The moment you sign up as an Amazon seller, the clock starts ticking. Amazon will hold you to its monthly performance metrics from day one. As such, being prepared for how to sell on Amazon makes all the difference.
That knowledge will give you the specific tools to enjoy a steady flow of revenue while putting your brand on the map.
With this five-step checklist, you’ll be ready to ace every step of selling on Amazon. We’ve covered everything from the most basic preparation to the next steps necessary to grow into your success.
Are you ready to start selling? Let’s dive in.
Steps to get started selling on Amazon
Conduct market and product research.
Prepare your business plan.
Create your Amazon seller account.
Create detailed product listings.
Manage and grow your store
1. Conduct market and product research
Your marketing and product research efforts will form the very foundations of your ongoing Amazon sales strategy—so it’s a phase of the operation you shouldn’t overlook.
In addition to knowing which types of products and product categories are most popular with consumers in your niche, you will also get a firm grip on Amazon’s various seller’s fees. Your fees will vary depending on the type of seller’s plan you opt for as well as the type and volume of products you’re looking to offer via your store.
Once you’ve got a grip on your seller’s fees, there are two key steps to well-rounded market and consumer research—let’s take a look at them now.
Find a product niche
Finding the right product niche will help you to develop your brand while allowing you to tap into a specific vertical and own it. Rather than being a ‘one-stop shop’, focusing on a specific niche will give your selling efforts a clear-cut direction while building trust and ultimately, connecting with a higher quantity of engaged customers (which means more sales).
When it comes to picking a niche, you should choose something with an active market and that aligns with your personal interests or expertise. Doing so will give you a level of authority that will boost your brand awareness as the passion you need to succeed in a competitive marketplace.
Look for a unique product (or one that aligns with your interests)
It’s pretty common for new sellers to jump in with products that are already so popular, in such crowded markets, that there’s no real chance of successfully selling them. So it’s really vital to check that you’re selling something where you have a chance at actually making a business work.
For the best results regarding product selection, it’s always best to find out which products are trending most and decide where you can exploit any gaps in the market. If you discover that car cams are trending for example, you can dig a little deeper and to learn which styles, brands, and sizes are in the highest demand to refine your potential range. It’s always worth remembering that physical products aren’t the only things that prove popular on Amazon—digital products like eBooks and music are also worth exploring.
The biggest competitor on Amazon is Amazon itself—check your intended catalog against Amazon and if the company itself is selling your products, rethink your approach.
Related: Top 10 trending products to sell online in 2023
Learn about restricted or gated products
When it comes to knowing how to sell on Amazon with confidence, learning about restricted or gated products is essential. That said, it’s important to understand that:
Some categories are open to all sellers
Some require a Pro Seller account
Some require approval to sell
Some include products that cannot be sold by third-party sellers
From alcohol to laser-based items, and beyond, there are plenty of products that do come with stringent restrictions. Here are some of the main products that are restricted on the platform if you’re a third-party seller:
Items that contain regulated composite wood that doesn’t comply with EPA formaldehyde emissions standards
Ammunition or assault weapons
Any items or products that have previously been recalled
Surveillance-based equipment that are used for pursuits like bugging or wiretapping
To discover which items you can sell in your niche, check out Amazon’s official restricted product list. Check the list, consider what you are selling, and make sure you have the appropriate account.
Ask for samples
If you’re a budding Amazon seller, requesting samples of any product you’re potentially looking to sell on the platform is a smart move.
Some suppliers will offer free samples as an incentive to gain your business while others will charge a small fee. Either way, doing so will usually prove a solid return on investment as you will be 100% sure about the quality as well as the suitability of your inventory—preserving your brand reputation in the process.
Run a competitor analysis
Once you’ve selected your niche and you’re ready to start sourcing as well as selling the products that your target customers will want to buy, you should conduct a little competitor research. By understanding what as well as how your competitors are selling their products on the platform, you will be able to see where you can exploit gaps in the market.
Finding ways to improve upon your competitors’ efforts will give you a brand-boosting edge while helping you establish your very own unique selling points (USPs).
To ensure that your listings can compete effectively against competitors’ listings on Amazon, you’ll want to consider the following factors:
Price: You want to keep your listings’ prices at or lower than competitors’ not only because shoppers are looking for the best deals — you also want to win the Buy Box if you’re sharing a listing with other sellers, and Amazon highly prioritizes price in choosing the box winner.
