Topic Wiki

    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 975917 times)

    Offline Mordy2

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Jun 2012
    • Posts: 141
    • Total likes: 1
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1420 on: October 30, 2014, 03:16:25 PM »
    i want to start tracking in qb. any special instructions to make life easier?

    Yes- careful when setting up items to select the correct sales, COGS and expense accounts, otherwise your books will be a mess.
    Make sure always to select Inventory-item when selecting the item type.
    You can duplicate rows in the Add/Edit Multiple List Items window when adding multiple items and change the variable info. For ex, if you sell the same item in multiple colors, enter the info once, duplicate and change the color info on each line.

    Offline Mordyk

    • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
    • ********
    • Join Date: May 2013
    • Posts: 4102
    • Total likes: 1015
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 3
    • Gender: Male
      • View Profile
    • Programs: Some of this and some of that.
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1421 on: October 30, 2014, 03:22:13 PM »
    Yes- careful when setting up items to select the correct sales, COGS and expense accounts, otherwise your books will be a mess.
    Make sure always to select Inventory-item when selecting the item type.
    You can duplicate rows in the Add/Edit Multiple List Items window when adding multiple items and change the variable info. For ex, if you sell the same item in multiple colors, enter the info once, duplicate and change the color info on each line.

    thanks for the advice!
    #TYH

    Offline Mordy2

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Jun 2012
    • Posts: 141
    • Total likes: 1
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1422 on: October 30, 2014, 03:52:02 PM »
    thanks for the advice!

    Another thing- leave the cost field at 0.00 and enter the cost each time you receive the vendor's bill to prevent mistakes in the price if the price went up/down, or if you got items on special.

    Offline DealRaider

    • Dansdeals Silver Elite
    • **
    • Join Date: Mar 2014
    • Posts: 93
    • Total likes: 0
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: New York
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1423 on: October 31, 2014, 04:33:00 PM »
    This keeps happening to me-

    Send in a bunch of items. All go to reserved for 2 days or so. Then they all go back from reserved to avail. Then they start selling at a normal rate.

    Does this happen to anyone else? Is there a way to stop this?

    Offline yuneeq

    • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
    • *********
    • Join Date: Jan 2013
    • Posts: 8611
    • Total likes: 4000
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 10
    • Gender: Male
      • View Profile
    • Location: NJ
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1424 on: November 02, 2014, 01:32:14 AM »
    This keeps happening to me-

    Send in a bunch of items. All go to reserved for 2 days or so. Then they all go back from reserved to avail. Then they start selling at a normal rate.

    Does this happen to anyone else? Is there a way to stop this?

    Does the listing say "back ordered"?
    Could be Amazon is shifting your products if you shipped using inventory placement service. 
    Visibly Jewish

    Offline Mordyk

    • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
    • ********
    • Join Date: May 2013
    • Posts: 4102
    • Total likes: 1015
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 3
    • Gender: Male
      • View Profile
    • Programs: Some of this and some of that.
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1425 on: November 02, 2014, 04:45:46 PM »
    Anyone try to import the amazon sales report into quickbooks?  How do you get that info into quickbooks so each sku you could see how much you made?
    #TYH

    Offline msg

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Apr 2013
    • Posts: 156
    • Total likes: 3
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: lakewood nj
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1426 on: November 03, 2014, 10:02:05 AM »
    I am trying to sell an item on Amazon that requires "e a website or image hosting site with product images that can be reviewed to be considered for approval to sell on Amazon." Can someone please explain this to me.

    I do not have a website, I just got these items on closeout from a distributor ...

    Offline yuneeq

    • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
    • *********
    • Join Date: Jan 2013
    • Posts: 8611
    • Total likes: 4000
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 10
    • Gender: Male
      • View Profile
    • Location: NJ
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1427 on: November 03, 2014, 10:12:17 AM »
    I am trying to sell an item on Amazon that requires "e a website or image hosting site with product images that can be reviewed to be considered for approval to sell on Amazon." Can someone please explain this to me.

    I do not have a website, I just got these items on closeout from a distributor ...

    If you have pictures of the item, load them onto an image sharing site (Flickr, imgur, etc.) and send the link to Amazon.
    Visibly Jewish

    Offline msg

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Apr 2013
    • Posts: 156
    • Total likes: 3
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: lakewood nj
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1428 on: November 03, 2014, 10:23:15 AM »
    Thank you.

    Offline Super Speed

    • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
    • ********
    • Join Date: Jul 2013
    • Posts: 4849
    • Total likes: 50
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 4
    • Gender: Male
      • View Profile
    • Programs: SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum, Marriott Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle, Avis First, National Executive Elite, Sixt Platinum.
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1429 on: November 05, 2014, 11:52:50 AM »
    If I want to send everything to one location and I only have 3 pieces can I write I have like 10 pieces and hopefully they'll give me one location for 3 and then only work on that shipment?

    Offline EP123

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Oct 2013
    • Posts: 153
    • Total likes: 10
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 3
      • View Profile
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1430 on: November 05, 2014, 12:25:36 PM »
    If I want to send everything to one location and I only have 3 pieces can I write I have like 10 pieces and hopefully they'll give me one location for 3 and then only work on that shipment?
    You are allowed to change the qty by a certain percentage, so you can write 10 and it may give u one of 2 and one of 4 and one of 5, so just choose any and deduct or add to that one. then delete the other ones.

