Amazon Business Review: Should you Sign Up?

We all like saving money, right? This Amazon Business review looks at a FREE service from Amazon that offers lots of perks. It’s also open to the smallest of businesses, so if you work for yourself in any way, you could well be eligible.

When you’re in business, less expenditure means a larger bottom line. One popular option that claims to help you save money is Amazon Business.

It’s an Amazon service that offers exclusive discounts to businesses. It’s much like how businesses can sign up with Costco to get a discount on the items they need to run their operations.

But is Amazon Business really worth your time? Does it make sense for freelancers and micro-businesses, or is it only for bigger companies? Here, we take a look at Amazon Business in-depth.

What is Amazon Business?

Amazon Business helps businesses access savings and other perks when purchasing the products they need.

Amazon Business offers a range of benefits that help businesses with their purchasing. Here are some of the perks: (Note that some benefits vary from country to country).

• Tax-exempt purchasing for certain organizations.

• The ability to purchase products that certain suppliers only offer to businesses.

• Multi-user accounts.

• Purchasing-system integration.

• Free accounts.

• Pallet shipping.

• An Amazon Business American Express credit card.

• Detailed invoices.

Amazon Business also provides several specific ways to save money:

• “Business-only” prices on products.

• Discounts based on quantity ordered / multi-unit price breaks.

• Price comparison systems: you can view multiple offers from different sellers on a single page.

• Any order $25 or more qualifies for free shipping.

Sign up to Amazon Business Here

Another massive perk of this system is the purchasing analytics. Within your account, you can tabulate exactly how much you’re spending on different items, and easily view all data.

Finally, we noticed whilst completing this Amazon Business review that there are sometimes discount offers available when you first sign up.

You can also sign up for a paid Business Prime account. The “Essentials” package allows for up to three users and costs $179 per year in the US. Most notably, you get free one-day shipping through Business Prime. Using the Amazon Business Prime American Express card also give five percent back or 90 days interest-free.

Amazon Business seems like a great offering, especially for large businesses with big purchasing needs. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be for freelancers and micro-businesses?

Can Freelancers and Micro-Businesses Sign Up for Amazon Business?

The main page of Amazon Business does advertise that the service is “for every type of business.” It also outlines that it serves every size of organization.

And as we mentioned above, business accounts are free, unlike signing up with a service through a big box retailer like Costco or Sam’s Club. That can be a huge benefit if you’re a sole proprietor operating on a shoestring budget.

My Experience

To see what it’s like to sign up with the service as a sole proprietor, I initiated a free account.

The process starts by having you designate your work-related email. To verify the email, it sends a verification code via email and then wants you to set up a password. It’s a painless process.

After that, you have the option to convert your existing Amazon account, so that your personal order history and information can be shown in your new business account. Since I’ve never used an Amazon account to purchase anything business-related, I selected the option to create a separate business account. The system asks you to select a different email that is associated with the account, so I also put in another separate personal email.

When setting up an account, the system asks you to list your business name, phone number and address. After that, you can optionally enter business credit card details.

Many of us who operate independently don’t have a business credit card, so it’s good you can skip this step. After that, you get a message stating that the system is verifying your business info. That process can take up to 72 hours, according to the “manage your business registration” link.

A confirmation email arrived about two hours later, requesting verification that I am indeed a legitimate business. It gave the options of proving my sole proprietor status by submitting one of the following official documents:

• Employee Identification Number (EIN) verification document from the IRS.

• A business license.

• Any pertinent state documents that contain the state seal.

Completing the process from this Amazon Business review proves is that even as a sole proprietor freelancer, I’m eligible for Amazon Business. So Amazon Business really is open to all sizes of businesses. The system does not require a corporate credit card, and I was able to enter my home address and personal emails into the system.