Images: When Amazon shoppers are browsing through search results, they’re not only looking at price — they’re also checking out images. Visuals can be a very persuasive factor in encouraging purchases, so you want to make sure that your listing has more images with higher quality than competing items.
Text: If your listing currently isn’t ranking high for your product keywords, it might be because the listing text isn’t considered relevant by Amazon’s search engine. Analyze the text of the current top-ranking listings to search for potentially relevant keywords that you can include to boost your product.
Finding ways to make your listing outshine competitors’ items on Amazon will increase your product rank in the marketplace’s search results.
2. Prepare your business plan
Before we proceed, an essential piece of advice: decide on your business plan in advance. Don’t try to wing it.
Take the time to establish a solid business plan and you will have a clear roadmap of how you will run as well as develop your business over time. Naturally, your business plan will evolve as your Amazon store continues to grow—but by having a firm framework in place, you will lay solid foundations for success.
When writing your business plan, you should focus on these key points:
Explain why you’re in business and what you’re trying to sell
Describe inventory management, fulfillment and logistics
Define milestones and goals
Outline financials: fees, costs, advertising
Related: How to write a business plan in 10 steps
Explain why you’re in business and what you’re trying to sell
Knowing how to sell on Amazon effectively isn’t just a case of putting products on your site and hoping for the best—you’ve also got to define exactly why you’re in business and what you’re trying to sell with confidence.
Of course, at this stage in the game, you’ll have a decent idea of what you want to sell, but a detailed business plan will give you greater focus. It will help you stay on track and keep you accountable for your actions. Let’s look at the key concepts of defining your Amazon selling business rationale.
Determine your inventory scope
Take some time to decide if you’re going to sell the same products or if you plan on regularly changing out your inventory. If you plan on selling the same products all the time, it would be smart to take advantage of Seller Central’s replenishment alert, so you don’t ever run out of your main items.
The best way to manage your inventory scope with pinpoint precision is by creating a timeline. For instance, you could commit to selling a range of 12 items in the first six months, then double your range after the first year. Setting benchmarks like this will ensure you scale steadily without working beyond your limitations (which is bad for business).
Define value proposition to customers
Your value proposition is your way of telling your customers exactly how your brand or product will benefit them and why they should choose you. A strong value proposition will keep all of your Amazon efforts on track while giving your target audience a clear-cut reason to invest in what you have to offer.
The key to defining your value proposition successfully is outlining the promise you will offer to your customers, outlining the exact benefits in detail, and stating why you are better or more valuable than your competitors.
Outline or describe any intellectual property
When producing your business plan, it’s also important to outline any intellectual property (IP) rights related to the products or services you’re looking to sell on Amazon. If you’re selling digital books or music especially, you should make sure to clearly define any IP you have in your inventory within your business plan.
Describe inventory management, fulfillment and logistics
Next up in your business plan, you will need to outline your inventory management, fulfillment, and logistics specifics. This is perhaps the most functional area of your business operation, so giving it due care and attention is vital. Let’s take a deeper look.
Decide how you will source your products
First of all, you will need to consider the way you’re going to source your products. Inventory is a major issue on Amazon. Sellers who aspire to the Buy Box. If you become eligible for the Buy Box, you will be able to direct shoppers to the checkout more swiftly, earning more sales as a result.
But, you won’t get in if your product’s out of stock. You also need to avoid periods when you’re out of stock and not selling – and thus not making any money.
Only you know the most appropriate sources of inventory for your business, but make sure you have fallbacks if it’s possible so you don’t get caught out.
Choose your fulfillment option
In addition to deciding how you’re going to source your products, you’ll also need to choose one of the platform’s fulfillment options. Here are the three main choices for Amazon sellers:
FBA: The Fulfillment By Amazon option is attractive as the platform handles the entire end-to-end process from picking and packing to delivery. This steady flowing model will increase your chances of earning the Buy Box, but it’s worth noting that the fees are a little higher than other fulfillment options.
FBM: The Fulfillment By Merchant option is attractive as it comes with lower associated fees because the seller handles the entire end-to-end process. This will give you more control but it comes with extra responsibility.
