Selling on Amazon

[AmazonGeek]

I turned £1 into a turnover of £3000 plus per week, back in 2003-2005 selling on ebay. I was 22 at the time. Never read a decent book in my life apart from "the magic of thinking big".

You don't need no guides just get on with it and as you come across problems find the solution. Simples.

I too sold on eBay. In fact we turned over about £500k at the peak but eBay is a piece of cake compared to Amazon. This is why you don't find many eBay gurus but there are lots of people teaching how to sell on Amazon (and most of them don't even do it themselves, which says a lot!)

If you try and wing it on Amazon then:
a) you will underperform. If you don't know about keyword research, title density, the honeymoon period, PPC strategies, FBA, and a million other intricacies then you simply won't be able to compete against those that do
b) you will probably get your listings suppressed for breaking Amazon's policies. You may even get your account suspended/closed if you do this often enough. Silly little things like saying 'free shipping' in the listing, or mentioning customer service are enough. Or if you make unsubstantiated claims like 'environmentally friendly' or 'kills covid'. I've seen dozens of cases where accounts have been shut down because they didn't know what they didn't know.
c) if you do well, you could find someone else hijacking your listing and taking advantage of all your hard work. It could even be Amazon doing this!

This is why companies hire people who know what they are doing on Amazon. Do you think multi-million sellers just wing it and make mistakes as they go? No, they find people that have been there and done it and take advantage of what they know.

 

[AmazonGeek]

I have been selling on Amazon for decades. It is a very unforgiving market place. Your business processes must adhere to Amazons rules. It does not matter what you think about these rules, or how awkward it is to fit within them. Indeed there are things that you have to do, which I personally believe is poor customer service, but that is the way you play the game. Just one mistake can get your account suspended, and if you don’t respond properly to that suspension your account is then banned. There is no going back from that. You will never again be able to sell on Amazon.

So whilst it might be acceptable to suggest, just going ahead and learning from your mistakes, do not under any circumstances, do this on Amazon

100% agree! Amazon has an unlimited source of people wanting to sell on their platform and growing competition for customers (Walmart for example is making good progress particularly in the US). The customer is king, they see sellers as expendable and as such treat them pretty poorly. And if you break their rules, expect swift, merciless action (although the process has slightly improved over the last 2-3 years). If you don't know what those rules are, how do you avoid breaking them?

 

[AmazonGeek]

If you are planning to sell private label products, here is a rough overview of the process we followed to build multiple 6fig brands on Amazon:

PHASE 1: CREATE

• Product Selection - Keep a running list. Start with at least 50-100 ideas

• Product Research
• 3 Yes’s: Demand, Competition, Price
• Deep dive reviews - find the top 1-2 problems voiced by customers (80/20 Principle)
• Keyword research
• Product margins estimate
  
  
• Product Development
• Modifications
• Differentiation
• Assess the Degree of Difficulty
  
  
• Open Amazon Seller Central Account
• Can start with individual plan to keep down costs
• Then upgrade to Professional when needed
  
  
• File for Trademark and file for Amazon Brand Registry
• Setup a Company (recommended)

PHASE 2: BUILD

• Sourcing
• Put together RFQ
• Modifications
• Estimated Volume

• Cast the Wide Net
• Contact up to 20 suppliers over Alibaba, Global Sources, trade shows
• Contact sourcing agent (optional)

• Shortlist 4-5 suppliers after contact and review
• Responsiveness
• Attention to details
• Willingness to cooperate
• Common thread test
• Years of experience
• Country test
• Any red flags
  
  
• Order Samples
• With brand on sample
• Modifications
• Review and feedback
• Accept, change or reject
  
  
• Calculate Shipping Cost
• Ask supplier for the following based on trial order volume (eg. 500 pieces)
• Volume (cbm)
• Weight (kg)
• HS Code (for duty and tariff rate calculation)
• Negotiate
• Pricing
• Packaging - labels
• Payment terms
  
  
• Place Purchase Order
• Attach any drawings of product, packaging, designs, logos, instructions etc.
  
  
• Create creative assets
• Logo
• Package design
• Instructions
• Photography
  
  
• Create Amazon Listing
• Make inactive first to print out labels
• E.g. do not upload photos
• Get FNSKU labels
• Send to supplier
  
  
• Conduct Quality Control
• Before production
• During production
• Before shipment (pre-shipment inspection)
• Decide whether to release shipment or fix problems
• After shipment
  
  
• Arrange Shipment with Freight Forwarder At least 2 weeks delivery date
  
  
• Consider a 3rd party logistics warehouse to hold extra inventory in case of Amazon inventory restrictions
  
  
• Keyword Research
• Look for 5-10 competitors
• Reverse ASIN search to find keywords they rank for
• Brand analytics (copy top 3 competitors rank for search terms)
  
  
• Decide on 10-15 Search Terms based on relevancy - Focus on most relevant keywords first
  
  
• Finalize Listing
• Keywords you want to rank for 10-15
• Title
• Bullets
• Backend
• Images
  
  
• Finalize Images
• Main image
• Infographic
• Lifestyle
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP) / Point of differentiation

PHASE 3: SELL

• Pricing Strategy - NOTE: Your pricing is not set in stone! It will change depending on which phase of the business you’re in.

