Selling on international Amazon marketplaces can raise margins, but only if sellers can overcome hurdles like complex compliance, licensing, and logistical barriers.
Selling on international Amazon marketplaces opens doors to millions of new customers and significant profit potential.
However, unlocking those higher margins requires savvy navigation of the market challenges that lie behind the curtain.
Amazon Europe Implements Strict Supply Chain Documentation
Sarah George, edie"Online marketplaces selling electronics and electrical items, like Amazon and eBay, will need to report sales and pay more towards e-waste recycling costs under expanded UK Government rules."
From a SellerBites article, a major policy shift is set to impact electronics sellers on Amazon in Europe. Starting September 17, 2025, the platform will enforce new supply chain verification rules that require detailed proof of inventory sources.
This new “paper war” requires sellers to provide specific documentation to keep their listings active. These rules create a significant administrative hurdle for those operating in the affected categories and regions.
To comply, sellers must submit invoices with the following details:
- Recent Invoices: All documentation must be dated within the last 180 days.
- Minimum Volume: The invoices must cover a purchase of at least 100 units.
- Full Supplier Details: Each document must include the supplier’s name, address, email, and website.
The policy specifically targets high-profile electronics brands. Sellers of products from companies like Samsung, Dyson, Canon, Sony, HP, and Philips must meet these requirements.
These rules apply across Amazon’s key European marketplaces. The affected countries include Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Failure to provide the necessary documentation will result in severe penalties. Sellers risk having their listings removed, and their inventory may be returned, destroyed, or donated, leading to a complete loss of revenue from those products.
Amazon Sellers in UAE Face End-of-Year Compliance Deadline
According to Safari Star Global Business Services, Amazon is enforcing a major policy change for all sellers in the United Arab Emirates. Sellers must now meet a fast-approaching deadline of December 31, 2025, to obtain and upload a valid commercial license.
This new mandate represents a significant shift from previous rules that permitted individual accounts to operate without formal business documentation. All sellers must now hold proper commercial credentials to continue their operations on the platform.
To comply, sellers must complete several critical steps before the end of the year. The process involves both securing documentation from local authorities and updating account information within Seller Central.
Sellers are required to:
- Obtain a valid commercial license from the appropriate UAE authorities.
- Convert any existing individual seller account to a full business account.
- Upload the valid commercial license directly through the Amazon Seller Central portal.
This change directly impacts current sellers operating with individual accounts. They must transition to a business account structure and provide the required license to remain compliant.
Amazon has emphasized that meeting the December 31 deadline is essential for maintaining uninterrupted selling privileges. Failing to comply will put seller accounts at severe risk of disruption as the new year begins.
Sellers who miss the deadline face account suspension or deactivation, which would halt their business operations in the UAE market. This policy reflects a broader trend of e-commerce platforms aligning more closely with local business regulations.
Competition Heats Up as Amazon's Middle East Rival Noon Plans IPO
According to the Financial Times, Amazon’s primary e-commerce rival in the Middle East, Noon, is preparing for a stock market listing within the next two years. The move signals growing competition for Amazon in key markets like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the challenger has achieved a valuation of nearly $10 billion since its launch in 2016. Noon was established as a local alternative to prevent international platforms from controlling the region’s burgeoning e-commerce landscape.
The company is now focused on aggressive strategies to reduce costs and expand its reach. Its future plans include both technological innovation and geographic expansion.
Noon is pursuing several key initiatives:
- Autonomous Delivery: A major push to roll out self-driving vans and other vehicles to lower delivery costs, with a goal to reduce its driver workforce by 50% by 2027.
- Market Expansion: Exploring potential mergers and acquisitions to break into new markets, including India.
- Dual Listing: Considering a public offering on stock exchanges in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Middle Eastern e-commerce market remains highly fragmented and competitive. Amazon established its presence by acquiring Souq.com in 2017, but faces pressure from specialist retailers and other large international players.
While Noon’s gross merchandise value was estimated at $5-6 billion in 2024, the company faces challenges on its path to profitability. Its average order value remains lower than some competitors, and heavy investment in the fresh food segment has impacted margins.
Antitrust Spotlight on Marketplace Practices in Mexico
On Investing.com, the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) revealed findings from its investigation into Amazon and MercadoLibre operations in Mexico. The watchdog found that sellers on these platforms face competitive barriers, particularly in how product visibility is determined.
Cofece noted that both companies provide limited transparency on how featured listings are selected while giving priority to sellers using their logistics services. Despite these findings, the commission did not reach consensus to impose corrective measures, citing uncertainty over potential benefits to consumers and small businesses.
