Getting started as a seller on Amazon

We probably don’t need to tell you the reasons for selling on Amazon – but the stats really are impressive. Like the fact that two in every three consumers start their search on Amazon. Or, that out of the 150 million Prime members, almost half buy something on the platform every single week. And if those haven’t impressed you enough, how about the fact that 89% of us are more likely to buy from Amazon than any other site on the entire world wide web? 

But with hundreds of thousands of sellers on there, how can you carve out your own successful corner? Read on to find out our top tips for becoming a seller on Amazon. 

Getting the price right

While price isn’t everything, it is a big thing. Competitively pricing your products will stand you in good stead, but it’s important you work out what costs you’ll incur before you decide to price.  

Add up the cost price of your product, then factor in shipping costs, any storage costs, VAT, what it would cost you if someone returned an item, and of course, Amazon’s selling fee – which can range anywhere from 7% to 15% depending on the category. If you’re selling something that is already on Amazon, do your research to see what other sellers have priced the same or similar items at. 

Weighing up the pros and cons of FBA

If you have your own warehouse space, you’ll probably want to ship products yourself. If you do this, you need to make sure you carefully follow Amazon’s policies on fulfilment and dispatch rate to make sure your account stays in good stead. 

If, like most small sellers, your stock is being held in a spare bedroom or your garage, you may want to consider using Amazon’s own fulfilment network – FBA. By choosing this, you’ll send your products to Amazon’s warehouse in bulk and they’ll do the dispatching for you when an order is placed.

The biggest benefit is that using FBA will make your listing automatically include free delivery for Prime members. Amazon will also take care of all the customer service side of things – from answering customer messages to dealing with returns. However, if your stock is slow to sell, it can result in them passing on charges to you for the storage space at their site. 

Choosing where to base your account from

While you may have global domination in mind, it’s often best to start in your home country. 

 

Once you’ve found your feet you can then look at expanding into Europe or the US – but make sure you read our blogs and have a chat with us before you do! 

Creating a great listing 

Once you’ve decided your price and set up your account, you’ll need to create a product listing. It’s relatively easy to build a listing but putting effort into what you include in that listing can make or break your sales numbers.

Your images need to look professional, and include a video if possible. Most important though is making sure your listing’s title contains a keyword or phrase – i.e. something that people are going to search for! This should be around 150 characters. 

Using bullets containing the USPs of your product can be a good way to share the key descriptive information in a digestible format. Make sure you fully complete the listing in the backend – including product details, size, weight, country of origin, and if the product needs a plug or battery – every little helps. 

How to win the Buy Box

This could be a blog all of its own! The ‘Buy Box’ basically means when consumers search for a product on Amazon that’s being sold by multiple sellers, it’s Amazon’s top choice and if a user clicks ‘Buy Now’, it’s your product going into their basket. Other sellers of the same item are listed further down the page – but as we all know, we’re not very likely to go look at them. We trust Amazon to pick the best option for us. 

There is no silver bullet when it comes to winning the Buy Box. That’s right – it’s not always down to having the cheapest price. Using FBA seems to help, as does having quick shipping times if you’re fulfilling the order yourself, keeping your account health within Amazon’s performance targets and consistent stock availability all go a long way to winning the buy box

Advertising with Amazon

To help your product be seen by more people, Amazon of course offers its own advertising services which includes sponsored search ads and sponsored brand ads. When someone clicks on the ad, you’re charged a fee. This model is called Pay Per Click (PPC). 

Sponsored search ads appear when someone searches for a product, and brand ads appear as a banner giving you a prominent position at the top of the page showing your logo, and up to three products. You must be brand registered for this option to be available to you, however any seller can use sponsored ads.

Speak to us

Getting going on Amazon can be a challenge but we specialise in making the process as simple as possible so you can focus on what matters most. Speak to us to find out how our expert team can support you from start-up to successful seller today.