Learn How to Sell on Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA allows many products to be sold on the Amazon Store using the Fulfillment By Amazon program. Amazon FBA is a tremendous ecommerce sites that allows selling on Amazon an easy and profitable business opportunity. Products How to Sell on Amazon FBA:
Baby Products, Beauty, Camera & Photo, Cell Phones & Accessories, Consumer Electronics, Grocery & Gourmet Food, Health & Personal Care, Home & Garden, Kitchen, Musical Instruments, Office Products, Person Computer, Sports & Outdoors, Tools & Home Improvement, Toys & Games, Unlocked Cell Phones.
“Restricted Categories” require Amazon approval prior to selling these types of products:
Automotive Parts & Accessories, Clothing, Accessories & Luggage, Jewelry, Kindle Accessories, Motorcycles, ATV & Protective Gear, Shoes, Watches.
The Amazon “Restricted Categories” are available to Amazon FBA sellers if you apply and follow the directions for getting approved. Don’t try to fudge your way into a category. It is not going to work. It is best to be straight forward with your approach, and have an open approval process. If you are initially denied, Amazon will clearly explain what you need to do to get approved.
Items such as collectibles, rare items, unique listings and similar are not a great venue for Amazon. Amazon is trying to sell products in high volume, therefore their catalog search results show the items that many buyers are interested in purchasing. Unique items will not be easily discovered on the catalog and most buyers look for these types of items on eBay.
Before, we get into the details, let’s use common sense, you cannot send dangerous materials, expired products, counterfeit goods, knockoffs, live animals and similar. It may seem obvious for some people but others may think it ok to send these novelties. It is not ok, and Amazon will ban you.
Here are more specifics of what is prohibited according to their policy:
- Products that state “Not for Resale” or “International Edition” cannot be sold on Amazon.
- Recopied Media cannot be sold on Amazon (e.g. Burned DVDs, Pirated Software, etc)
- Dangerous & Illegal products
- Hazardous Materials (Perfumes, Aerosols, Flammables cannot be sent to Amazon FBA)
- Nudity or Graphic in nature
- Counterfeit Merchandise (This is a very serious offense due the number of knockoffs; Don’t do it!)
- Unauthorized or Unlicensed Merchandise
- Rights of Publicity (Celebrity images, posters, image collections, etc)
If you have a very specific niche, please refer to Amazon Seller Manual or contact them directly with your question.
Based on what you can sell, or if you have items already in mind, here are some pointers to make sure that you get the most out of your Amazon FBA experience:
- Check for an Amazon catalog listing of the product that you want to sell to see its price point, rank, and overall competition. These are critical factors in determining whether you should list a product via Amazon FBA.
- Branded products that are well ranked will likely do well on the Amazon market. If the product has a low rank for its category and minimal competition, then that will be a great candidate for a product to send via FBA. As covered in Base Camp: Climbing Amazon’s FBA Program, FBA is a huge competitive advantage.
- If there is no existing listing for your product, and you are considering creating a new listing, and shipping via Amazon FBA, be sure that your product has an existing market that will create a demand for your product at the right price point. Testing products that have a certain risk is a good idea because you can determine whether a product will have buyers. If the product has demand then you can add more, if not, then just cut your losses.
- Differentiate your product listing by competing on Seller Rating, Fulfillment-By-Amazon, Price, Condition, Seller Name, Seller Image, Description Notes, Diversity of Product Offerings and other dimensions that the prospective buyer can see when look at your listing. The lowest price is not always the one that buyers choose, there are other factors weighed!
Here is a quick overview of your process as Amazon FBA Seller.
- List Products to Amazon FBA: This step covers determining where you will list your product in the Amazon catalog. Next you will add the product to you seller account and designate it as an FBA item.
- Label Products: Once you add a product, that product will be assigned a FNSKU (ie. A unique barcode identifier). You will label your product with this barcode using a sticky label. Unique barcodes are provided by Amazon.
- Pack & Ship Products: Once all your products are properly labeled, and their final destination (which Amazon Fulfillment Center) is determined, you will have to box these items, place a packing slip inside as to identify the shipment, tape up the box, and place exterior shipping labels. Packing slips and shipping labels are provided by Amazon.
- Amazon Fulfills Orders: You send out your shipment and it arrives at Amazon. Amazon unpacks your goods and your sales listings become active. When a customer orders one of your items, Amazon will ship it to them and your account will reflect the sale.