• Turn on Pay Per Click Advertising
• Goal is to research and let Amazon tell you the keywords that your customers search for and convert for
• Also to filter out any negative keywords that bleed money and don’t lead to sales
• Then create manual campaigns - broad, phrase, and exact matches
• Recommendation - take the Amazon Advertising Learning Console training Free
  
  
• Enroll in Amazon Early Review Program
• Amazon incentivizes the first 5 reviews
• Cost: $60 per SKU
  
  
• Enroll in Amazon Vine Program (Requires Brand Registry)
• Free program to get more Amazon reviews from Amazon’s pre-approved group of Vine reviewers
• Totally white hat and no risk of suspensions
  
  
• Track Sales
• Look for negative reviews
• Follow up
• Note opportunities for IMPROVEMENT for your generation 2 product
  
  
• GET MORE REVIEWS by Asking - Click the button in seller central to ask to leave a review

If you are looking for a good course, I recommend Kevin King's Freedom ticket.

However, if you are only just starting I would advise doing Retail Arbitrage or Wholesale instead to learn the ropes with Amazon's platform.

Once you find some decent products that sell well, you can consider taking the Private Label route.

Love this. It is exactly the right approach.

And yes, Kevin King's Freedom Ticket is awesome. I'm an 'Elite' member of Helium 10 so lucky enough to see him online pretty regularly. You can either subscribe to his course on its own (which costs just shy of $1000) or you get it included with any Helium 10 paid plan. It is very American (sorry to any yanks on here) and the numbers are huge compared to the UK and Europe but the principles are the same everywhere.

And the most important thing about trying to sell on Amazon - differentiation. If you just try and jump on the bandwagon to sell what everyone else is selling without your product being any different then you are very unlikely to succeed.

 

[AmazonGeek]

If you have a product a product that Amazon do not currently sell and you start selling on Amazon it will not be long before they find your supplier, and under sell from you. There are much safer, better routes to market than Amazon.

Not true.

If you are not on the Brand Registry then yes, this could easily happen. A very good friend of mine suffered this a few years ago. One of his main products suddenly stopped getting any sales (and he was selling dozens a day). Amazon had added their offer to 'his' listing, undercut him and won the buy box. It happened to be Amazon but it could have been anyone as long as the product was identical.

This is because Amazon is a catalogue with just one listing for every unique product. If you sell an unbranded item then, as long as no one else has created a listing for that item, you can make one yourself. However, if someone else has got their first, you are not allowed to create your own listing. There is a strict policy on listing duplication. Amazon basically wants all sellers of the same product competing on the same listing to drive the price down for the customer.

Unlike eBay, listings does not belong to you (which is why I said 'his' in inverted commas above). Each listing becomes part of the catalogue and anyone wanting to sell item in that listing MUST add their offer to it. They are not allowed to create their own listing because one exists already.

Not understanding this can be catastrophic and is one of the main gripes people have with selling on Amazon. People often accidentally hijack other listings because they don't understand the rules and get shut down; or they lose control of listings that they think are their own because they aren't on the brand registry.

Yet it is a relatively easy and inexpensive problem to solve:

1 - get a trademark (costs less than £200 and now takes just a few days)
2 - make sure your trademark/logo is on your product/packaging (manufacturers will do this for free in most cases)
3 - apply to Brand Registry (free and takes about 48 hours)

If you do this, 'your' product listings are now protected.

My friend above already had a trademark and his factory would have branded his products for free. So he could easily have avoided the whole nightmare. All he lacked was a bit of information and it ended up costing him a fortune. This is why I say don't wing it!

Incidentally 'Private Label' (which is the name for this method) doesn't stop people adding their offer completely. For example, if you sell a box of your products to me and I want to sell them on Amazon, I still can't create my own listing because one exists already. I must add my offer to the listing you created but this is very unlikely unless you sold to me at a huge discount. I just wouldn't be able to make it pay.

If someone does hijack a listing (the term for adding an offer to a listing when you aren't selling the product described), then all you have to do is prove it is different and Amazon will remove that offer. And if they do it repetitively, they will get suspended/shut down.

In most cases a message to the other seller is enough. A lot of them time they do it in ignorance because they are winging it! I had a case about 2 years ago where we were manufacturing our own branded products and another company added their offer to a listing we had created and won the buy box. I called them up to politely explain why this was not allowed and it turned out they were brand new to Amazon that week, had been called up by an Amazon rep to get them started and he had told them to do it! This is classic Amazon - even their own employees don't know the rules!

If that doesn't work then go onto the listing and buy one. Since the other seller is in control of the buy box, the product will come from them (or from their FBA inventory). Wait for it to arrive (which if you are using FBA will be PDQ), take photos to show it is different and open a case with the BR team. The offer will be removed and the seller reprimanded. If they keep doing it they won't be around for very long.

