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Amazon Renewed: 2021 Guide to Selling Refurbished Products on Amazon

Selling used and refurbished products on Amazon just got a whole lot easier. Before, selling used products on Amazon (other than books) was a huge headache. Most customers only want to purchase new products and hardly bother looking at used ones. Even Amazon’s Buy Box algorithm gives priority to sellers selling used products. In 2021, Amazon is trying to revamp its resell market with the launch of Amazon Renewed. Amazon recently launched its new Renewed marketplace, where sellers can register to sell high-quality products that are still close to new conditions. The new marketplace provides sellers another avenue to increase their sales and grow their Amazon businesses, with some added benefits.

This blog will break down how Amazon Renewed operates and how you can start making sales on Amazon by selling like-new and refurbished products with Amazon Renewed.

What Does Amazon Renewed Mean?

In general, used and refurbished products are difficult to sell. Especially on Amazon where customers are accustomed to buying brand new products, selling anything different can be tricky. One of the issues with used products is that no one wants to buy a potentially broken or defective product. Even products that are “newly refurbished,” come with a ton of preconceived notions of potential product issues. Amazon Renewed is hoping to change the way Amazon customers perceive and buy used products.

When Amazon launched its Renewed marketplace, they played a heavy emphasis on their testing process of used products. Any used or refurbished product sold on Amazon Renewed must undergo serious trials and evaluations to be approved to sell. Every pre-owned product on Renewed is inspected and tested by one of Amazon’s qualified suppliers and third experts. Each product comes with Amazon Renewed Guaranteed, confirming that every product is completely working “like-new” along with a 90-day warranty. After undergoing and passing a refurbishment process, products are cleaned and repackaged and then are available for purchase on Amazon Renewed.

Why Should I Sell Like-New Products?

Used and refurbished products can be extremely beneficial to sellers by providing new avenues of growth. Here are some of the key benefits from selling like-new or refurbished products on Amazon Renewed:

Low Competition and High Potential

The amount of sellers on Amazon is increasing every day, and as the competition rises, the sales of each Amazon business can take a hit. With the Renewed program, used products have to go through a strict testing process to ensure they are working properly. The marketplace has more strict quality criteria and testing in place, which allows Amazon to prevent any bad actors from joining. This is great news for professional or eager sellers who are currently struggling with the competition on Amazon. Amazon sellers can join a more exclusive marketplace that has a lot less competition and more room for growth.

Access to Amazon

Along with growth opportunities, Renewed sellers will still have access to all of the benefits of selling on Amazon. This includes access to Amazon seller tools, Amazon FBA and Prime shipping, and the millions of Amazon customers around the world. While you won’t be selling new products, there will be tons of customers searching for your used products.

Certified and Trusted Products

Amazon Renewed testing process can validate your used products to increase brand trust and sales. Selling refurbished products on any other e-commerce platform can be tough. Since most other marketplaces don’t offer any refurbish guarantee for third-party sellers, there is a lot less trust between sellers and their potential customers. As we mentioned above, no customer wants to purchase a potentially broken or defective product. But with Amazon’s Renewed Guarantee, customers will be more confident in purchasing used products on Amazon.

Growing Your Catalog

Expanding your Amazon inventory can be tough when there are too many sellers selling the same products as you. But if you sell used products, it provides another opportunity for product sourcing and expanding your inventory. With new products, sourcing enough inventory can also be really expensive. Most used and refurbished products can be purchased at a discounted rate through online sellers, thrift stores, garage sales, and more. By selling used products on Amazon Renewed, you can potentially source more products with higher profit margins at a cheaper cost!

Do Customers Want Used Products?

Looking back, you would think customers are shying away from used products, but in reality, it’s the exact opposite.

In a study done by Global Data Retail, it was reported that resale marketing is growing 11x faster than traditional retail markets. In 2030, it is estimated that the resale market will be worth roughly $84 billion.