    Supposedly if you do this alot they will warn you.

    Offline Super Speed

    • Dansdeals Presidential Platinum Elite
    • ********
    • Join Date: Jul 2013
    • Posts: 4849
    • Total likes: 50
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 4
    • Gender: Male
      • View Profile
    • Programs: SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum, Marriott Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle, Avis First, National Executive Elite, Sixt Platinum.
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1431 on: November 05, 2014, 01:25:54 PM »
    You are allowed to change the qty by a certain percentage, so you can write 10 and it may give u one of 2 and one of 4 and one of 5, so just choose any and deduct or add to that one. then delete the other ones.

    Supposedly if you do this alot they will warn you.
    How do I change the quantity one they split it as you said?

    Offline DealRaider

    • Dansdeals Silver Elite
    • **
    • Join Date: Mar 2014
    • Posts: 93
    • Total likes: 0
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: New York
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1432 on: November 06, 2014, 08:38:36 AM »
    if your already pulling shtick you might as well mark it case labeled and send in 3 like that. Case labeled is normally reserved for manufacturer packaging/original box but its better than messing with the ship qty IMO

    Offline Menachemfrombp

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Dec 2013
    • Posts: 213
    • Total likes: 2
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: Brooklyn
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1433 on: November 10, 2014, 02:01:17 PM »
    i bought 141 pieces of a item, and they come 50 pieces in a box so i got 2 boxes with 50 in it and one box with 41 in it, now i selected case pack by shipping to fba, and wrote that it comes 47 pieces in a box (cuz writing 50 would make it 150 pieces) so the total amount would b 141 pieces and shipped it to one location,
    is it a problem if the quantity in the box is different from the what i wrote it is but the total quantity is good?
    and for the future is there any way of selecting the same item case packed and different amount of pieces in each box?

    Offline ilherman

    • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
    • *********
    • Join Date: Jun 2013
    • Posts: 8935
    • Total likes: 227
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
      • View Profile
    • Location: Brooklyn
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1434 on: November 10, 2014, 03:53:38 PM »
    i bought 141 pieces of a item, and they come 50 pieces in a box so i got 2 boxes with 50 in it and one box with 41 in it, now i selected case pack by shipping to fba, and wrote that it comes 47 pieces in a box (cuz writing 50 would make it 150 pieces) so the total amount would b 141 pieces and shipped it to one location,
    is it a problem if the quantity in the box is different from the what i wrote it is but the total quantity is good?
    and for the future is there any way of selecting the same item case packed and different amount of pieces in each box?
    Make 2 shipments? 2 cases of 50 and the other shipment will be 1 case of 47..
    You can say what you think when you think what you say.

    Offline Menachemfrombp

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Dec 2013
    • Posts: 213
    • Total likes: 2
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: Brooklyn
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1435 on: November 10, 2014, 03:56:37 PM »
    thats a good idea for next time  :)
    i already shipped it, can i change anything now after shipping it, am i in trouble now?..
    « Last Edit: November 10, 2014, 04:01:39 PM by Menachemfrombp »

    Offline ilherman

    • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
    • *********
    • Join Date: Jun 2013
    • Posts: 8935
    • Total likes: 227
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
      • View Profile
    • Location: Brooklyn
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1436 on: November 10, 2014, 04:02:16 PM »
    thats a good idea for next time  :)
    i already shipped it, can i change anything now after shipping it, am i in trouble now?..
    You won't get in trouble for shipping more...
    You can say what you think when you think what you say.

    Offline Menachemfrombp

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Dec 2013
    • Posts: 213
    • Total likes: 2
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    • Location: Brooklyn
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1437 on: November 10, 2014, 04:08:09 PM »
    You won't get in trouble for shipping more...
    thanks

    Offline rookie

    • Dansdeals Gold Elite
    • ***
    • Join Date: Nov 2014
    • Posts: 119
    • Total likes: 2
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
      • View Profile
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1438 on: November 11, 2014, 02:22:09 PM »
    I am quite new at Amazon selling, but would appreciate all those that could help me out. I have about 100 pieces of a small gift product that I prchased for around 2 dollars. I probably could sell it for about 10 dollars a piece. My question is: Is it even worth it after all the Amazon fees (15%, FBA etc).
    Thank you.

    Offline ilherman

    • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
    • *********
    • Join Date: Jun 2013
    • Posts: 8935
    • Total likes: 227
    • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 35
      • View Profile
    • Location: Brooklyn
    Re: Selling on Amazon Master Thread
    « Reply #1439 on: November 11, 2014, 02:25:35 PM »
    I am quite new at Amazon selling, but would appreciate all those that could help me out. I have about 100 pieces of a small gift product that I prchased for around 2 dollars. I probably could sell it for about 10 dollars a piece. My question is: Is it even worth it after all the Amazon fees (15%, FBA etc).
    Thank you.
    Use this calculator.

    https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/fba/revenue-calculator/index.html/
    You can say what you think when you think what you say.