You buy or make products and sell them on Amazon.ca, often stored and shipped by Amazon. Fees take a big cut.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$2,500
Most sellers
$0
Top few percent
$125,000
There is no Job Bank wage for this. In Jungle Scout's survey of active sellers, mostly American, 48% sold under US$1,000 a month. At a common margin of about 15%, that is around $2,500 a year of profit in Canadian dollars. People who quit at a loss are not in the survey, so the real typical figure is lower.
57% keep more than 10%
Profit margin after all costs, from Jungle Scout's survey
13% were not profitable yet and 28% kept 10% or less. Amazon.ca is a much smaller market than the US site, so many Canadian sellers also list on Amazon.com.
47% under US$25,000
Total profit since they started, active sellers
About 6% reported lifetime profits over US$1 million. Those are established brands, not side hustles.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is arbitrage: buying discounted products in stores or online and reselling them, with a seller plan, a scanning app and about $700 to $1,000 of first stock. The high end is launching your own brand: samples, a first factory order, freight and duty into Canada, bilingual packaging, a trademark and launch ads. Jungle Scout's survey, which is mostly US sellers, found 64% spent under US$5,000 to launch. Stock you cannot sell is the big hidden cost.
Run every product through Amazon's revenue calculator first, with duty and the exchange rate included.
Ads
Sponsored listings are close to required on Amazon now.
Storage and low-stock fees
Too much stock costs storage. Too little costs you sales and fees.
Duty and freight
Bringing stock into Canada means freight, duty and a customs broker.
Returns
Returned items often cannot be resold as new.
Exchange rate
Tools and US sales are in US dollars, which helps or hurts each month.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
No degree or licence. Most people start small with arbitrage or one product.
Learn how Amazon fees work
1 month
Amazon's free Seller University and its fee calculator. Know your profit per unit first.
Pick a model
1 month
Arbitrage, wholesale from brands, or your own private label product.
Research and source
2 to 4 months
Find steady demand on Amazon.ca, order samples, and plan 2 to 4 months for a factory order and freight.
Launch and run ads
3 to 6 months
Ship stock to an Amazon warehouse in Canada and watch your numbers daily.
Grow, expand to the US, or stop
1 to 4 years
One North American account lets you list on Amazon.com too, but selling into the US brings its own tax and customs work.
Math
Margins, fees, exchange rates and stock planning.
Accounting or business studies
You pay for stock months before it sells.
French
Packaging sold in Canada generally needs English and French.
Media arts
Product photos and video sell the listing.
No licence is needed. Profit is business income you report to the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency). Since 2024, Amazon and other platforms send the CRA a yearly report on sellers with 30 or more sales or more than $2,800. Once sales pass $30,000 over four quarters, register for GST (goods and services tax) or HST (harmonized sales tax). The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act requires English and French on most prepackaged products, and some items, like cosmetics, have Health Canada rules too.
Many Canadian sellers list on Amazon.com because the market is far bigger. Since August 2025 the US charges duty on every shipment from abroad, whatever its value, and a 2025 US law makes that permanent from July 2027. Sending stock to American warehouses means a customs broker, duty and US tax forms. Selling into the US can still pay, but price it with those costs in.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Retail arbitrage
Buy clearance in stores and resell. Cheap to start, hard to grow, and brands complain.
Online arbitrage
The same from websites. Crowded, with constant price wars.
Wholesale
Buy from brands or distributors with permission to resell.
Private label
Your own brand made by a factory. Highest cost and risk, and the only one you can sell as a business later.
Product research
Finding steady demand on Amazon.ca that the US giants ignore.
Amazon ads
Managing pay-per-click campaigns without burning the margin.
Import know-how
Freight, duty, customs brokers and the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency).
Bilingual listings
French listings reach Quebec shoppers your competitors skip.
Amazon can suspend your account and hold your payout. Common triggers are complaints that an item is fake, trademark complaints from a brand, late shipping, or a second account linked to you, so keep every supplier invoice. Be wary of offers to run an Amazon store for you for a large fee. US regulators have shut several down after most buyers lost money and Amazon closed the stores.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
You check sales, ad spend and account warnings in the seller dashboard. Then you adjust ad bids, answer buyer messages and check which products are running low. Midday is supplier calls, a customs broker email, or a run around the stores with a scanning app. Afternoons are listing photos, packing a shipment to an Amazon warehouse, or a case with seller support.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Since the 2024 tax year, online marketplaces report sellers to the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) once they pass 30 sales or $2,800 in a year. Selling a few personal items stays under that line.
In Jungle Scout's survey, 22% of active sellers were profitable within 3 months and 58% within a year. Those who never got there mostly quit and did not answer.
Federal labelling law means most prepackaged consumer products sold in Canada need English and French on the label. Importers who skip it can be told to relabel or pull the stock.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Online business first, then the rest of the field. See all online and self-made careers.
Last checked October 2026. This is self-employment, so there is no government wage data for it. The income figures come from the studies and platform data listed above.