How Vietnamese Brands Can Sell on Amazon US

Why does this matter? Many Vietnamese factory owners and brand founders already make products that Americans love, from coffee and cashews to home goods, apparel and handicrafts. Yet most of that value goes to US importers who buy cheap and resell under their own labels. Selling on Amazon US under your own brand lets you keep more margin and build something you own. Done badly, it burns cash on storage fees, ads that do not convert and listings that get suspended.

Key Takeaways

• Vietnamese brands on Amazon US need a Professional seller account, a US trademark for Brand Registry, and a clear plan for shipping, duties and FBA fees before the first order.
• As of late 2026, US tariffs on goods from Vietnam have changed several times; a new Section 301 duty took effect on July 24, 2026, so confirm your landed cost with a licensed customs broker.
• Amazon fees stack up: a monthly plan fee, a referral fee (often 15%, lower in some categories), FBA fulfillment, storage and inbound placement fees.
• Your listing must be written for American buyers by a native English speaker, not translated word for word from Vietnamese.
• Start with a small hero product range, test with ads, then scale what sells.

Step 1: Decide If Amazon US Fits Your Product

Not every Vietnamese product is a good Amazon fit. Before you spend a single dollar on inventory, check whether your product can compete on price, shipping cost and rules.

Good fits are usually light, durable and easy to explain in a photo. Think kitchen tools, bamboo and rattan home goods, specialty coffee, dried fruit and nut snacks, natural personal care, yoga and outdoor gear, and simple apparel. Heavy furniture, fragile ceramics and fresh food are harder because shipping and damage eat your margin.

Use this quick filter before you commit:

1. Search your main product on Amazon.com and note the top 10 sellers, their prices and their review counts.
2. Estimate your landed cost: factory cost, freight, US duties, customs broker fees and Amazon fees.
3. Check if your category is gated (restricted). Food, cosmetics, supplements and some children's products need extra approval.
4. Check if your product needs a US agency approval, such as FDA registration for food or cosmetics.
5. Ask yourself why a US buyer would choose you over the top 10. Better quality, a unique origin story, or a better price all count.

If you cannot answer the last question clearly, fix the offer before you fix the listing. A great Amazon listing cannot rescue a product nobody needs.

Step 2: Open Your Amazon Seller Account From Vietnam

Amazon lets sellers from many countries, including Vietnam, register for the US marketplace through its Global Selling program. You do not need a US company to start, although some brands later form one for tax, banking or retail reasons.

You will usually need:

• A business registration document (your Vietnamese enterprise registration certificate)
• A passport or national ID for the main contact
• A credit or debit card that can charge in US dollars
• A bank account that can receive payouts (Amazon offers its own currency converter, and many sellers also use third-party payment services)
• A phone number and an email address you check daily

Amazon runs identity verification, often with a live video call. Make sure the name and address on every document match exactly. Small spelling differences between the Vietnamese registration and the passport are a common reason for delays.

As of 2026, Amazon offers two plans in the US. The Individual plan charges $0.99 per item sold, and the Professional plan costs $39.99 per month. If you plan to sell more than about 40 units a month, run ads or use most brand tools, the Professional plan is the practical choice. Amazon changes fees often, so check Seller Central for the current numbers.

Step 3: Protect Your Brand With a US Trademark

This is the step Vietnamese sellers skip most often, and it costs them later. A trademark registered in Vietnam does not protect you in the United States. Trademarks are territorial, which means each country grants its own rights.

To get the most out of Amazon, you want Amazon Brand Registry. Brand Registry unlocks tools like A+ Content (richer product pages), a Brand Store, Sponsored Brands ads, and stronger control over who can edit your listings. As of 2026, Amazon accepts registered trademarks and, in many cases, pending trademark applications from supported offices, including the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

What to know about filing with the USPTO:

• Foreign-domiciled applicants are generally required to use a US-licensed attorney to file.
• Under the USPTO fee schedule that took effect in January 2025, the base filing fee is around $350 per class of goods, with extra surcharges if the description is incomplete or written in free-form text. Check the current USPTO fee schedule before you file.
• Registration can take many months, so file early, ideally before you place your first big production order.
• Search for conflicts first. If a US company already uses a similar name for similar goods, rebrand now rather than after you have 500 reviews.