3PL: Also known as Third Party Logistics, 3PL is the process of outsourcing your fulfillment and logistics processes. Using 3PL services can reduce costs and streamline certain aspects of your operations—but it’s important to check through your options in detail before making a firm commitment.
Make a plan for stale inventory
No matter how you’re selling, keeping track of inventory age is an important part of handling your supply chain. If products are sitting on the shelf for three months, that tells you something about what you need to order.
More urgently, if you’re using FBA, it’s vital to identify stale inventory so you don’t get caught in Amazon’s 180-day inventory sweeps and charged a much higher storage fee. Don’t wait 179 days and then wonder how much of your inventory is now costing you money instead of making you money.
You can find Amazon’s inventory report under Reports > Fulfillment > Manage FBA Inventory if you’re using FBA. There, you’ll find a full real-time inventory report containing numerical values for a range of inventory data—SKU, product condition and so on.
Outline your returns process
Amazon has its own internal returns policy which you have to meet or exceed in order to be an Amazon seller. It’s a good idea to read this page, figure out what you’re going to do that’s at least as good as Amazon’s policy, and write that down somewhere, even if it’s a sticky note on your desktop. When you get an item returned, that’s the wrong time to be figuring out what to do about it—especially since you only have a 24-hour window to begin the process.
Outline your financials
At this point, you will need to outline your various potential outgoings. As an Amazon seller, these costs will include platform fees, product costs, and advertising expenses.
Consider costs and set your price point
When you’re setting your price points, it’s important to remain competitive (it’s also worth looking at how much the competition is charging) while leaving enough of a margin to allow for discounts or special offers.
When setting your prices, it’s also worth taking key costs into consideration as an Amazon seller—including:
Direct costs including product procurement, SKU, and shipping fees
Indirect costs including warehousing, bookkeeping, product samples, and marketing
Amazon fees including sales commission, fulfillment fees; selling fees, FBA fees; commission on returned products and refunds, storage fees, return shipping or disposal costs, and FBA inbound shipping fees
Define milestones and goals
To make sure your business plan goes off without a hitch, you need to set specific goals and milestones based on your desired outcomes. Here’s the way to do it.
Set deadlines
First of all, you need to note down deadlines for your business moving forward. This part of the process is vital to your ongoing success as it will give you a definitive roadmap for you to navigate while allowing you to benchmark your development over time.
Your deadlines will keep you on your toes and give your business strategy shape. These deadlines could be based on when you source all of your inventory, when you set up your online store, and when you launch your first marketing campaign, for example.
Establish goals
Armed with your deadlines and milestones, you should also establish your key business goals. These business goals will empower you to keep moving forward while holding you accountable for your continual growth and success.
Do you want to expand your product range after 12 months? Do you have specific quarterly sales targets you’d like to hit? Is there a number of repeat customers you’d like to acquire after the first 18 months? Ask yourself these questions and set realistic milestones you can work towards.
Determine a response plan
One of the most vital aspects of knowing how to sell on Amazon is being able to respond to unexpected issues or continual change. So, you have to create a response plan. Your response plan should contain scenarios you can work through if your business isn’t hitting its goals—this will give you the tools to get to the root of the issue quickly and take action. Here’s a checklist you can use as a guide:
Are any of my products causing the issue in terms of quality?
Is my product content poor or misleading?
Am I spending enough on advertising?
Are my policies not clear enough?
Have my competitors started doing something new that is luring away my customers?
3. Create your Amazon seller account
With your business plan firmly in place, it’s time to set up your Amazon seller account. Working through each step carefully will ensure your account is operational and optimized for success. Let’s take a look at what you need to do.
Gather documents needed to open Amazon seller account
Line up a tax adviser
Determine if you want to use a DBA name on your Amazon account
Register your account
Gather documents needed to open Amazon seller account
It’s a lot easier to start selling with your paperwork in order. Some of this will be needed for the account opening process, some of it is common sense, and some of it helps to protect your business in the future.
Before doing anything, check to see that you reside in an eligible country. Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to gather the below items to create your Amazon seller account:
Business email or Amazon customer account: You’ve got to have a valid email address. Consider setting one up, especially for your Amazon seller account – maybe add a new account to your business email or if you don’t have one, open a fresh Gmail and keep signed in on an alternative browser so checking it regularly is easy.
