How to Make Money Being an Amazon FBA Seller

Selling methods have been evolving. In the past, the only way of selling products was to establish a shop for them. Before setting up a shop, you had to consider the location. For instance, if you tried to sell your products in a sparsely populated area, you would not be able to sell as much. Also, the disadvantage of setting up a shop in a particular area is that you only target the people from a specific region. As a result, you do not sell as much since there is no broader market for your products. Fortunately, e-commerce has made it possible for sellers to reach a wider audience. There are countless trading platforms you can use to sell your products. However, most sellers prefer Amazon due to its popularity. According to AMZ Scout, Amazon has at least 300 million active users. That means if you sell through Amazon, there is a chance of earning some good money. For instance, Amazon sellers earn at least $1,000 per month, on average. An effective way of selling on Amazon is through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). FBA is a method of relinquishing control and letting Amazon store your products, ship, and pack them. The method is advantageous since they reduce the time you would spend packing them, and Amazon can sell your products as far as you like within a short time. FBA mostly targets traders who sell items they have manufactured. After understanding what FBA is, let us look at the steps to follow to make money as an FBA seller below.

1. Choose a Product

You probably have items in your house that you no longer use. As a result, the house is full, and you realize it is time to declutter it. A common way people declutter their house is by having garage sales. However, you may not sell as much in garage sales. That is because you may have stocked items that people do not want or need. Before having a garage sale, you will need to know which product is in high demand and then sell it during your garage sale. That is the same principle you will apply with Amazon. So, before selling a product on Amazon, you will need to research a product or particular demographics. You can choose a product to sell through the standard and the opposite approach.

Standard Approach

Not all products should be sold, which is a principle that sellers need to understand. Sometimes you want to get rid of a household item by selling it, yet it is unusable. So, before you post your item for sale, there are certain things to keep in mind about your product. Make sure your product falls within an acceptable selling range. If you sell a product at a meager price, buyers may assume it is inferior, and also, you will not make much profit from selling them. On the other hand, if you sell an item too expensive, you may not close any sales in a long time. According to RepricerExpress, the accepted sweet spot for best-selling products lies between $20 and $50. Also, focus on selling small items rather than huge items. Generally, your product should be able to fit in a shoebox. Selling large items like couches is expensive since you will pay huge storage fees to Amazon. That is because they will need a large warehouse for your product. Lastly, as much as possible, do not sell any electronic items or batteries. Electronic items and batteries tend to get defective easily. As a result, you will likely receive endless calls from frustrated customers. If you do not do anything to address their complaints, they may even mobilize other people to boycott your products. To be safe, sell everyday items like clothing or furniture.

Opposite Approach

This is perhaps a very ironic technique. With the standard approach, there are certain features a product should have to sell quickly. However, as a seller, you can decide to ignore those features. For instance, the item should generally be small in the standard approach. As a result, many companies sell small products. However, you can decide to sell bulky products. By doing so, you will eliminate some competition. That is because many companies will be unwilling to sell bulky goods since they will have paid hefty storage fees. Meanwhile, many buyers will purchase your products since you are willing to sell heavy goods. Typically, when you investigate the top-selling products, you will read positive reviews of products. By reading the positive reviews, you will get a rough idea as to how your product should look like or what product to choose. However, to get more insight, you should instead read negative reviews. In negative reviews, users will identify what they hate about a certain product. Once you find out what they hate about a certain product, you can do the opposite by introducing qualities that will draw them to like it. Although it is not wrong to read positive reviews, you will usually sell a product that does not stand out from the rest.

2. Find a Manufacturer

At this point, you have probably identified a top-selling product. The next step would be to look for manufacturers who manufacture the product you want to sell. Although there is a standard way manufacturers make a particular product, they can create a custom product for you. So to find a manufacturer quickly, it would be best to look for one from Alibaba. According to Leeline Sourcing, Alibaba is the only platform where you will find top manufacturers. Once you identify a manufacturer on Amazon, give them sufficient details about the product you want to sell. Manufacturers are more likely to work with you if you intend to go to them for repeat orders. So, choose a manufacturer you feel you would work with on a long-term basis. However, you do not have to limit yourself to this platform to find manufacturers, as many digital markets exist. Another way you can find a manufacturer is by visiting a trade show. In trade shows, manufacturers display their products, so you will have an opportunity to find a manufacturer of your choice. So, to be updated about trade shows, identify websites that inform you of the date of trade shows. A criterion you should consider when choosing a manufacturer is their familiarity with Amazon’s rules. For instance, a manufacturer’s duty is to prep your product for FBA by including a barcode on the packaging. So, if they understand little about the company’s rules, your product will not be listed for sale, and you will end up with losses.

