Learning how to sell on Amazon can be a gateway to fortune. This step-by-step guide shows you what it takes to get started on this e-commerce giant.
With sweeping global popularity, Amazon has been sitting on the throne of electronic shopping for over a decade. This vast online marketplace has millions of sellers showcasing an extensive range of products and even more buyers making daily purchases.
Are you considering becoming a seller on Amazon but don’t know where to start?
You’re not alone. Many people are interested in selling on Amazon thanks to the site’s established prominence, massive customer base, and convenient operations.
Luckily, learning how to sell on Amazon is easy once you understand the ropes. This guide will walk you through the entire process to ensure your start is successful.
If you’re offering a product with an audience willing to buy it, the Amazon marketplace can be a terrific opportunity for you to make a profit.
Here are some reasons why you should consider selling on this platform:
When deciding where to sell things online, Amazon is likely to pop into your head before other e-commerce platforms.
While it can provide a good source of income for many sellers, not everyone does well.
Here are some issues that may deem Amazon not the best choice for your business:
If you’re set on becoming a seller on Amazon, you need certain tools to get started.
Prepare the following essentials for a successful online Amazon store:
Before you can start selling a product on Amazon, you need to first figure out what that product will be.
Here are some of the best product types to sell on Amazon whether you’re a beginner or a veteran:
These include earphones, batteries, mobile phone accessories, cameras, TVs, home entertainment, speakers, and a lot more.
Technology is an ever-growing part of our lives. New gadgets, models, and designs are always coming out, and people always want to try them.
These include t-shirts, mugs, bottles, hats, posters, key chains, and tons of other products with your design printed on them.
There’s no need to carry inventory because you can work with websites such as Printful to make the items and ship them on your behalf.
In 2021, the print-on-demand industry was valued at $4.9 billion. By 2030, it’s expected to reach almost $40 billion. Need we say more?
These include pet food, car seats, treats, beds, grooming tools, apparel, and more.
86.9 million households (66 percent) own a pet; that’s in the United States alone. The market is huge and filled with customers looking for a wide range of pet supplies for a variety of pets.
Statistics show that 44% of home-based businesses are launched for less than $5,000, and if that seems like a lot for the average middle-class American to invest, the amount of money required to start an Amazon business can be substantially lower.
An individual seller’s initial costs depend very much on where the products they are intending to list are sourced from.
Inventory for any given Amazon store may be purchased from a few different suppliers:
Some additional estimated costs to take into consideration when jumping into selling products on Amazon:
Amazon Seller Account Fee:
It costs $39.99 to open a professional account if you plan on selling more than 40 items a month.
There are referral fees for each sale, but there is no monthly fee.
Individual seller accounts are free for less than 40 items, but there is a 99 cent fee per sale.
UPC Codes:
Amazon requires unique barcodes for each product you plan on selling.
They can be purchased individually for $5 or in bulk.
Product Photography:
Amazon offers product photography in certain areas for a range of prices.
New York and Los Angeles zip codes, for example, averaged $40.
The price will depend on the quality of listings the seller is aiming for, and can vastly affect how they are viewed against their competition.
Logo and Product Branding:
You can hire a freelancer to create a logo for you for as low as $5 on Fiverr.
Branding is key for creating loyalty with customers and further legitimizes the business in the eyes of the buyer, so you may want to consider investing more money here.
Without a profitable product to sell, there is no Amazon business.
When deciding to sell products on Amazon, people tend to overlook and rush this part of the process the most.
A perfect profitable product for your store means identifying items you’re passionate about, outlining a selling strategy you’re comfortable with, making sure there’s still an overall decent profit margin.
You may struggle with where to begin in order to fall upon that “aha” moment when the perfect product niche falls in your lap, but here’s a great launching point:
The initial breakthrough product is what’s called the “beachhead” product.
In business, particularly startups, the beachhead strategy involves focusing all resources on one key area, usually, a smaller market segment or product category, and winning that market first before moving into larger markets.