It also pays to secure your brand at home. Our guide to trademark registration in Vietnam covers the local side, which matters if a competitor or distributor ever tries to register your name first.

This is general information, not legal advice. A qualified trademark attorney should review your specific mark and goods.

Step 4: Plan Shipping, Duties and Landed Cost

Here is where many Vietnamese brands lose money without noticing. Your real cost per unit is not the factory price. It is the landed cost, meaning everything it takes to get one sellable unit into an Amazon warehouse.

Your landed cost usually includes:

• Factory price per unit
• Packaging, labels and FNSKU barcodes (Amazon's product labels)
• Freight from Vietnam (sea freight from Ho Chi Minh City or Hai Phong is cheapest for bulk; air is faster but costs much more)
• US customs duties and tariffs
• Customs broker fees and US customs bond
• Trucking from the port to an Amazon warehouse or a third-party warehouse

Tariffs deserve special attention. US trade rules for Vietnam have changed several times since 2025. In February 2026, the US Supreme Court struck down the earlier tariffs imposed under the emergency powers law (IEEPA). A temporary 10% tariff followed and then expired in July 2026. As of late 2026, a new Section 301 duty that took effect on July 24, 2026 applies to imports from Vietnam, reported at 12.5% on top of normal duties, with some product exemptions. These numbers can change quickly, so treat them as a starting point and confirm with a licensed US customs broker before you price your product.

Two more points to watch. First, the US has suspended the old $800 duty-free exemption (called de minimis) for all countries, so even small parcels now pay duties. Second, US Customs is strict about country of origin. Your product must genuinely be made or substantially transformed in Vietnam. Goods that simply pass through Vietnam from another country can face much higher penalties.

If you are still choosing a factory, our guide on how to find a manufacturer in Vietnam explains how to vet suppliers for quality and paperwork, which makes customs far smoother.

This is not tax or customs advice. Rules change often, so always confirm with a local professional.

Step 5: Choose FBA, FBM or a Mix

Amazon gives you two main ways to fulfill orders.

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) means you ship inventory in bulk to Amazon's US warehouses. Amazon stores it, packs each order, ships it with Prime and handles most customer service and returns. For a seller based in Vietnam, FBA is usually the best choice because Prime badges win more sales and you do not need your own US warehouse.

FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) means you ship each order yourself. Shipping single orders from Vietnam to US buyers is usually too slow and too expensive for most products, and buyers expect fast delivery. FBM can work if you use a US third-party warehouse.

Many brands use a mix: bulk sea freight to a US third-party warehouse, then smaller top-ups into FBA. This reduces Amazon storage fees and protects you if Amazon limits how much stock you can send.

FBA fees to plan for as of 2026 include:

• Fulfillment fees per unit, based on size and weight. A small, light item often costs a few dollars per unit.
• Monthly storage fees per cubic foot, which rise sharply from October to December.
• Aged inventory surcharges for stock that sits too long.
• Inbound placement fees depending on how you split shipments.
• Low inventory fees if you run too low compared to sales.

The lesson: do not send six months of stock on day one. Start with enough for 6 to 10 weeks, learn your sell-through rate, then size your next order.

Step 6: Understand the Amazon Fees Before You Price

On top of FBA, Amazon charges a referral fee on every sale. As of 2026, most categories pay around 15%. Some categories are lower; for example, beauty and grocery are reported at 8% on lower-priced items, with higher rates above certain price points. Apparel has its own tiered rates. Check the current referral fee schedule in Seller Central for your exact category.

Here is a simple pricing check you can run on paper:

1. Start with your planned selling price, for example $24.99.
2. Subtract the referral fee (about 15% in most categories).
3. Subtract the FBA fulfillment fee for your size tier.
4. Subtract storage, inbound and a buffer for returns.
5. Subtract your landed cost per unit.
6. Subtract an advertising budget per unit (many new sellers plan for a meaningful share of revenue in the first months).

If what is left is thin or negative, you have three choices: raise the price with a stronger brand story, lower landed cost, or choose a different product. It is much cheaper to learn this on paper than after 2,000 units arrive in Kentucky.

Step 7: Build Listings That American Buyers Trust

Your listing is your salesperson. Vietnamese brands often lose sales because the copy reads like a translation, the photos look like factory catalog shots, or the listing misses the words Americans actually search.

