Amazon.ae is Amazon's local marketplace dedicated to the United Arab Emirates. It was launched on 1 May 2019 through the transformation of Souq.com into Amazon.ae, and offers UAE consumers products from both local and international companies. For Italian companies, it therefore represents a direct channel for entering the UAE e-commerce market by leveraging Amazon's commercial, advertising and logistics infrastructure.
Key Characteristics and Services
Sales are managed through Seller Central, from which the seller can create and update listings, manage prices and inventory, monitor orders and performance, communicate with customers and access Amazon support. Advertising tools, promotions, automated pricing management and logistics services are also available.
For eligible brand owners, Amazon Brand Registry is available, offering additional tools for intellectual property protection and brand development, including A+ Content, Stores, Brand Analytics and Sponsored Brands.
Revenue
Amazon does not publish a specific revenue figure for Amazon.ae or for the UAE market alone. It is therefore advisable not to use private companies' estimates as if they represented the marketplace's official revenue.
As a reference point for scale, in fiscal year 2025 Amazon.com Inc. recorded global revenue of $716.9 billion, while the International segment generated $161.9 billion. The latter covers numerous international markets and does not allow Amazon.ae's contribution to be isolated. This is the most recent complete annual financial year available in 2026.
Permitted Products
Amazon.ae allows the sale of a wide range of products, including clothing, beauty, electronics, home, kitchen, automotive, children's items, sports, toys, jewellery, luggage, office products and personal care goods.
Access is not, however, completely open for every product. Some categories and brands require prior approval from Amazon ("restricted" or gated categories), while other products cannot be sold for regulatory reasons or due to internal policy. In practice, Seller Central's "Add a Product" tool indicates, for each product, whether restrictions apply and which documents are required for approval — typically purchase invoices, safety or compliance certifications, or a letter of authorisation from the brand owner. Products generally subject to gating include children's products and toys (for safety certifications), hazardous goods/HAZMAT (lithium batteries, flammable liquids, aerosols), laser products, and well-known brands protected through Brand Registry.
Amazon also flags specific restrictions for products destined for FBA. Verification should therefore be carried out at individual product and category level before listing, also taking into account UAE product and safety regulations (e.g. ESMA/ECAS registration for certain regulated categories), which apply independently of Amazon's approval.
Accessibility for Italian Companies
Italian companies can access Amazon.ae directly. Italy is expressly listed among Amazon's accepted countries for seller registration, and Amazon also has dedicated verification procedures for companies with a business location in Italy.
Registration is therefore not reserved for companies incorporated in the Emirates. However, the Italian company must pass Amazon's checks relating to identity, business location, company information and payout method, and must comply with the regulations applicable in the Emirates for the products sold. Amazon recommends that international sellers check tax, banking, regulatory and logistics aspects in advance before operating in a country other than their home country.
Commercial licence. Activating a Professional seller account requires a UAE commercial (trade) licence covering e-commerce/trading activity, obtainable through mainland authorities or through a free zone. Amazon's official page indicates a basic e-trader licence starting from AED 1,370/year as the most affordable option; industry sources report that mainland (DED) or free zone licences with broader activities can cost from AED 5,500 to over AED 25,000/year depending on the jurisdiction — a figure not published by Amazon, to be verified with a local advisor.
Worth noting is a 2026 development: Amazon has tightened compliance checks on the commercial licence, sending official notices requiring regularisation even for individual accounts opened in the past without such a licence (when the requirement was not systematically enforced), with the risk of account suspension in case of non-compliance. For an Italian company evaluating entry today, the commercial licence is therefore not a requirement that can be postponed.
UAE VAT. Particular attention should be paid to UAE VAT. Amazon specifies that a non-resident seller who sells to UAE customers goods already located in the Emirates must normally register for VAT; this scenario is particularly relevant when the Italian company imports stock into the UAE to use FBA. The Federal Tax Authority further confirms that, for non-residents carrying out taxable transactions in the UAE, the registration requirement can apply without the AED 375,000 threshold provided for resident businesses, when no other party is liable for the tax. For cross-border sales alone (without local stock), the general rules apply instead, with a registration threshold of AED 375,000 (voluntary registration from AED 187,500).
Corporate tax. In addition to these obligations, UAE corporate tax has been in force since 2023 under Federal Decree-Law No. 47/2022: 9% on taxable profit exceeding AED 375,000 (0% below that threshold) — a tax planning element that adds to VAT and should be factored into the operation's financial projections, particularly for those operating through a UAE corporate structure (mainland or free zone).
Assessment for Italian companies: access is therefore genuinely possible, but is more structured than simple intra-EU selling. Before launch, it is advisable to define the import arrangement, VAT management, the importer of record, the type of commercial licence, the impact of corporate tax, product compliance and logistics strategy.
Countries and Markets
Amazon.ae is the marketplace dedicated to the United Arab Emirates.