In other words, it’s the product that generates sales right away, and then the seller is able to branch out.
Choosing a niche is an important part of the journey to becoming a professional seller.
It can be a difficult and overwhelming process, but everything a seller needs to know about what Amazon customers want is available for anyone to see at any time.
The easiest way to see what the hottest items are is to look at the “sponsored ad” products selling on Amazon.
If someone is investing money advertising them, then chances are the product is a high seller with decent margins.
Once a clear business strategy and product niche is established, the next move is to officially sign up as an FBA Seller (fulfilled by Amazon).
Now that you’re familiar with the pros and cons of selling on Amazon and you’ve chosen your niche/products, we can move on to the process.
Before all else, you need to familiarize yourself with Amazon’s constantly updated policies and guidelines. This will ensure your operation is always running smoothly with minimal hiccups.
To this end, Amazon has a Seller Central with a comprehensive section for keeping you well informed. Be sure to brush up on program policies, business credit reports, and business solutions agreements.
You also need to review the fees that Amazon will/may charge as a seller. These fees vary depending on multiple factors such as the product category and the subscription plan.
Examples of seller fees include:
With your knowledge of Amazon’s policies and fees in mind, your next task is to create an effective business model.
What is your selling strategy? Do you want to own a brand? Do you want to resell products from other brands?
If you decide to be a brand owner, you’re responsible for developing the product. It should serve a need following market research and be backed up with a solid marketing plan.
If you decide to resell, it’s less work. You’ll only need to choose a popular product that already exists. Advertising will be much less demanding.
To sell products with your Amazon account, you’ll begin with the following:
Use your business email to sign up for an Amazon Seller account. Choose a plan and pay the fee to get started.
From there, you’ll be prompted to provide business and contact information. These include:
You’re now an Amazon seller!
Visit the Fulfillment by Amazon page and select “Get started.”
The seller will then be taken to the Seller Central, and will be prompted to sign in.
This is where all the important details will be entered.
Here you’ll fill in your personal details (cell phone number, address, etc.) as well as tax information, as it’s not necessary to register as a “legal” business right away to start an Amazon business.
Any earnings will be claimed as individual income at the beginning.
Your next task is to decide on a suitable fulfillment method for your Amazon business model.
The fulfillment method is the way your product will be handled from order placement until delivery.
Multiple options are available for this step, but the two most popular ones are Amazon FBA and FBM.
Short for Fulfilled by Amazon, choosing FBA means you’ll leave it to Amazon to take care of organizing, storing, packing, and shipping.
Besides sending your product to Amazon’s warehouse, you don’t need to do anything else.
This approach saves you tons of time and effort in exchange for an Amazon FBA fee. Your product also receives Prime status.
If you don’t want to leave your logistics in the hands of Amazon, you can handle them yourself.
FBM is short for Fulfilled by Merchant, which means that sorting, storing, packing, and shipping are all your responsibility.
If you choose this method, then selling on Amazon would be almost the same as selling on your website.
Once you’ve selected a fulfillment method and you’re not manufacturing your product, your next task is to partner with a reliable supplier.
Ask for samples of the product(s) and inquire about the prices to compare with different suppliers. Choose a supplier offering good value for money and negotiate a deal.
After receiving your order, check the products for any defects. Trusted suppliers shouldn’t pose too many problems quality-wise, but it’s best to be strict to maintain your Amazon ratings/reputation.
Your next order of business is to create a listing for the product. If you’re selling multiple items, you’ll need to create a separate product listing for each one.
Sign in to Seller Central and add the product’s technical details. These include price, condition, SKU, ISBN, GTIN, and available stock. The more informative the listing is, the better the reception.
Optimizing the product listing also makes it easier for any Amazon shopper to find it. Do this by adding high-resolution images, the brand/model, and Prime eligibility.
Now that you’ve built your brand, settled on a product line, and signed up as an official Amazon seller, it’s time to create your first listing.