This change isn’t surprising when looking at the primary reasons behind reselling used products. The two biggest benefits of used and refurbished products are the potential economic savings and the impact on the environment.

It’s no secret that used and refurbished products are always cheaper than their new counterparts. With the current buyer market, more and more shoppers are looking for affordable alternatives rather than paying full price on goods. Used and refurbished products that are “like-new” provide that perfect middle ground where shoppers can confidently purchase high-quality goods without breaking their wallets.

Along with the monetary savings, lots of customers are thinking of the economic impact of buying new products. One of the biggest eco-issues is the production of electronic waste (e-waste). We even discussed this topic in our previous article on Amazon’s Trade-In program where e-waste contributes 20 to 50 million metric tons of pollutants is disposed of worldwide every year. To combat e-waste, many shoppers are becoming more environmentally conscious, purposely choosing to purchase used products instead of new ones.

The market for used and refurbished is there, and it is growing fast. As more and more customers are looking for cheaper, more sustainable, and eco-friendly resale products, Amazon Renewed provides a huge window of opportunity for Amazon sellers.

How Do I Sell on Amazon Renewed?

Here are the steps to apply and register for Amazon Renewed:

Step 1: Register an Account on Amazon

This process is quite simple. Head over to sell.amazon.com/programs/renewed and click on “Sign Up.” The registration process is quite simple and should only take a couple of minutes.

For our existing Amazon sellers, you’ll need to submit a form providing details about your current Amazon business. Click the link below for the application details and get started:

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/renewed/apply?ref_=sdus_soa_prog_renew_apply_i&initialSessionID=apay%3D139-5083702-9538159&ld=NSGoogle

Step 2: Meeting the Criteria

As we mentioned before, this program is a lot more exclusive to sell on, which is why there is a lot less competition. To qualify and sell on Amazon Renewed, every seller must fulfill the following criteria:

– Supply invoices showing a minimum a total value of $50,000 in qualifying refurbished purchases in the previous 90 days from the date of the application or 180 days for sellers selling Home, Tool, Lawn & Garden, and Kitchen products.

– Less than a 0.8% Order Defect Rate in the past 90 days

– Minimum of 8 professional images for your products and their packaging (for factory refurbished products)

– Agreement to Amazon Renewed Guarantee and their policies

– For Apple products, sellers will need to provide invoices from the past 90 days that total $2.5 million in Apple refurbished products

Step 3: Approvals and Listings

For sellers who meet these requirements, your application will be approved in a couple of days and you can begin to list and sell your refurbished products through Amazon Renewed. If a customer decides to purchase your product, you can either fulfill the order yourself (FBM) or use Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers (FBA).

Which Products Can I Sell?

Amazon Renewed currently accepts select products and product categories. The most commonly found products on Amazon Renewed include:

  • Phones
  • Cameras
  • Kitchen Appliances
  • Computers
  • Video Game consoles
  • Televisions
  • and more

To find a complete list of permitted products you can sell on Amazon Renewed, you can refer to Amazon’s program details and guidelines here.

In addition to the product categories, all products sold on Amazon Renewed must pass their quality check and evaluations. This means your products have to meet the “Amazon Renewed Guarantee” which have follows Amazon’s Global Quality Policy. Some of these requirements:

  • No signs of cosmetic damage (scratches, dents, etc.) should be visible when the product is held 12 inches away.
  • Any potential refurbishing operation should only use the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) part.
  • All markings on the product must be intact (e.g. product logo). No additional markings (e.g. supplier logo, engravings, etc.) are allowed.
  • When present, batteries must have a capacity that exceeds 80% of the new equivalent
  • Products must include all accessories that come with a new equivalent.

This is just a short list, but Amazon has a ton more requirements to abide by. You can find the entire list of restrictions in more detail here.

