Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world, especially when it comes to retail. You can find nearly anything you could ever want on the website as well as some things you never even knew existed!
But did you know that you can also use the mega-site to make money of your own? It’s true. Amazon allows people to sell their own products on the website, allowing you to reach millions of potential customers every day. In fact, over one-third of their sales are from third-party sellers. This means that there’s a lot of room to make money, no matter what you specialize in. Here’s a short guide to selling your products on Amazon.com.
Learn the Rules
As with any company, Amazon has a set of rules and regulation that you need to understand before you try to sell your products on the website. The good news is that they don’t change very often, so once you learn them, you’ll be able to keep up with any changes that may come down over the coming years.
There are regulations that dictate what you can and cannot put on your product page, rules for filling and shipping orders to your buyers, policies, and agreements that you will have to sign as well as a list of forbidden seller activities and actions. All of these can be found on Amazon’s Policies and Agreements page. Make sure you read these thoroughly before deciding to sell on the site, or you may find that your experience and sales aren’t what you thought they’d be.
One of the reasons Amazon is so good for third-party sellers is because of these regulations. So learn them, follow them, and you will give yourself a good chance of being successful.
Optimize Your Listings
Once you are accepted onto Amazon as a seller, you will be competing against thousands of other sellers who may be in the same niche as you are. Because of this, you need to give customers a reason to buy from you rather than someone else. This means that you need to make sure your product listings are clear and as concise as possible.
The biggest reason you want accurate product descriptions is because you want your customers to be happy. If they receive something that is different from the way it was described, then you not only run the risk of a bad review but of losing that customer forever. The bad review will affect the way people view your products in the future, which may cause your sales to drop. And if that customer never returns, you’re going to have a tough time finding others to replace them, for the same reasons.
So always write the best, most accurate product descriptions as possible.
Watch for Feedback and Reviews
When someone leaves feedback on your product, you should respond to it, whether it’s good or bad. Thanking someone for a good review will make them more willing to do it again in the future, and addressing a bad review by trying to fix it is a great way to keep a customer rather than losing them to a competitor.
Unfortunately, most people will not leave a positive review unless they are asked to do so, so make sure you ask your customers for feedback every chance you get. The easiest way to do this is to send a note along with the product during shipment. This way, you don’t have to email every single customer and they may like the personal touch of a physical request.
“Win” the Buy Box
If you want to see your sales soar, then you want to compete for the Amazon buy box. This is a feature that Amazon has that will place a specific seller in the “Buy” box on the right-hand side of their page, meaning that customers will be able to easily click on it for the product.
There are a lot of factors that go into having your product in that box. It may take some time to get your factors correct, but they include smart pricing, the number of competitors in your niche, your seller’s history (orders arrive on time without problems) as well as customer reviews. Shoot for the buy box and you will see your product sell more frequently, giving you more money.
Amazon is a great opportunity for people to sell their products on a giant website with millions of customers. Do it right, and you’re sure to make money!
