Beginner’s Guide To Selling On Amazon In 2023

For sellers, Amazon is one of the most popular platforms. And to cope with the demands of more sellers,  the company offered the FBA service, which stands for  Fulfillment By Amazon.

With this,  the sellers can take advantage of amazon‘s platform and its distribution network along with the customer base to start their business.

Well, if you are looking forward to starting your business on Amazon, you are going to need a guide to understand all the needed steps and to use the platform for the best results. 

To know more, this article includes all aspects for your help. 

How To Know What To Sell On Amazon?

The most important aspect that includes here is knowing your product. Also, these products are going to sell on amazon and have an impact on how your store will shape and business will conduct further. 

When it comes to choosing the product, there are so many options to consider. You can choose the product based on its overall demand on amazon and success rate. 

But to pick the ideal one, here are a few pointers to remember: 

Understand The Market 

When you are choosing the product, look for the niche market. 

It’s important that you have your niche selected and when you choose the market based on it, you get more advantages on Amazon. 

With a niche market, you get the particular space where you have a customer base and engaged as well as interested purchases.

Image source: oberlo

Try not to deal with a highly competitive market and against giant businessmen. 

This decreases your chances of standing out and also, you don’t get the customer base to start the business. 

Look For The Demand Rate 

Even though operating in niche demand gives you a particular set of demands but make sure you check the overall demand rate before you choose the product. 

Here you need to avoid those products which have too many sellers, especially the big companies, as you don’t want to deal with the competition at this early stage. 

To evaluate your market demand, do a google search and look at the listing available on other sites as well as Amazon.

Image source: workstream

You can use tools to know about the search volume, as how many people are looking for it will give you confidence about what you are going to offer. 

See The Competitions 

Every market and niche has its own competition. And it relates to the demand and market both.

Image source: junglescout

However, you are required to avoid the space where competition is too tight. 

Avoid the products that are offered by the big names in business and amazon sellers. 

The Pricing  

Well, when it comes to pricing you are going to need a balance. Here you don’t have to look for an expensive product. Just the amount which is fair to purchase and sell. 

Even though it seems much easier to sell expensive products at a high rate to gain profit. 

 But there are chances that such products can be hard to sell and find the customer on Amazon. 

Size Of The Product 

When you start your business, the highest cost that will add up is Shipping.  

That’s why when you are looking for the products that you are going to sell, look for the shipping cost too. 

Look for products that are smaller in size and easy to fit into packaging. 

Such products have much better pricing in cost and overall product. 

How To Get Your Suppliers (If You Need One)?

Once you get the ideal product that you want to sell, here either you can do your own manufacturing and sell. If you are not doing it,  you can find suppliers. 

Well, here, you will need to find these suppliers, and you can do a basic google search. Get in contact with them and share the information you need. 

But before you choose any one of them, there are some basic strategies you need to follow. 

Understand Pricing & Terms 

When it comes to choosing the supplier, you need to understand their pricing and terms. 

You will get different variations here, lots of suppliers which have their quantity in minimum order, shipping costs,  individual capacities, etc.

These factors are important to consider. Also, look for the answers related to the size of orders you want and do the suppliers can deliver them or not.

Read Testimonials & Reviews 

If you are dealing with the first time, make sure you are checking the reviews and testimonials. 

This will help you in getting an idea of what others are saying about the suppliers and their services. 

Negotiate Deals 

Well for new business owners, it can be awkward to negotiate, but it’s the important part.

If you think they have some terms that are unreasonable or need more negotiation, don’t be afraid and do it.

Get Some Samples 

How will you know what you are going to get? This is why you need to ask for samples. 

This can help you understand more about what you are getting as a product to sell on Amazon.

This will also let you choose a good supplier along with giving you the idea about how you can do the advertising as well as a listing of your product.

Get More Options 

Instead of sticking with the first one you get, it’s better to have multiple options with you when you are choosing the options for your suppliers. 

Talk to multiple suppliers and compare their deals before you ensure the best deal.

Steps For Selling On Amazon 

Amazon has more than 150.6 Million mobile users, and they are one of the most popular shopping apps in the US.

According to the stats, around 89% of buyers believe in making purchases with Amazon instead of any other eCommerce site.

Not just that, Amazon has 150 million subscribers on its prime account. 

Well, these numbers prove that Amazon has one of the access that every business needs. 

