Month: August 2021

Many businesses rely on Amazon for distribution and sales services. The business boasts one of the world’s most well-known and influential distribution networks. Companies who sell on Amazon have the freedom of buying a logistical solution to address further issues by utilizing Amazon FBA, which stands for “Fulfillment by Amazon.” It means that Amazon will care about and manage your inventory.

Your client will detect no change in the quality of service they get. The vendor is just utilizing Amazon’s tried-and-true services and paying for the privilege. You have the peace of mind of knowing that Amazon manages distribution, while the consumer benefits from Amazon’s massive distribution network and seamless distribution system.

Some startups may be unaware of this service, and there is a lengthy procedure involved. Therefore we will attempt to provide a summary of Amazon FBA for beginners. It is essential to go through all of the procedures and carefully follow them since the fulfillment service provided by Amazon is valuable. 

Still, it is very complicated, and there are many places where you may go wrong. Therefore, it is critical to be accurate in all of your activities, and you must perform the procedures precisely to prevent packages from being refused and distribution delays increasing.

How to Get Started with Amazing FBA

So, what is Amazon FBA? Many businesses who want to enhance their distribution networks and save time and money may benefit from Amazon FBA.

However, to take advantage of Amazon FBA, a business must first complete several procedures. This ensures that Amazon will fulfill your existing and future listings, giving you more time to focus on developing your company.

Logging In

To begin your Amazon FBA journey, log in to a seller’s account and then proceed to the Manage Inventory page. Mark any listings that you want to convert to Amazon FBA from this page. Then, choose the Convert to Amazon Fulfillment option by clicking on the Actions button. 

Picking the Goods

After that, pick the goods you wish to send using Amazon FBA and click the Send/Replenish inventory button. You have the option of sending individual goods or several packaged packages. Amazon prefers to handle items delivered in a packed box, so it may be worthwhile to wait until you have more things to distribute to make the process quicker and simpler.

Shipping Options and Labelling

Examine the shipping process option on your company’s Amazon profile page. After that, you must label, pack, and ready your products for shipment. Finally, you must choose between two labeling choices and verify that you have packed and packaged your goods precisely as Amazon requires.

Options for Labelling

You will be prompted to choose your labeling choices at first. There are two options: comingled or stickerless packaging or labeling.

Stickerless or Commingled

The stickerless or comingled option eliminates the need to apply stickers or labels to the goods you submit to Amazon for fulfillment. However, at the fulfillment center, they will be mixed up with other comparable goods. The advantages of the no-sticker alternative are the ease of packing and processing at the fulfillment centers.

There are a few things that do not meet the criteria for the commingled option. These are some examples:

• Anything that has been used or reconditioned
• Gemstones
• Clothing
• Timepieces
• Footwear
• VHS tapes
• Computer software
• Musical Instruments
• Literature
• Computer and video games

Optional Labeling

If you choose the marked option, you must label each item you submit to Amazon for fulfillment. This implies that each item will be labeled to identify you as the seller and will not be put in the fulfillment center with goods of the same kind. Therefore, if you choose this option, you will track your goods more efficiently on Amazon.

For a nominal charge, Amazon may apply labels to your shipments. However, regardless of your choice, each item must be immediately identifiable as the product itself and identify you as the vendor.

Amazon FBA Step-by-Step Instructions

When you submit your first shipment to Amazon for fulfillment, you must meet specific requirements. For example, you must specify how many pieces each item has and where you are sending them from. The shipment’s shipping method and carrier are then chosen. Amazon has preferred carriers that provide competitive prices for transporting services.

Amazon will notify you of the location of your completed shipment. When they arrive, they will be accessible to UK Amazon customers. If you are shipping from another country, there are comparable fulfillment services in that country that you may use.

If you send goods to several countries, you may choose a Multi-Country Inventory. Amazon will ship your most popular products to the nation where they sell the most, but they will also ship the same items to Fulfillment Centers in the countries from where they will ship.

If you are new to Amazon Fulfillment, Amazon may ask you to provide the dimensions of your shipments, so make sure you have them on hand. It would help if you informed Amazon how many shipments you are shipping to the fulfillment center. If you input erroneous quantities on the Send/Replenish Inventory page, it will cause your order to be delayed.

