Should I Get Amazon Business For My Garage? Is It Worth It?

Amazon Business is designed to help you make the most of your business with extra services not available to regular Amazon customers - but does it make sense for you?

What is Amazon Business?

Whether you’ve used it for work, at home or both, it’s highly likely you have already used Amazon before. It offers a vast range of goods either directly or via third parties with the ability to get rapid delivery, and if you sign up for Amazon Prime you get free delivery on lots of items as well as access to TV and film services. Amazon Business* is designed to give you similar benefits to Prime but with a specialised account that gives you more facilities and more flexibility, as well as the ability to manage how your employees use the services.

What do I get with Amazon Business?

Just like Amazon Prime*, Business* gives you free one-day delivery on orders over £30, which could be useful depending on how often and how much you do so already. However, those orders can be made as a business rather than a private individual, so you can pay by invoice, add or separate VAT and provide purchase order numbers, all of which will make incorporating Amazon orders into your business accounting much easier.

Another aspect that may be a big help is the ability to create individual accounts for each of your employees or specific departments, and put spending limits or purchase approval checks on them, so you can prevent any misuse and keep an easy eye on who is ordering what. This may be of particular use if you order parts or tools regularly through Amazon and want to manage the cost more easily.

How much is Amazon Business?

Amazon Business is free, and if you have a personal Prime account you can link the two and get free shipping on certain items. If you are already a seller on Amazon then you are already paying a fee, either for each sale or as a flat £25 per month fee.

Is Amazon Business worth it?

If you and your employees rarely use Amazon for business purposes, then there is not a great deal to be gained by joining Amazon Business; even if it is just occasional use, a Prime account will get you most of the same benefits.

However, if you sell through Amazon already or regularly make business purchases through the site, then there are significant advantages, particularly for smaller business where the small fees could be clawed back in a short time thanks to free postage. Switching to Business* will give you the option to pay on invoice which could be a real help with cash flow, and being able to control company spending will save you or someone else the time and trouble of having to monitor it as closely.