The internet has leveled the playing field in the business world. Anyone with a computer can now start a money-making e-business. And the good thing is that today, there are many tools to help you get your business up and running.
The Amazon is the third-party e-commerce platform that helps sell your goods or services with no inventory costs.
Despite the enormous potential of e-commerce for first-time entrepreneurs, setting up an online business is more demanding than it seems. Most online shoppers commonly start their journey with Amazon. Selling on this digital marketplace can maximize your access to potential customers and significantly increase your revenue.
This multinational company makes selling simple and is your best bet to start online commerce. But just starting a business activity on Amazon is not enough. In addition to that, you should know how to offer your products, set up shipping options, distribute goods, administer reviews, and analyze your performance. Wonder how you can do that? Let’s learn how to make hundreds and even thousands of dollars by selling goods on Amazon.
1. Sign up for a seller account
To start selling on Amazon, you should first create a seller account. The registration process is easy to complete. Simply go to Seller Central and click on the ‘Register Now’ button. Select which type of seller you are: an individual seller with less than 40 sales per month or a professional seller with over 40 items for each month. The pro seller account will cost you $39.95 monthly. The Individual Seller account is best for beginners who don’t have spare money.
2. Find a product to sell
Once the first step is made, you’ll be an official vendor on Amazon. Now it’s time to go to the next level and arrange a product to sell. If you’re a beginner with almost no money to start, take a look around the house and see what you can sell. Maybe used books are the best first stock to offer.
Amazon assigns a Best Seller Rank (BSR) number to every single item ever sold. The items are sorted by popularity. The lower BSR number shows a higher probability of selling.
3. List your stuff
The next simple step to follow has to do with listing your item on the platform. If your product already exists on the website, you just need to go to the preexisting listing. Click on “Sell on Amazon”- a gray button redirecting you to a page that requires further information.
This stage also implies conditions and price setting. It’s better to set your price close to the lowest one to ensure a quick sale. List the item on the platform by following the condition guidelines. Now, the merchandise is up and ready for customers to buy.
4. Fulfill and deliver your goods
It’s time to cross your fingers and wait for someone to buy your product. Now, it’s the FBA program’s turn. Vendors have two methods for managing their selling business: Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) where you ship your goods to customers by yourself, or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in which packaging, labeling, and shipping are all on Amazon staff shoulders.
How FBA works
This e-business hub has over 175 fulfillment centers with more than 150 million square feet of storage space. Your stock will be shipped, scanned, and made ready for sales. The goods will be packed in order and shipped directly to the customer. Customer payments are collected and paid to you every two weeks. The online customer service team supports customers, deals with returns and refunds. This is what Fulfillment by Amazon is about.
To beat the competition in the e-commerce area and create a lasting business, you have to meet three requirements:
- Offer necessary goods for customers
- Be as strategic as possible while entering the market
- Set a competitive and sustainable price
It may be frightening at first glance, but there’s no need to be worried if you have the right information at the right time.
IO Scout
Conducting product research for Amazon implies analyzing current market trends to discover product ideas that generally lead to high sales. You need research software tools that’ll show you precise data from Amazon and allow you to do large-scale analyses.
IO Scout is an Amazon research software solution helping vendors join the market with in-demand products and get exact details about their products.
The tool has a massive catalog of products covering over 150 million items sold on Amazon. Besides, the data is updated every hour, so you can rest assured that you’re doing your Amazon product analysis based on up-to-date information.
With this product tracker for Amazon, you can follow both your and your competitors’ products and estimate the potential revenue of new merchandise. You’re also guaranteed to find a large number of high-margin low-competition products.
Finally, there’s the matter of convenience. You can do all your research right from your browser without going insane from all the tab-switching.
Bottom Line
Whether you’re a starting seller or a pro, there are long standing fundamentals that you should follow to succeed. Online commerce is not an exception. Success can’t come in the blink of an eye; instead, you should actively learn how to sell in an online space.