That’s why it’s profitable to start the business on Amazon. However, to make sure you are taking the best from it, here is a step-by-step guide to starting your selling on amazon. 

Step 1: See What You Want To Sell And Get Approval 

 Amazon has 20 categories that they offer to the sellers. Whatever you will sell will go under any of these categories. 

Here you don’t need the approval as they are allowed or open for every seller. 

However, there are 15 more categories where Amazon wants you to take approval first.

For these categories, you are going to need to apply for a Professional Selling Plan subscription. 

Image source: DavidDeSouza

Well, the reason is to limit the sellers for keeping the quality upgraded. So if you have confidence that your product has the quality, fill out their application first. 

Step 2:  Pick The  Business Model That Suits Better 

There are two plans that you will get from Amazon, it includes Professional Plan and Individual Plan.

With a professional plan, you get unlimited numbers of products that you can sell. 

And for that, you just need to pay the subscription price i.e. $39.99 ( including referral and variable closing fees.

Pro Tip: Choose the professional plan subscription if you are selling more than 40 items in a month. 

Image source: saverocity

Individual plans cost $0.99 whenever you do the sale. It includes their referral and variable closing fees.

Pro Tip: Choose the Individual plans if you are selling items lesser than 40 per month. 

Also, if you are manufacturing your products, Amazon has one more option i.e. Amazon Vendor.

Image source: amazon.com

You can sell your goods as a wholesale business using amazon. This includes handling the product listing, fulfillment, product shipping, etc. 

They contact you once the order gets out of stock.

Step 3: Register For Your Seller Account 

The next important step that you need to take is registering for your seller account on Amazon. 

There are two options that you get here, this includes Individual seller and Pro seller. 

Image source: junglescout

The former cost is $0 per month, but once you start to sell, there will be a charge of $1 each.

The next one includes more features along with the charge. This is important to choose, and make sure you register your account. 

Step 4: Create Your Account 

You can create your Amazon seller account, where you have to fill in information like : 

Business Name 

Your business should represent what you are selling. It’s important as it will be visible to the buyers as well as in the marketplace. 

Image source: empireflippers

The business name is important so make sure you are choosing the right one for you. 

The business name is important so make sure you are choosing the right one for you. 

Legal Name And Address 

Well, here you are going to add information related to your account for the amazon reference. 

Image source: repricerexpress

However, make sure you are using the exact name that you registered your business entity or even if you have a fictitious business name. Or DBA. 

Keep the information exactly the same without a single change. 

Contact Address & Informations 

This information is crucial as Amazon will use it for sending notifications of your orders, updates regarding the technical or services,  guarantee claims, etc. 

Image source: supplyspy

Also, customers will use this information to get in touch with you. 

Pro Tip: Depending on your preference, you can set different contacts for amazon and customers to get in touch with you. 

Shipping Address 

Well, this doesn’t make too much of a change, but the shipping address helps in adding the location of shipments that are going to ship. 

It doesn’t make a difference in cost or time. 

But for some customers, knowing the shipment address can help. 

Bank Information 

Bank information is used for sending or receiving payments.

 Also, this information should be proper and correct so you don’t have to handle the problems in the future. 

Image source: junglescout

Amazon sends the delivery payments of every product after 14 days directly to the seller’s bank account. 

Options in Shipping 

It’s important to understand this so you are giving the exact idea of where your business is handling. 

Image source: junglescout

You can add the worldwide regions or select the places where your products are going to ship.

Once you set the account,  you are going to set up your seller profile too. 

Some main sections that you need to  add are : 

About Seller 

Here you need to add the information about you as a seller. About the seller is an introduction for the seller to know more about you as well as what you do. 

You can add an interesting introduction to boost the credibility and trust of Amazon.

To make your about seller effective, you can add :

• The story behind why you started the business.
• Share your philosophy and what your company follows
• What drives your business or as a seller
• What are the things the sellers should know? 

Pro Tip: Focus on adding the emotional; make sure your seller can establish the emotional connection between you and your seller.

Seller Logo 

The logo appears on the glance page, storefront, and offer listing page.

Well, your logo should not be larger than 120 X 30 pixels. Also, make sure you are not using URLs or any references to your website. 

Image source: amazonsellercentral

Keeping your logo is attractive and easy to remember so you can get more sales in the future too. 

Return And Refund Policies

This is the important part so the customer knows how they can return their product if they are not satisfied with it. 

