Selling on Amazon For Dummies

Deniz Olmez is an Amazon consultant who specializes in search engine optimization, new account setup and management, FBA, and branding services. Joe Kraynak has authored and coauthored numerous books including Flipping Houses For Dummies and Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 3Where to Go from Here 4Part 1: Getting Started With Selling On Amazon 5Chapter 1: Laying the Groundwork 7Getting the Lowdown on Selling Online 7Weighing the pros and cons of online retailing 8Taking a tour of online stores and marketplaces 9Exploring How Amazon Works 10Before you start selling 10Selling products 11Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) 11Comparing Amazon Business Types 13Vendor (1P) versus Seller (3P) 13Individual versus Professional 14Arbitrage versus private label 15Sellers with and without brand registry 17Tabulating the Costs 18Product sourcing 18Shipping and storage 18Amazon Seller fees 19Returns 19Other costs 20Following Amazon’s Rules 20Seller code of conduct 20Accurate information 21Acting fairly 21Ratings, feedback, and reviews 22Communications 22Customer information 22Circumventing the sales process 22Multiple Amazon Seller accounts 23Chapter 2: Selling on Amazon in a Nutshell 25First Things First: Finding Products to Sell 26Deciding what to sell and not sell 26Exploring product sourcing options 29Listing Products for Sale on Amazon 30Prepping and Shipping Products to Customers 31Introducing Amazon Prime 31Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Small and Light (SNL) 32Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) 33Seller Fulfilled Prime 34Drop-shipping 34Multi-Channel Fulfillment 35Boosting Sales with Advertising and Promotions 35Providing Stellar Customer Service 37Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Amazon Seller Account 39Registering to Become an Amazon Seller 39Completing Your Amazon Seller Business Profile 42Business Address 42Official Registered Address 43Language for Feed Processing Report 43Legal Entity 43Merchant Token 44Display Name 44Checking and Adjusting Your Account Settings 45Entering Shipping and Return Settings 46Shipping settings 46Return settings 47Securing Your Amazon Seller Account 49Chapter 4: Becoming Familiar with Seller Central 53Finding Your Way around Seller Central 53Switching marketplaces 54Navigating the menu bar 54Using the search bar 60Viewing your payments summary 61Taking advantage of Amazon business reports 62Accessing the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service 64Getting Help and Information 65Engaging in the seller forums 66Contacting Amazon support for help 67Managing your case log 67Consulting Amazon Selling Coach 68Skimming Amazon headline news 69Checking out Amazon’s app store: The Service Provider Network (SPN) 69Exploring Amazon’s Seller University 70Part 2: Procuring Products to Sell On Amazon 71Chapter 5: Knowing What You Can and Can’t Sell on Amazon 73Recognizing Products You Can Sell: Amazon’s Product Categories 73Open categories 74Categories that require approval 75Steering Clear of Restricted Products 76Brushing Up on Food Safety Rules 78Organic products 79Chilled and frozen products 80Chapter 6: Finding Products with Profit Potential 81Recognizing the Characteristics of Products with High Profit Potential 82Uniqueness 82Price range and profit margin 82Sales volume 83Shipping cost/complexity 84Reviews 84Steering Clear of Troublesome Products 84Trademarked products 85Mechanically complex products 85Products that are difficult and costly to store and ship 86Products sold in large retail stores 87Conducting Your Own Product Research 87Using product research tools   87Sizing up the competition 89Exploring Alibaba and other Chinese online wholesale marketplaces 90Validating or Rejecting Product Ideas 92Weighing the pros and cons of carrying the latest, greatest products 92Considering seasonal products 93Giving new brands a try (or not) 93Focusing on Price and Sales Volume 94Checking out different pricing strategies 95Keeping an eye on the competition 95Estimating sales volume 97Setting realistic profit projections 98Chapter 7: Exploring Your Product Sourcing Options 101Mastering Retail Arbitrage 102Buying from brick-and-mortar retailers 102Buying from online retailers 105Recognizing the importance of having a purchase order (PO) or receipt 107Sourcing Products at Auctions and Liquidation Sales 107Weighing the Pros and Cons of Drop-Shipping 109Buying from Manufacturers, Distributors, and Wholesalers 110Deciding