Understanding how to sell on Amazon Marketplace

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Understanding how to sell on Amazon Marketplace is not always very easy, especially for the first time.

The largest e-Commerce in the world

Amazon is the largest online store in the USA, indeed in the world. It has about fifteen different websites for each state and the ability to ship worldwide.

With around 150 million subscribers worldwide and around 82% (estimated in 2019) of Americans subscribing to Amazon Prime, this platform is constantly expanding especially since the start of the pandemic.

These numbers definitely make you want to list your product or products on this marketplace.

Getting Started

Understanding how to sell on Amazon Marketplace is certainly not so easy and obvious and in fact, it requires experience and attention. The brands before launching on this platform should have complete knowledge of this marketplace. It often happens that some brands choose third-party sellers who have experience and have dedicated their time to study and constant knowledge to maintain the integrity and value of their brands.

Sometimes it also happens that brands do not understand their sellers or how they present themselves towards their customers. This lack of knowledge can make brands lose control on Amazon.

So brands should study their competitors and look for similar audiences, you have to consider the quality of the product to sell in order to win against generic offers, keeping a similar price to buyers is another important point. Furthermore, the history and values ​​of the brand itself can have a very positive impact on any customers you may meet on Amazon. Important to understand is that Amazon has a very specific algorithm for the appearance of products. One of the many factors present in this algorithm is the so-called sales rank, which is based on the frequency with which a product is purchased. New products do not have a sales rank but they conquer it with time and with the right work. The Alma Emporium team is dedicated to helping brands in all sectors including this one.

Amazon and the fees

Another point I would like to touch on with this article is the fees, as often our customers do not understand perfectly. Using a platform as large as Amazon’s requires costs. Which are absolutely different from those of a physical store and consequently the profit margins can be lower than expected. The fees of Amazon concern various aspects such as packaging, fulfillment, shipping, etc and are different if you decide for FBA or FBM, you can check the pricing page or follow a couple of examples:

– standard size 10 oz or less Amazon fees is $2.50

– large standard size 1+ to 2 lb is $4.90

Managing returns

We conclude this article by giving you a small overview also on returns. Understanding that the returns on online sales platforms are greater than in a physical store is obvious. Normally we talk about 17% more than in the physical store. There are many ways to try to avoid returns, including accurate product descriptions for example, but the main reason for returns is that the buyer does not have the ability to see, touch, and understand the quality of the product.

Alma Emporium Team