Growing Your Business with Amazon Renewed

We understand that the seller and product criteria may be a lot for some sellers. But, it is well worth it. Amazon Renewed is at the forefront of the rise of resale, used, and refurbished products. While Amazon’s marketplace becomes busier and more competitive, Amazon Renewed may be the lifeboat that can protect and sustain your business among the competition.

If you don’t qualify for Amazon Renewed now, don’t panic! There’s still a lot of time to build your sales and qualify for Amazon Renewed in the coming months. But to get there, you need to start selling high-quality products now. Go to Sellgo.com and look into our seller tools like our Search Management tool to bulk analyze supplier catalogs. Then, use the Profit Finder to hunt down the best and most profitable products to source and sell. Once you build your inventory and sales history, you’ll be eligible for Amazon Renewed in no time!

Until next time, take care and good luck on your Amazon seller journey!

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Amazon Direct Shipping: Why Are Sellers Giving Away Free Products?

An annoying aspect about Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is paying Amazon’s outrageous storage fees. Depending on the month, storing your products at Amazon’s warehouses can cost as low as $0.75 to $2.40 per cubic foot. While the cost may seem low, the cost can be higher depending on the products you sell and how much space your inventory requires.

But that’s not the end of it. What’s worse is Amazon’s long-term storage fees which charge a premium price of $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.15 per unit, whichever is greater. These horrendous rates apply to every single product that is in an Amazon warehouse for over 365 days. To avoid paying these premium rates, Amazon sellers are getting rid of their inventories using Amazon Direct Shipping.

What is Amazon Direct Shipping?

As their excess inventory gets closer to the 365-day mark, Amazon sellers begin to panic at the thought of paying Amazon’s long-term storage fees.

What can you do? Your products are stuck in a warehouse, they aren’t selling, and now you’re about to be charged Amazon’s long-term storage fee for every unit stuck in their warehouses.

Then Amazon sellers came up with a unique idea: why don’t we give our products away for free? This is where Amazon Direct Shipping comes in. Instead of letting their inventory collect dust in a warehouse and getting charged long-term storage fees, Amazon sellers take their extra products from these warehouses and directly shipping their products to random customers. These sellers are essentially giving away their own products for free, and in exchange, they clear their Amazon inventory and avoid the storage fees. These “free products” are commonly known as “freebies.” And there are tons of customers hungry for free products.

Cutting Down Storage Costs with Direct Shipping

You must be thinking, why would any seller ever give away their products for free? Aren’t they losing money? Well, technically yes. But you need to look at the long-term advantages of Amazon Direct Shipping and freebies.

For starters, getting rid of excess stock allows sellers to avoid Amazon’s long-term storage fees. Remember, these fees charge whichever fee is higher. So if a seller has 1,000 excess units sitting in a warehouse, they can be charged $150 ($0.15 per unit, 1,000 units) or more. And this fee is applied every single month your products continue to sit in long-term storage. While sellers are losing money on freebies, they can protect themselves from losing more money in the long run if they get rid of excess products sooner.

Another thing to note about Amazon storage is every seller has a max storage capacity. To better manage their warehouses, Amazon limits every seller to 10 cubic feet of storage. This means unless you sell your products quickly, the rest are just sitting in the warehouse. If a product has been sitting in a warehouse for the past 365 days, this either means your products have poor sales or that you ordered too much inventory. Regardless of the reason, this inventory is now occupying space that could be used for better-performing products. By giving away freebies, sellers can take that space and reinvest it into products that could make you money.

Although it might not make sense to give away free products in the short-term losses, it might save sellers money in the long run. Sellers can also take those savings and invest in better products that will make them more money.

How Customers Can Get Freebies

Amazon Direct Shipping happens entirely between the seller and the customer, Amazon is not involved in direct shipping. If you are a seller looking to get rid of excess stock, you can start giving away freebies to interested customers. Before you give away freebies, communicate with the customer to discuss shipping costs and procedures. Most sellers giving away freebies using Amazon Direct Shipping meet customers through 3rd party websites. There are dozens of Facebook groups, Reddit threads, and even websites dedicated to giving away freebies.