Credit card: You’ll need to have the credit card you’re going to use for your business handy and solvent. The credit card must be able to be charged internationally.
Government ID: A government-issued ID is necessary to verify your identity and protect both sellers and customers.
Tax ID and information: Whether you’re registering as a business or a sole proprietor, you’ll need your corresponding tax ID and any other tax information required by your local government.
Phone number
Bank account that can receive proceeds from Amazon sales
Line up a tax adviser
If you’re planning to use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), there can be other tax issues. For a single seller with a single location, FBA tax is simple. But for a multi-location state entity, it can get complex.
If that’s you, it’s cheaper and simpler to talk to a specialist tax attorney or adviser before you start selling on Amazon, in the same way that it’s far cheaper to have a good accountant than muddle through it all yourself. (Small business owners know what I’m talking about here!)
Companies that specialize in Amazon tax issues include:
Taxjar.com
Avalara.com
Taxify.co
Vertexsmb.com
FBAsalestax.com
Zip-tax.com
Catchingclouds.net
This content should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Always consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation.
Determine if you want to use a DBA name on your Amazon account
Amazon lets you use a DBA (doing business as) name on your Amazon account, basically rebranding your Amazon account as something different from your main business.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to do this – such as, you have a specific part of your business that takes place on Amazon. If you normally sell furniture of every kind but on Amazon you sell only wardrobes, Texas Furniture isn’t as good a name as Texas Wardrobes, for instance.
But there are also plenty of sketchy sellers on Amazon who use DBA to conceal the real identity of their company; you might have more credibility and trust if you just use your regular business name.
Register your account
You’ve done a lot of work and are now ready to open your Amazon seller account. Make sure you have the documents you gathered on hand, and then go straight to Amazon Seller Central and click the sign up button.
As you go through the sign-up process, remember that there are two types of accounts:
An individual seller account, with no monthly fee but a charge of 99 cents for each item you sell
A pro seller account for $39.99 per month no matter how many items you sell
So, if you plan to sell only a few items per month, go with the individual seller account.
If this will be a larger venture right from the start, plan on using the pro seller account. If you want to sell on Handmade or Launchpad, you have to use a pro seller account, no matter how much product you are selling. Keep in mind: you can change plans at any time, either upgrading or downgrading to the appropriate level.
For both account types, you can sign up with your existing customer account or you can create a new seller account with your business email.
Amazon also collects a referral fee on each sale no matter the chosen plan, which is a percentage of the total transaction and varies by product category.
4. Create detailed product listings
Great product listings form the foundation for achieving visibility on Amazon’s platform.
Once logged in, you’ll navigate to Seller Central to create your listing. To create your listing you’ll need:
A product identifier, such as GTIN, UPC, ISBN, or EAN to specify the exact item you’re selling. You can get a UPC code directly from GS1, or request an exemption.
A SKU, which is a product ID you create to track your own inventory.
Details, including the price, product condition, quantity available and shipping options.
Product details including name, brand, category, description, and images.
Keywords and search terms.
If there is already an exact product match on Amazon, then you can match your listing so things like product identifiers will already be in place. If you are the first, then you will have to provide those details.
Your offer details will be displayed on a product detail page, the page in which people see when they look at products on Amazon.
Here is what is included on this page:
Title: 200 characters max, capitalize the first letter of every word
Images: 500 x 500 or 1,000 x 1,000 pixels to increase listing quality
Variations in colors, sizes, etc.
Bullet points: Short, descriptive sentences highlighting key features and benefits
Featured offer (“Buy Box”): The featured offer on a detail page. Customers can add to their cart or “Buy Now” [IMAGE: Add to Cart/Buy Now buttons]
Other offers: If you sell a product that is sold by multiple sellers, you’ll see the same product sold by multiple sellers offering a different price, shipping options, etc.
Description: Be sure to use keywords that will help customers find your product
Editor’s note: Sell your products from one place on the web’s popular marketplaces such as Instagram, Amazon, Google, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart with our multi channel listing tool.
Incorporate keywords in your product descriptions
When creating your product listings, make sure to consider how shoppers are searching for your products. There are a few key tools to identify the keywords your shoppers are searching for most frequently.