The next step is to buy a UPC Code if the product doesn’t yet have one.
This can be done at BarcodesTalk, where you’ll click through all the steps until the package label can be downloaded.
Open the downloaded folder containing the UPC JPEG image and enter this number in the “Product ID” area of your product listing.
Click on “Save and Finish.”
Your first Amazon listing has successfully been created.
Amazon is one of the most popular selling apps. If you’re using FBA and your product takes off, you’ll need to replenish your stock sooner than you think.
Keeping track of your stock level at Amazon warehouses ensures you never miss out on a sale opportunity. This can be as simple as checking your dashboard on Seller Central.
If you’re using FBM, managing and tracking your inventory becomes even more crucial. You’re responsible for sorting, storing, and shipping, so things can get overwhelming if your inventory is large.
One of the most neglected yet important parts of product listings in your new Amazon FBA business is optimization.
There are a plethora of resources that teach new sellers ranking tricks, but nothing will boost your SEO strategy like a well-optimized listing.
Optimizing means making the listing description as robust as possible so the product shows up ahead of your competitors on Amazon and other areas of the web.
The best way to be sure customers will see the product listing is to include all keywords relevant to the item.
This means spending some time conducting keyword research.
Once a list of keywords is established, the next step is to place them strategically throughout the product listing.
Here are some areas to consider:
Place the item’s top five keywords in the product title, but don’t go overboard, as this may confuse the customer on what you’re actually selling.
Amazon’s algorithm will place listings with strategically placed keywords higher in the shopper’s search results.
So, it’s important to make a list of each product’s most relevant keywords and place them responsibly.
Shoot for this: “Chemex Class Series, Pour-Over Glass Coffeemaker, 10 Cup”
Not this: “Hot Beverage, Caffeine, Chemex Class Series, Pour-Over Glass Coffeemaker, Family, 10 Cup, Breakfast, Coffee Beans, Espresso.”
You should always optimize for mobile first.
Those titles show between 55 and 63 characters in preview.
In addition, there are other things you should optimize. Those include:
Amazon makes it easy to start selling stuff online. But the platform doesn’t guarantee the number or frequency of sales.
Marketing your products and improving the appeal of your Amazon presence are your beats to tame.
Here are some tips to help you out:
If you’re selling as a beginner on Amazon, you should keep the following points in mind to sustain and boost your brand:
You need to set up an appropriate budget for your online Amazon store. Consider the initial cost of the products, storage fees, shipping costs, and any other expenses involved.
You need to ensure a satisfactory product quality that matches the average Amazon shopper’s expectations and Amazon policies.
This is crucial to building trust with your audience and boosting your seller presence.
Deciding who will be managing your inventory and logistics is imperative for your Amazon business.
Are you going to do it? Will you have Amazon do it? Or do you prefer hiring a third-party service?
Finally, consider the strategies you’ll implement to promote your product.
Joining Amazon doesn’t guarantee sales – or at least enough of them to earn a living.
This is why working on a marketing plan that focuses on your target audience is key to business success and scalability.
We’ve covered everything you need to know about how to sell on Amazon. But here are answers to a couple more questions you may be wondering:
Amazon is 100 percent worth trying to sell on if you choose a business model that’s compatible with the site’s unique process.
You also need to implement effective strategies for keeping the fees/costs down to ensure a thriving brand presence.
The steps for you to start selling on Amazon are simple once you understand the platform’s regulations and fees.
You don’t need to have an established business, and as long as you put together a comprehensive plan, your Amazon seller journey should have a smooth kick-off.
Amazon may be the largest online shopping platform, but it’s not the only one. Consider the following alternatives to showcase your products:
That’s it for today’s step-by-step guide on how to sell on Amazon with an impressive profit margin.
Tackling this online shopping giant becomes easier if you carefully study the lists above and follow our tips. Before you know it, you’ll be set to start a successful Amazon brand presence.
Be sure to leave us a comment if you have any thoughts or questions and share this guide if you think it can help others.
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