How to make money on Amazon: step by step instructions

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are engaged in online sales business using the interfaces of popular online stores - such as, in particular, Amazon. What opportunities does this portal provide to users? What are effective Amazon selling strategies?

General information about Amazon

The Amazon.com project is one of the world's largest online stores. It was founded by American entrepreneurs, but now the Amazon brand is known in many countries of the world. How much you can earn on the sale of goods using this site is a question that is asked by both experienced and novice entrepreneurs. It is definitely difficult to answer it, but the platform in question has a number of undeniable advantages that allow you to make a successful business.

The main feature of the Amazon online store is that anyone can sell goods in it. The online interfaces of this portal are usedlike:

- a showcase, a platform for posting information about goods, their classification into various categories;

- a tool for organizing communication between sellers and buyers;

- settlement tool.

Thanks to this functionality, Internet users get the opportunity to earn money online. They can both resell goods and sell those made by themselves. The price policy of the seller on Amazon is also determined by him: you can “dump” or, conversely, increase the price of the product in certain cases.

Thus, you can make money on sales on Amazon using a variety of strategies. In turn, the service itself earns on a small commission from transactions between sellers and buyers. In addition, many products are sold directly from Amazon as an independent side of the trade relationship.

In general, amazon.com sellers and buyers can transact from anywhere in the world. But in some cases, the rules of the Amazon company impose restrictions on the circulation of certain categories of goods. Therefore, when wondering whether it is possible to make money on Amazon (reviews from users of this portal presented on thematic resources can confirm this), it is necessary to find out in advance whether there are such restrictions on those products that are planned to be sold through the online platform in question.

Now let's study how the functionality of the online store in question can be used to make money on sales.

Amazon functionality: registration

The first thing a person who thinks about how to make money on Amazon needs to register on the appropriate portal. To do this, go to the website of the online store, and then select the option Your Seller Account (we agree that the original English version of the portal is used).

The next step is to clarify the data about the seller. It is necessary to select the Start Selling option (“start selling”), after - the Individual Sellers item (“the seller as an individual” - again, we will agree that we are talking about organizing sales by an individual). It can be noted that one of the advantages of individual trading on Amazon is the absence of many commissions from transactions, while legal entities in many cases are required to pay various fees to the system. Therefore, when thinking over a strategy regarding how to make money on Amazon from scratch, it is useful to pay attention to the corresponding nuance of using the platform in question.

After the seller has chosen the status of a trading participant that suits him, he needs to enter basic information about himself, as well as indicate data on the payment instruments that he is going to use (in particular, in order to return funds to buyers in cases provided by the rules of the online store).

To complete the registration, the seller must receive an automatic call to his phone: you must enter his number, wait for the call and listen to the 4-digit code thatthen you must specify in the appropriate form of the site. After completing the registration, you can start earning. Amazon offers quite convenient and functional interfaces for these purposes - let's consider the features of their use.

Amazon functionality: how to start selling products?

In order to start selling, you need to log into the registered account of the online store. After - select the category that corresponds to the product that is supposed to be sold. For this purpose, you can use the search for relevant positions using keywords. If a person is thinking about how to make money selling books on Amazon, then it makes sense to find a work on a certain topic by ISBN, unless, of course, a person is going to sell his own books, which, of course, can also be done using the interfaces of the considered online store.

After the optimal commodity item is determined, you must click the Sell yours here button (“Selling your own product”). Then you need to specify the main characteristics of the product, describe its condition, appearance. It is useful to reflect information about the availability of packaging, instructions, various accessories. Then you can set the price for the product. As we noted above, a person determines it independently.

It makes sense, of course, to focus on prices for similar commodity items. There are a large number of strategies on how to make money on Amazon by reducing the selling price of goods or, conversely, by competently overestimating it. The choice of a specific approach depends on many factors: the category of goods, the sales market, the distance between the seller and the buyer, the novelty of the product, the demand for the product in a particular market. After the seller has determined the optimal price, it is necessary to indicate the quantity of goods sold in the appropriate form.

The next most important point is the choice of the method of delivery of the product to certain regions. If a person is just starting a business on Amazon, then it makes sense for him to confine himself to the territory of his state, as well as those close to it and, probably, using a similar transport and logistics infrastructure. Having knowledge about how certain delivery channels work, the seller will be able, first of all, to calculate the dynamics of sales. Knowing how soon this or that product will be delivered to the buyer, you can plan further sales.

Successful solution of the problem "how to make money on Amazon without investments for a novice entrepreneur" largely depends on his ability to plan sales. After the marked conditions for the implementation of trade are determined by the seller, it is possible to confirm the placement of the goods on the virtual storefront. The next task of the entrepreneur is taking orders from customers and arranging the delivery of goods. Consider how it can be solved.

Amazon functionality: product clearance for the seller

In order to check if there are orders for the displayed goods, the seller must log into his account, after whichselect the Manage Your Orders option. If there are orders, then you need to issue a parcel. To do this, you must enter the Order Detail area, which specifies the shipping method. After that, you need to print an accompanying sheet containing information about the product, as well as about the buyer. It must be attached to the packaged product.

After that, you can send the goods in the way that is specified in the order form - most often through the state postal service. As soon as the package has been sent, you need to confirm this in the Amazon sales control panel (option Confirm shipment). After the shipment of the goods is confirmed, the seller can receive the funds in his account.

There are a number of nuances that characterize the management of the seller's account in the Amazon interfaces. From the point of view of solving the problem - how to make money on Amazon, they need to be taken into account.

Seller account management: nuances

Main options available to the merchant in the interfaces of the store in question:

- display of goods for sale (Current Inventory);

- display the list of orders (Orders);

- reflection of paid orders (Payments);

- personal data of the seller (Seller account).

