivable (Amazon Balance) for cash today rather than waiting for your next Amazon payment. You can think of this financing as payday loans for Amazon Sellers.
For example, if Amazon owes you $100k today, there are companies that will pay you $90k today and then collect your payable over time as Amazon pays it out. While receivable factoring doesn't solve any long-term cash flow or investment needs (you're basically just borrowing against next month's paycheck for cash today), it can be helpful during a short-term cash crunch.
Revenue-Based Loans for Amazon Sellers (or "revenue purchase agreements") have become popular with fintech Amazon Seller Funding Solutions because investors can make above-market returns with limited risk.
With a revenue-based Amazon loan, the lender will take a percentage of your sales every month directly out of your account. Usually, around 20% of your monthly sales are required to go to the revenue-based lender. Depending on the loan details, revenue-based loans can be good for short-term cash needs like a big inventory purchase but they are not a good long-term solution due to the high payments.
For example, to qualify for $25k in funding, your Amazon Sales are likely around $50k per month. If you're paying the average 20% of revenue, you're paying $10k per month on a $25k loan which will result in huge cash flow issues in the medium and long term.
Once an Amazon Seller establishes the ability to run a profitable Amazon business, more business-friendly financing for Amazon Sellers becomes available. Once an Amazon seller establishes a consistent operating history and demonstrates the ability to run a profitable business, more business-friendly financing options may become available. Qualification requirements vary by provider and can depend on factors such as revenue, profitability, operating history, financial health, and overall business performance.;
Amazon Seller loans like those offered by Amazon Lending are some of the only traditional style loans available to Amazon Sellers. Usually offered with rates of 10% to 18% these are a good option for a mature Amazon business no longer growing exponentially IF the length of the loan is at least 12 months.
Term loans for Amazon Sellers are usually offered with terms of 3 to 24 months. Because most term loans for Amazon Sellers require equal monthly payments, the length of the loan will have a big impact on your monthly payments and thus your business cash flow.
For example, a $100k term loan with a 3-month term will require monthly payments of about $33k while a 24-month term for the same loan will require a monthly payment of about $5k. While $5k per month is still a large amount of cash flow for the typical business borrowing $100k, it usually is not business crippling like a $33k monthly payment would be.
With a long repayment term (18+ months), a term loan can be a good option for mature Amazon businesses that don't need to maximize cash flow or grow quickly.
AccrueMe provides transparent, flexible growth capital for established ecommerce businesses, offering a modern alternative to traditional bank funding and high-cost alternative lenders.
For established Amazon sellers, AccrueMe's financing is designed to provide access to meaningful capital with competitive rates, transparent terms, and flexible repayment structures.
Capital can be used to support inventory purchases, advertising and marketing, working capital, seasonal inventory needs, product expansion, and other growth initiatives.
Rather than evaluating financing based only on the advertised rate, Amazon sellers should consider the total cost of capital, repayment structure, available funding, and how well the financing aligns with their inventory and cash flow cycles.
Successful private label sellers may qualify for an equity investment or a full buyout from one of the many groups acquiring eCommerce businesses. Equity investments are typically only available to Amazon Selling businesses with a unique competitive advantage so equity is usually not an option for retail arbitrage or wholesale Amazon Sellers.
About AccrueMe
AccrueMe AccrueMe provides transparent, flexible growth capital for established ecommerce businesses, offering a modern alternative to traditional bank funding and high-cost alternative lenders.
AccrueMe works with established ecommerce operators seeking capital to support inventory, marketing, working capital, expansion, and long-term growth. Its financing solutions are designed around competitive rates, transparent terms, flexible repayment structures, and a streamlined, technology-driven underwriting process.
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