You will need to prepare your products for distribution and, once again, add this information to your Amazon business page. Again, you have a drop-down menu with various packaging choices to choose from, so highlight the relevant packaging information.

You will then be sent to a website to print labels for each of your boxes or individual products based on your choices. You will be given a carrier tracking number, which you will put into your account, mark the item as sent, and you will be ready to dispatch the goods.

If there are any discrepancies in the process, you may utilize the Shipment Reconciliation Tool by selecting the Reconcile tab. Another option is to automate this whole process through one of the services of Amazon Automation.

Optional Additions

Did you get overwhelmed by the costs you had to deal with? But, if you want to be an Amazon FBA seller, why not attempt the FBA New Selection program?

On qualifying new-to-FBA ASINs, this program provides free monthly storage, free returns processing, and free removals. Participants will also get a $100 discount on Amazon-partnered carrier delivery.

There are now over 60,000 vendors registered in the new ASIN program. In addition, they’ve introduced additional perks this year, such as:

• Eligibility for Large Items: Amazon will begin offering free storage (up to 90 days) and free removals (up to 180 days) on qualifying large goods on April 1, 2021. (up to 30 units per parent ASIN).

• ASIN restriction: Amazon will enable an unlimited number of qualified, new-to-FBA parent ASINs beginning April 1, 2021. As a result, the 500-ASIN restriction is no longer in effect.

• Advertisement that has been sponsored: Beginning April 1, 2021, the online retailing behemoth will provide promotional credits for sponsored advertising.

This program seems to be intriguing, but how do you enroll?

ASIN Restriction Enrollment

So, what is Amazon FBA’s ASIN restriction program? First, you must determine whether or not you are qualified. Professional sellers are the only ones who can sell on Amazon. You must also keep your IPI score at 400 or above. New Professional vendors and sellers who have not yet been given an IPI score are welcome to join as well. However, if your IPI score falls below 400, Amazon will immediately drop you from the program.

ASINs are examined in addition to seller eligibility. You have the option of enrolling in small standard and big standard-size goods. Also, make sure you haven’t listed the parent ASINs in the last 180 days. Please keep in mind that used goods and the Media categories are not eligible. Finally, only Jewelry, Apparel, Luggage, Shoes, Handbags & Accessories, and Watches qualify for free returns processing.

Please keep in mind that your registration is still subject to Amazon’s approval. You may learn more about the FBA New Selection program by clicking on this link.

Web Service Marketplace

Amazon’s marketplace web services, or MWS, enable businesses to connect Amazon FBA transactions into their management systems.

This is accomplished via different APIs that enable you to execute various FBA tasks inside your system. Sending shipment inventories to FBA centers is one of these tasks. This inventory system may store orders made by non-Amazon transactions as well. MWS may also keep inventory data at its fulfillment centers.

It is entirely free to use the MWS system. All of this is included in the costs for utilizing the Amazon FBA service. You can also check out Amazon Automation’s services to get your hands off most of the operations of your online business.

What Happens to Your Products?

So, what happens when you send your products to the fulfillment center using a carrier? Then, we can examine the procedure step by step till your products are sent.

First, reception personnel at the FC receive and scan the goods. Second, you may check the progress of your purchase by going to your Amazon account’s business page. Third, if the fulfillment center does not handle your shipments within three days, you may contact the Seller Support Centre.

The goods you delivered to the FC are then placed on shelves until they are selected for delivery to customers.

Delivery of Pallets

You must be aware of specific restrictions if you are shipping your products to Amazon on a pallet. For example, if the pallet is single stacked, it cannot be taller than 1.7m or 1.5m if double stacked, including the pallet’s height.

The natural pallet must meet 1200mm by 1000mm, or it will be rejected. You must securely cover the pallets with stretch transparent plastic or tape labeled “do not break down.” Any goods weighing more than 15kg should also be labeled as a heavy load.

The employees must access the products using their Power Pallet Truck when the pallets are brought to the Fulfilment Centre. Therefore the truck that delivers the goods must be 7.5 tons or more prominent. It must also be able to reverse to the FC loading bay door.

Any carriers must make a delivery appointment. Fill up your booking form and send it to the courier so that he may notify the FC through email.

