How To Be An Amazon Seller
The digital space has become the bedrock of many thriving businesses. It has witnessed the gradual transition from physical shops to virtual ones. In addition, brands and business owners have leveraged this idea to expand their coverage and reach more customers.
Selling on platforms such as Amazon, eBay or AliExpress has opened business opportunities that have strengthened international relations by creating many market channels.
Are you trying to put up your goods for sale on Amazon but don’t know how to?
Fret no more, as this article is structured to help ease all the concerns you have regarding selling on Amazon. Here are proven steps that will help your business kick-start on Amazon.
Selling on Amazon can be quite an enterprising venture because the seller is not saddled with the trouble of transiting from a place of residence to a business place. Furthermore, the problem of conveying physical goods is also eliminated as most of these transactions are done virtually.
This ease of doing business comes with some requirements. For example, to sell on Amazon, the seller needs to meet specific criteria, which is the nitty-gritty of our article today.
We will outline them and provide you with the necessary information that will help you become an effective seller on Amazon.
Get A Selling Plan
Amongst the many requirements of Amazon, a selling plan is of utmost importance as this establishes your partnership with the online platform.
Acquiring a selling plan is akin to renting a physical shop, and as expected, you are obliged to pay your rental fees to have the shop space at your disposal.
For business people or brand owners who wish to sell on Amazon, there are two types of plans.
a) Individual plan
b) Professional plan
Individual Plan
This plan is structured to fit the pay-as-you-go method, a project that works based on the rate of items sold per month. Here is an outlined feature of this plan.
Features
I. The Seller pays a £0.75 fee per item sold
II. Can create new product pages in the Amazon catalog
III. The seller cannot make inventory using fields, spreadsheets, and reports
IV. Cannot manage orders using order reports and order-related fields
V. Cannot use the Amazon web service to upload fields, receive reports and perform other API functions
VI. Amazon sets the delivery charges for all the products sold
VII. The seller is not allowed to set the delivery charges for non BMVD products (Books, Music, Video, and DVDs)
VIII. The seller can make the listings inactive when they seek to pause their retail services for a while
IX. Seller is not eligible for promotions, gift services, and other special listing features
X. A seller is not eligible for placement in the buy box
XI. They cannot utilize Amazon business features to create pricing and offers unique to business customers
XII. Sellers do not have access to user permissions /access rights to other users
XIII. They also do not have the ability to claim certifications that are recognized by Amazon
Professional Plan
On a professional level, access to a variety of features is unlocked which presents the sellers with adequate tools for effective business transactions.
Let us look at its features from a seller’s perspective
Features
I. The seller pays a £25.00 monthly subscription fee
II. Seller can create new product pages in the Amazon catalog
III. The seller can make inventory using fields, spreadsheets, and reports
IV. A seller on this plan can manage orders using order reports and order-related fields
V. They can use the Amazon web service to upload fields, receive reports and perform other API functions
VI. Amazon does not set the delivery charges for the products sold by the seller
VII. Seller is allowed to set delivery charges for non BMVD products (Books, Music, Videos, and DVDs)
VIII. The seller can make their listings inactive when they want to pause their retailing services for a while
IX. Sellers on the professional plan are eligible for promotions, gift services, and other special listing features
X. Sellers are eligible for placement in the buy box
XI. They can utilize Amazon business features to create pricing and offers unique to business customers
XII. Sellers have access to user permissions/access rights to other users
XIII. They can claim certifications that are recognized by Amazon.
Now that you have full disclosure of the disparity between the selling plans, it is pertinent that a seller aligns their transactions with any of the plans to get the most out of the features.
Choose A Selling Strategy
From the use of dropshipping options or direct sale of pre-made items to brand owners selling their own wares, sellers can make a huge profit by simply using this method.
The Selling Strategy
a) Resellers method
b) Brandowners method
Resellers Method
This operates like a flip market where sellers purchase an item at a certain price and then resell it at a more profitable price.
For example, a seller buys an item from either Target or Walmart for £5.00 and then resells it on Amazon for £20.00, generating interest of £15.00.
Here, sellers are not concerned with private or branded labels as these items that are sold are pre-made items. Dropshipping options can be used in this method and many sellers can take advantage of affiliate marketing opportunities as well.
Brand Owners Method
Several companies use this method to get their products across to a wider range of customers. Using personalized branding and unique selling features of products, sales are made directly to a target number of customers or consumers.
So, if you are not a brand owner, you can still be a seller on Amazon and make a lot of profit. Just use the reseller method and harp on the selling features that have been made available on the Amazon platform.
And if you are a brand owner, then come on board the Amazon platform and get your business across to millions of buyers.
Take Advantage Of The Perfect Launch Approach
As a new seller on Amazon, the first three months are important for establishing the right steps that will scale up your performance on the platform after launch.
Amazon uses five key metrics to help a seller accelerate their performance after launch. These are;
I. Brand registry
II. A+ concept
III. Fulfillment by Amazon
IV. Automated pricing
V. Advertising
Brand Registry
Registering your brand provides you with the following features.
a) Unlocks a good number of tools or features that are curated to assist a seller to protect and differentiate their brand from others. Here, your unique selling proposition is unleashed to give you a cutting edge in the market.
b) A seller has access to automated protection and search tools
c) Access to seller incentives.
A+ Content
A new seller can use the adaptive selling features on Amazon to display their brands or products on amazon product detail pages.
A seller enjoys features such as technical specifications, comparative product information, and extra rich content including images, videos, and product setup
Fulfillment By Amazon
By adopting the fulfillment by Amazon method, a seller can have their products stored in one of Amazon’s hundreds of fulfillment centers around the world.
The seller’s products are picked, packed, and shipped by Amazon. They also provide customer service to a seller’s teeming customer base.
Statistically, sellers have experienced a 20-25% increase after subscribing to this method.
Using automated pricing can help a seller accelerate their sales by 50%
Automated Pricing
Sellers can harp on the Amazon free automated pricing tools to adjust their prices quickly and automatically. This provides an edge against competitors as this promotes a seller’s chance of becoming the featured offer.
Using automated pricing can help a seller accelerate their sales by 50%
Advertising
The role of advertising in a business cannot be ignored as this enables the goods or services to reach a wider number of customers.
On Amazon, a seller can expand their business coverage and customer base by creating sponsored product Ads that will appear in related search results and product pages. A seller only earns per click on the Ads.
From a survey, sellers saw an average weekly business scale-up of +40% in units ordered and +54% in glance views within the first year after using a sponsored product campaign.
Create A Seller’s Account
Please, do try and check for your country’s eligibility as not all countries are eligible for the opening of the seller’s account.
To create a seller’s account, make sure you have the following handy;
I. Business email address or Amazon’s customer account
II. International chargeable credit card
III. Valid Government ID
IV. Tax information
V. Phone number
VI. Bank account details where Amazon can credit you after sales.
Sales Launch
After a seller has taken all the steps mentioned above, they can begin to make sales by
I. Adding their products on the Amazon platform
II. Taking decisive steps on adopting advertisement methods that will attract sizeable customers
III. Making sure that their sales performance is sustained after the first sales.
Conclusion
With an increased drive for passive income earnings amongst many people, leveraging on sales channels such as Amazon has become the go-to thing for several people.
The market opportunities on this platform are vast and for a seller selling on Amazon, the accrued benefits are mouth-watering.
This has caused a continuous expansion of the market and in turn, has opened a window of business opportunities for several business owners.
To get more info, you might want to check out Amazon’s guidelines.
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