Both sellers and interested customers can connect and communicate through these 3rd party websites. Then both parties must negotiate any potential costs and shipping logistics. If you are interested, simply head to one of these sites or Google and search for “Amazon Freebies”. You’ll find tons of groups filled with both sellers and customers trying to get rid of their products.

Remember to negotiate the shipping costs and get the shipping address from the customer. Then the seller should notify Amazon to directly ship the freebies from the warehouse to the intended customer. We suggest Amazon sellers do this weeks in advance before their 365 days are up. That way, you can clear your inventory before you accrue any long-term storage fees.

How Sellers Can Reduce Freebies

For sellers worried about accruing long-term storage fees and want to avoid Amazon Direct Shipping, the best solution is to forecast your sales and order the proper amount of inventory. To forecast sales, monitor your product’s sales over a 30 day, 90 days, and 12 month period. By analyzing your product’s sales performances, you can estimate the sales of any product and purchase enough inventory to meet the demand. We recommend sellers stock at least 3 months’ worth of inventory if possible. This is enough inventory to meet demand while providing a safety net if you sell out quickly.

If you just started selling or cannot forecast your sales, we suggest you check out FBA seller tools. While there are many seller tools on the market, we highly recommend using Sellgo’s Product Tracker. The Product Tracker evaluates any product on Amazon and tracks its sales performances for you. You will be able to utilize the Product Tracker to track the Average Daily Sales of any product you sell. Then, you can use the sales estimation to restock the perfect amount of products.

With the Product Tracker, you will always know how much inventory to purchase and never have to worry about excess inventory or Amazon’s long-term storage fees again.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

While Amazon Direct Shipping is a great solution for sellers dealing with overstocking and storage fees, it should never reach this point. Freebies may help get rid of excess inventory and protect sellers from fees. In the end, sellers are still losing money giving away products. By being proactive with seller tools like the Product Tracker, you can prevent giving away freebies. You will always purchase the perfect amount of stock to meet demand and prevent long-term storage fees. Your Amazon business will thank you.

Head over to Sellgo.com and check out the Product Tracker to be proactive and prevent any freebies in the future.

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How to Sell Textbooks on Amazon: A Step-By-Step Guide

It’s no surprise that books are one of Amazon’s top-selling product categories. Since the start, Amazon’s was built on selling books online. Founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos argued the importance of selling books, stating books are the most diverse and plentiful product category on Amazon. We mentioned this in our last Amazon book article, where we broke down the 2021 Guide to Selling Books on Amazon. We want to continue with our book-selling journey by getting into the specifics of how to sell textbooks on Amazon.

Like any other book on Amazon, textbooks can be an extremely profitable market Amazon. But, textbooks have an innate advantage over other books that make them easier to source and even easier to sell. For new and inexperienced Amazon sellers, textbooks provide a highway of sales and profits you can start collecting now. Let’s get into why you should sell textbooks on Amazon!

Why sell textbooks on Amazon?

In our 2021 Guide to Selling Books on Amazon, we provided a ton of different benefits and reasons to sell books on Amazon. Textbooks are no different, they carry the same benefits as other books.

Easy to Source

For starters, textbooks are extremely easy to source. Sometimes even easier than other books! For our college and high school students or our college graduates, you probably already have a bunch of textbooks in your house. Throughout your academic career, you have probably come across dozens of textbooks for various courses and lessons. After you finished a course or school year, you probably kept that textbook laying around and aren’t sure what to do with it. Selling them on Amazon is a great way to get rid of those pesky textbooks that are collecting dust on your shelves. If you don’t have any textbooks laying around, don’t panic. Textbooks, like all books, can be found at garage sales, thrift stores, or even online marketplaces for extremely cheap. You can easily stock up and build a textbook inventory!

