Amazon: U.S. third-party sellers average over $200,000 in annual sales

Amazon is releasing its 2021 Small Business Empowerment Report, and the metrics look good for its 500,000-plus U.S. third-party selling partners.

According to the report, the number of U.S. third-party sellers who surpassed $1 million in sales on Amazon grew by nearly 15% during the 12 months ending on Aug. 31, 2021. Other interesting statistics include that U.S. third-party Amazon sellers:

• Sold more than 3.8 billion products, averaging 7,400 every minute.
• Averaged more than $200,000 in sales, up year-over-year roughly 18% from about $170,000.
• Had nearly $2.2 billion in international export sales, up roughly 47% year-over-year from nearly $1.5 billion.

In the report, Amazon also revealed the top 10 states with the most sellers in Amazon’s stores per capita and the top 10 states with the fastest-growing sellers selling in Amazon’s stores.

The top 10 states with the most sellers per capita were:

1. Delaware with more than 2,000 sellers.
2. Florida with more than 50,000 sellers.
3. Utah with more than 7,500 sellers.
4. California with more than 88,000 sellers.
5. Wyoming with more than 1,000 sellers.
6. New Jersey with more than 20,000 sellers.
7. Nevada with more than 6,500 sellers.
8. New York with more than 40,000 sellers.
9. Colorado with more than 10,000 sellers.
10. Washington with more than 13,000 sellers.

The top 10 states with the most year-over-year sales growth for U.S. third-party sellers were:

1. Nebraska with 60% growth.
2. South Dakota with 40% growth.
3. Delaware with 35% growth.
4. Iowa with 33% growth.
5. Kansas with 32% growth.
6. Washington with 29% growth.
7. West Virginia with 28% growth.
8. Arizona with 27% growth.
9. South Carolina with 27% growth.
10. Connecticut with 25% growth.

Amazon estimates that its third-party sellers have created an estimated 1.8 million U.S.-based jobs managing, operating, and supporting their Amazon-related businesses. In 2020, Amazon invested more than $18 billion in its third-party selling platform to help sellers quickly launch their businesses in its store, scale and reach more customers, and build their brands.

That investment includes launching new tools and services, as well as labor expenses of more than 24,000 employees focused on third-party sellers across the company. In addition, between its June 2021 Prime Day sales event and the end of 2021, Amazon says it will have invested more than $100 million to support small businesses selling on its platform, including promotional activities to encourage customers to shop with them. 

“Over 20 years ago, we made the decision to open our store’s virtual shelves to third-party sellers. At the time, big-box retailers had been pushing small businesses out of the retail market,” said Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer. “But we made a bet that bringing selling partners into our store would not only be a win for customers who want vast product selection, low prices, and fast delivery, but it would also be a win for small businesses that want to reach more customers, increase their revenue and profits, and create good jobs. It proved to be a great bet.”