Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 3
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Getting Started With Selling On Amazon 5
Chapter 1: Laying the Groundwork 7
Getting the Lowdown on Selling Online 7
Weighing the pros and cons of online retailing 8
Taking a tour of online stores and marketplaces 9
Exploring How Amazon Works 10
Before you start selling 10
Selling products 11
Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) 11
Comparing Amazon Business Types 13
Vendor (1P) versus Seller (3P) 13
Individual versus Professional 14
Arbitrage versus private label 15
Sellers with and without brand registry 17
Tabulating the Costs 18
Product sourcing 18
Shipping and storage 18
Amazon Seller fees 19
Returns 19
Other costs 20
Following Amazon’s Rules 20
Seller code of conduct 20
Accurate information 21
Acting fairly 21
Ratings, feedback, and reviews 22
Communications 22
Customer information 22
Circumventing the sales process 22
Multiple Amazon Seller accounts 23
Chapter 2: Selling on Amazon in a Nutshell 25
First Things First: Finding Products to Sell 26
Deciding what to sell and not sell 26
Exploring product sourcing options 29
Listing Products for Sale on Amazon 30
Prepping and Shipping Products to Customers 31
Introducing Amazon Prime 31
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Small and Light (SNL) 32
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) 33
Seller Fulfilled Prime 34
Drop-shipping 34
Multi-Channel Fulfillment 35
Boosting Sales with Advertising and Promotions 35
Providing Stellar Customer Service 37
Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Amazon Seller Account 39
Registering to Become an Amazon Seller 39
Completing Your Amazon Seller Business Profile 42
Business Address 42
Official Registered Address 43
Language for Feed Processing Report 43
Legal Entity 43
Merchant Token 44
Display Name 44
Checking and Adjusting Your Account Settings 45
Entering Shipping and Return Settings 46
Shipping settings 46
Return settings 47
Securing Your Amazon Seller Account 49
Chapter 4: Becoming Familiar with Seller Central 53
Finding Your Way around Seller Central 53
Switching marketplaces 54
Navigating the menu bar 54
Using the search bar 60
Viewing your payments summary 61
Taking advantage of Amazon business reports 62
Accessing the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service 64
Getting Help and Information 65
Engaging in the seller forums 66
Contacting Amazon support for help 67
Managing your case log 67
Consulting Amazon Selling Coach 68
Skimming Amazon headline news 69
Checking out Amazon’s app store: The Service Provider Network (SPN) 69
Exploring Amazon’s Seller University 70
Part 2: Procuring Products to Sell On Amazon 71
Chapter 5: Knowing What You Can and Can’t Sell on Amazon 73
Recognizing Products You Can Sell: Amazon’s Product Categories 73
Open categories 74
Categories that require approval 75
Steering Clear of Restricted Products 76
Brushing Up on Food Safety Rules 78
Organic products 79
Chilled and frozen products 80
Chapter 6: Finding Products with Profit Potential 81
Recognizing the Characteristics of Products with High Profit Potential 82
Uniqueness 82
Price range and profit margin 82
Sales volume 83
Shipping cost/complexity 84
Reviews 84
Steering Clear of Troublesome Products 84
Trademarked products 85
Mechanically complex products 85
Products that are difficult and costly to store and ship 86
Products sold in large retail stores 87
Conducting Your Own Product Research 87
Using product research tools 87
Sizing up the competition 89
Exploring Alibaba and other Chinese online wholesale marketplaces 90
Validating or Rejecting Product Ideas 92
Weighing the pros and cons of carrying the latest, greatest products 92
Considering seasonal products 93
Giving new brands a try (or not) 93
Focusing on Price and Sales Volume 94
Checking out different pricing strategies 95
Keeping an eye on the competition 95
Estimating sales volume 97
Setting realistic profit projections 98
Chapter 7: Exploring Your Product Sourcing Options 101
Mastering Retail Arbitrage 102
Buying from brick-and-mortar retailers 102
Buying from online retailers 105
Recognizing the importance of having a purchase order (PO) or receipt 107
Sourcing Products at Auctions and Liquidation Sales 107
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Drop-Shipping 109
Buying from Manufacturers, Distributors, and Wholesalers 110
Deciding whether a manufacturer is best 111
Knowing when to opt for a distributor 111
Deciding when a wholesaler is best 112
Sourcing Products from Alibaba 114
