Amazon is a platform that attracts millions of users every day. It is one of the biggest e-commerce companies out there, and with this reputation; itâs changed the way we shop.
Understandably, thereâs a lot of stuff to experiment with when it comes to Amazon, and you might even think that you want to get your hands on a slice of the pie. Itâs completely understandable, and thatâs why weâll be taking a look at how you can start selling on Amazon today.
The basics
Okay, letâs take a look at the basics and work out what is that you need to know about Amazon Marketplace. Amazon Marketplace allows people to tap into the power of Amazonâs infrastructure to sell their products under the Amazon flag.
If youâre someone who is selling products under the flag of Amazon, youâll be split up into two different categories. On the one hand, youâve got casual sellers and professional ones. The casual sellers are defined as people who sell at a maximum of 35 items a month or less. They donât have to pay a fee in the conventional sense; instead, one for each completed item and referral fees.
On the other end of the scale, youâve got those professional sellers, who are categorized by the fact that they sell at least 35 items a month. They can sell their products at a far greater clip than the casual crowd, and they have tools for bulk listing. Donât be fooled though – thereâs a monthly subscription fee for these people, as well as the completion and referral charges that are paid by casual sellers.
It is the official recommendation of Amazon themselves that if you want to try and sell more than 35 items with the Marketplace, you become what they refer to as a âpro-merchant sellerâ. This level of membership, as itâs often described, gives you access to 5 different EU marketplaces, at the cost of around $25.
Amazon benefits e-commerce startups searching for international audiences
Itâs probably important to mention that for an e-commerce startup that is looking for an international audience to sell products, Amazon has made some leeway in this field.
Amazon has created a European marketplace which effectively combines five different locations: Amazon.de (Germany), Amazon.fr (France), Amazon.es (Spain), Amazon.it (Italy) and Amazon.co.uk for British sales.
When we combine this with a reported 40% increase in the number of US-based sellers exporting to European countries as far back as 2016, you can see why this method may well be tempting for you.
Of course, you donât just transition to other countries for the revenue, oh no. Itâs a great way to test a product fit in a safe place without compromising your primary distribution area.
It is important to deliver a stark warning to anyone who is considering this particular route. There is considerable admin for foreign sales, like taxes and currency payments. Banks are particularly scathing with businesses, and will often give them bad exchange rates, making the business unviable in extreme situations. It is vital to shop around and see what is on offer before you begin.
The benefits of using Amazon to sell
Naturally, there are considerable benefits to selling on Amazon, which makes the company a superb choice for little investment. Here are some of them below:
1. Simplicity
Simplicity is going to be one of the biggest determining factors for picking an online marketplace to work in. Amazon has a very easy way of putting products up for sale, which means that you can get things going quite soon after you sign up. You enter the product that you want to sell, put a price on it, record the condition of it, and thatâs it.
2. Exposure
As youâre probably aware, Amazon has one of the biggest customer bases on the planet, being perhaps the largest e-commerce platform available. There are thousands of users who visit the site every hour, which means that the chance of your product selling is incredibly high.
3. Cost efficiency
One of the big advantages to something like Amazon is that you can list as many products as you want with no fee to pay. It means you can pick out a sales strategy that will work for your needs as a business. Plus, there are no fixed costs for handling or shipping of your products across the different countries.
4. Trust
It is also important to remember that as a company, Amazon is trusted and respected by the customers that it works with every day. A recent survey conducted in the US gave Amazon an 86% rating in regard to customer satisfaction.
Itâs certainly not difficult to recognize that Amazon is a brand name, which has generated a very positive reputation over the years. The trust and loyalty which are applied automatically to Amazon will also be shown to you by proxy so that you can market your products quite easily.
5. Market awareness
One thing the Amazon Marketplace does offer is the ability to look at the products being sold by competitors and gain some crucial market awareness. You must understand how the rest of the industry is performing in relation to you because this will help you to identify whether you are one of the leading forces in your market, or whether you need to make some improvements to your business.
Selling on Amazon
So, it is probably time that we talk about the main reason why you are here. Do you want to learn how to get started selling products on Amazon?
The first thing that you need to do is to work out which type of seller you want to be. As we previously mentioned, if youâre going to be selling less than 35 items, being a casual Amazon user is probably the best option. However, if youâre going to start selling in bulk from the beginning, you should probably look for the professional classification system.
If you want to register as a seller on Amazon, then you will need to make sure that you have the following information available.
- An email address.
- A phone number for use during the registration process.
- Information to register your bank account to your account.
- A US or internationally chargeable credit or debit card which has a valid billing address.
- If your business is VAT registered, you need to provide your VAT number.
If you need help getting started, you can also use the services of Amazon marketing specialists such as Nuanced Media. By utilizing expertise, you save the hassle of doing the hard work yourself!
Registering products to sell on Amazon
Okay, now that you have classified yourself with Amazonâs system, it is now time to take a look at registering products on the website to sell. Thankfully, this is pretty easy.
If you are a casual seller, then you will find that every Amazon product page has a blue box on it which is titled âmore buying choicesâ. This is usually located on the right-hand side of the page, and if you click on the âsell yours hereâ button, then you will be able to start the registration process. The condition and age of the product, and any other additional comments you feel are necessary will be registered here.
However, if you have registered for professional status or an experienced seller title, you can use Amazonâs web-based interface to list products or, alternatively, utilize the bulk listing tools.
Extra tips
Itâs probably pretty important to note that Amazon does have a few restrictions when it comes to what you can and cannot sell on their website.
Mobile phones, tobacco and alcohol, magazines and newspaper subscriptions, gift certificates and gift cards, prescription medication, firearms and ammunition, as well as photo processing services cannot be sold on the main website. Merchants are fully priced to sell in any of the other categories, however.
It is essential to note that Amazon has their own pricing tools available for anybody who is struggling to work out how much to sell products for, although you are free to create your own price if you desire. It is recommended to use the tools of Amazon themselves, as this will mean that you should have a better chance of selling, but it is entirely up to you.
Selling products on Amazon is a rewarding thing to look into. There are numerous benefits to selling your products with Amazon themselves, as the company has one of the largest platforms in the world, and controls a significant number of different audiences. Naturally, it is important to make sure that you look into all of Amazonâs selling practices if youâre going to get the best possible results, as otherwise, you may run the risk of not having your products properly advertised, or simply filling in violation of the seller guidelines.
Despite having said this, however, there is no doubt that selling with Amazon is one of the most effective ways to get reach and promotion in a way that is not possible in other places. With the only serious competitor to Amazon being something like eBay, itâs clear to see why this is a good place to set up shop.
| Ryan Flannagan is the Founder & CEO of NuancedMedia, an international eCommerce marketing agency specializing in Amazon. Nuanced has sold $100s of Millions online and Ryan has built a client base representing a total revenue of over 1.5 billion dollars. Ryan is a published author and has been quoted by a number of media sources such as BuzzFeed and Modern Retail. To connect with Ryan, check out @Ryanflannagan on Twitter or via Linkedin |
