When it comes to selling online, it’s hard to choose a better platform to use than Amazon. One of the largest online retailers, Amazon can help you reach millions of potential customers. After coming up with a product, prototyping, and finalizing it, figuring out the online space can seem daunting. Yet, it is doable. Here’s how to become an Amazon seller, some key mistakes to avoid, and how you can keep growing your business.
Start Selling
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but for many would-be sellers, just getting the ball rolling can be tough. After you’ve put so much effort into creating your product, transitioning to being a seller can be tricky. Thankfully, the initial steps to start selling on Amazon are basically as easy as signing up.
The first step is to create an Amazon account, if you don’t have one already. Then, go to the “seller central” section of Amazon’s website and register as a seller’s account. You’ll also need to choose a payment plan. There are two options to choose from, and it depends if you’re going to sell more than 50 items per month. If you think you’ll sell less in the beginning, choose the smaller plan — you can always upgrade later.
Amazon will need to verify the legitimacy of your account using the documents you provide them. You’ll need to submit a valid government ID or passport, a recent bank account or credit card statement, a chargeable credit card number, and a mobile phone number. Once you provide Amazon with this information, there will be some processing time.
If everything checks out, you’ll be ready to start selling! But that’s just the beginning. How do you go from a good seller to a great one?
Avoid Suspension
Account suspension is a reality that affects many self-starters. Many times their accounts are suspended because they broke a simple rule. By strictly adhering to best practices, you’ll be on the way to growing your business.
There are a few ways that you can get your Amazon seller account suspended. The first of the four main causes is poor performance. While this might not be as likely when you’re just starting, it’s important to start your business strong. Policy violations, selling restricted items, and using multiple seller accounts are other ways to quickly be suspended.
Sell quality items, send them in good time, and resolve customer satisfaction issues quickly to improve your account’s performance. Then, track how well your account is doing. There’s a statistic to monitor performance under the “health” section of your seller’s account.
To avoid policy violations, make sure you read and understand the terms of service you agreed to when you started. Using multiple seller accounts and selling restricted items are mentioned in those terms as violations. Familiarize yourself with Amazon’s rules and you’ll be on your way to being a premium seller.
Level Up
The first 90 days of an account’s life are very important. It’s a prime time for establishing healthy business practices that will help you continue to grow. There are many multiple directions you can take your business, and each direction requires different skills or tools.
You can consider developing a brand for your product if it isn’t branded already. This may be a challenging additional step in the short term, but it presents amazing benefits in the long run. And if you register your trademark, you can enroll in Amazon’s Brand Registry. This system allows Amazon to help protect your trademark.
If you’ve got a main product that’s an immediate hit, consider developing adjacent products. Do some market research to find out what other types of products your customers are looking for. This strategy can help you develop your audience and carve out your niche even further.
Amazon’s automated pricing tool allows you to set pricing parameters on the items that you sell. These parameters will ensure that your prices don’t go too high or low. This is to avoid distrust from customers who paid less before the price went up and to insure you don’t lose money on your product.
Expand
Once your business is established and you’ve got a good foundation rooted in best practices, you can consider expanding. It can be hard to do everything on your own, but partnering with someone can change this. Whether it’s another person or another business, a partnership can have huge benefits. You can break up the work, and make it more manageable.
Take stock of the process of growing your business. What worked best, and what felt most engaging? Perhaps you liked the ideation process, or perhaps you liked shipping out items and helping customers with their issues. Find a way to play to your strengths and move your business forward by leveraging them.
Another option for expediting your processes is to use fulfillment by Amazon. This allows you to basically delegate your fulfillment to be done at an Amazon warehouse instead. And if your fulfillment practices are sound and your business develops, your product may be eligible for Amazon Prime. Prime items are delivered quickly, and customers frequently prefer to purchase these items.
Selling your products on Amazon is easier than it might first appear. By establishing best practices early you’ll be able to avoid account suspension and grow a thriving business.
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