whether a manufacturer is best 111Knowing when to opt for a distributor 111Deciding when a wholesaler is best 112Sourcing Products from Alibaba 114Finding Suppliers at Tradeshows 117Making and Selling Your Own Products: Amazon Handmade and Custom 119Selling your own hand-crafted products 119Selling customized products on Amazon 121Chapter 8: Evaluating and Negotiating with Suppliers 123Deciding Whether to Use Domestic or Foreign Suppliers or Both 124Recognizing the pros and cons of working with domestic suppliers 124Weighing the pros and cons of working with foreign suppliers 125Selecting Suppliers with the Right Stuff 126Gauging experience and expertise 127Ensuring clear communication 127Sizing up a supplier’s reputation 128Assessing a supplier’s responsiveness 130Comparing prices 131Negotiating Prices and Terms 132Prepping for negotiation 132Brushing up on effective negotiating tactics 133Obtaining a purchase order contract 134Part 3: Getting Down To The Business of Selling 137Chapter 9: Listing Products for Sale on Amazon 139Knowing What’s Required to Own the Buy Box 140Ensuring buy-box eligibility 140Meeting the quality metrics for winning the buy box 141Thinking outside the buy box 144Obtaining High-Quality Product Photos 144Brushing up on Amazon’s product photo rules and restrictions 145Procuring manufacturer photos 146Taking your own photos 146Outsourcing product photos 147Checking out Amazon Imaging Services 148Creating a Product Listing 149Matching to an existing product listing 149Creating a new product listing 151Listing multiple products in bulk 155Listing variations and bundles 159Creating product subscriptions 162Increasing Your Product Search Ranking on Amazon 164Harnessing the power of the A9 algorithm 164Checking out the competition 166Using keywords to your advantage 166Chapter 10: Fulfilling Customer Orders 171Choosing an Order Fulfillment Method 172Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) 172Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) 174Seller Fulfilled Prime 175Drop-shipping 177Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) 178Accounting for the costs 179Knowing what to send and not send to FBA 182Signing up for FBA 185Preparing and shipping products to FBA 185Removing inventory from FBA 190Shipping Products Yourself: Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) 193Chapter 11: Helping Shoppers Find You and Your Products 195Gaining Traction with Product and Seller Ratings and Feedback 195Encouraging customers to review products 196Improving your seller rating and feedback 199Harnessing the Power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 200Jazzing Up Your Listings with A+ Content 201Driving Web Traffic from Outside Amazon to Your Product Listings 203Generating buzz via social media 203Creating a website or landing page 204Using pay-per-click advertising 206Chapter 12: Boosting Sales with Marketing and Advertising 207Exploring Different Ad Types 208Sponsored Products 208Sponsored Brands 210Sponsored Display 211Amazon demand-side platform (DSP) 211Custom ads 212Deals and coupons 212Optimizing Your Search Rank with Sponsored Product Ads 214Letting Amazon target your Sponsored Product ad for you 214Targeting your own Sponsored Product Ads 215Evaluating and adjusting your ad campaigns 217Boosting Brand Awareness with Sponsored Brands 219Giving Your Shoppers an Added Incentive to Buy: Deals and Coupons 221Offering special deals 221Offering coupon discounts 223Creating promotions 224Taking Advantage of External Marketing Options 225Dipping into social media marketing 226Harnessing the power of influencer marketing 228Firing Up Your Email Marketing Machine 229Chapter 13: Focusing on Customer Service 231Understanding Why Customer Satisfaction Is So Important 232Laying the Groundwork for Quality Customer Service 233Managing and Shipping Orders 234Responding to Customer Questions, Concerns, and Complaints 235Processing Returns, Refunds, and Cancellations 236Handling returns 237Issuing refunds 239Following up on order cancellations 239Managing Seller Feedback and Product Reviews 240Monitoring and responding to seller feedback 241Monitoring and responding to product ratings and reviews 243Fielding A-to-Z Claims 244Chapter 14: Building and Managing Your Own Webstore 247Choosing Where to Build Your Webstore: Inside or Outside Amazon or Both 248Weighing the pros and cons of building an Amazon Store 248Weighing the pros and cons of building a webstore outside Amazon 249Creating two webstores 250Laying the Groundwork