Common Issues in Amazon FBA

You want your items to arrive at the fulfillment center securely and promptly. Therefore, you can make the procedure go more smoothly. However, if you do not correctly follow the procedural guidelines, shipments may be delayed.

Check that your goods are adequately packaged. Next, make sure that your labels are firmly affixed and simple to read. Lastly, check that you have placed the correct item in the corresponding packaging.

Because various nations have different customs requirements, you must ensure that the products you are shipping conform with the country you are sending them to and their laws. If you find this part of the distribution process too difficult, you may hire a customs broker to assist you. You will then have the peace of mind that an expert has addressed these complicated problems.

Using Amazon FBA to Launch a Company

Enrolling in Amazon FBA is a natural next step for a well-established company that is currently importing or producing goods. If you are establishing a company, you may intend to utilize Amazon’s fulfillment services as part of your business strategy.

Once you’ve acquired your goods and arranged for them to be produced, they may be delivered directly to the Amazon Fulfillment Center, thus removing you from the equation. You’ll still be in the thick of things, processing inventory and keeping track of orders and sales. However, when it comes to warehousing goods and arranging for them to be delivered, Amazon FBA will take care of everything for you. 

Even after paying Amazon for distribution, you will still make a nice profit on your products, provided you have priced them reasonably. You will need to create an Amazon professional account since you will be a business seller rather than an individual seller. You will want to sell goods in quantity rather than individually.

Other benefits are available to Amazon corporate customers. When you begin selling on Amazon, you are a mystery to the customer. Therefore, it is advantageous to have reviews and star ratings to provide consumer trust. Using an algorithm, Amazon can handle all of this for you. They may assess your selling profile by weighing sales and reviews. As a result, when you first start, ask all of your friends and family to purchase and review your goods. This offers you a head start, and a rung on the Amazon recommended seller ladder.

Wrapping Up

If you want to make a livelihood as an Amazon seller and use FBA, you may enroll in a course to learn the fundamentals of how to get started. Courses offer a blueprint for utilizing Amazon FBA, whether you are a beginner or an experienced merchant.

The advantages of utilizing the Amazon Fulfillment Service for a company are self-evident. Your company will operate more smoothly, and you will save time and money in the workplace.

Your consumers will be pleased since they will have access to Amazon customer support and shipping choices when they purchase your goods. As a result, you will increase your sales and enhance your client’s happiness. To maximize your possibilities in the Amazon FBA program, schedule a free consultation with Amazon Automation now!

Although Amazon sells and delivers many of its goods directly, it also provides a range of products from third-party merchants. If you have questions or require an order to clear up a problem with one of these items, it is generally preferable to contact the seller directly. Fortunately, you may do this in many easy ways. 

The seller’s site lets you ask a question, report a problem through the “Your Orders” site, or interact with the buyer/seller if you have contacted them before. Let’s go into several ways on how to contact a seller on Amazon.

Use the Product List Page

Navigate to one of the product lists of the vendor. You may do this from the product page if you wish to ask a seller about a product. You may also obtain a list of products by heading to the Amazon shop if they have one. 

First, click the seller’s name on the right side of the page next to “Sold by.” Upon landing on the page of the products, click “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now” box, which you can find on the right side. You will notice the words ‘Sold by’ under those buttons, followed by a clickable link of the name of the vendor. To view seller information and contact page, click on this link.

Click the “Question request” button on the seller’s website if you’re using the Amazon app. When you access the seller’s page, find a “Question Ask” button in yellow. You should see this button at the top of the seller’s website, whether using a browser or Amazon Prime App.

Follow the instructions for selecting a subject for your question or remark. You will get a dropdown menu asking you to choose a topic for your message when you click “Question.” Choose the topic that matches your question or remark most closely.

On the following page, type a descriptive message in the text box. After selecting a topic, that will lead you to a new page to write in your message. Include any relevant data, such as your product, order number (if you have one), and inquiry information, remark, request, or complaint details.

The text box appears for you to put in your message to the seller. You will have to restrict your message to 4,000 characters.

Tip: You also have an opportunity, if you want, to email attachments. For example, you may include a photograph of the damage to submit a complaint about damaged goods. Also, you can use automation services such as Amazon Automation to prevent such issues.