3. Create the Product Listing

Once the manufacturer has made your product and prepped it for sale, you have to wait for your product to reach Amazon’s warehouses. Your product may reach their warehouses within weeks or months. As you wait for your product to be available on Amazon, you can use that time to create a catchy product listing. After all, it is the first thing a client will read before they decide to buy from you. Here are some aspects that comprise product listing:

Taking Good Photos

First, take good photos of your product. Nearly everyone owns a smartphone, yet few people take good photos. For instance, some people take pictures in dark areas. Since customers cannot tell what product you are selling from the dark photo, they will avoid your product. Therefore, you need to ensure your photo is clear by capturing your photo in natural light while also avoiding shadows. Also, ensure you capture all angles of your product. For instance, there is not enough information about a product from its front side. So, you need to capture the back side, which will include important information like ingredients, for instance.

Use Bullet Points

A mistake you can make is to describe your product in prose form. One thing to consider is that few people like to read. So, if a client comes across your several walls of paragraphs, they will skip your product. They will assume that you are terrible at going straight to the point. By using bullet points, the buyer can understand details about your product by just skimming. So, you should use the bullet points to mention the pros of your product. Only use a paragraph to describe briefly what the product is.

Use Keywords in the Product Title

Posting a product listing is for you to be easily found. Therefore, if you fail to use the proper keywords in your title, it may take long before a buyer finds your listing. Not everyone knows which keywords to use. Luckily, you can use a tool like Merchant Words, which generates keywords you can use in the product title. Sometimes you may become overly enthusiastic and use keywords that do not accurately portray your product. You may achieve what you want, being noticed by sellers. However, if the clients discover that the keywords do not match what you are selling, they may influence others to boycott your products through negative reviews.

4. Exhaust the Details About Your Product

All product listings are created in a section on Amazon called Amazon Seller Central. While filling in details about your product, there are optional details that you could leave out. However, you may leave out information that a client happened to need. So, you will unknowingly lose a client. Another possible danger of leaving out some information is that you may not rank highly in searches. So, to stand a better chance of being found, fill in as many details as possible about your product.

5. Begin Selling

If you have made it to this point, then congratulations. It means your product is available on Amazon and ready for sale. However, do not be too comfortable. Most people wait, hoping that the buyers will find them. If waiting is your strategy, brace yourself for low or zero sales. Remember, you still need to ensure buyers find you. So, the product being live on Amazon will not guarantee you any sales. One thing you can do is pay for Amazon advertisements. If you are an avid Amazon user, you may have encountered a product with the words labeled “sponsored.” That is how your product listing will appear to other users. By paying for Amazon advertisements, you will easily be noticed since Amazon will first display the paid product listings before they display the free product listings. Although Amazon is one platform you can pay for sponsored advertisements, do not limit yourself to it. You can also run your advertisements on other websites. Remember, not everyone uses Amazon, so you also need to target a demographic that does not use the platform.

6. Scaling Up

Eventually, you will begin to make continuous sales as long as you follow this guide. If you have been selling one product, it is time to maximize your profits by including another product. Although sellers prefer to sell one product, there are occasions when the buyer may not need your product. When including another product, ensure it is related to your other product. For instance, if you sell wedding dresses, you can include wedding rings. However, you could still have a radically different product if you like. After all, we tackled the opposite approach in this article.

Conclusion

You can make a lot of returns as an Amazon FBA seller, provided you follow this guide. It is no secret that most people abandon sales when they realize they are not earning from it. That is something that is likely to befall you if you get into Amazon selling blindly. So, if your motivation is to earn thousands of dollars per month, you have to be an aggressive seller. Before you embark on identifying a product to sell, it is important to understand Amazon’s rules. No one will remind you about the rules, not even the manufacturer you will be working with. They will agree to work with you since there is a chance they will make some money from you. So, once you are familiar with the rules, you can begin your journey to earning thousands of dollars by following this guide.