Google Keyword Planner: This free tool indicates the monthly search volume of keywords on Google’s search engine. Since Amazon listings can rank on Google, this tool is especially helpful.
Scope: A keyword tool that’s specifically geared for Amazon. It allows you to track keywords’ monthly volume, ranking position over time, estimated sales, and more.
Sellesta: An AI-powered keyword tool designed to help you discover a range of high-converting words for your Amazon seller account landing pages and product descriptions.
Once you’ve collected your keywords, place them throughout your listing, such as in the title and description. Detecting these popular keywords, search engines will recognize your listing as a relevant result for your buyers’ searches and rank it higher.
5. Manage and grow your store
To profit as a seller, you have to stand out against over two million merchants. But if you do grab buyers’ attention, you’re bound to make sales since so many shoppers flock to Amazon. The average conversion rate in the marketplace is roughly 15%, roughly three to five times that of other ecommerce sites.
The key to reaching Amazon shoppers is maximizing your listings’ visibility.
There are so many products on the marketplace, and buyers don’t have the time or patience to sift through every single one. Make it easy for buyers to find your products and you’re on track to win greater sales.
Boosting your listings’ visibility comes from both effective management of your store’s products and from smart product promotions. Keeping the below areas in mind will help your store to grow and flourish.
Learn to use Amazon Seller platform and app
Maintain strong product ratings
Maintain strong shipping performance
Monitor your seller rating
Use internal Amazon Advertising channels
Use external advertising channels
Learn to use Amazon Seller platform and app
Taking the time to get a firm handle on the Amazon Seller platform and app will give you the greatest chances of success. Once you’re 100% confident with all of the key functions and features, you will be able to shine your store as well as your products in their best possible light.
Work your way through the Vendor Central platform as well as the Seller app and learn how to:
Track sales
Fulfill orders
Respond to questions
Edit photos
Source new products
Access key seller’s analytics
Maintain strong product ratings
First impressions matter when you’re on a marketplace as competitive as Amazon. Buyers are browsing through thousands of products, so they won’t settle for items that seem low-quality.
A clear way to give shoppers a positive first impression of your Amazon listings is to maintain high-star ratings. When buyers are browsing through their Amazon search results, the star ratings are visible for each product.
Along with price, these star ratings are a major factor in whether shoppers decide to click on your listings. They can’t see your products in person, so this feedback from other buyers is especially meaningful to shoppers trying to make a purchase.
Here are a few tips for maintaining high-star ratings on all of your Amazon listings:
Describe your item exactly as it is in your listing. False product details and images may boost sales initially, but ultimately they only hurt your Amazon business. Buyers who receive a product that’s totally different from the listing are bound to leave a low rating in disappointment.
Provide excellent customer service. If you don’t handle customer requests properly, such as shipping the item late or not being prompt in completing a return, you’ll anger buyers. Avoid receiving a low product rating by delivering the item as expected and promptly resolving issues.
Reach out to disappointed buyers. When a customer leaves a poor rating, reach out to the buyer to see if you can still resolve their issue. If you can fix their problem, they do have the power to edit their review and could adjust their rating to improve the product’s overall score.
Ratings are a key way for buyers to quickly assess your Amazon products. Make sure your items’ scores stay high to keep buyers interested in your listing.
Related: Generate reviews — 8 ways to get more product reviews
Maintain strong shipping performance
Shipping, at first, might seem totally unrelated to promoting your products. But on Amazon, your shipping performance is a key factor in your listings’ visibility.
Amazon wants to keep shoppers happy, so they discourage poor shipping practices by making shipping a factor in winning the Buy Box and ranking high on Amazon’s search rankings.
With consistent shipping issues, you’re less likely to win the box or to rank high in search.
Instead of hurting your visibility, use these tips to maintain a strong shipping performance on Amazon:
Regularly check your shipping performance metrics. In Amazon Seller Central, you can monitor several key shipping performance metrics — on-time delivery rate, valid tracking rate — to ensure that you’re consistently offering great shipping and pleasing customers.
Use Amazon FBA. By signing up for Fulfillment by Amazon, sellers no longer have to worry about providing great shipping as the marketplace handles fulfilling your orders. If there are any complaints about your shipping from buyers, the marketplace will remove the rating since they are responsible for shipping issues.
