Amazon.com has become one of the most trusted online stores and you can find nearly everything there . . . should your product be included in its marketplace?
Amazon.com has a huge variety of goods available on its site and makes thousands of sales on a daily basis. With a high trust rating and good reputation, the company has turned into one of the top choices for affiliate marketing and outside promotion. All that adds up to a great deal for companies with their products on the site, and more companies are looking to place their products on the site to increase sales.
While there are a lot of great reasons to add your products to Amazon’s marketplace, there are also a few that turn people away, so you want to be sure that you can handle the terms before making a decision.
The Benefits of Having a Product on Amazon
Being associated with such a large corporation can definitely have some good points. In fact, many people list on Amazon simply because of the name and so they can say they sell there.
One of the first places people look for a product is online and as Amazon tends to dominate shopping related search results, it’s likely that they will find your product faster on the site. Some will also search directly on the shopping site, which means they can easily find your items and purchase them.
A huge benefit for those selling on the site is the related products column under each product, where similar items are shown. This can result in a huge number of sales from people who aren’t even searching for your product, but something similar. In fact, a large number of sales on the site are the result of people clicking on other products shown with the one they’ve chosen.
The Downside
One of the biggest complaints about Amazon is that it takes a large commission from you. The amount depends on the product and ranges from 6-20%, which can be a big bite out of profits. You will need to set your price high enough that you will still make money off the products, which may make them too expensive for customers.
Another con when it comes to selling your product on Amazon is that this isn’t a method of promoting your goods. Keep in mind that there are so many products available on the site, it can be very difficult to get yours noticed unless you have outside promotion. People who search for the product will find it, but even then, there can be a lot of competition, which makes it difficult to really get noticed.
Marketing is still going to be just as much your responsibility as it would be if you were selling anywhere else, so keep in mind that there is still a lot of work to do, even after being accepted onto Amazon. The company has some good settings in place that can increase sales, but if no one knows that your products exist, you still won’t sell many items.
There are a number of ways to market your Amazon.com products:
- Blogging
- Separate website
- Online and offline ads
- Newsletters
- Forums
- Article marketing
The amount of competition on the site is also very high. You could end up with thousands of products very similar to those you are planning to sell. Before you make a decision, it’s best to take a look at the competition and decide if you will be able to beat it or not.
How to Get on Amazon
Getting your products onto Amazon depends on what they are, first. For example, if you are selling an ebook, you’ll need to go through its Kindle publishing system. The process is relatively simple and you can start to upload books fairly quickly. It does take some time to get them published on Amazon, but shouldn’t take more than a week or two.
For physical products, the process is a little more involved. You can choose a product similar to yours and simply click on the “Sell one like this” option to add a product. As a personal seller, you will be charged a small (99 cents) fee up front and a commission (ranging from 6-20%) on the completed sale for each listing. However, you can also become a Pro Seller and get a proper selling account for $39.99 a month, which allows you unlimited listings without the fee, though you still have to pay the commission.
You will also need a bar code for your product, which may be the most difficult part of the process. You can purchase this online. Once you have created a bar code, you can set up a product page and description. Then it’s up to you to start marketing your products.
Amazon may not be right for you, but it does offer another trusted venue with which to sell your products, so it could be a good option for your company. Think it over and perhaps test a product or two to see how well it works for you. It can be an excellent marketplace if you already have promotion and a marketing campaign in place.