Image source: termsfeed

Focus on keeping the policies as clear as they can be. There are lots of cases where unclear policies cost the sellers. 

Keep your address, information, and where customers can contact you if they are in confusion. 

Amazon requires that sellers should have a return policy for a minimum of 30 days. 

Step 5:  Start Creating Your Product Listing 

Well, here, you will need to create your product listing. There are different aspects that you need to understand while you do the listing. 

The first one includes high-resolution images. Also, make sure that you are keeping your product listing prime eligible. 

It allows free shipping for those who have a prime membership. 

Image source: salesbacker

However, if you have limited items, you can do the product listing manually. 

Or if you have a lot more options, you can use the spreadsheet where all products are listed. 

Pro Tip: Add enough information so your product listing can look more appealing. 

Well, the product listing has two categories i.e., Already listed on amazon and Adding new products for the new sellers. 

If you have the products, but they are on amazon, you can use the stock images along with a description. 

Add how many you want to sell, and write the descriptions of product conditions and shipping options available. 

Image source: amazonseoconsultant

However, if you are listing the products that are new on Amazon, here you get a positive sign, if the listing is not able, it shows less competition. 

But to list such products, you need to follow extra steps. 

• UPC Or EAN Number:   This is a unique 12 or 13-digit barcode for tracking the products. Multiple listings from different sellers for the same product have unique UPC or EAN numbers. 

• SKU: this number is used for tracking your listings. 

• Product title:  This one is used to inform what your listing is about. This should be as concise as it can be possible. 

• Product Description & Bullet Points: Keep the pointers to give short information about the product to get the interest of the buyers. 

• Product Images: The image should be at least 500 x 500 on white background. This should not add watermarks or text. Your product should cover 80% of the image area at least. You can extend it to 1000 x 1000 pixels too. 

• Search Terms: Here, you get 50 characters for every five fields, and you can list your information to search items.

Step 6: Pay Attention And Manage Inventory 

Well, when you are selling on Amazon,  here you will need to pay extra attention to your inventory.

It’s important to keep your inventory levels managed. Make sure you are properly managing as well as replenishing your inventory. 

Once your orders start to place, the inventory level will start reducing. 

Image source:fitsmallbusiness

To make sure that your products are always available to purchase, checking your inventor level is helpful.

Step 7: Set Up The Shipping Options 

Even if you are using Amazon to sell your product, you still have the option to do the shipping of your own products. 

However, if you don’t want to, Amazon has its own services, which make work hassle-free and you can consider it as well. 

With fulfillment by Amazon,  you just need to send your order. This order will reach the Amazon fulfillment center, which stores the product’s packaging and ship directly to the customers. 

Not just that, here you get the eligibility for two-day shipping in Amazon Prime free. Along with this, you get free shipping, customer services as well as returns. 

Here your shipping costs are added to your seller plan. Well, this means you need to pay for the storage place and each order fee for amazon fulfilled. 

Step 8:  Start Selling And Promoting The Products 

Once you complete the shipping and other steps, now you can do the selling of your product on amazon. 

Well, you need to attract more customers, and that focuses on your product listing. Make sure you have : 

• Compelling product listing
• Clear and concise titles 
• All important features 
• Benefits and descriptions
• Vivid picture 

Also, you can do sponsored product ads which will help you in improving the visibility of your product on amazon. 

These ads are PPC or pay-per-click that will be placed alongside the people’s search.

Image source: shopify

You can promote your products using the automatic ad targeting tool. This helps in leveraging the search algorithm to boost the potential lucrative keywords.

Here you will get the notifications once the customer purchases and pays for the products. The amount gets directly credited to the account. 

Step 9: Get More Reviews On Products 

When it comes to Amazon, it’s important that you have more reviews on your product. 

Encouraging more reviews can help you in driving more sales. Also, this boosts credibility as well as trust. 

Well, Amazon lets sellers send emails to the customer once they complete the purchase as a follow-up. This allows more reviews on your product.

Image source: Garlicpressseller

However, Amazon has strict guidelines that they need the sellers to focus on. This includes: 

• Not linking your marketing messages
• Not adding links to other websites.
• Asking for incentives or demand for positive reviews. 

In 2016, Amazon put a ban on incentive reviews where the customers were receiving discount or fees for adding reviews. 

