Moving from a sole trader to a company, switching to an LLC, housing your Amazon business in a holding: sooner or later a growing seller has to change the legal entity behind their Seller Central account. It is one of Amazon's riskiest operations — an account is attached to a specific entity (legal name, registration, tax, bank), and Amazon's default position is that it is not transferable.
In short. In Europe an official process exists but it is long (often 20 weeks or more) and can be refused. In the US, an update is only possible as continuity of the same business; a transfer to a third party is prohibited. In both cases, the new entity must be fully ready BEFORE you start anything.
The basics: one account = one entity, and 'not transferable'
A seller account is tied to a specific legal entity. Any change triggers a full KYC re-verification — beneficial owner's identity, bank account, address, tax number — with a blocking risk if a single document doesn't match. It is not editing a field: it is passing the whole identity check again.
Europe: long, and sometimes refused
Amazon Europe has a dedicated legal entity change feature (a request to the Verification team). But support states an average of 20 weeks or more for a decision — sometimes close to a year — with no way to expedite, and the change can be refused (you then have to open a new account). Crucially: VAT and EPR numbers are attached to the entity, not the account. They must exist under the new entity, country by country, before the switch — otherwise listings get blocked market by market.
United States: the nuance that changes everything
You often hear 'in the US it's forbidden, you must create a new account'. That's a shortcut. Accounts are 'generally not transferable': a transfer to a third party is indeed prohibited and leads to a new account (with a linked-accounts suspension risk if you work around it). But for continuity of the same business — moving to a company, reorganising your own structure — Amazon tolerates updating the entity on the existing account, keeping the history. The real test isn't 'US = forbidden', it's 'can you prove continuity?'. The risks remain serious: suspension, frozen disbursements until the bank matches, and loss of the account on a wrong move.
The real hidden cost: months of KYC back-and-forth
The process is never linear: Amazon asks for the same documents several times, rejects on formal grounds, changes support agent from one message to the next, and regularly sends you back to square one. Expect, at the very least, 30 hours just re-submitting documents and exchanging with support, spread over weeks.
And in Europe there's the most painful trap: during verification, funds are frequently frozen — often around 6 months. Six months during which you keep paying suppliers and Amazon fees without receiving your disbursements, while chasing support dozens of times to unblock your cash. It is this double hit that turns a 'simple' entity change into an ordeal capable of putting a business under real strain.
How MySellerOps handles it
This is exactly the kind of operation where execution costs months of sales — or the account. MySellerOps takes it end to end: scoping the right scenario (continuity vs new account), preparing all the new entity's compliance upfront (VAT and EPR country by country, bank, KYC), and above all the part no one wants to do — absorbing the back-and-forth with Amazon and chasing the release of frozen funds to the end. Those 30-plus hours of KYC battle, we carry for you. See our Amazon compliance page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an Amazon legal entity change take?
In Europe, Amazon support states an average of 20 weeks or more for a decision (sometimes close to a year), with no way to expedite. In the US, a continuity update is faster but comes with many verification back-and-forths.
Is it true that in the US you must create a new account?
Not always. A transfer to a third party is prohibited and often leads to a new account. But for continuity of the same business (moving to a company, reorganisation), Amazon tolerates updating the entity on the existing account.
Why are my disbursements frozen during the change?
Amazon won't release funds until the bank account name exactly matches the legal name, and often freezes disbursements during verification. In Europe this freeze frequently lasts several months — up to around 6 months.
This page covers one account health signal. For how all of them fit together, read our Amazon account health management guide.
Struggling with your Amazon account?
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