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    Selling On Amazon
    When signing up for an account there are two options. If you're just starting out, get the Individual Plan, you can upgrade the account whenever you want.

    Individual Selling PlanProfessional Selling Plan
    $0.99 fee for each item sold. If you sell 40+ items/month, you will need the Professional plan.  Flat fee of $39.99/month and more powerful and flexible tools to manage inventory, reports, feeds and access to web services.

    Amazon is an amazing platform that offers great opportunities for starting a business and making money. However when starting out, take it slow.
    There is much to learn and get used to. Before investing all your savings on a product you hope will quickly turn a profit take the time to familiarize yourself with the system.
    Perhaps start out with a smaller investment just to get your feet wet. Go through the basic guidelines offered by Amazon here.

    Below are tips, clarifications and insights from members of this forum. Feel free to pitch in or ask you questions.

    Some factors to consider before investing in a product to sell:

    1) Price: How much did the item cost you? Have you taken into account shipping costs (both to you and to the customer)? Will you have to pay taxes? Amazon keeps a percentage of every sale (including shipping fees). It’s 15% for most product categories besides a few like electronics that are 8%. You can see the full schedule of fees here. There are several online tools to help you price your products including an FBA Revenue Calculator here and an Amazon built iOS app. A quick way to figure out how much you’d need to charge just to break even after amazon fees is to take the total product cost and then multiply it by 1.1766 (for 15% fees) or 1.087 (for 8% fees).

    2) Velocity:  How fast will the item sell? It's nice to find a product for $10 that you can flip for $100.  But if you’ll only sell 1 a year, it won’t be a very good investment. The best way to determine the velocity of an item is to check the sales rank. Sales rank indicates the popularity of a product compared to other products in its category. The lower the ranking the more popular it is. The iOS app has sales rank baked in too. To get a proper feel for the turnaround time of an item, you'll need to dip your toes in slowly. Note: An item may have a great sales rank due to a recent sale, make sure to check price history on camelcamelcamel.com or keepa.com to get a better picture of the real price and rank of an item.

    3) Return Rate: Even after you sold a few laptops and tablets profitably, you'll have to take into account that a buyer may want to return the item. Certain items have higher rates of return, so make sure to take that into account when deciding whether it's profitable/worth your effort to sell the item.


    Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA):
    The seller sends the items to Amazon warehouse. Amazon takes care of fulfilling the order, and customer service related to the order.

    Pro's Of FBA
    Con's Of FBA
    • Easier to get in the Buy Box
    • You're able to offer Prime shipping
    • For anything above $300, Amazon only charges the standard referral fee. This actually makes FBA cheaper when you take the discounted shipping to Amazon into account.
    • If you have a large or heavy item, shipping the item to the customer can be expensive especially if it is going to a residential address. If you send that item to amazon FBA charges will be much lower than your shipping would have cost. (Including shipping it to FBA)

    • Returns (See this post for a more detailed explanation)
      • Returns are accepted without any restocking fee.
      • Items that are Damaged/missing parts are taken back.
      • Since Amazons is super lax on returns, your return rate will be significantly higher.
      • Refunds may harm your cash flow. When a buyer selects "Return" on his order history, often Amazon will immediately issue him a refund, and debit your account.
    • If the item is not a fast selling item, it will sit in their warehouse. Amazon charges a fee for every 30 Days an item remains their warehouse, it is usually a tiny fee, but it adds up.


    Q: How can I move inventory from one ASIN to another ASIN without having them returned on FBA listings?
    A:
    Before I Teach you guys the method you must keep 2 things in mind:
    1) This Method isn't guaranteed! As we all know how seller support is operating, Since this processes involves them its only about %95 accurate but its still a YMMV!
    2) This is kind of grey whether its in violation of Amazon's policy so i do not take responsibility if you get hit!
    Its a 4 step process make sure to follow them properly! Follow this link

    Q: If I have 3 items to send into FBA and they are splitting me to 3 different locations. Can I ship all 3 items to one location?
    A:
    Yes, you can choose "Inventory Placement Service" in FBA settings to send all your inventory to one nearby warehouse. Amazon charges an additional fee ($.30, CMIIW) per item.
    Note: That even once your inventory reaches Amazon, if Amazon is moving it to a different warehouse, the item will be "back-ordered"

    Q: I'm having a hard time finding a box for a large product, can I just ship with the box the way it came from the store?
    A:
    There might not be a clear cut answer for every scenario. But, some have sold many large printers through FBA, by just putting the shipping label directly on the box and not having an issue.

    Q: What is considered case pack when sending in items to Amazon FBA?
    A:
    Case pack is when all the items in the box are from the same ASIN.

