Tag: reseller

Become Friends with Seller Central

Posted on by jgutierrez

If you plan on jumping into the Amazon reseller world, take the time to educate yourself! Amazon has a plethora training tools, videos and forums to help you navigate the wonderful world of Amazon. There isn’t a test at the end, so you really have to commit to putting in the time so that you can make the most out of your investment. Don’t sit there an try to educate yourself in one weekend, take your time and focus on the topics that will get you started. The best part of Amazon’s resources is that they are always available, so when you hit a brick wall, go to their help section and troubleshoot that specific issue.

Yes, there will be issues. From trying to fix a product page to understanding why Amazon randomly transfers your inventory, the help section has an answer to help you understand their process. You can also speak directly with Amazon, but that communication happens via email and is not always the fastest way to resolve a problem. I tend to search the Seller Forums to see if any of my peers are or have experienced my current issue. Many times there is someone out there with the same issue and I am able to resolve mine by following their steps.

There is a lot of helpful information in the Amazon portal and they’ve done a great job of keeping important links handy. Ranking and reviews are very important in the reseller world, so you want to ensure that your customer service is excellent. Amazon tracks your response rate and wants to ensure that the customer experience is seamless, so be sure to follow the 24 hour rule with responding to inquiries and complaints. A good reseller may have some returns, just like brick & mortar stores, so keep the process simple and you’ll certainly get a good review. Just remember the most important thing is to stay up to date with Amazon’s policies and procedures, doing so will ensure you have a successful Amazon store.

Tools You Can Use

Posted on by jgutierrez

Tools! Tools! So many tools, but how do I know which tool to use?!

The store of everything has certainly created a web of developers looking to scrub data in new and exciting ways. From managing customer reviews to understanding ranking and profitability, there is a tool out there that you can use. Amazon loves data and they love to share data, but over the years what was once open source has become closed off trade secrets and pay-for-play data mining. My goal with this post is not to try and sell you any memberships to any data mining platforms, in fact a lot offer basic and useful data free of charge. Below is a list of some of the tools we like to use.

HELPFUL HINT: These tools work great in Google Chrome. All you have to do is download their extension.

Keepa is a great data hungry tool which tracks pricing history. You can set basic price tracking for free, where you will receive an alert whenever that item’s price changes. You can search product variations, best seller lists and they even do a great job of pointing out products that work well online so that you can make the best decision on what products would work well in your store. Or what products you could buy not at 60-80% off for yourself! There is more data available for a monthly fee and tiered pricing if you would like to connect your platform with their API.

Helium10 is probably the most robust tool you can find online for Amazon resellers. From key work suggestions to ensuring your ASIN doesn’t get hijacked, Helium10 has put a lot of technology into their platform to be able to provide their customers (you) with free to enterprise level solutions. Our favorite part of Helium10 is their Ala Carte Plan feature. If you are only interested in a few tools, you can isolate your plan to just those and maximize your profitability. For beginners, the free plan is great to use while you are getting your feet wet and scale up when you are ready for more features.

AMZScout is a great tool to help you find the best selling products for your store. With AMZScout, you can see how many other stores have the same listing, their sales statistics, and how much inventory is on Amazon. All of this information is provided so that you can make the best decision on which products your store should enter the marketplace to sell. My favorite is the AMZScout Pro which adds a widget which you can click on while shopping Amazon.com. While many of the tools show the same information from rank to average reseller pricing, AMZScout provides the most amount of data in one nice snapshot which truly aides in making the right decision on what products to invest your money into.

Diversify your income in e-commerce!

Posted on by jgutierrez

“Make money from home and quit your day job!” I love hearing those ads on the radio urging you to quit your day job or diversify your income by working from home, but what would you do? How would you start? Is there a catch?

Well, some of those ads might be legit and in a way they are right, there is a way to work from home and diversify your income, but I wouldn’t quit my day job yet. eBay, Amazon, Alibaba are great avenues to look when thinking about making additional income from home, but what do I sell?

If you’re on eBay, you can sell pretty much anything as long as you fully disclose the product conditions. This is great if you want to sell your old purse or shoes, but that’s not really a long term strategy. Some eBay sellers are coupon clipping, BOGO shopping geniuses with a knack for finding great deals locally and shipping half some place else at a good price. I’m not convinced it’s a lucrative business, but it certainly generates additional revenue.

Amazon is far more restrictive and certainly does not like used products in their portal. When you want to be the store of everything, sometimes, it doesn’t really mean EVERYTHING. It seems like almost everyday Amazon is restricting another category, making agreements directly with the manufacturer, and consolidating profitability into smaller groups. This doesn’t mean that Amazon is going to push out the resellers, quite the contrary.

According to Statista.com, third-party resellers represent over 50% of the units purchased on Amazon and that has maintained since the first quarter of 2017. However, it’s not always easy to sell on Amazon and if there are multiple resellers on the same listing, you’re likely to get into a price war. This is much like what Brick & Mortar establishments experience with loss leaders and BOGOs, but it hurts the reseller wallet and is not a long term strategy. So what does work? Is it worth the risk? How do I find product?

The first thing you want to do is RESEARCH! Don’t just take my word for it, go out there, visit Dr. Google and get educated. Yes, you can make money selling online, anyone can, you just need to find the right products. There are many manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers happy to sell their goods and move inventory out of their warehouses. Stay tuned for updates and advice on entering the e-commerce world. Good luck!