Amazon is a common subject in our discussions: when a friend of ours is searching for an item, one of the first advices is “Search on Amazon!”. In these last years, the marketplace saw a boom of users (especially in Italy) both buyers and sellers. Consider that, during the Prime Day the 12 July, Amazon registered more than 150 thousand items ordered!
In this article I am not going to talk about how to open a shop on Amazon (there are plenty of that articles online). I am going to face some aspects of this marketplace, but in the end you, and only you, will take a position for or against it.
I try to transform my thoughts in a list, in this way you can follow me:
- Many of you arranged (and are still arranging) for selling on Amazon. You have surely read that but I think it is important to say that again: to try to sell - and gain - online exclusively from one’s own eCommerce website it’s hard. The website needs advertisements and if you do not have a large budget it’s not worth the initial amount you paid for the website.
- Amazon is a portal that can offer a great visibility, even if you have to face the cruelty of the competitivity.If you take a look on Amazon you can see that the same item can be sold from various sellers and the prices can slightly vary in few cents. For this reason you have to think over: do you have the power to “play” with prices? If your supplier gives you no margin, maybe the selling of that items on Amazon is not suitable.
- Do you have good margin on the items you sell? You should have, because Amazon is the paradise of sellers but.. you have to pay for it! The commission on the transactions goes from 5% to 10% according to the category of items.
- Do you have your own brand and you want to increase in popularity - and do you think that a portal could help you? Amazon is not the right place. This marketplace does not give the space and the visibility you need, Amazon concentrates more on the items than on the seller/shop. Indeed, I think that the name of the seller is a bit “hided”.
- You have a physical shop, you would like to sell online but you can’t stand the logistic issue? For some time now, Amazon acts like a stock and delivery system, you can take advantage of its FBA service.
- You will spend much time of your day on Amazon, do you have enough time to do that? Until you try, who knows.. but if you see Amazon as a secondary selling activity I think that you cannot achieve greatest results. Unlike eBay, which is a bit more elastic, Amazon requires precision and speed both on customer care and on orders’ management. If you do not respect Amazon terms you will run into penalty or (at worst) the closure of the account. Obviously the effort grows with the growing of the customers, but if this will also increase the incomes I think that you will be fine with this.
Are you an Amazon seller or do you want to try this route? What’s your experience?