Use inventory management software. Adopting an inventory management program, like Sellbrite, keeps you on track so you can avoid understocking and being unable to complete orders. Sellbrite monitors when your stock is low across channels so you always know when to reorder.
Always provide great shipping and you won’t hurt your chance at winning the Buy Box or at ranking high in search results. With this visibility, Amazon shoppers can easily find your products.
Monitor your seller rating
Like shipping performance, your overall seller rating on Amazon also impacts your chances of winning the Buy Box and ranking high in Amazon’s search results.
Punishing low-rated sellers with less visibility is a measure to keep Amazon shoppers happy and sustain the marketplace. It ensures that buyers are first and foremost working with merchants who have a positive record and can provide great service.
To keep your listings visible on Amazon, follow these tips to maintain a high seller rating:
Monitor your seller rating. On Seller Central, you can view the factors that contribute to your overall seller ratings — such as Perfect Order Percentage and Late Response Rate — and determine which ones need to be improved to increase it.
Be prompt in customer service. Set a daily reminder to resolve customer issues and respond to customer messages. The quicker you give buyers attention, the more impressed they’ll be with your service.
Determine whether negative feedback could be removed. Amazon has clear guidelines for providing feedback. Review this post to determine whether any of your negative feedback from buyers should be removed.
Make an effort to keep your seller rating as high as possible and you’ll help your listings stay visible through the Buy Box and Amazon search results.
Launch a Lightning Deal
Beyond convenience, many shoppers come to Amazon for the marketplace’s low prices. With this interest, a primary way of attracting Amazon shoppers to your listing is by launching a Lightning Deal.
Lightning Deals are time-based, marked-down products that buyers can find in Amazon’s Today’s Deals section. They draw a lot of attention and sales from Amazon’s shoppers not only because they appreciate discounts, but also because their limited time frame motivates buyers to make a purchase.
Sellers have to pay a fee and Amazon has to approve Lightning Deals before they’re launched.
Here are a few of the key guidelines that sellers need to meet for their Lightning Deals to be approved:
Lightning Deals run for four to twelve hours.
Lightning Deals can only run once in a seven-day period.
You should have your proposed quantity for the deal available at least seven days before the deal is expected to launch.
Use internal Amazon Advertising channels
When learning how to sell on Amazon, knowing which Amazon advertising channels are available at your fingertips will offer an excellent return on investment (ROI). The channels we’re going to explore here are either established or in beta mode. Either way, using these to your advantage is a good idea.
Even with SEO, there’s no guarantee that your listing will be placed higher in Amazon’s search results. The marketplace’s engine considers other factors for ranking — selling history, price, and more — so SEO alone doesn’t necessarily lead to higher rankings.
To gain more control over their listings’ visibility, Amazon sellers can pay for the marketplace to sponsor their products and place them higher in search results.
Amazon Attribution (Beta): A savvy analytics tool that will tell you exactly how your non-Amazon tools are performing on the platform.
Amazon DSP: A programmatic ad tool that will help you attract new customers from other channels or touchpoints and attract them to your Amazon store.
Amazon Live: A smart content creation tool that will help you engage your target audience and make your brand stand out.
Audio ads : A clever and easy to use advertising tool that will empower you to deliver inspiring audio ads to your customers at the right times in their shopping journey.
Custom advertising solution: A cool custom ads creator that will give you the tools to reach your customers with eye-catching content at various stages of the marketing funnel.
Sizmek Ad Suite: A dashboard platform that will empower you to track, manage, and measure your advertising efforts across multiple screens.
Posts (Beta): A targeted ad solution that will help you serve your products or services on the platform with dazzling demonstrations and information.
Sponsored Brands: An excellent awareness tool that will showcase your brand to customers with creative ads that appear in the shopping results.
Sponsored Display: Another programmatic advertising tool that will empower you to serve sponsored ads for relevant platform searches.
Sponsored Products: A cost-per-click (CPC)-based platform that will help you promote individual listings on Amazon and the best possible times.
Stores: An intuitive online store builder with a range of tools and features that will help you create the best possible shopping experience for your customers.
Video ads: A platform that gives you the tools to serve up engaging video ads across Amazon’s various channels and touchpoints.