High Demand in Academics

Another benefit of selling textbooks is the high academic demand. As mentioned, textbooks are commonly used for academic courses and lessons. Most curriculums use specific textbooks and center their lesson plans around the textbook chapters. There are hundreds of schools teaching the same courses and lessons that all use the same textbooks. And lesson plans usually stay constant from year to year. Every year, there will be classes that require your textbook and even more students trying to buy your textbooks. Textbooks are one of the only books that can truly take advantage of this high academic demand.

Requires Less Resources

Selling textbooks also require a lot less financial resources to sell on Amazon When selling on Amazon, you typically need at least $500 – $1,000 to get started. This is mainly to pay for your seller plan ($39.99 for Professional plans), source products to sell, and pay for shipping, storage, and fulfillment costs.

If you are only selling a couple of textbooks a year, you don’t have a lot of upfront costs. Because your inventory is a lot lower, you only need to invest in the Individual plan, which costs $0.99 per unit sold. So if you sell 10 textbooks, you would only have to pay $10 compared to paying for the $40 Professional plan. In addition, you aren’t paying to source a lot of products. You may already have old textbooks to sell without having to buy new inventory. Most importantly, limited stock means you don’t have to enroll in Fulfillment by Amazon, which includes shipping costs and warehouse storage fees. Textbook sellers can enroll in Fulfillment by Merchant, where the seller directly ships to the buyer instead of going through Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

Sellers can also store their limited stock in their houses or garages which saves a ton on storage. Ideally, you could start selling your textbooks for $1*.

*Note: sellers will also need to pay Amazon a referral fee for every textbook sold. For any book sold, Amazon charges 15% of the selling price + $1.80 closing fee.

Earn Extra Income

The most important benefit of selling textbooks on Amazon is the extra income. Textbooks are easy to sell, in high demand, and don’t require many resources to get started. For students or recent college graduates, this is a great way to make some extra cash without requiring too much work or time.

Opening Your Amazon Seller Account

Opening an Amazon Seller account is the first step to selling textbooks on Amazon. We have a whole article to help you get started on your Amazon Seller account.

Along with the article, we want to touch on your Amazon seller plan, which will play a key role in determining your business model. Your seller plan is the first potential upfront cost of your Amazon business. Amazon currently offers 2 different selling plans:

The Individual plan

Costs $0.99 per unit sold. We recommend the Individual plan for new sellers with little to no sales history, sellers with limited stock, or sellers who don’t plan on selling long-term.

The Professional plan

Costs $39.99 upfront, no matter how many units you sell. We recommend the Professional plan for sellers with consistent sales history, sellers expecting more than 40 sales per month or serious sellers who want to sell long-term.

To determine the best seller plan, estimate how many products you plan a selling per month, your long-term goals, and experience. Remember that this plan can be upgraded later on if necessary. So if you are unsure which plan would be best, we recommend starting with the Individual plan and upgrading to the Professional plan as needed.

Picking Books to Sell

Now that you have your Seller account set up and the seller plan picked, the next step is to pick which textbooks to sell on Amazon. We recommend looking at the competition, selling price, and profitability of your textbook.

Step 1:

Find your textbook’s International Standard Book Number (ISBN). This is a 13 (ISBN-13) or 10 (ISBN-10) digit code found on the back of your textbook underneath the barcode. Each textbook and edition will have a different ISBN.

For example, our textbook “Campbell Biology – 11th Edition” has both an ISBN-13 (978-0134093413) and ISBN-10 (0134093410).

Step 2:

Find your textbook’s listing on Amazon (if available) by searching the ISBN.

Step 3:

Find how many sellers are selling your book in the same condition. We are selling our textbook in Used-Acceptable condition. We see that other sellers selling the same book are listing it for $59 – $145.

Step 4:

Determine the profitability if you were to sell your book with competitive pricing. Competitive pricing is usually 15% higher than the lowest selling price. The lowest selling price for our textbook in the Used-Acceptable condition is $59. From this figure, we estimate the cost to sell and ship the product.