Finding Suppliers at Tradeshows 117
Making and Selling Your Own Products: Amazon Handmade and Custom 119
Selling your own hand-crafted products 119
Selling customized products on Amazon 121
Chapter 8: Evaluating and Negotiating with Suppliers 123
Deciding Whether to Use Domestic or Foreign Suppliers or Both 124
Recognizing the pros and cons of working with domestic suppliers 124
Weighing the pros and cons of working with foreign suppliers 125
Selecting Suppliers with the Right Stuff 126
Gauging experience and expertise 127
Ensuring clear communication 127
Sizing up a supplier’s reputation 128
Assessing a supplier’s responsiveness 130
Comparing prices 131
Negotiating Prices and Terms 132
Prepping for negotiation 132
Brushing up on effective negotiating tactics 133
Obtaining a purchase order contract 134
Part 3: Getting Down To The Business of Selling 137
Chapter 9: Listing Products for Sale on Amazon 139
Knowing What’s Required to Own the Buy Box 140
Ensuring buy-box eligibility 140
Meeting the quality metrics for winning the buy box 141
Thinking outside the buy box 144
Obtaining High-Quality Product Photos 144
Brushing up on Amazon’s product photo rules and restrictions 145
Procuring manufacturer photos 146
Taking your own photos 146
Outsourcing product photos 147
Checking out Amazon Imaging Services 148
Creating a Product Listing 149
Matching to an existing product listing 149
Creating a new product listing 151
Listing multiple products in bulk 155
Listing variations and bundles 159
Creating product subscriptions 162
Increasing Your Product Search Ranking on Amazon 164
Harnessing the power of the A9 algorithm 164
Checking out the competition 166
Using keywords to your advantage 166
Chapter 10: Fulfilling Customer Orders 171
Choosing an Order Fulfillment Method 172
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) 172
Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) 174
Seller Fulfilled Prime 175
Drop-shipping 177
Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) 178
Accounting for the costs 179
Knowing what to send and not send to FBA 182
Signing up for FBA 185
Preparing and shipping products to FBA 185
Removing inventory from FBA 190
Shipping Products Yourself: Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) 193
Chapter 11: Helping Shoppers Find You and Your Products 195
Gaining Traction with Product and Seller Ratings and Feedback 195
Encouraging customers to review products 196
Improving your seller rating and feedback 199
Harnessing the Power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 200
Jazzing Up Your Listings with A+ Content 201
Driving Web Traffic from Outside Amazon to Your Product Listings 203
Generating buzz via social media 203
Creating a website or landing page 204
Using pay-per-click advertising 206
Chapter 12: Boosting Sales with Marketing and Advertising 207
Exploring Different Ad Types 208
Sponsored Products 208
Sponsored Brands 210
Sponsored Display 211
Amazon demand-side platform (DSP) 211
Custom ads 212
Deals and coupons 212
Optimizing Your Search Rank with Sponsored Product Ads 214
Letting Amazon target your Sponsored Product ad for you 214
Targeting your own Sponsored Product Ads 215
Evaluating and adjusting your ad campaigns 217
Boosting Brand Awareness with Sponsored Brands 219
Giving Your Shoppers an Added Incentive to Buy: Deals and Coupons 221
Offering special deals 221
Offering coupon discounts 223
Creating promotions 224
Taking Advantage of External Marketing Options 225
Dipping into social media marketing 226
Harnessing the power of influencer marketing 228
Firing Up Your Email Marketing Machine 229
Chapter 13: Focusing on Customer Service 231
Understanding Why Customer Satisfaction Is So Important 232
Laying the Groundwork for Quality Customer Service 233
Managing and Shipping Orders 234
Responding to Customer Questions, Concerns, and Complaints 235
Processing Returns, Refunds, and Cancellations 236
Handling returns 237
Issuing refunds 239
Following up on order cancellations 239
Managing Seller Feedback and Product Reviews 240
Monitoring and responding to seller feedback 241
Monitoring and responding to product ratings and reviews 243
Fielding A-to-Z Claims 244
Chapter 14: Building and Managing Your Own Webstore 247
Choosing Where to Build Your Webstore: Inside or Outside Amazon or Both 248
Weighing the pros and cons of building an Amazon Store 248
Weighing the pros and cons of building a webstore outside Amazon 249
Creating two webstores 250
Laying the Groundwork for Your Webstore 250
Choosing a unique and recognizable domain name 250