So a very long answer to a very short statement!

 

[AmazonGeek]

I am both manufacturer "supplier" in the context above, and retailer.

Then you are crazy to dismiss Amazon out of hand. Since you are the brand owner you can protect your listings from hijackers and the numbers can ridiculous. For some products you can see literally thousands of units per day and if you use FBA, it can all run automatically with almost no interaction.

Ask your friends "where do you buy everything you need" and in most cases Amazon is the first place they look. Less and less people are trawling the internet to find what they want when they can get it all in one place. I mentioned in another post that in the US more than 50% of all internet transactions take place on Amazon.com. We are not there yet but we are getting there and it is growing each year. Ignore it at your peril.

You may find that other manufacturers have got there first, know exactly what they are doing and have already dominated the niche, in which case you may be too late. But at least look and find out.

 

[DontAsk]

Then you are crazy to dismiss Amazon out of hand. Since you are the brand owner you can protect your listings from hijackers and the numbers can ridiculous. For some products you can see literally thousands of units per day and if you use FBA, it can all run automatically with almost no interaction.

It's a unique, low volume, niche, product with no competition. I would be crazy to pay Amazon's commission. It would not sell 1000s/day.

 

[AmazonGeek]

Below you’ll find 5 proven tips for selling on Amazon like a pro.

1. Improve Your Product Images
2. Descripe anything about product in Descriptions
3. Implement a Flexible Pricing Strategy
4. Take Advantage of Influencer Marketing
5. Ask Amazon Experts For Assistance

All good advice.

Images
These must be very high class (not expensive these days) and give customers as much information as possible. Use all of them (plus video too if you are brand registered). A good rule of thumb is to assume customers can't read and that they get everything from the photos. Use infographics to get the important points across. Work out what your features and benefits are and get them across visually. A lot of research has been done on the customer journey recently and on Amazon what tends to happen is:

1 - customer types in a query and lands on the results page. They choose which listing to click on based on main image (is it high quality and does it jump out at you), price, stars, rating, title (does it make sense and is it cut off at a critical point), delivery speed, Prime badge, coupons/discounts
2 - customer lands in a listing and checks the photos/video out first. They rarely buy from the photos alone but they will definitely NOT buy from the photos alone. If they can't get the information they are looking for visually they are never more than a few inches away from a competitor's listing and they will be off. The photos should get them 75% of the way there and then the other content gets them over the line

Description
Less important on Amazon than anywhere else. The bullet points are more important both because they are higher up an because they have a bigger influence on ranking positions. If you are on the Brand Registry make sure you are using either A+ content or A+ Premium content for your descriptions. These are much better looking than the normal text description you get when not on the registry.

Important - at the time of typing this, A+ and A+ premium content does not influence search/rankings. So any keywords you include have no effect on your ranking positions. For this reason make sure you create a regular keyword-rich description as normal. You won't be able to see it as it will be hidden by the snazzy description but it will still influence results in the background.

Flexible Pricing
Important if you are competing with others on listing but not relevant for private label. I would not recommend competing against others unless you have a lot of money. There is always someone bigger than you who can afford to sell for less. Plus you don't have control over the listing so you are stuck with it. With private label, price is less of an issue. My flagship product is twice the price of most of my competitors but people buy it because it is premium. It is much more difficult to compete at the budget end because in many cases you will be up against Chinese factories who can undercut you.

Influencers
100%! Amazon loves outside traffic and will even reward you for it. If you are brand registered you can use 'attribution' to track people like influencers that send outside traffic to your listings. If the customer buys, your influencer gets a kickback but you also get a 'brand bonus'. this only works on Amazon.com at the moment but will come to the EU at some point. In the US, the average bonus is about 50% of the commission that Amazon gets for the sale, so up to 7.5%! Since influencers typically get 3-5% you can even make money out of it (or pay them more for a better service).

Experts
Again, 100% agree with. I'm a massive believer in learning. I hear a lot of people saying things like "you have to learn at the coal face" and you have to make mistakes first in order to learn". In my view this is utter nonsense, especially these days when information is so readily available. Why toddle off at random, making mistakes that countless others have already made when you can learn from those mistakes and avoid them?! I have made loads of mistakes in the last 15 years, some of which have cost me huge sums of money. Why would you want to go down the same route when it can be avoided? And this is especially true when it comes to Amazon. At best you will underperform, at worst you will get shut down.

However for me, there is a big one missing here (which applies to private label)...

Differentiation
The biggest mistake I see people make is trying to jump on a bandwagon. They see something selling well and try to take market share with the same exact product. The real trick to Amazon is (and this is hugely simplified):

1 - find something that is selling well, despite it having problems (reflected in the reviews)
2 - improve the product by solving those problems (which isn't always possible or economically viable of course)
3 - make a world-class listing so that it converts well
4 - understand how Amazon works so that you make the most out of your new listing (particularly when it comes to cold start and the honeymoon period)
5 - use PPC to influence organic positions (unique to Amazon)

 

[AmazonGeek]

I'd be interested to see the 'profit' from these influencer campaigns though. We tried it a few years ago and burned through £5k per month on sponsoring influencers and giving them free products...got nothing from it really, a few orders here and there.

