Amazon sellers

[Daniel261196]

I'm about to get started on amzon fba , can anyone give me any advice ,maybe some dos amd don't s And is jungle scout a Good tool to use ? Much appreciate any help.

 

[antropy]

I'm about to get started on amzon fba , can anyone give me any advice ,maybe some dos amd don't s And is jungle scout a Good tool to use ? Much appreciate any help.

I can't I'm afraid, but I'm curious about the numbers in your username? Do they mean anything to you?

Paul.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I hope they are not a birthday!

 

[antropy]

I hope they are not a birthday!

Looks a bit like the 26th November 1996 ...

Paul.

 

[japancool]

Have you done your sums to make sure you can still make money once you factor in their fees? Amazon FBA can get expensive very quickly.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Have you done your sums to make sure you can still make money once you factor in their fees? Amazon FBA can get expensive very quickly.

This is a common comment and, whilst totally correct, I always ask sellers to look at these fees as a marketing spend.

Amazon can bring a lot of business, even at lower margins, however, if it works well, it will drive a lot of sales. Setting up your own website or other routes can mean a big investment in marketing and promotion.

As you say, know your numbers - outside of the £25(?) a month, if you don't sell anything, there are no additional costs (unless FBS). Sell something, then costs!

But, again, know the costs!

 

[japancool]

This is a common comment and, whilst totally correct, I always ask sellers to look at these fees as a marketing spend.

Amazon can bring a lot of business, even at lower margins, however, if it works well, it will drive a lot of sales. Setting up your own website or other routes can mean a big investment in marketing and promotion.

That's all true but there are far too many people, particularly those new to ecommerce, who are selling low margin products and don't factor in FBA costs, and end up losing money on every sale.

Remember - turnover - vanity, profit = sanity.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

That's all true but there are far too many people, particularly those new to ecommerce, who are selling low margin products and don't factor in FBA costs, and end up losing money on every sale.

Yes. Once you have checked your figures, throw the calculation away and start again!

Amazon does have a FBA cost indicator, which is useful, but is only a loose indication.

I find that most people, especially importers, get the landed price wrong and do not take into consideration all of the costs (because they do not know what they all are or what the risks are).

 

[UrbanRetail]

I'm assuming by the reference to JungleScout, that you are yet to find a product to sell.

My blunt advice would be to stop while you're ahead and find a product first.

Services like JS can be helpful, but remember that literally anyone willing to pay the rather small fee, will have access to the exact same data.

Contrary to popular belief, launching a new product on Amazon is much easier than entering an already crowded space, which inevitably ends is a race to the bottom.

 

[SeanOF]

Amazon... oh gosh... where to start...

@UrbanRetail is right. If you don't have a product, and I'll also say if you don't have good margin, just stop. Amazon will bleed you dry and rip you off.

Bleed you dry:
- You'll need to pay someone to list the product professionally. No, you will.
- You'll need to pay to drive traffic to your listing. No, you will.
- You then pay on every sale and don't forget they charge you their percentage on the VAT inclusive price so the actual percentage you're paying is higher than you think
- And if you store with them (FBA) you pay them for storage too and shipping
- Lastly, note that their algorithm woks on the basis of "velocity" of sales i.e. they will show in the search results the product they see people buying the most which is very often the cheapest product so they are essentially creating a race to the bottom on price

Rip you off:
- You need to watch things like returns carefully. If someone says they're going to return the product the Amazon issue them with a refund. However, if they don't ever actually return it, you need to follow up with Amazon and get them to reimburse you. They won't so this by default
- If you send stock to them for FBA they will frequently lose it and there's little you can do about it

I've been on Amazon for years and, in my view, it is very difficult to make money unless you:
a) have a private label brand and make sure you're the only one selling it on Amazon
b) charge more for it on Amazon that you do on your website
c) have a good Amazon VA to help you monitor all their nonsense

I think your strategy should be to use Amazon for customer acquisition (i.e. get them to hear about you on Amazon and then try move them to being a direct customer) but trying to make money on Amazon on its own is quite difficult. Only one person does that consistently and that's Jeff Bezos which should tell you something.

Hope this helps.

 

[schambers40]

Amazon... oh gosh... where to start...

@UrbanRetail is right. If you don't have a product, and I'll also say if you don't have good margin, just stop. Amazon will bleed you dry and rip you off.

Bleed you dry:
- You'll need to pay someone to list the product professionally. No, you will.
- You'll need to pay to drive traffic to your listing. No, you will.
- You then pay on every sale and don't forget they charge you their percentage on the VAT inclusive price so the actual percentage you're paying is higher than you think
- And if you store with them (FBA) you pay them for storage too and shipping
- Lastly, note that their algorithm woks on the basis of "velocity" of sales i.e. they will show in the search results the product they see people buying the most which is very often the cheapest product so they are essentially creating a race to the bottom on price

Rip you off:
- You need to watch things like returns carefully. If someone says they're going to return the product the Amazon issue them with a refund. However, if they don't ever actually return it, you need to follow up with Amazon and get them to reimburse you. They won't so this by default
- If you send stock to them for FBA they will frequently lose it and there's little you can do about it

I've been on Amazon for years and, in my view, it is very difficult to make money unless you:
a) have a private label brand and make sure you're the only one selling it on Amazon
b) charge more for it on Amazon that you do on your website
c) have a good Amazon VA to help you monitor all their nonsense

I think your strategy should be to use Amazon for customer acquisition (i.e. get them to hear about you on Amazon and then try move them to being a direct customer) but trying to make money on Amazon on its own is quite difficult. Only one person does that consistently and that's Jeff Bezos which should tell you something.

Hope this helps.

Hi Sean,

I'm a journalist with The Sunday Times and I am looking to speak with sellers on Amazon Marketplace for a story this week. The piece will explore how Amazon treats sellers and whether it is worth a seller listing on the platform or not. It would be great to chat and hear about the points you make above.

You can reach me at 07877 270274 / [email protected]

All the best,

Sam Chambers