Selling price – $68 ($59 + 15% more = $68)

Delivery cost: $3.99

Referral fee: $10.65 ($59 x 15% + $1.80)

From this equation, we subtract the selling price ($68) by the delivery cost ($3.99) and referral fee ($10.65) and we get a profit margin of $53. This is what we would make if we sold this textbook.

Fulfilling the Orders

Before you create your listing, you will need to decide which fulfillment method you want to use for your textbooks. You have two options: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM). We discuss both of these shipping models in our blog on FBA vs. FBM that you can read here. If you are still unsure, we suggest you ask yourself the same questions from the seller plan section above.

If you are planning on sell a couple of textbooks a year and do not have plans to sell consistently, we highly encourage using Fulfillment by Merchant. Although your products won’t be eligible for Prime Shipping, you end up saving a lot of money not paying for fulfillment costs or storage fees. Since you only have a couple of books to sell, FBM makes a lot more sense.

Fulfillment by Amazon is a great model for sellers with a lot of inventory, no storage capacity, or sellers anticipating consistent sales. FBA will provide you with warehouse space to store your inventory (for a storage fee) and will handle all of your shipping for you. All you need to do is create your listing, select FBA, and ship your inventory to one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

This is a quick overview and recommendation. Depending on your model, goals, and inventory, you may prefer one fulfillment model over the other.

Adding Your Listing

With your profit margins in the positive and have a fulfillment method, you know that this product will make you money, The next step is to create a product listing for your textbook.

Step 1: Head over to your Amazon Seller Central dashboard and “Add a Product” under Inventory.

Step 2: Find your textbook on Amazon by searching for the ISBN. If your textbook is not on Amazon, you can also create a new listing for your textbook.

Step 3: Set the pricing and condition for your textbook. For our textbook, we would use our competitive price of $68 and set the condition as Used-Acceptable.

Step 4: Most importantly, set your fulfillment method. If you want to ship directly to the customer, use Merchant fulfillment. If you are an FBA seller, you can select that option as well.

Once complete, hit “Save and Finish” and your listing should be live!

Textbook Lessons for the Future

Textbooks provide great opportunities for new and aspiring Amazon sellers who want to get their feet wet in the Amazon selling game. Whether you’re still in college or a recent graduate, selling textbooks on Amazon is extremely easy, has a low upfront cost, and can be very profitable.

For sellers who want to get serious about selling on Amazon, the opportunities are there and we can help! Sellgo provides Amazon seller tools to help you find high-demand, profitable products like textbooks that can drive your sales and increase your profit margin. Your future awaits at Sellgo.com!

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Amazon Trade-In Program: Amazon Credit for Used Products

With the technological advances made in the past 40 years, one issue that has arisen from this innovation is the mass production of e-waste. Electronic waste has become an environmental disaster. It is estimated that 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year. The main culprit behind e-waste: cell phones and electronics. Many electronics contain harmful metals and components including mercury, lead, nickel, and more that get disposed into the environment. As a result, many industries and companies worldwide are looking to start new programs and initiatives to address the issue of e-waste.

One way Amazon is trying to address the e-waste issue is through launching its Amazon Trade-In program. The Trade-In program allows anyone in the world to trade in their old electronics in exchange for Amazon credit. If you would like to help reduce e-waste or would like to receive some credit for your old electronics, keep reading and we’ll tell you everything you need to know to participate in Amazon’s Trade-In program.

What is Amazon’s Trade-In Program?

The Amazon Trade-In program tackles the issue of e-waste by providing a credit incentive for turning in old electronics. Amazon will give their customers and sellers Amazon gift cards in exchange for thousands of different electronic products. This includes Amazon devices, cell phones, video game consoles, and more.

Amazon credit can then be used to purchase discounted Amazon devices or any product sold on Amazon.