Seems like you need deep pockets to get the biggest influencers on board and you need a product that is the perfect fit for influencer marketing. No point trying to sell someone a pencil....difficult to influence that market.

See my reply above on influencers and the brand bonus. This only works in the US at the moment but it is now visible in Seller Central for the EU (although the link is broken) so it can't be far off now.

 

[AmazonGeek]

It's a unique, low volume, niche, product with no competition. I would be crazy to pay Amazon's commission. It would not sell 1000s/day.

Fair enough. It is not for everyone but manufacturers like you are in an even better position than most on Amazon. You can improve products and even develop whole new ones based on demand and opportunity. As others have said, Amazon's commission is a marketing cost to get to vast numbers of customers. Without this kind of exposure you have to buy that in other ways, so one way or another you are paying out. Not all products are sought out on Amazon of course but the boundaries are changing all the time. Are your products the kind of thing that people would normally think to look for on Amazon? Just curious. Bear in mind by the way that B2B product sales are set to outstrip B2C on Amazon shortly (which is crazy when you think about it).

 

[japancool]

See my reply above on influencers and the brand bonus. This only works in the US at the moment but it is now visible in Seller Central for the EU (although the link is broken) so it can't be far off now.

A shame though that the post with the bullet points you were replying to was written by AI.

Does that rule where you're not allowed to charge less on other channels compared to Amazon still apply, or have they been told they can't impose that any more?

 

[AmazonGeek]

A shame though that the post with the bullet points you were replying to was written by AI.

Does that rule where you're not allowed to charge less on other channels compared to Amazon still apply, or have they been told they can't impose that any more?

Really? I didn't pick up on that. I've just asked Chat GPT to come up with 5 tips to 'sell on amazon like a pro' and it came up with something completely different. Are you sure? It wasn't the best grammar and there was a typo which you don't normally get from AI. What makes you think it was?

Amazon's pricing policy is that you can lose the buy box if you are selling the same thing cheaper somewhere else. Here is their current wording...

Amazon regularly monitors the prices of items in our marketplaces, including shipping costs, and compares them with other prices available to our customers. If we see pricing practices on a marketplace offer that harms customer trust, Amazon may take action, such as removing Buy Box, removing the offer, or in serious or repeated cases, suspending or terminating selling privileges.

Pricing practices that harm customer trust include, but are not limited to:

• setting a reference price on a product or service that misleads customers;
• setting a price on a product or service that is significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon;
• selling multiple units of a product for more per unit than that of a single unit of the same product; or
• setting a shipping fee on a product that is excessive. Amazon considers current public carrier rates, reasonable handling charges, as well as buyer perception when determining whether a shipping price violated our fair pricing policy.

 

[japancool]

What makes you think it was?

The format of the post and also that user's track record. It's not the first time he/she had done it.

Amazon regularly monitors the prices of items in our marketplaces, including shipping costs, and compares them with other prices available to our customers. If we see pricing practices on a marketplace offer that harms customer trust, Amazon may take action, such as removing Buy Box, removing the offer, or in serious or repeated cases, suspending or terminating selling privileges.

It's curious - in my sector, we regularly see prices on Amazon that are 40%+ higher than the same item from independant websites. I've had Amazon sellers try to buy in bulk from us to resell on Amazon. However, the Amazon sellers are not the same people as the independants - none of us would make any money on the current pricing model if we had to pay the Amazon commission. We sell branded products, and we're not the brand owner, so based on that, Amazon isn't really an option.

 

[AmazonGeek]

The format of the post and also that user's track record. It's not the first time he/she had done it.

Ah ok - I will keep an eye out for that. It was mostly ok as it happens.

It's curious - in my sector, we regularly see prices on Amazon that are 40%+ higher than the same item from independant websites. I've had Amazon sellers try to buy in bulk from us to resell on Amazon. However, the Amazon sellers are not the same people as the independants - none of us would make any money on the current pricing model if we had to pay the Amazon commission. We sell branded products, and we're not the brand owner, so based on that, Amazon isn't really an option.

I'm guessing like many products, they are being made in China/Vietnam/India/Turkey (probably the first) and shipped in. I could not make a profit in my sector if I was buying in the UK.

Is there an option for you to have products white-labelled, either in the UK or bought in from overseas? If you can get them made under your own brand and they are selling at 40% higher on Amazon than you currently sell at independently then you could have the best of both worlds. This is quite common in fact.

Food for thought anyway

 

[japancool]

Is there an option for you to have products white-labelled, either in the UK or bought in from overseas?