A strong listing has:

• A clear title with the main keyword, brand name, key feature, size and quantity.
• Five bullet points that answer buyer worries: material, size, how to use, care, and what makes it better.
• Main image on a pure white background, as Amazon requires, plus lifestyle images showing the product in an American home or routine.
• A+ Content (after Brand Registry) with your origin story. "Hand-woven by artisans in the Mekong Delta" or "single-origin coffee from the Central Highlands" is a real advantage when it is true and shown well.
• Backend search terms filled in with synonyms and common misspellings.

Here is a simple before and after for a bullet point:

Before (translated): "Product is made of high quality natural bamboo material, durable and beautiful."

After (written for US buyers): "Built to last: Made from solid, sustainably harvested bamboo that resists cracking and stays smooth after years of daily use."

The second version gives a reason to believe and a benefit. Have a native English speaker write or edit every listing. Machine translation saves a few hours and costs you months of weak sales.

Step 8: Launch With Ads and Reviews the Right Way

A new listing with zero reviews rarely sells on its own. You need traffic, and on Amazon that mostly means ads.

A simple launch plan:

1. Turn on Sponsored Products auto campaigns for the first one to two weeks to discover which search terms bring sales.
2. Move winning search terms into manual exact-match campaigns with tighter bids.
3. Add negative keywords for terms that spend money without sales.
4. After Brand Registry, test Sponsored Brands to show your logo and several products.
5. Enroll eligible products in Amazon Vine (Amazon's program that gives products to trusted reviewers) if it is available to you.

What not to do: never offer free products or refunds in exchange for reviews, never ask friends and family to buy and review, and never insert cards asking for five stars. Amazon bans review manipulation and can suspend your account. Instead, ship a great product and use Amazon's built-in "Request a Review" button.

Want buyers to find you outside Amazon too? Many brands drive outside traffic from Google, Meta and TikTok to their Amazon listings. Our cross-border advertising team runs these campaigns with US-native copy so your ad budget is not wasted on poor targeting.

Common Mistakes Vietnamese Brands Make on Amazon US

We see the same problems again and again. Avoid these and you are ahead of most new sellers:

• Skipping the US trademark. Without it, a reseller or copycat can hijack your listing and you have little power to stop them.
• Pricing from factory cost. Always price from full landed cost plus Amazon fees plus ads.
• Sending too much stock. Storage and aged inventory fees can wipe out your profit.
• Ignoring compliance. Food, cosmetics, supplements, children's products and electronics often need US approvals, testing or safety documents before Amazon will let you sell.
• Weak English. Translated copy and poor photos make buyers doubt quality.
• Running ads without tracking. Check your ad cost of sales (ACoS, ad spend divided by ad sales) every week and cut what does not work.
• Counting on one product. Build a small range so one listing problem does not stop all revenue.

A 90-Day Launch Checklist

Use this as your starting roadmap:

1. Weeks 1 to 2: Validate product, calculate landed cost, check category rules.
2. Weeks 1 to 4: File your US trademark through a US attorney; open your Amazon seller account.
3. Weeks 3 to 6: Finalize packaging with FNSKU labels, English warning labels and country of origin marking ("Made in Vietnam").
4. Weeks 4 to 8: Book freight, hire a customs broker, ship your first FBA shipment.
5. Weeks 6 to 9: Write listings, shoot photos, prepare A+ Content.
6. Weeks 9 to 12: Go live, start auto ads, review data weekly, adjust bids and keywords.

Timelines vary with freight schedules and trademark processing. Build in a buffer, especially before the October to December holiday season, when Amazon warehouses fill up.

If your brand also sells in other Asian markets, keep each launch separate. The listings, ads and paperwork that work for the US rarely carry over without changes.

Let Our Team Handle Your Amazon US Launch

Selling on Amazon US is one of the strongest moves Vietnamese brands can make, but it is a lot to manage from across the Pacific while you also run a factory or a growing team. Raw Marketing Group Asia is your operator on the ground in Asia, run from our Las Vegas headquarters with local teams and vetted partners across the region. We help brands with US market entry, listings written by native English speakers, and ads that bring real buyers.

If you want a clear plan for your product, book a free 30-minute strategy call and we will walk through your landed cost, launch steps and the fastest path to your first profitable sales.