What products can I trade-in?

Amazon’s Trade-In program accepts thousands of different electronics ranging from Amazon devices to video game consoles.

Amazon devices are the most common trade-in products, including Kindle e-readers, tablets, streaming players, Echos, Ring devices, and wireless routers. You can find the complete list of eligible Amazon products here.

In addition to Amazon products, the Trade-In program also accepts other product categories including cellphones and gaming products. You can select the “Cell Phones” or “Gaming” categories to find othe eligible products. This is where you will identify your product’s manufacturer, product model, and product details.

Following your product details, you will then be asked questions regarding your product’s current condition. Once complete, you will receive a Trade-In Estimate you would receive if you decide to turn in your product. Note that this estimate can change upon arrival and inspection of your product. So you may end up receiving less than the estimated amount if there are any underlying issues revealed during evaluations. We encourage all participants to be as honest and accurate when answering questions regarding the product’s condition. By answering honestly, you will receive the most accurate estimate possible.

If you can’t find your product under any of Amazon’s devices or other trade-in categories, you can also use the “Find more item” option located next to the Gaming categories. This will allow you to directly search for your product and see if you are eligible for the product. If your product is not eligible, it will state “Currently unavailable to trade in.” under your product listing.

How much credit do I receive?

Your product’s trade-in credit will be based on the product, model, and condition. The maximum amount you can earn in one transaction is $1,800 .

When you select an eligible device to trade in, Amazon will provide you the maximum amount you can earn for your product. For example, we are trading in our used Nintendo Switch console, and were given an estimate of “Up to $140.”

As you answer the questions about your product’s condition, that estimated value may stay unchanged or may decrease. In our example, we stated that our Switch has some “cracks or physical defects on the console,” decreasing our estimate significantly to $35.

In some cases, your answers may reveal that your products are no longer eligible. For our Switch, we marked that our device cannot “power on” and is not “fully functional”. Amazon then noted our broken Switch was no longer eligible for any trade-in offer.

As we mentioned earlier, you to answer these questions honestly. If you don’t answer truthfully about your product’s condition, your trade value will be revoked when they evaluate your product.

Where can I send my products for trade-in?

Amazon currently offers 2 different methods to trade in your electronics.

The first method is through Amazon shipping. After you select the eligible product you want to trade on the Amazon Trade-In page, you will be prompted to answer a couple of questions about your device’s condition. Then, you will be offered the estimated value for your product, and if approved, Amazon will send you an email including shipping instructions and the shipping label that can be reprinted if lost. While you will need to supply your shipping materials (boxes, packing tape, etc.), you will not have to pay for the shipping cost.

The second method to turn in products is through one of Amazon’s participating drop-off locations. While these locations only accept select electronics and Amazon devices for trade-in, the dropoff method may be more convenient for you. You can find the entire list of eligible dropoff locations here. Specifically for Amazon Kindles, these e-readers will also be accepted by Amazon Book and 4-Star store locations as well. Once you arrive at the dropoff location, simply talk to a store associate who will evaluate your product’s condition and give you an offer.

Why should I participate?

There are plenty of reasons why you should participate in Amazon’s Trade-In program.

For starters, the Trade-In program is great for the environment and promoting sustainability. When trading in old electronics, you are helping reduce the amount of e-waste being disposed into the environment. Trade-in products in working condition can be refurbished and resold in “Used” condition to other customers. Even if your product cannot be restored or resold, Amazon will ensure old electronics will be properly and responsibly disposed of through an Amazon-approved recycler. You can support sustainability and look out for the environment by simply trading in your old electronics.

Along with the eco-friendly mission, the Trade-In program allows you to earn credit for products you have no use for. Rather than collecting dust, you can rehome your electronics to an eager customer and earn something back in return. With all of the trade-in options whether it be through Amazon shipping or their drop-off locations, Amazon makes it easy to dump old electronics and quickly earn credit back.