No, unfortunately. The brand operates in the UK themselves, and although they weren't previously supplying the goods we sell, do now do that and the Japanese parent holds the trademark, and very seriously guard the fact that the products are made in Japan, not China, with their own patented technology. They're not letting that get into anyone else's hands! As they're the fourth largest toy company in the world, I'm not getting into a fight with them.

To draw a parallel, it'd be a bit like asking Mattel if they could white-label Barbie.

 

[AmazonGeek]

To draw a parallel, it'd be a bit like asking Mattel if they could white-label Barbie.

Aah fair enough. I think I may know which brand you mean actually. I've helped a couple of big companies in the kids sector and my products are classed as toys and games as well. Hard to make Amazon pay in those circumstances if you can't ring-fence your product and protect your listings

Good to meet you though. I used to be on this forum a lot many years ago when it was the wholesale forums. I am back after a long absence and looking to help.

 

[DontAsk]

It's curious - in my sector, we regularly see prices on Amazon that are 40%+ higher than the same item from independant websites.

I often use Amazon for research, then look elsewhere for a better price. It's often the case in many sectors, that Amazon is expensive. I'm talking about real, useful, products, not tat.

 

[japancool]

I often use Amazon for research, then look elsewhere for a better price. It's often the case in many sectors, that Amazon is expensive. I'm talking about real, useful, products, not tat.

I don't sell tat. Your point?

 

[DontAsk]

I don't sell tat.

Where did I say that you do?

Your point?

I was agreeing with you, that Amazon can be more expensive than independents, apart from a lot of tat that you can buy on Amazon, that will always be a race to the bottom.

 

[DontAsk]

As an example, when I wanted a Glubot they were £20 on Amazon. I got one for £10 from an independent woodworking supplier. A big saving, even after P&P. The Amazon prices seem to have come down a lot since then, but still around £14 (still £10 from independents).

 

[AmazonGeek]

I often use Amazon for research, then look elsewhere for a better price. It's often the case in many sectors, that Amazon is expensive. I'm talking about real, useful, products, not tat.

Millions and millions don't do that though. They choose to have the convenience of having most things in one place plus the security of buying from a place they know and trust with a pretty amazing UI.

I personally don't have time to go trawling the internet every time I want something. I just go to Amazon and most people do the same. In the US over half of all internet transactions are on Amazon so that gives you an idea the way it is going. Yes, Amazon can be more expensive but it is a trade off against time, convenience and security. And Amazon is by no means just tat. There aren't many products you can't find there.

 

[AmazonGeek]

I was agreeing with you, that Amazon can be more expensive than independents, apart from a lot of tat that you can buy on Amazon, that will always be a race to the bottom.

The only race to the bottom is sellers competing against each other for control of the buy box, which of course is why Amazon set it up that way. Just one page per unique product (in the vast majority of cases) and everyone selling that product competing against each other to win the box, which drives the price down for the customer.

If you have your own brand and don't distribute it out to others who could also sell it on Amazon, then the listing is effectively yours and you can sell for whatever you want.

Yes you can buy tat, as you can everywhere else, but pretty much every product in the world is on there with the security of buying from the biggest retailer on the planet who very much favours the customer above everything else.

 

[AmazonGeek]

As an example, when I wanted a Glubot they were £20 on Amazon. I got one for £10 from an independent woodworking supplier. A big saving, even after P&P. The Amazon prices seem to have come down a lot since then, but still around £14 (still £10 from independents).

You can always buy cheaper from somewhere else. I bet if I spent another hour looking I could find somewhere selling it for £9.

Personally, I don't have the time to go searching every time I want to buy something. I prefer to get it from one place and the value I place in that is in the time I save (I am on a very nice hourly rate so every minute is worth good money), the knowledge that I know I will always get it (because I tick the Prime button so it comes via FBA or SFP), that I can track it (ditto) and that in most cases it will arrive the next day. And millions upon millions of people do the same.

 

[japancool]

Millions and millions don't do that though. They choose to have the convenience of having most things in one place plus the security of buying from a place they know and trust with a pretty amazing UI.

The other thing people do is go to a site or company that they've bought from before.

Say I need a PC component - I always go to scan.co.uk, because I've bought from them before and I trust them. So for us, a lot of customers find us when they're not necessarily looking to buy, and we hope they'll keep us in mind when they do. Christmas is great for winning over new customers, because once we've acquired them, they come back again. It's the first acquisition that's the hardest.

Some people *do* buy on price, but many don't. The ones who absolutely do buy directly from Japan and avoid import VAT - I'm not that interested in competing on price. I've played that game, and everyone loses.

 

[AmazonGeek]

I'm not that interested in competing on price. I've played that game, and everyone loses.

100% agree. Once you get into that game there is only one outcome.

 

[Dan Burnham]

Hi all,
I am looking for help & Advice to set my business up on Amazon. I already have an e-commerce store on eBay, trading successfully for the last 5 years
but have struggled a lot trying to set up on Amazon and do this myself.
Problems range from vat approval to invoicing... GTIN number, ASIN numbers.
Brands ..help

Best regards,
Extrusion Sales Direct

I'd be happy to jump on a call with you and give you a steer. Just let me know.