Simply click “Send email” to proceed with your message. Once your message is satisfactory, click the “Send email” button in the text field. Amazon will forward your inquiry to the third-parity seller and email you a copy. After that, you will send an email from Amazon.com. You may use Amazon’s A-to-Z guarantee service to sort other related issues out.

Connect Through the Order Page

First off, go to “Your Orders,” where you can get further assistance about an order with a third-party merchant.. Go to Amazon.com, click on the “Returns & Orders” button or go from your account page to “Your Orders.” Locate the item with which you want assistance in the order list.

If you use the Amazon Prime app, select the dropdown menu at the upper left of the screen to discover your orders. First, you will find “Your Orders” in the “Home” list. Next, click on “Order problem” or “Order aid.” Then, click “’Problem with order’ or ‘Get assistance with order.’ To report an issue, choose one of these buttons, then follow the instructions to report your problem.

You can only see the yellow “Order aid” button when the vendor manages its delivery instead of Amazon. You may fix the problem without having to contact the vendor directly by following the guidelines of Amazon. If not, the customer care system from Amazon will let you contact the vendor.

If your purchase has been sent, but you would like to ask for a return, exchange, or refund, click on the icon “Return or replace products.” If the seller handles these transactions, Amazon will notify you.

To rate the seller, use the “Leave Seller Feedback” option. If you have the goods and want to provide the seller with feedback, choose “Leave seller feedback” next to the order you are interested in. You may give a star rating for the vendor from there and comment on your buying experience. You may submit up seller feedback 90 days following your purchase date.

Buyer/Seller Messages Communication

Browse to “Your Account.” You may keep the discussion continuing via Amazon’s buyer-seller system if you previously interacted with a seller. To find your messages, go from the Amazon.com site to the “Your account” page.

Go to the “Accounts and Lists” tab in the upper right corner of the Amazon site if you are using a browser.. In the “Your Lists” and above “Shop by Department,” you will locate the “Your Account” link.

Download “Communication and Content.” Scroll down to the “Communication and content” section on your account page. After that, click “Amazon messages and sellers.” Clicking on this link opens an inbox containing all of your previous Amazon and third-party messages. You may also see any messages you have sent through the message system. [When using the app, under the heading “Message center,” choose “Your Messages.”

Choose the tab “Buyer/Seller Messages.” At the top of your inbox, you will notice a tab that reads “Buyer/Seller Messages.” Click this option only to see communications between you and sellers from third parties. After you have clicked on the “Your Messages” button in the app, you may find access to “All Messages,” “Buyer/Seller Messages,” and “Sending Messages.”

Open a message from the vendor with whom you wish to speak. Scroll through the mailing list until you discover one from the vendor to whom you want to speak. You will see a copy of their message and Amazon information on their communications rules for buyers and sellers. If you have many messages and find it challenging to locate the one you want, you may show messages from a particular period.

Press the “Respond” button and type a message. Once you’ve chosen the message to which you wish to reply, tap the “Reply” button at the top of the screen. This opens a text box to type your message. Next, click the yellow “Send” button to send a message if you are happy with what you have typed. You will have to restrict your message to 4,000 characters.

Wrapping Up

These are the ways to contact a seller on Amazon. Keep in mind that Amazon will not disclose your seller’s email address. All conversations are conducted through the messaging service of Amazon. To keep this from happening ever again, you should consider Amazon Automation’s services for complete customer satisfaction!

If you’re new to the e-commerce world, you’ve probably decided that you’d like to become a seller on Amazon. On top of that, it’s possible you’ve heard about how profitable selling books on the platform can be. Maybe you’ve got a lot of used books lying around or you’d like to source new ones to try and resell them on Amazon Marketplace. Either way, we’ve put together this article as a sort of guide on how to sell books! 

How To Sell Used Books On Amazon

We’ll start with selling used books on Amazon Marketplace. This is perfect for those of you who are avid collectors. You might even have a whole library of books lying around that you need to get off of your hands. Also, it’s great for getting your foot in the door for the world of bookselling on Amazon. 

Before you get started selling your books, you need to ask yourself a few things. First of all, how do you plan on fulfilling your orders? Secondly, what type of seller do you want to be on Amazon? And thirdly, are you going to source extra inventory after you run out of your first batch of used books? Let’s guide you through these things as there’s some nuance when it comes to selling on Amazon. 

