There is no denying the power that Amazon has when it comes to e-commerce. Around the world, many thousands of sellers are running successful businesses via selling on this e-commerce platform. In many cases, they started with very little capital and spent very little time per day, making it a success.
In a day and age where it is risky to start a new business, and many established companies are folding due to the effect the coronavirus pandemic has had on the economy, choosing to become an Amazon seller could be the best option all around.
So what exactly do you need to know before you take the plunge and set up as a seller?
Research Products
Before you rush out and buy your stock, make sure you follow the popular trends within Amazon and get a feel for what type of products are currently in fashion and selling well, along with what types of products sell well all year round. The last thing you want to do is to be flogging your products to an already saturated market.
It's not difficult to figure out how to find best sellers on Amazon. Let's have a look at how this works. The Best Sellers Rank is used to determine the Amazon Best Sellers. This takes into account various elements such as historical product data, future potential success, cumulative sales, and so on.
Remember that the Best Sellers Rank is updated approximately every 2-3 hours to account for recent sales and that the high ranking results bear no correlation on the BSR at all. Once you have identified the best products and categories, you will have a better idea of the type of stock you need to buy.
Alternatively, you can utilize the skills and expertise of established sellers to allow them to guide you to maximize your sales via amazonautomation.com, meaning you can benefit from collective expertise in this area.
Funding
How much are you able to invest in this new venture, and how small will you be starting? Many people can raise capital via family and friends who lend them money. This means you arel limited as to what you can do when you first start, and any money you make needs to be pushed back into buying new products or equipment.
Look at where you can work from, do you need a storage area or office to get you started, and how much is this likely to cost. Do you need packing materials for this, and if so, how much will it cost for postage and packing. How much stock can you really afford to buy, and what are the chances of it selling?
These factors will indicate how much you can get started with - some successful sellers started with $2,000 and worked their way to multi-million-pound sales.
Shipping
Another major consideration when it comes to selling as a third party on amazon is how you will be shipping the products. There are two options, you can use Amazon's delivery service, or you can ship yourself.
Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) is a service provided by Amazon that provides storage, packaging, and shipping assistance to sellers. The program allows sellers to ship their merchandise to an Amazon fulfillment center, where items are stored in warehouses until they are sold. When an order is placed, Amazon employees physically prepare, package, and ship the product(s). This takes the burden off of sellers and grants them more flexibility in their selling practices.
Maximizing Sales with SEO
Much like a new business needs its website and products to rank quickly in Google via the use of targeted keywords, SEO on Amazon works the same way. Think about what you type in the search bar when you are looking for products to buy on Amazon. Then look at the results. The ones that appear high in the results utilize the best SEO practices by adding keyword-rich text to product descriptions, titles, and images to allow the user to find their products.
This is undoubtedly one of the best ways for new sellers to target buyers searching for their products or similar products. Competition can be fierce, so making sure you understand what you need to add to your descriptions and titles when you ist products is vital to help you to rank well.
Of course, selling on Amazon is a complicated process and is a huge risk should this be something you want to do. However, utilizing the best tips and practices available to you before taking the lunge can give you a better idea of what to expect and how to give yourself the best start possible as a new third-party seller.