 

[PentechMoulding]

Hi all,
I am looking for help & Advice to set my business up on Amazon. I already have an e-commerce store on eBay, trading successfully for the last 5 years
but have struggled a lot trying to set up on Amazon and do this myself.
Problems range from vat approval to invoicing... GTIN number, ASIN numbers.
Brands ..help

Best regards,
Extrusion Sales Direct

We have been selling on Amazon for the last 12 years, Our products are some that we manufacture in the UK and some are sourced from reputable UK firms.


In the beginning, we had a lot of problems with other sellers who were piggybacking our listings and using our images to sell their inferior products, consequently, this dropped our monthly turnover, and had to deal with a lot of grunted customers bought products from these other sellers.


By the way Amazon does allow others to piggyback product listings of similar products you wish to sell.


I had already taken subscripition from GS1 UK to get all our GTIN Numbers which cost around £200 odd per annum but is well worth it, if you want to sell succesfully on Amazon.



So to overcome this issue i applied for trade mark on our products and this cost around £100 with Gov.UK, After few weeks trade mark was granted took this to UK Amazon and registered a Brand using the trade mark and succesfully this was granted.

Since than all the other sellers who piggybacked our product listing were reported to Amazon and succesfully we mainted peace and our turnover went beyond when we started.


For VAT you will require register in the UK and submit relevant documents to Amazon plus you will require verification of business address and personal status.


For invoicing when the customer request we send one out from our system.


Amazon is no difference to ebay selling, where we have been selling since ebay incooperation before that i sold our products on UK Yahoo auction.

Trust this helps

Aslam

 

[AmazonGeek]

Just to clarify on a couple of things...

By the way Amazon does allow others to piggyback product listings of similar products you wish to sell.

Not true. For everyone unique product there is supposed to be one product page (listing). Anyone wanting to sell that exact product not only can, but must add their offer to that page. All offers then compete for control of the buy box, driving the price down for Amazon customers.

They cannot just be similar - they must be identical. The problem is that it can be hard to prove that if you are not on the Brand Registry. If you just sell an unbranded white-label product and someone else has something similar from a different factory, then you will have a hard time convincing Amazon that the two are not the same. Therefore it is important to get a trademark (about £200), then get your trademark on your product (which most factories will do for free). Enrol in the BR (also free) and then your listing is ringfenced. Even if someone buys the same product from the same factory, it will not carry your branding and therefore cannot be sold on the same product page.

For VAT you will require register in the UK and submit relevant documents to Amazon plus you will require verification of business address and personal status.

If you have traded on Amazon before becoming VAT registered the chances are that Amazon will have charged you VAT when they shouldn't have. Invoices for commissions (aka referral fees), storage and FBA (if you use them to fulfil) will all have VAT on them. But since they come from Luxembourg, under Amazon's own ts and cs, they should be zero rated. You just need to open a case, prove you were trading as a proper business (i.e. certificate of incorporation) and you can claim all that VAT back from Amazon between when you started trading and when you became VAT registered. If you want to know more about this let me know and I will give you the process.
On a related subject...

When you become VAT registered and enter your VAT number in Seller Central most businesses assume that all future invoices are reverse charged to zero. This is true for all the Luxembourg ones (which ironically shouldn't include VAT in the first place) but advertising invoices come from a UK Amazon company and they continue to attract VAT. You will see this in reports > tax document library. Make sure you are downloading these invoices and claiming the VAT back on your UK return. If you haven't been doing, you can go back a long way (6 years I think from memory). If it is less than £10k you can add it to your next return. If over £10k you need a special form (can't remember the code but I will find out if anyone needs it).

For invoicing when the customer request we send one out from our system.

Amazon will do this for you if you subscribe to Amazon tax services (also free). When a customer buys from you, Amazon generates the invoice and puts it in the orders section to be downloaded. If they ask for an invoice Amazon will also direct them there. This saves a tonne of time. You can do the same if you are not VAT registered via the automated receipt generation programme.

Amazon is no difference to ebay selling

Couldn't disagree more - eBay is a piece of cake; Amazon is a minefield. The problem is that most people don't know what they don't know so at best they are underperforming and, at worst, get suspended/shut down.

 

[PentechMoulding]

Just to clarify on a couple of things...


Not true. For everyone unique product there is supposed to be one product page (listing). Anyone wanting to sell that exact product not only can, but must add their offer to that page. All offers then compete for control of the buy box, driving the price down for Amazon customers.

They cannot just be similar - they must be identical. The problem is that it can be hard to prove that if you are not on the Brand Registry. If you just sell an unbranded white-label product and someone else has something similar from a different factory, then you will have a hard time convincing Amazon that the two are not the same. Therefore it is important to get a trademark (about £200), then get your trademark on your product (which most factories will do for free). Enrol in the BR (also free) and then your listing is ringfenced. Even if someone buys the same product from the same factory, it will not carry your branding and therefore cannot be sold on the same product page.