Amazon nonetheless allows the account to be linked to or expanded through Amazon Global Selling, providing access to other international marketplaces. In the Middle East, Amazon operates, among others, separate marketplaces for the UAE and Saudi Arabia: expansion into another country requires activating the relevant marketplace and complying with its specific tax, logistics and regulatory requirements.
Costs and Fees
Amazon applies a referral fee on every product sold, calculated as a percentage of the total sale price and differentiated by category. Amazon indicates that most fees fall roughly between 4.5% and 15%, although the official fee schedule sets different values and tiers for some categories. For example: consumer electronics 7%, clothing 15%, grocery 5% or 11% depending on price, and jewellery up to 16% on the first price tier.
As of 18 August 2026, Amazon still indicates the Professional plan with no monthly subscription fee for a limited time. This is therefore not a guaranteed permanent condition: the company should verify it again at the time of registration.
Logistics costs may be added to the referral fee. Amazon currently indicates:
- FBA: fulfilment starting from AED 7.5 per unit, plus any storage and other fees;
- Easy Ship: shipping starting from AED 14 per shipment, varying by size;
- Self Ship: no specific Amazon fulfilment fee, but courier costs remain the seller's responsibility.
Fees published by Amazon are shown net of applicable VAT. In addition to platform costs, an Italian company must also factor in the administrative costs of market entry described in Section 4 (commercial licence, UAE VAT, potential corporate tax).
Payment Systems
For customers, Amazon.ae accepts Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards, Visa and Mastercard debit cards, and Buy Now, Pay Later solutions (including Tabby and Tamara, widely used in the Gulf). Instalment payment systems and Cash on Delivery are also available for eligible orders and customers: cash on delivery can be used for items fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) and for some items fulfilled directly by the seller, with a non-refundable fee of AED 10 charged to the customer and phone number verification via OTP. Cash on delivery remains a widely used payment method in the Gulf market, and its availability, where applicable, can affect sales conversion.
For sellers, Amazon credits sales proceeds to the registered bank account, after deducting fees and other amounts due; a UAE bank account is not strictly required, and several operational guides note that non-resident sellers may also be able to use a verified Payoneer account as an alternative to a local AED account — a condition to be confirmed during registration. Amazon also supports tools for receiving international payments in local currency through Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers, in supported countries and currencies.
Advertising
Amazon.ae provides an integrated advertising ecosystem. The main tools include Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display and Amazon Stores. Sponsored Products allows individual products to be promoted, while Sponsored Brands and Stores are particularly useful for increasing brand and catalogue visibility.
The main Sponsored campaigns operate on a cost-per-click (CPC) model: the seller sets bids and budget and incurs a cost when a user clicks the ad. Some advanced features, such as Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display and Stores, require a Professional account and/or enrolment in Amazon Brand Registry, depending on the programme's requirements. Unlike advertising networks based on direct negotiation, advertising on Amazon.ae is therefore self-service: the seller independently sets bids and budgets via the dashboard.
Logistics Services
Amazon.ae offers three main fulfilment methods.
- With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), the seller sends products to Amazon fulfilment centres in the Emirates; Amazon manages storage, order preparation, shipping, customer service and returns. FBA products can benefit from the Prime experience, making this method particularly attractive for companies expecting ongoing volumes in the UAE market.
- With Easy Ship, on the other hand, the product remains in the seller's warehouse: once ordered, it is prepared by the seller and collected by Amazon Logistics for delivery to the customer. For this reason, Easy Ship is best suited to companies that already have stock and an operational structure in the Emirates.
- With Self Ship, finally, the seller retains responsibility for storage, packaging and delivery through its own couriers. For an Italian company entering the UAE market for the first time, the choice between cross-border selling and building local stock through FBA should be assessed primarily in relation to volumes, delivery times, import costs and VAT obligations (see Section 4).
Customer and Seller Service
Sellers can manage their business and request support through Seller Central and Selling Partner Support, opening tickets relating to account, listings, inventory, orders, payments and other operational issues. Amazon also provides Seller University, webinars and training materials to support sellers in setting up and growing their account, alongside an Amazon Service Provider Network offering optional external assistance with commercial licensing and other local requirements.
In the case of FBA, Amazon also handles customer service and returns relating to the logistics side of orders. With Self Ship, on the other hand, a greater share of post-sale activities remains the seller's responsibility, except for specific Amazon services available for the account.
In summary, for an Italian company Amazon.ae is a genuinely accessible and attractive channel, particularly for consumer brands seeking a presence in the Emirates market. The main barrier is not access to the marketplace itself, but the operational management of market entry: commercial licence, VAT, potential corporate tax, importation, product compliance and local/FBA logistics must all be set up correctly before launch.
Note: the cost ranges for mainland/free zone commercial licences and the advisory costs cited in Section 4 come from industry sources, not from Amazon, and should be confirmed with a local advisor. Promotional conditions (Professional plan subscription fee, any referral fee promotions) are explicitly stated by Amazon as temporary and should be periodically re-checked at sell.amazon.ae/pricing. Factsheet updated based on sources consulted in August 2026
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