    Q: I'm doing FBA shipping for the first time. and it says "prep required". What does that mean?
    A:
    Prep Required means there is some preparation for the products that will need to be done before it could be added the the Amazon inventory. Typically, it is either labeling the items, taping the boxes shut, or poly bagging. If you do not prepare the items yourself, Amazon can/will do it for a charge.
    Q: What is the buy box? How do I win the buy box?
    A:
    The Buy Box is the box on a product detail page where customers can begin the purchasing process by adding items to their shopping carts.
    To give customers the best possible shopping experience, Sellers must meet performance-based requirements to be eligible to compete for Buy Box placement. All Buy Box eligible offers are then further evaluated to determine the Buy Box winning offer. One "New" and one "Used" condition offer, as applicable, will receive Buy Box placement.

    Q: What is an A-Z claim?
    A:
    When you buy from third-party sellers on Amazon.com, the condition of the item and its timely delivery are guaranteed under the A-to-z Guarantee.
    Therefore, a buyer may open a claim if the above is not met to his expectations.

    Q: I have an item that is handmade how do I go about selling it on?
    A:
    Create your own listing and buy a UPC code.

    Q: Any advice on packaging and shipping?
    Check the Shipping Master Thread

    Q: Why are some items on Amazon missing the Amazon sales rank number?
    A:
    Go to add a product > sell yours  it should be in the top right corner. If it's not there usually it means no one bought yet.

    Q: How do you compare Ebay/paypal fees to Amazon fees?
    A:
    Depends on the category. For a lot of categories,Please Update Categories it may be cheaper, as with Amazon there is just one fee, but for eBay sales there also is a Paypal fee.

    Does the Amazon sales rank mean a lot when researching a product to sell?
    A:
    Yes





    Q: How do I get customers to leave feedback (I tried emails)? I sold multiple items
    recently and no feedback yet
    Please Update

    Q: I Got an email from a buyer where's my stuff? I have a Fedex/UPS delivery confirmation signature. How should I go about this?
    A:
    Firstly, tell the buyer that UPS/Fedex shows that it was signed for, and they should check if the item was delivered to a neighbor, from desk of building ect... Next open an investigation from your end with UPS/Fedex to have them do research and contact their driver of what may have happened to this item. It all depends on how co-operative the buyer is, on exactly how to precede. If they are trying to scam you, then there is not much as a seller you could do. They may open an A-Z claim (you would have to weigh your options if it is worth having a claim) Amazon may or may not grant it in your favor. I have never had this with Amazon. Such a claim is not typical.
    What is more common is if there was no signature, and tracking shows it was delivered, and the buyer is claiming they have not received it.
    For myself - Fedex has reimbursed me multiple times with such instances

    Scams
    Q: I posted an expensive item on Amazon. Somebody sent me a message, asking to clarify the condition of the item is (it was clearly stated in the description), along with a request to reply to his own email, and he'll pay through PayPal. Is there anything this buyer can so to screw me over, after I send him the item? Anything else I should know?

    A: SCAM SCAM SCAM. There is NO reason you should EVER do this. There is a reason why Amazon has this policy. This is how the scams works.
    The guy sends a FAKE email from an email account such as paypal1@realpaypal.com. In reality no money was sent to your account and its bogus. The scammers are hoping that you will think that you got the money and will send the item.
    You should report it to paypal each time. beware! always check your paypal account if the money came.
    Another reason not do this-you will get kicked off amazon for good,sometimes competitors set this up.[/list]



    Commonly used resources

    A List of lots of links to resources commonly used in Amazon selling
    http://www.asgtg.com/amazon-services/


    « Last edited by mgarfin on January 02, 2018, 09:07:51 PM »

    Author Topic: Selling on Amazon Master Thread  (Read 975445 times)

    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3880 on: January 07, 2019, 03:23:50 PM »
    Finally someone on the phone told me it was flagged as a duplicate account I should send in Photo ID and they will review within 10-14 days
    I'm surprised their willing to work with you.
    Sometimes You Will Never Know the True Value of A Moment Until It's Become A Memory...

    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3881 on: January 08, 2019, 11:35:44 AM »
    Anyone know how to disenroll S&L on the new enrollment page?
    Sometimes You Will Never Know the True Value of A Moment Until It's Become A Memory...

    Offline Amcha yisroel

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    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3883 on: January 09, 2019, 09:57:47 PM »
    https://youtu.be/cHeeop0OTWU
    Looks like someone is gonna have more time to focus on sellers...
    Sometimes You Will Never Know the True Value of A Moment Until It's Become A Memory...

    Offline yesitsme

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3884 on: January 09, 2019, 11:08:07 PM »
    I used to work for a public accounting firm in NYC, now I work for www.shtotty.com which is like a Jewish Amazon (free to post your products - but a fully moderated site for Jewish and Israeli related products).  We tell Sellers that they can do whatever they want with their taxes, because we treat our site like the equivalent of a newspaper.  When you post in a newspaper classified you don't expect the newspaper to have anything to do with your taxes.  You report and deal with your own taxes, and you can deduct the ad fees as a business expense.  Same with Amazon or shtotty.  What do you think?

    Speaking of which, whatever happened to the yidclick one?
    They received enough free advertisement.