If you have traded on Amazon before becoming VAT registered the chances are that Amazon will have charged you VAT when they shouldn't have. Invoices for commissions (aka referral fees), storage and FBA (if you use them to fulfil) will all have VAT on them. But since they come from Luxembourg, under Amazon's own ts and cs, they should be zero rated. You just need to open a case, prove you were trading as a proper business (i.e. certificate of incorporation) and you can claim all that VAT back from Amazon between when you started trading and when you became VAT registered. If you want to know more about this let me know and I will give you the process.
On a related subject...

When you become VAT registered and enter your VAT number in Seller Central most businesses assume that all future invoices are reverse charged to zero. This is true for all the Luxembourg ones (which ironically shouldn't include VAT in the first place) but advertising invoices come from a UK Amazon company and they continue to attract VAT. You will see this in reports > tax document library. Make sure you are downloading these invoices and claiming the VAT back on your UK return. If you haven't been doing, you can go back a long way (6 years I think from memory). If it is less than £10k you can add it to your next return. If over £10k you need a special form (can't remember the code but I will find out if anyone needs it).

Amazon will do this for you if you subscribe to Amazon tax services (also free). When a customer buys from you, Amazon generates the invoice and puts it in the orders section to be downloaded. If they ask for an invoice Amazon will also direct them there. This saves a tonne of time. You can do the same if you are not VAT registered via the automated receipt generation programme.

Couldn't disagree more - eBay is a piece of cake; Amazon is a minefield. The problem is that most people don't know what they don't know so at best they are underperforming and, at worst, get suspended/shut down.

Thank you for your feedback.

The piggyback is what exactly is like you mentioned bid to win BUY BOX using my listing, I am not there to bid just like many other successful sellers, we manufacture products in the UK and offer quality and services we invest to successfully run Amazon business by subscribing GS1 UK but others want all for free cause issues.

We have been VAT-registered in the UK since 1990 so there is no issue on this part.

VAT Invoicing We find it easier to send our invoices rather than to use Amazon invoices

There is a learning curve to sell on Amazon but well worth it.

PS: We don't use FBA services all our orders are fulfilled by our dedicated staff at our depot near London UK and done so for the last 15 - 18 years successfully selling online

 

[AmazonGeek]

We don't use FBA services all our orders are fulfilled by our dedicated staff at our depot near London UK and done so for the last 15 - 18 years successfully selling online

Are you using Seller Fulfilled Prime? If not, you are invisible to anyone ticking the 'Prime' badge when shopping. I would strongly recommend looking at your inventory and cherry picking which SKUs can be converted to FBA. You will get greater visibility, your CTR and CR will go up and it will probably cost you less. It will take much less time, save you money and Amazon deals with all the customer service (returns, refunds, etc) on your behalf as part of the deal. And then there is Pan Euro FBA (2 thirds of my sales come from the EU and I have no staff, warehousing, etc).

The piggyback is what exactly is like you mentioned bid to win BUY BOX using my listing, I am not there to bid just like many other successful sellers, we manufacture products in the UK and offer quality and services we invest to successfully run Amazon business by subscribing GS1 UK but others want all for free cause issues.

This is the issue. When you create a listing, it is not 'yours' as it is on eBay. It can be used by anyone selling the same product. Without BR it is hard to convince Amazon that another offer is not for the same product, which is BR is vital. Many sellers do not realise this fundamental principle.

 

[PentechMoulding]

Are you using Seller Fulfilled Prime? If not, you are invisible to anyone ticking the 'Prime' badge when shopping. I would strongly recommend looking at your inventory and cherry picking which SKUs can be converted to FBA. You will get greater visibility, your CTR and CR will go up and it will probably cost you less. It will take much less time, save you money and Amazon deals with all the customer service (returns, refunds, etc) on your behalf as part of the deal. And then there is Pan Euro FBA (2 thirds of my sales come from the EU and I have no staff, warehousing, etc).

Seller Fulfilled Prime option

Are you using Seller Fulfilled Prime? If not, you are invisible to anyone ticking the 'Prime' badge when shopping. I would strongly recommend looking at your inventory and cherry picking which SKUs can be converted to FBA. You will get greater visibility, your CTR and CR will go up and it will probably cost you less. It will take much less time, save you money and Amazon deals with all the customer service (returns, refunds, etc) on your behalf as part of the deal. And then there is Pan Euro FBA (2 thirds of my sales come from the EU and I have no staff, warehousing, etc).


This is the issue. When you create a listing, it is not 'yours' as it is on eBay. It can be used by anyone selling the same product. Without BR it is hard to convince Amazon that another offer is not for the same product, which is BR is vital. Many sellers do not realise this fundamental principle.

This is the issue. When you create a listing, it is not 'yours' as it is on eBay. It can be used by anyone selling the same product. Without BR it is hard to convince Amazon that another offer is not for the same product, which is BR is vital. Many sellers do not realise this fundamental principle.