Because of this, the brands were getting ratings that were not credible. So amazon banned this kind of work.

Step 10: Optimizing  The Product Listing 

Product listing optimization is a continuous process that you need to do. 

Find The Right Keywords 

There are a few basic things that you need to start with; it includes the keywords. Start looking for relevant and research the important keywords. 

Image source: merchtitans

Use this to your features, descriptions, product titles, and another part of your product descriptions. 

Pro Tip: Better as well as detailed information help to boost the product listing on the Amazon algorithm. 

Quality Product Images 

Focus on the images. You are allowed to use the 4 or 7 images on your products. You can add the different angles, and context and for displaying the size, designs, and features.

Image source: clippingpathindia

Add clear and appealing images to get the attention of your customers. 

 Highlight Features 

Make sure your product features are always on display. Keep the information that your customer should know on the top. 

The best way to approach this, consider yourself as a seller and see what information you are looking for or help you to purchase a product. 

Also, focus on : 

• Add the call to action
• Keeping the language easy 
• Use the phrases to boost conversion 
• Add warranty and guarantees 

Step 11:  Analyze The Performance 

To understand what you are selling and how far you’re performing, make sure you are analyzing your overall performance. 

You have the amazon seller center account where you get the dashboard to check your sales. 

Also, you get the displays for a snapshot of the daily orders, the quality of units that are sold, and the amount you generated. 

Image source: sellernexus

Here you get access to other metrics too. This includes the business reports, including sales by items, orders by month, brand performance, inventory in stock, etc. 

You can compare your sales using the graphs. This helps you in undertaking your growth per day. 

Pro Tip: You can use this to understand seasonal trends and patterns. 

How To Optimize Your Amazon Selling Process?

At this point,  you have taken care of all the needed steps that will help you in starting your account and launch your sales. 

Well, if you are a beginner, you are going to need certain actions to boost the success rates on amazon. 

Well, the most important one here is to optimize. It includes your listing, pricing strategy to all the important aspects that make you different from others.

Here are some pointers that you need to understand : 

Listing Your Products 

Well, it’s pretty common and already mentioned above. But to summarize this,  listing your product requires following the  SEO strategies. 

This makes more sense when you are starting on Amazon. There are tons of products on the platform, to get the algorithm to notice you, it’s important to have to ensure the quality of images, product titles, key features, etc. 

Image source: junglescout 

Pro Tip: Add the product reviews, ratings, etc, to get more credibility. Also, it helps in boosting the visibility of the products. 

Pricing Your Products 

Pay attention to how you are evaluating your strategies for pricing the products. 

Well look for the listings or products which have certain pricing but you are not getting the orders. This might be because of too high or too low pricing. 

Image source: webretailer

However, it’s difficult to get the sweet spot, in the beginning; that’s why be ready to run a few trials and errors. 

Building Your Reputation As a Seller 

As a seller, you need to focus on how your customers are looking at your profile. If it doesn’t look trustworthy, it will affect the product selling rates too. 

Image source: feedbackexpress

Focus on your customer service, and better reviews,  and add more social proof, so the customers know it’s safe to purchase from you. 

Pro Tip: To encourage more positive reviews, focus on addressing the problems and complaints.  You can monitor the feedback of your customer. 

Winning The Buy Box

Well, the buy box shows up when the visitors are browsing; it helps the buyers to add the product to their carts. 

Image source: magento 

Winning the buy box is important as amazon sellers have to compete for it. When you get the box for your account, this increases sales. 

Pro Tip: To make sure that you have more chances to win the buy box, focus on your competitive pricing,  inventory, shipping methods, customer service, etc. 

How Much Will It Cost To Sell Products On Amazon?

Well, like any other marketplace,  Amazon has its own set of fees that they charge for the services and other features. 

So if you are starting your account for the first time,  you need to understand this to set your budget as well. 

Well, for starters, Amazon deducts their applicable fees every two weeks of your sales.

They deposit the money ( deducting the fees on sales proceeds) to your bank account. 

You get an email notification every time you get the payment. 

However,  there are some fees that you need to check. 

Seller Fees  

 The first fee here you need to pay is seller fees. Well, for a professional seller, you pay $39.99 as monthly subscriptions. 

For individuals, you pay the $0.99 fee per item. 

Referral Fees 

Here you need to pay for the referral fees; with certain products, you get the referral fees too. 