for Your Webstore 250Choosing a unique and recognizable domain name 250Deciding how to build your webstore 251Categorizing your products 252Gathering the essentials to build your store 254Creating Your Amazon Store 257Creating a Stand-Alone Webstore 259Designing your storefront 259Making sure you have everything in place   261Chapter 15: Managing Your Inventory 263Grasping the Importance of Inventory Management 263Managing Inventory via Amazon’s Manage Inventory Page 264Maintaining Sufficient Stock 266Forecasting sales 266Accounting for lead time 267Replenishing FBA inventory 268Setting up replenishment alerts 269Avoiding FBA’s long-term storage fees 271Getting Some Cash or Credit to Buy Inventory 272Hitting Amazon up for a loan 272Getting daily payouts with Payability 273Making savvy use of credit cards 274Financing with loans or lines of credit 274Part 4: Taking Your Business to the Next Level 277Chapter 16: Putting Additional Amazon Seller Tools to Work for You 279Tracking Your Account’s Health and Performance 280Checking your account health 280Reviewing customer feedback 282Monitoring and managing your A-to-Z Guarantee claims 282Monitoring and managing your chargeback claims 283Accessing Amazon’s performance notifications 284Gaining additional insight via the Voice of the Customer feature 284Improving your performance via Seller University 285Dealing with Sales Tax 285Grasping the basics of Marketplace Tax Collection 286Using Amazon’s Tax Calculation Service (TCS) 287Generating Business and Inventory Reports 289Sales reports 289Inventory reports 290Payments reports 292Customer concession reports 292Removal reports 293Managing Your Amazon Seller Account with the Mobile App 293Getting the Amazon Seller Mobile App 294Navigating the Amazon Seller Mobile App 294Chapter 17: Building Your Own Brand (or Not) 297Deciding Whether Branding Is Right for You 298Creating Your Own Brand 299Discover your purpose 299Analyze your competition 300Identify your target market 300Identify your brand’s key benefits 301Write a slogan 302Visualize your brand 302Work it: Reinforce your brand 302Trademarking Your Brand 303Registering your trademark on USPTO.gov 303Streamlining the trademark registrationprocess with IP Accelerator 304Adding your trademark to the Amazon Brand Registry 305Building a Brand with Private-Label Products 309Chapter 18: Taking Advantage of Third-Party Tools and Service Providers 311Taking Product Research to the Next Level 312Managing the Backend of Your Ecommerce Business 313Handling multi-channel integration 314Streamlining order management 315Simplifying inventory management 315Automating price changes 316Automating Feedback and Reviews 317Finding Help through Amazon’s Service Provider Network 318Chapter 19: Expanding Your Operations: B2B and Global Sales 321Selling Products to Amazon as a Vendor 322Weighing the pros and cons of selling to Amazon as a vendor 322Increasing your chances of getting invited to become a vendor 323Selling to Other Businesses 323Getting up to speed on performance standards and rules 324Managing business pricing and quantity discounts 325Creating business-only offers 328Enrolling in Amazon’s tax exemption program 329Negotiating business prices 330Expanding Your Operations Globally 331Simplifying the process with FBA Export 331Expanding your operations into other countries using Amazon Global Selling 333Part 5: The Part of Tens 335Chapter 20: Top Ten Advertising Tips 337Get to Know the Different Ad Types 337Test the Market with Automatic Targeting 338Make the Most of Manual Targeting 339Find Your Long-Tail Search Terms 339Research Your Competitor’s Search Terms 340Write Copy Specific to Your Product 340Avoid These Common Search Terms Mistakes 341Specify Negative Search Terms 342Always Test and Track 343Don’t Rush! Good Advertising Takes Time 343Chapter 21: Ten Tips to Deliver Awesome Customer Service 345Follow Amazon’s Rules and Updates 346Respond in a Timely Manner 346Be Honest 347Be Empathetic 347Go the Extra Mile 348Ask Questions 348Personalize Your Responses 349Stay Calm 349Remain Positive 350Think Long Term 350Chapter 22: Ten (Plus One) Tips to Find Best-Selling Products 353Recognize Key Product Selection Criteria 354Find a Niche 354Sell What You Know and Love 355Do Your Own Thing 355Don’t Expect Seasonal Products to Sell Year-Round 356Decide Whether to Pursue Best Sellers 357Capitalize on Low Competition 357Focus on Products That Sell for More than 20 Bucks 358Check Competitors’ Reviews 359Reduce Returns 359Avoid Legal Issues 360Index 361