Use external advertising channels
In addition to utilizing Amazon’s in-built advertising tools, using external platforms and innovations will help you entice plenty of business-boosting traffic from elsewhere on the web. Do that and your sales will soar.
Share listings on social media
The average person spends nearly two hours per day on social media platforms. Given this popularity, sharing your Amazon listings on social media through your business accounts is a powerful way of getting your products in front of more buyers.
Since your followers expect to receive value from your posts, it’s best to avoid creating posts on your account that are basically ads for your listings. Instead, it’s better to share your listing in more subtle ways that are still helpful to your followers. Here are a few ideas:
Use a social media promo code. Merchants with a Professional Selling account on Amazon can create a promotion link to share through social media about a discount they’re offering on the listing. Unlike a traditional ad, sharing a promo code gives users value by helping them save money. For more details on setting up this promo code, check out this guide.
Share content that includes your listing link. Posting an informative, helpful blog post or video that includes a link to your Amazon listing, such as a How-to video or list post, is a great way to indirectly promote your products through social media.
Host a contest or giveaway. Announce through your social media accounts that any user who posts your Amazon listing in their bio will be entered for a chance to win a prize. This reward will motivate users to share your listing and spread the word about your Amazon products.
By creating social media content that is exciting and relevant, you can promote your Amazon listings through social media in a way that feels natural rather than invasive.
Related: How to get more customers with social media
Partner with influencers
Just like products on an online store, Amazon listings can gain significant traffic through influencer marketing.
When prominent individuals in your industry stand behind your product and link to your listing, it sends a message to communities of your key buyers that your listing is worth checking out.
To promote your listing through influencer marketing, start by coming up with a list of key individuals in your sector with a large base of social media followers. You brainstorm this list by considering your own personal network or use an influencer platform like Influence.co.
Once you have a list going, check out this guide to learn about the best ways to reach out to influencers and measure results once they share your Amazon listings.
Summary
As the world’s biggest ecommerce platform, Amazon is a potential goldmine for those willing to set up a store and start selling. But, your success on the platform will depend on how you approach your strategy from the get-go.
As you can see, learning how to sell on Amazon and working through the right steps will give you an edge on the competition while ensuring constant business growth. Use this guide as your Amazon-selling North Star and you will be up and running in no time. Best of luck.
How to sell on Amazon: the FAQs
Do I need a business license to sell on Amazon?
Depending on your geographical location or region, there are slightly different licensing laws. Some states or regions require you to have a valid seller’s permit or tax license to offer your products or services. Our handy guide on business licensing will steer you in the right direction.
How do I research and find products to sell?
From Keepa to FBA MultiTool, there are several different sites, tools, and platforms that will help you research as well as source the best possible products in your niche. This handy little guide will tell you all about the best options around at the moment.
Can I sell the same products on Amazon as on my online store?
Yes. As long as your product and the details outlined in the listing are exactly the same, you can sell your inventory through your main site or another third-party platform.
How can I put my product on Amazon?
You need to start with a seller account. Choose an individual account or a pro seller account. Once you have that set up you can, you can begin listing products. You’ll need to have a product identifier, a SKU, product and store details, and keywords to show up in the search.
How do beginners sell on Amazon?
If you only plan to sell a few products a month, start with an individual account. You will be charged 99 cents per item sold, but does not have a monthly fee. If you’re just starting to research selling on Amazon, we recommend you read our comprehensive beginner’s guide to Amazon, as it provides a hub of information for everything you need to know.
How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
It depends on the plan you choose and what you are selling. Individual accounts are free, but you are charged 99 centers per item sold. Pro seller accounts have a monthly fee of $39.99, with unlimited sales. Each sale, no matter the account, also has referral fees, which depend on the type of product. There are additional fees for shipping and Fulfillment by Amazon, if using that service. It’s also worth noting that you will need the funds to purchase your original inventory. For beginners, a budget of around $1,000 to $1,500 will usually be an adequate amount.
Can you sell your own thing on Amazon?
There are limits to what you can sell. You can view a list of restricted items here. If you are looking to sell your handmade products, you’ll need a pro seller account to use Amazon Handmade. Some sellers even create or manufacture their own products in-house, which is a great way to stand out from the competition and boost brand awareness.
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