How to Become an Amazon Seller | Including FBA Tips
Becoming a seller on Amazon has proven to be a lucrative business venture for many people. However, the journey to success is a challenging one when it comes to selling on Amazon. With that being said, it’s also very rewarding. Sometimes, you have to take risks to become successful. If you’ve been considering utilizing Amazon for more income, you’re going to want to stick around. We’ve compiled this handy guide that will walk you through the process of becoming an Amazon seller. We’ll also share some helpful tips on how to make the most of Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon).
Decide What You’re Going to Sell
If you’re going to be selling on Amazon, you’re going to need a product. This isn’t something that you can easily side-step. The most successful Amazon sellers are ones who have put hours of research into choosing the right product to sell to consumers. There have been countless would-be sellers who have tried to copy the success of others, only to crash and burn shortly after starting. As such, you’re going to have to put in a lot of work on this. You can’t just decide to sell the same product as a successful seller. That rarely works. What’s more, you will need to have an excellent understanding of what your potential competition is up to. What are their sales like? Who do they cater to? What is their target audience? What keywords are currently successful? And these questions are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The more research you can put into your online store, the more successful you are likely to be.
Decide How You’re Going to Sell
There are various proven selling methods that people and businesses use on Amazon. It’s important that you understand the intricacies of each method before you try to come up with a product to sell. If you at least know what your goals look like, you will have an easier time settling on which method to utilize. Retail Arbitrage This is often a great place to start for Amazon beginners. Retail arbitrage (RA) is what it’s called when you shop at big-box retail stores and turn around and sell their products on Amazon. But you don’t want to buy just any product. The key is to focus on discounted items, as you can resell them at a higher cost, thus making more profit. For many sellers, this is an excellent way to learn the ropes of selling on Amazon. There isn’t a lot of investment at stake since you aren’t paying a lot for the discounted items, to begin with. This same practice can be done online by buying discounted items from online vendors and then selling them at a mark-up on Amazon. Private Label If you’re looking for the most scalable selling method, private label is a great way to go. With private label selling, sellers create business deals with the manufacturers of various private label products. With this option, you can buy huge bulk of a specific item, and then turn around and customize it to make it your own unique brand. Wholesale This is essentially a selling option that makes you an authorized reseller of an already-established brand. From sports shoes to makeup, there is a seemingly endless selection of products to choose from for resell. You will have to get permission from the company that you want to sell for. But once you do, you can buy their items at wholesale and resell them at a slightly higher price for profit.
Getting Started
We’re going to mainly focus on private label selling due to its scalability. It’s also a great selling option for someone just starting out. The first thing you want to do is sit down and start thinking about which product will net you the most financial reward. To do this, you’re going to need some data to help you make your decision. Key data will help you learn which products are big sellers. But you likely won’t be able to track down this kind of information on your own. The best way to go about reviewing sales data is to invest in special software that is designed to do this work for you. Product Finders, as they are called, will list products that could potentially generate the most sales. One of the great things about this kind of software is that it allows you to filter certain aspects of your product search. This way, it’s a lot easier to locate the right product for your area, market, age group, etc. You can better identify winning products by knowing what data to look for. Let’s take a moment to look at a few examples. Revenue A range of anything between $10,000 and $25,000 is a good starting point. Anything less isn’t likely to be a worthwhile investment. Reviews You don’t want to sell a product that rates poorly among consumers. That’s why you want to avoid products that have a lot of negative reviews. If a product has more than 250 bad reviews, it’s best to steer clear. Search Volume This will tell you how often people are searching for the product in question. Try to focus on products that have at least 5,000 searches. Sales-to-Review Ratio Lastly, you want your product to have a strong ratio of sales to reviews. A ratio of at least three is a great place to start. For example, if there are 100 reviews left by consumers each month, that means there are 300 sales each month, as well. Keep in mind that these search criteria are only a generic starting point. You should learn to customize your search results to better reflect your market. If you can personalize your search results, you are bound to get much better results.
Validating Your Research
Once you have compiled a list of potential products to sell, you will need to validate the findings of your research. It’s important to remember that you should always use accurate, up-to-date data. Interest changes quickly on Amazon. Just because the data from last month looks good, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be equally as good this month. As such, never rely on outdated sales data, regardless of how recent it is.
Start an Account
Once you can validate your findings and have picked out a product, you will need to establish an Amazon Seller Central account. This account will be your go-to for all business matters on Amazon. You can put up new listings here, review your sales reports, adjust your inventory, and a whole lot more. You’ll need a valid email address to create your account. You will then need to provide your business name , address, phone number, bank information, and your Social Security or Tax ID Number. When you start generating sales, Amazon will transfer funds directly to your bank account. This occurs at a frequency of every 2 weeks. You will also be notified every time that a payment has been deposited. The next step in the account creation process is to provide your billing information and state your account type; whether business or professional.
Amazon FBA Tips
Amazon simplified FBA as “You sell it. We ship it.” You send your products to Amazon’s many warehouses, where they stay stored until someone buys them. Amazon’s workers then ship it to the buyer and you get paid. What’s more, Amazon handles customer complaints, returns, and other potentialities. There are fees for this service, but many Amazon sellers find it to be well worth the price of admission. When using Amazon FBA to handle your wares, it’s important to avoid low-quality items, especially if you’re just starting out. Coming right out of the gates with a poor product is a great way to permanently ruin your brand. Another helpful tip is to avoid selling a product that you are a fan of. It might sound crazy, but doing so can make it harder to sell. This is because it often results in emotionally-based business decisions rather than logical ones. Perhaps most importantly, you want to be leery of “helpful” courses. There are way too many consulting services out there for Amazon sellers. Some have proven to be useful, but there are plenty that just want to take your money. Amazon can undoubtedly be confusing to beginners. But that’s what a lot of these courses prey on. If you are diligent, learn the ropes yourself. Aside from good product-finding software, try to avoid paying for additional services that promise to make you a millionaire overnight.
Summary
We hope this guide helps you get your foot in Amazon’s door. Don’t expect instant results. Many people quit too soon because they don’t see immediate revenue. Patience is key, so stick with it. If something isn’t working, don’t just throw in the towel. Make adjustments, tweak your approach, and try again. With practice, you can learn how to scale your business into a winner. Sources https://www.repricerexpress.com/a-guide-to-retail-arbitrage-on-amazon/ https://www.webretailer.com/b/amazon-product-finder/ https://sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon.html