Deciding how to build your webstore 251
Categorizing your products 252
Gathering the essentials to build your store 254
Creating Your Amazon Store 257
Creating a Stand-Alone Webstore 259
Designing your storefront 259
Making sure you have everything in place 261
Chapter 15: Managing Your Inventory 263
Grasping the Importance of Inventory Management 263
Managing Inventory via Amazon’s Manage Inventory Page 264
Maintaining Sufficient Stock 266
Forecasting sales 266
Accounting for lead time 267
Replenishing FBA inventory 268
Setting up replenishment alerts 269
Avoiding FBA’s long-term storage fees 271
Getting Some Cash or Credit to Buy Inventory 272
Hitting Amazon up for a loan 272
Getting daily payouts with Payability 273
Making savvy use of credit cards 274
Financing with loans or lines of credit 274
Part 4: Taking Your Business to the Next Level 277
Chapter 16: Putting Additional Amazon Seller Tools to Work for You 279
Tracking Your Account’s Health and Performance 280
Checking your account health 280
Reviewing customer feedback 282
Monitoring and managing your A-to-Z Guarantee claims 282
Monitoring and managing your chargeback claims 283
Accessing Amazon’s performance notifications 284
Gaining additional insight via the Voice of the Customer feature 284
Improving your performance via Seller University 285
Dealing with Sales Tax 285
Grasping the basics of Marketplace Tax Collection 286
Using Amazon’s Tax Calculation Service (TCS) 287
Generating Business and Inventory Reports 289
Sales reports 289
Inventory reports 290
Payments reports 292
Customer concession reports 292
Removal reports 293
Managing Your Amazon Seller Account with the Mobile App 293
Getting the Amazon Seller Mobile App 294
Navigating the Amazon Seller Mobile App 294
Chapter 17: Building Your Own Brand (or Not) 297
Deciding Whether Branding Is Right for You 298
Creating Your Own Brand 299
Discover your purpose 299
Analyze your competition 300
Identify your target market 300
Identify your brand’s key benefits 301
Write a slogan 302
Visualize your brand 302
Work it: Reinforce your brand 302
Trademarking Your Brand 303
Registering your trademark on USPTO.gov 303
Streamlining the trademark registration
process with IP Accelerator 304
Adding your trademark to the Amazon Brand Registry 305
Building a Brand with Private-Label Products 309
Chapter 18: Taking Advantage of Third-Party Tools and Service Providers 311
Taking Product Research to the Next Level 312
Managing the Backend of Your Ecommerce Business 313
Handling multi-channel integration 314
Streamlining order management 315
Simplifying inventory management 315
Automating price changes 316
Automating Feedback and Reviews 317
Finding Help through Amazon’s Service Provider Network 318
Chapter 19: Expanding Your Operations: B2B and Global Sales 321
Selling Products to Amazon as a Vendor 322
Weighing the pros and cons of selling to Amazon as a vendor 322
Increasing your chances of getting invited to become a vendor 323
Selling to Other Businesses 323
Getting up to speed on performance standards and rules 324
Managing business pricing and quantity discounts 325
Creating business-only offers 328
Enrolling in Amazon’s tax exemption program 329
Negotiating business prices 330
Expanding Your Operations Globally 331
Simplifying the process with FBA Export 331
Expanding your operations into other countries using Amazon Global Selling 333
Part 5: The Part of Tens 335
Chapter 20: Top Ten Advertising Tips 337
Get to Know the Different Ad Types 337
Test the Market with Automatic Targeting 338
Make the Most of Manual Targeting 339
Find Your Long-Tail Search Terms 339
Research Your Competitor’s Search Terms 340
Write Copy Specific to Your Product 340
Avoid These Common Search Terms Mistakes 341
Specify Negative Search Terms 342
Always Test and Track 343
Don’t Rush! Good Advertising Takes Time 343
Chapter 21: Ten Tips to Deliver Awesome Customer Service 345
Follow Amazon’s Rules and Updates 346
Respond in a Timely Manner 346
Be Honest 347
Be Empathetic 347
Go the Extra Mile 348
Ask Questions 348
Personalize Your Responses 349
Stay Calm 349
Remain Positive 350
Think Long Term 350
Chapter 22: Ten (Plus One) Tips to Find Best-Selling Products 353
Recognize Key Product Selection Criteria 354
Find a Niche 354
Sell What You Know and Love 355
Do Your Own Thing 355
Don’t Expect Seasonal Products to Sell Year-Round 356
Decide Whether to Pursue Best Sellers 357
Capitalize on Low Competition 357
Focus on Products That Sell for More than 20 Bucks 358
Check Competitors’ Reviews 359
Reduce Returns 359
Avoid Legal Issues 360
Index 361