    BTW
    Quote
    There are no products in this section
    Not taxable and definitely not similar to amazon
    ["-"]

    Offline myi

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3885 on: January 09, 2019, 11:32:43 PM »
    They received enough free advertisement.


    BTW Not taxable and definitely not similar to amazon
    Never heard of that site and how do you navigate that site?
    I think craiglists is better. ;)
    Quote
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    Offline Bukboy

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3886 on: January 16, 2019, 02:37:07 PM »
    Customer left a bad product review. What would be the easiest way to track down that customer and reach out to him? I'm tired of looking through all the orders, even with Ctrl F its still a pain.

    Offline lubaby

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3887 on: January 16, 2019, 02:45:17 PM »
    Customer left a bad product review. What would be the easiest way to track down that customer and reach out to him? I'm tired of looking through all the orders, even with Ctrl F its still a pain.
    No email / message portal alert about feedback?

    Offline Bukboy

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3888 on: January 16, 2019, 03:32:45 PM »
    No email / message portal alert about feedback?
    I do have FeedbackFive. Not sure though what i'm doing wrong but it doesn't give me the results i would like to get even after filtering dates.

    Offline yesitsme

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    Offline Sammyonetwo

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3890 on: January 18, 2019, 12:24:38 AM »
    https://legalnewsline.com/stories/511722693-brooklyn-man-seeks-10-million-from-amazon-over-alleged-termination-of-seller-accounts

    I have been waiting for this,some one needs to sue amazon for a lot more so it can hurt and stop killing sellers.

    Even tho 90 percent seller did something wrong but you can’t just cut a whole business with employees. When there no proof.

    Offline yuneeq

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3891 on: January 20, 2019, 08:18:49 AM »
    I think my other option is to get Tax number in all other states, insert them in the Amazon State Tax setting and let Amazon to collect tax for each state and I will need to remit these sale tax to each states monthly/quarterly/yearly according to each state. In this case I can show those payments to the State of IL to avoid double taxation.

    This route seems to be very time consuming for relatively small Amazon store. Is that how other Amazon seller proceed to comply with the tax law?

    Just ignore them, they have no idea what they’re talking about. You need to collect where you have nexus and Illinois has absolutely 0 authority to say as to what other states can or cannot force sellers to collect.
    Visibly Jewish

    Offline yuneeq

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3892 on: January 20, 2019, 08:29:34 AM »
    Saw this article a few days ago, and it's pretty terrible.
    How can a legitimate seller protect themselves from these rogue tactics?
    this serves as a strong reminder to always try diversifying, and selling on multiple platforms.

    I was interviewed for this article anonymously, trust me the issues are really terrible. But bh after 6 months of hell we got past the worst of it.
    How to deal with some of the issues mentioned-

    Well it depends on the issue, but general advice:
    -Get trademark ASAP
    -Sign up for brand registry.
    -Sign up for Amazon Transparency.
    -Sign up for Bindwise - instant email alerts for when something changes on your listing pages or you have hijackers. Knowledge is power and the faster you know about it, the faster you can deal with it and solve the problem.
    -Document the steps you took to solve the issue, because it most likely won’t be the last time you have it.
    Visibly Jewish

    Offline Pad18

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3893 on: January 24, 2019, 06:04:02 PM »
    i was wondering if any of you guys are selling on Amazon Europe, and if yes how it goes regarding taxes?

    do you need to open an EU company and pay taxes their ??
    or with a USA company, you could sell on Amazon EU and only pay taxes here?

    thanks in advance

    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3894 on: January 24, 2019, 06:28:38 PM »
    i was wondering if any of you guys are selling on Amazon Europe, and if yes how it goes regarding taxes?

    do you need to open an EU company and pay taxes their ??
    or with a USA company, you could sell on Amazon EU and only pay taxes here?

    thanks in advance
    Officially u have to pay both
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    Offline Pad18

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3895 on: January 24, 2019, 06:32:39 PM »
    Officially u have to pay both

    by having 2 company's !? or 1 in the US and report their as well .

    and not officially ? and how you "can do it not officially" ?

    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3896 on: January 24, 2019, 06:35:47 PM »
    and not officially ?

    and how you "can do it not officially" ?
    It became very hard not to do it officially and a lot of people stopped because of, Amazon became very strict and started requiring alot documents to sell, from what I've heard if u set up a ligit business in EU and have goods delivered there u only pay eu taxes
    Sometimes You Will Never Know the True Value of A Moment Until It's Become A Memory...

    Offline ludmila

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3897 on: January 24, 2019, 06:39:53 PM »
    Officially u have to pay both
    Then it is not worth it >:(
    I was the Best,still the Best, and will always be the Best.
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    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3898 on: January 24, 2019, 06:40:52 PM »
    Sometimes You Will Never Know the True Value of A Moment Until It's Become A Memory...

    Offline Naftuli19

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    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #3899 on: January 24, 2019, 06:41:24 PM »
    Then it is not worth it >:(
    It was good while it lasted
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