Fulfilling Orders

On Amazon, there are two methods that you can use to fulfill your orders: Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). To put it simply, FBM means that you’ll be handling the shipping and delivering yourself while using FBA means you’d be letting Amazon handle all of that. But which one should I choose? You might ask. Here are some pointers to help you answer that yourself. 

When thinking about going the FBM route, you should be confident that you can cover all of the shipping costs that come with this route. Additionally, this is the type of fulfillment we recommend if you have a fairly small stock. That being said, if you have a lot of books, a good storage space, and prefer handling logistics yourself, then FBM is a good route to take. 

FBA is an excellent method to use if you have a lot of stock, expect a lot of orders, and don’t want to worry about things like storage and having to ship items by yourself. But how does that work? Well, with this service you can actually take your items to the nearest FBA warehouse and store them there. Then, when Amazon receives an order for one of your books, it will pick up the package and ship it for you! 

It should be noted that the Amazon FBA service isn’t free, there are some fees that you have to pay.  These FBA fees amount to things like long-term storage fees, closing fees, normal storage fees, referral fees, and fees based on the size of your packages or items. The tradeoff here is that you won’t need to pay any extra shipping costs but will have to deal with Amazon fees. It’s good to weigh your options and see which fulfillment method will be more lucrative for you. 

The Types of Amazon Seller Accounts 

Whether you’ve decided to use FBM or FBA, your next step in creating your book-selling business on Amazon is deciding what kind of seller account you’d like. There are two types of accounts that you can create: An individual seller’s account and a professional seller’s account. 

The difference between these two accounts is kind of similar to deciding between FBM or FBA. With an individual seller account, then you won’t be shipping out any big orders. The reason is that individual sellers cannot sell more than 40 products per month. Therefore, we recommend this account for people with low stock, amateur sellers, or if you’re selling as a way to make some extra money or want a new side hustle. Additionally, you will be paying $.99 every time an order is sold, along with some other fees. 

Professional sellers, on the other hand, do not have any limitations on how many products that they can sell every month. Instead, they have a monthly fee they have to pay of $39.99. There are, of course, selling fees on top of this monthly cost as well. However, if you plan on making your book-selling a full-time business, or have a large stock of books, this account is perfect for you. It all depends on the business model you’re shooting for!

Sourcing Extra Books 

After reading through those paragraphs about fulfillment and seller accounts, you may have come to the conclusion as to how seriously you’ll be taking your book-selling. If you’ve decided you’d like to make this an actual business, then you’re no doubt wondering where you can source books from.

Of course, you can always use your own old books that are sitting on your bookshelf. However, if you’re a book lover then chances are you don’t want to sell all of your precious tomes. So this now begs the question, what are the best types of books to sell and where can I get them? 

As an amateur bookseller, we don’t recommend worrying about finding the right kind of niche category immediately. Instead, you’ll want to try a wide variety of different book types to find out which niche is the most profitable and accessible for you. That being said, we can recommend some categories later that are safe bets which have proven to sell well. 

Starting off, we highly recommend looking at local book sales for interesting and well-kept volumes. There are plenty of places that do book sales if you do your research, especially places like local libraries, thrift stores, or estate sales. It can help to bring some sort of ISBN or barcode (UPC) scanner with you on these trips to see what the pricing is on a particular book. It’s kind of like panning for gold! 

Another method is something known as online arbitrage or retail arbitrage. Essentially, if you don’t feel like going from book sale to book sale, you can look on websites and retailers other than Amazon for books that have a lower price. You can then buy a bunch of them and then list them on Amazon at a higher or their original price.  

But what if you’re looking to buy lots of books all at once? Well, we have a solution for you. Bulk purchasing of books can be done by looking on websites like eBay, CraigsList, and even Facebook Marketplace. Here you can find lots of people who are willing to get rid of a large number of books for a relatively cheap price. Some sellers may even be willing to do trade-ins. 

To add to that, sometimes people on such websites will just straight up give away their books. This can be a great way to snag something that has more value than people realize. However, there is a catch to this. Sometimes people will give away lots of books, knowing that they have no value. Therefore, always do your research

Selling the Right Kind of Books on Amazon

Now that you know where you can find books to sell, it’s time to talk about selling the right kinds. It’s very easy to find books that you can list on Amazon, but it’s more important to find ones that will sell well. Therefore, we’ve got a few tricks for you that will help you in your quest for best-sellers. 