The rate can increase or decrease as per the product you are choosing. Also, it differs depending on your products.

For the idea, you are not paying more than 15% of your sale price as fees. 

Inventory Fees 

Well, here, you need to think about the product purchase and how it will cost after the sale. 

Also, it changes if you are manufacturing your products, You need to add the price you cost for the overall process. 

Make sure you are selling the product at a larger price than you purchased. 

Also, Amazon has its own fees : 

• FBA Export fees: This fee is charged if you are selling your products internationally. Amazon has a price for that. 

• Stock Removal Fees: If you want your unsold items back from Amazon, the  FBA sellers charge the set amount as fees for that. 

• Inventory  Placement Fees: this fee is charged to FBA sellers who want to have control over the inventory shipments from the Amazon fulfillment centers. 

• Monthly Storage Inventory Fees: If you are using the warehouse of Amazon to store products, this will be charged monthly. 

• Pick & Pack Fees: For FBA sellers,  the amount is based on product weight and size; this is charged for pick, pack, and ship. Including handling inquiries and customer service. 

 Shipping Costs & Return Processing Fees 

Well, if you are using the FBA or shipping the product on yourself, the shipping service cost. 

Also, make sure you do your research on packaging and shipping providers. 

If the sold items are returned by the customers, the processing will cost the fees depending on the product too. 

 How To Land Sales On Your Amazon Product Page? 

Now, since you already established your products on Amazon, optimized the listing, and covered all other aspects, the next big challenge is to bring customers. 

Amazon is the world’s largest eCommerce storefront, so you cannot expect just putting your product there to get orders instantly.

It is true that Amazon does all the heavy lifting in terms of platforms. Then, it already has a huge pool of buyers ready to make their purchases. 

But now, how does the relevant audience reach your product? 

An ideal conversion rate on a well-done amazon product page is known to be 15%, and that is quite huge as compared to other eCommerce sites. 

Since the amazon product pages receive traffic that is already in the buying mindset, you just need to get people to your page. 

Images Catches Up Attention First 

Image Source: Amazon Seller Central 

You have been to the buyer’s position and know that the most critical area of your product detail page are the images. 

It is actually what makes a potential buyer stop and look at the product while scrolling or clicking around. 

Optimize this, and you win the half battle to potentially land sales on your product pages. 

Images are there to capture buyers’ interest. So it becomes essential to use high-quality and effective product images that catch attention. 

Then, you also need to follow Amazon product image rules to optimize your page : 

Amazon Product Image Rules 

• Your main image for your product should only include the product in the image, nothing else, and that too on white background.
  
•  The main image should not include any additional accessories that are not included in the purchase.
  
• Amazon allows around 5 to 9 images to add in your listing, depending upon your product category.
  
• Other than the main image on Amazon, you can add images with other kinds of backgrounds.
  
• Here are the other types of images you can upload :
  • The back side of the product label
  • Informational images including text and characters
  • Your product image from different angles
  • Images that show product features 
  • Images to showcase product size as compared to humans holding the product.
  • Size chart of the product( if required) 
  • Image of product in use or action

• Make sure you use images of 2,000 pixels X 2,000 pixels to add granularity to the pictures. 

So you need to focus on optimizing the images at the best possible, following all the Amazon rules as well as making it attention-grabbing and informative. 

Offer Enhanced & Detailed Brand Content 

Image Source: Visiture 

There is a spot reserved on the Amazon product detail page for presenting the brand content that includes features, demonstrations, and other copy elements of the product. 

You can just write the product description, specifications, and details with plain text but offering enhanced brand content with more graphical representation converts a higher number of sales.

Amazon upgraded this option for the sellers in December 2018, where they can add additional product detail pages without paying anything more. 

Image Source: Bigcommerce

It is suggested for sellers take advantage of this feature. There are different pre-built templates available to feature your enhanced brand content. 

They offer five different templates or modules to choose such as Tulip, Sunflower, Rose, Orchid, and Lily. 

Then, there is a sixth option, “custom,” where you can customize your module according to your requirement. 

The enhanced branded content includes or can include : 

• Product Description 
• Best features explained in brief 
• Dimensions, size, and other physical attributes 
• Demonstration photos 
• How-to-use guide 
• Information about warranty/guarantee 
• High-quality product images 
• Product variation and comparisons with other models 
• Top specifications 
• Brand logo and header image 

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs)

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