If the user needs information about a specific order, they can be found using a special search bar. If any of the goods is sold, then confirmation of this comes to the e-mail of the entrepreneur. Using various merchant account management modules, you canview information about the user's rating. You can also study customer reviews.

How effective the Amazon business will be, how much you can earn, largely depends on the relevant indicators. The higher the rating of the seller, the more positive reviews he has, the more dynamic the sale of the goods displayed by him can be.

In the cases provided for by the rules of the online store, as we noted above, the entrepreneur is obliged to return the money to the client. For these purposes, a separate interface form is used - Issue a refund.

What else should a person who wonders how to make money on Amazon pay attention to? Reviews and opinions of experts regarding the features of doing sales on the corresponding portal are found on many thematic resources, and if you study them, you can determine the following list of recommendations regarding the use of the site's capabilities:

- the seller should regularly check e-mail in order to place an order as quickly as possible if necessary;

- when setting the characteristics of the product, you should pay attention to even the smallest details - this will increase the confidence of buyers;

- it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to messages from buyers on certain issues - this, again, contributes to the growth of trust, as well as the emergence of regular customers.

You should not initiate communication with the client through third-party tools: you need to use only regular Amazon messengers. These are the features of usingaccount of the seller of the online store in question. The order of using these interfaces is important, but no less significant aspect of solving the problem - how to make money on Amazon, will be the use of effective sales strategies.

Let's consider examples of those recommended by experts. Popular approaches to driving dynamic sales on Amazon include selling well-known branded products.

Efficient Trading Practices: Selling Branded Goods

Relevant product types can be: electronics, clothing, shoes, jewelry and gift sets. The most important advantage of the sales strategy under consideration is the ability to quickly identify the main price trends for certain types of goods. Knowing them, the seller will be able to determine the optimal price for their offers, to assume whether it is possible to earn (Amazon may not be the only resource on which a person will trade) on a specific type of product in principle.

Selling branded products is a great way to generate user traffic on your seller account. Even if it fails to realize any of the target positions, buyers will still visit the entrepreneur's page and, probably, get acquainted with his other offers, contact him.

The second sales strategy is the sale of little-known products or those produced by the seller himself. In both cases, the role of the brand is assumed by the seller himself. If he implementslittle-known goods, it can become a recognizable dealer. Under the second scheme, he will have the opportunity to control the sales strategy completely - both at the level of forming the assortment and characteristics of the products sold, and in terms of determining selling prices for goods based on their cost and market trends.

Effective Trading Practices: Promoting Your Own Brand

This trading strategy may be suitable for entrepreneurs who are thinking about how to make money on Amazon without investments, since purchasing lesser-known products, unlike branded ones, may require less capital. If a person produces the goods himself, then the issues of costs will be entirely in his jurisdiction.

As part of the sales strategy under consideration, it makes sense, along with creating an account on Amazon, to also develop a separate website that will disclose such information about the product being sold. This resource should be optimized in terms of providing high positions in search engines for queries in the form of the name of the relevant product. It is possible that the content of this site will be decisive in terms of the buyer's decision to purchase the goods.

In order to make money on Amazon, you can use tools that complement those available to users of the interfaces of the online store in question. These are the nuances of applying common sales strategies. Note that theycan be used by the seller both simultaneously and alternately - depending on what specific goods he sells, in what markets, and with what resources.

There are a number of expert recommendations that are useful for any sales strategy. They can be quite effective in terms of solving the problem - how to make money on Amazon. Feedback from experts regarding these recommendations can confirm their effectiveness.

What specific tips are we talking about? First of all, experts recommend paying attention to the quality of the content generated on the pages of the seller.

Amazon Sales Expert Tips: Content Shaping

Despite the fact that the web page interfaces on Amazon are standardized, the user can still configure a number of content visualization settings.

So, it makes sense:

- use clear, high-resolution photographs of the goods being sold against a white background;

- create as informative headings as possible for commodity items;

- generate a detailed description of the goods, if possible, excluding information that is not directly related to the product.

Content on the seller's page can also be formed taking into account the use of various keywords. What they can be can be determined empirically by searching for similar products using a special string: identifying the most relevant resultsissuance, you should write down the words used in the corresponding queries - they will be the key ones.

Expert recommendations: bonuses for buyers

Is it really possible to make money on Amazon by providing customers with various preferences that are not related to pricing policy? According to many experts - quite. The corresponding preferences can be:

- free or reduced shipping;

- facilitated return procedure - perhaps even on more liberal terms than according to the rules prescribed in the default policy of the online store;

- active customer feedback - even on the most minor issues.

All 3 options can boost sales.

Expert Tips: Growing Market Presence

Is it really possible to make money on Amazon (reviews regarding this aspect may be mixed, but nevertheless it should be given attention), concentrating sales on one or a small number of markets?

As many experts believe, the dynamics of sales when promoting goods in a large number of markets is higher than if the seller operates within one or two markets. The main argument in support of this approach is that due to the development of new markets, demand increases due to the additional purchasing activity of citizens with different preferences.

Actually, this nuance characterizes almost any business: the larger the market, the greater the amount of capital circulating on it. Thus, to promote a product in different countries, adapting the content on it to the preferences of consumers, an entrepreneur, of course, needs to strive. But it also makes sense to pay attention to the peculiarities of demand for a particular product, to identify factors that make it possible to determine whether it is possible to earn (“Amazon” is a functional sales tool, but the effectiveness of its use is determined by the user himself) on a particular product or group of goods sold, taking into account the characteristics this or that market.