Something you can do on Amazon is check the book’s “Best-Seller Ranking.” On the book’s store page, near the product page, you’ll find this ranking. Not only will it show you how it ranks in the general category of books, but it will show you how high it ranks in different sub-categories. There are even links to see the top 100 best-selling books on Amazon. 

Obviously, a book with a high sales rank will sell easily. But what’s a high enough ranking that the book will sell quickly? After all, you don’t want it sitting around gathering dust for too long. Generally speaking, we recommend selling books that have a ranking that’s lower than 100,000. These books tend to sell within 24 hours of being listed. 

What Categories of Books Sell the Best on Amazon? 

Now that you know the strategies for sourcing your books and for selling the right kinds of books, we now need to talk about the categories of books that sell the best. We’ll be talking about categories that we have found to work the best, especially for amateur sellers. This list should give you a good entry point so you can branch into other categories.

Textbooks

Textbooks are something that is always in high demand. You will find that these books will have some of the highest prices during the beginning of fall and the spring. College students and textbook distributors will essentially be chomping at the bit in an effort to get their required texts for a course. 

Additionally, even the older editions of these books can be sold for a pretty high price. However, you may need to double-check that the older editions are still usable for certain classes. Additionally, some publishers like to make sure that third-party sellers can’t sell new or used copies in a process called “brand gating.” 

Nice Books

If you’re looking for a category that has a relatively low amount of competition, niche books are right for you. The thing that makes these special is that they are out of print books and are usually part of larger collections. These can effectively be considered collecter’s items by some and can fetch a nice price. 

Comic Books

This might come as a surprise to some, but you can actually sell comics on Amazon! Single issue comics, collections, as well as full graphic novels generally sell well on the platform and are a great way to make money. This is doubly true if you have some sort of collector’s issue on hand. 

Collectible Books

This is the type of book that people would pay a lot of money to have. Things like first editions, signed copies, or maybe even some sort of misprint. A collectible version of a very popular book can net you a lot of money on the Amazon market! 

Non-Fiction Books

For some reason, non-fiction books tend to sell better than fictions books on Amazon. It’s not like people don’t like fiction books on Amazon, but there definitely seems to be a higher demand for non-fiction books for some reason. There’s still a good market for fiction books, but non-fiction is an easier market to get into. 

Hardcover Books

As you might expect, the hardcover versions of books have a higher price than their paperback counterparts. Because they’re more durable, they tend to stay valuable over time. If you have any of these lying around, be sure to sell them first. 

What Books Should I Avoid Selling? 

As you might expect, there are also books you should avoid selling if you’re just starting out. These books generally do not sell well for a variety of reasons. We’ll give you a glimpse into these categories and why we think they should be avoided. 

Children’s Books

The big thing about children’s books is their low prices and competitive market. Because people don’t hang onto these books for very long, along with their low prices, it’s very difficult to turn a profit on them. Additionally, their market is quite competitive so it’s just not something you should concern yourself with unless you know how to sell them well. 

Cookbooks

Cookbooks just don’t sell well on the Amazon Market. There’s not really a definitive reason behind this but there are some speculations. For one, it’s possible that there’s not really a need for cookbooks since people can just look up recipes with a simple Google search. 

Mass Market Paperbacks

These are the types of books you’ll see all over the place. They’re generally small enough to fit into a purse or even a pocket. They’re extremely popular, have a lot of competition, and have very low sales prices. It’s not worth trying to make a profit on these, even major publishers tend to sell these at a loss due to the low-profit margins! 

New and Popular Books

Selling new books on the market is generally an awful idea. The reason is that popular books are sold by Amazon, more often than not. Therefore, you’ll have to compete with Amazon itself! It will be very tough to beat their prices and it’s just too much of a hassle to go toe to toe with them on their own platform. 

Final Thoughts

Selling books on Amazon does not have to be a complicated process. Whether you’re treating this as more of a hobby, or want to turn it into a serious business, there’s plenty of room to make a good income. All you need is the right information and the willingness to put in enough effort to start selling! Before you know it, you’ll be making a lot of money with your Amazon business in no time.