We don't use this service however we work Mon - Fri working week, Can you shade some light on how do

Seller Fulfilled Prime? if orders came in the weekend?

 

[AmazonGeek]

We don't use this service however we work Mon - Fri working week, Can you shade some light on how do

You basically need to meet Amazon's SLA on delivery, which includes Saturday dispatch so if you only work Mon-Fri then you wouldn't qualify. SFP is a bit of a nightmare actually. Yes, you win the Prime badge and become discoverable to customers clicking that Prime button (and there are millions that do) but you have to jump through lots of hoops to qualify and it is very easy to make a mistake and drop out of it.

Better to gradually pick out the products that you can move over to FBA. It won't work for all of them but if you can move some it will make a big difference. I helped a company last year that sells cleaning products and it changed their lives. The difference in work-life balance was incredible.

Happy to have a Zoom for half an hour (no cost/obligation) and see if I can help. I will know pretty quickly. If you want to book a call please use this link - https://calendly.com/amazongeek/discovery

 

[PentechMoulding]

You basically need to meet Amazon's SLA on delivery, which includes Saturday dispatch so if you only work Mon-Fri then you wouldn't qualify. SFP is a bit of a nightmare actually. Yes, you win the Prime badge and become discoverable to customers clicking that Prime button (and there are millions that do) but you have to jump through lots of hoops to qualify and it is very easy to make a mistake and drop out of it.

Better to gradually pick out the products that you can move over to FBA. It won't work for all of them but if you can move some it will make a big difference. I helped a company last year that sells cleaning products and it changed their lives. The difference in work-life balance was incredible.

Happy to have a Zoom for half an hour (no cost/obligation) and see if I can help. I will know pretty quickly. If you want to book a call please use this link - https://calendly.com/amazongeek/discovery

Thanks for the offer, Our products are bespoke hence they don't appeal to everyone and we have the intention of offering on FBA or Seller Fulfilled Prime.

We did look at Seller Fulfilled Prime and we did pass AMAZON SLA and could have offered to sell our products but we focusing on our own websites and we are spending small investments with large ROI better than AMAZON and EBAY returns and all the traffic is coming organically, NO GOOGLE ADS and anything like it.

The beauty of having your own website is no selling fees to pay and much less hassle, I know both platforms offer greater buying traffic but over the years found that it is not suited our bespoke products however we have just kept on selling on these platforms until all our websites generate sales similar to platforms which we anticipate to reach by end of this year.

We have other businesses whose products we sell through our websites on dropshipping if you would like to be part of that and try us FREE FOR THE FIRST 6 MONTHS DM HERE WE DON'T CHARGE FEES FOR SELLING to our clients

Thanks again,

All the best

Aslam

 

[bruno10000]

They do exactly what other businesses do. Competitor research.


And who cares if amazon undercut a seller? If the seller still sells the items.
Have lost count of items that we sold that amazon also sold - and we sold out of the product.
Probably multiple thousands of lines over the years.

Are you talking about branded products? Or noname products who were sold by Amazon & you under different brands?

 

[CraicnCaine]

Yep, but how do you find the 'smart' way to do it?

Hi Chris, do you have any specific questions you are looking to have answered?

 

[AmazonGeek]

Are you talking about branded products? Or noname products who were sold by Amazon & you under different brands?

Not sure what you mean by noname products. Do you mean private label, where you can have different people selling basically the same thing under different brand names?

 

[bruno10000]

Not sure what you mean by noname products. Do you mean private label, where you can have different people selling basically the same thing under different brand names?

Yes private label.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Noname and private label are different.

Noname are.just that - brands that no one has ever heard of. Private label is essentially OEM.

 

[bruno10000]

Noname and private label are different.

Noname are.just that - brands that no one has ever heard of. Private label is essentially OEM.

Got it.

 

[AmazonGeek]

Noname are.just that - brands that no one has ever heard of. Private label is essentially OEM.

Not in the Amazon world.

Private label:
1 - find a product you want to sell (ideally that has demand but can be improved)
2 - find a factory to make the improved version
3 - register a trademark and have the factory apply that trademark to your product and packaging
4 - apply to the Amazon Brand Registry so that you have protection as well as all the benefits that brands get (A+ content, Vine, Storefront, etc)

Whether someone has heard of it or not is irrelevant. There are millions of brands around the world and you won't have heard of most of them. I own a poker brand for example. Unless you play poker you probably won't know it but that doesn't mean it isn't a brand.

'No name' is actually a Canadian brand in itself (no-frills type stuff). The only other meaning of 'no name' I can think of relating to Amazon is people that sell generic white-label products without the benefit of branding or Brand-Registry protection. Since anyone can buy the same product and sell on the same listing, it is not recommended.

 

[schambers40]

Hello, I'm a journalist with The Sunday Times and I am looking into allegations that Amazon has deployed underhand tactics designed to force sellers into using FBA.

If you have experience of this, or know somebody who does, pls get in touch via email: [email protected]

Thanks,
Sam Chambers