The two e-commerce giants collectively dominate over 85% of Mexico’s online sales, giving them significant influence over market dynamics. This dominance has raised concerns about how competition policies affect small and medium-sized sellers trying to gain visibility.
Since the pandemic, more Mexican consumers have shifted to online platforms for their shopping needs. Small and medium-sized businesses have increasingly relied on e-commerce channels to reach wider audiences, making marketplace fairness a critical issue for sellers exploring selling on international Amazon marketplaces.
Amazon Opens Fast-Track for Korean Brands Expanding to Japan
Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Amazon has launched comprehensive support to help Korean brands enter Japan through a partnership between Amazon Global Selling Korea and Amazon Japan. This move comes as demand for Korean products, particularly in beauty and fashion, continues to surge in Japan’s rapidly growing e-commerce market.
Amazon Japan currently ranks first in the Japanese e-commerce sector, drawing over 600 million monthly visitors. According to Global Data, Japan’s e-commerce market size reached 26.9 trillion yen in 2024 and is projected to grow to 29 trillion yen this year.
To support expansion, Amazon Global Selling Korea is offering multiple incentives to Korean brands. These include:
- A 10% bonus on the first $50,000 in sales and 5% on the next $950,000
- A 5% rebate on qualifying new products for four months, applied as shipping cost deductions
- Access to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) infrastructure with over 25 fulfillment centers and 50 distribution centers in Japan
This logistics network enables over 7 million products to be delivered same-day or next-day across Japan. Korean sellers can also rely on Amazon Japan to handle the full process after shipment from Korea, reducing operational burdens while accelerating market entry.
For sellers eyeing selling on international Amazon marketplaces, this program highlights how localized support and infrastructure access can dramatically lower the barriers to global expansion.
Global Expansion Gap: Why Most Sellers Stay Local
Amazon has steadily rolled out new international marketplaces, yet most sellers are choosing to stay put. From Marketplace Pulse, nearly 70% of sellers are active in only one marketplace, while fewer than 1% have built a presence in 11 or more countries.
Even among more ambitious merchants, only 6% have expanded into six or more marketplaces. This trend persists despite Amazon currently operating 23 active marketplaces and offering a suite of global selling tools.
Key Tools Available to Sellers
- Unified global selling accounts
- Automated international listing creation
- Global pricing strategies
- In-house supply chain solutions
- International currency management
The reluctance is particularly evident among U.S.-based sellers. Less than 1% of American merchants sell outside North America, with just 12% expanding to Canada and 5% to Mexico, while very few venture into major overseas markets like Japan, Germany, or the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s international growth is accelerating again after a brief pause in 2023. It launched in South Africa in 2024 and expanded to Ireland just last week.
Several challenges explain this hesitance. Regulatory barriers have grown in complexity, especially in Europe, where Brexit, shifting VAT rules, and new laws like the Responsible Person and General Product Safety Regulation increase the administrative burden on cross-border sellers.
Market size disparity also plays a role. Data from Similarweb shows that the combined traffic of the 22 non-U.S. Amazon marketplaces is only slightly higher than that of Amazon.com in the U.S., leading many sellers to decide that the effort of global expansion may not outweigh the potential returns.
Amazon’s Enhanced Sell Globally Dashboard Simplifies International Expansion
Amazon has rolled out major upgrades to its Sell Globally dashboard, giving sellers stronger tools to evaluate international market opportunities. The new system aims to simplify decision-making by presenting clearer market insights and more precise cost estimates for expansion.
The dashboard now offers two core viewing modes for market analysis. Region View presents potential sales data across Europe and Asia Pacific, showing estimated setup costs, top-performing ASINs, and the markets with the highest revenue potential.
Store View provides a deeper dive into individual marketplace metrics. Sellers can review projected sales lifts, estimated setup costs, and performance indicators for each target country, with projections showing possible boosts of up to $2 million in certain markets.
The platform also introduces a comprehensive cost analysis system. It estimates first-year expansion expenses and forecasts expected sales returns, giving sellers a clear view of the risk-reward balance when expanding globally.
Beyond cost metrics, sellers now have access to detailed shipping cost breakdowns and unified sales insights. This replaces the previous fragmented interface, allowing for more efficient research and planning for cross-border growth.
An experienced Amazon agency can help sellers interpret this data to prioritize the right marketplaces and avoid costly missteps during expansion. The dashboard’s streamlined layout makes it easier to identify profitable markets, offering a centralized hub for sellers weighing international growth opportunities.
Similarweb"Amazon remains by far the largest ecommerce site on the web (nearly 1.3 million monthly unique visitors, compared with 314.9 million for #2 Temu)"