Lastly, Amazon also offers discounts on their products if you decide to trade in and earn credit. Amazon wants to allow customers to try out Amazon products. When you trade-in your old products, Amazon will provide a discount off of a new Amazon device, up to 25% off. For our Amazon fans, this is a great and affordable way to buy a new Amazon Echo Dot, Kindle, Ring device, and more. Amazon has a plethora of devices you can get at a discount with their Trade-In program.

Eco-Friendly Amazon Shoppers

Whether you’re turning in your products for credit or you want to get rid of your products, Amazon’s Trade-In program is just one of many ways you can help the environment and become an eco-friendly Amazon shopper. Even if you’re products are not eligible for Trade-In, you can still dispose of your old electronics responsibly. Amazon provides free shipping to recycle Amazon devices and electronics to any of their certified recyclers.

Thank you for reading and being an eco-friendly Amazon shopper!

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Amazon Attribution (Beta): A 2021 Beginner’s Guide

For Amazon sellers and brands, one of the best strategies to growing sales is broadcasting your products through multiple marketing channels. With more diverse avenues of traffic, merchants can broaden their visibility and expand their reach to new customer segments. Amazon is helping their sellers diversify their marketing channels by launching and testing the beta for their new tool, Amazon Attribution.

Amazon’s Attribution tool focuses on helping businesses expand their multichannel marketing through social media, search engines, and more. The best part about this new tool: sellers can start using it now, for free.

Keep reading this beginner’s guide to learn more about the new Attribution tool and how you can start using it now to grow your marketing strategy and accelerate your Amazon business.

What is Amazon Attribution Beta?

Amazon Attribution is Amazon’s new marketing and analytics tool that allows Amazon sellers to identify traffic channels and funnels. Marketers can connect their products and listings to external marketing channels including social media campaigns like Facebook or Twitter ads, along with search engine (Google Ads), email, video, and more.

This new tool takes advantage of “tags.” Tags are specialized URLs used to track your audience’s online activity and behavior. If a customer on another platform sees your ads and clicks your URL, the tag will track the traffic source they are coming from such as Facebook or Twitter. With the Attribution tool, you can measure how many customers are coming from your different marketing channels and optimize your marketing strategy.

Eligibility for Amazon Attribution

Amazon Attribution is still in its infancy, allowing users to test the beta. To use the beta, users need to be registered in Amazon’s Brand Registry to validate their ownership. Users also need to be currently active on Amazon, this includes sellers, vendors, agencies, and any party that sells on Amazon.

In addition to these requirements, the beta is only available in select countries including the United States, Canada, United King, France, and more. Please refer to the graphic below for eligibility.

https://advertising.amazon.com/solutions/products/amazon-attribution

Getting Started with Amazon Attribution

To start using Amazon’s Attribution tool, just follow these simple steps!

1. Sign up for the Attribution Tool through the links below. For current sellers, you can register through your Amazon Seller Central account.

For vendors: https://www.amazon.com/forms/3635f20b-f743-4f6a-99a1-4150eb5b4d00?ref_=a20m_us_p_attr_gs_sgnup

For Amazon sellers (NA): https://sellercentral.amazon.com/attribution?ref_=a20m_us_p_attr_gs_sc_rgstr

For Amazon sellers (EU): https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/attribution?ref_=a20m_us_p_attr_gs_sgnup_eu

2. Head to your Attribution dashboard, click on your Advertiser name and select “New Order”

3. Select your creation method. If you are using a pre-existing ad such as a Google paid search ad or a Facebook ad, you can upload a file that will automatically create the tags. If you would like to manually input the information, you can select “Manually Create Order and Tags”

4. Add the product you want to track. You can search by product name or ASIN.

5. Finalize Your Attribution Tags. Add a name and an optional external ID.

6. Name your item listing, choose your publisher platform (Facebook/Twitter/etc.), and add your listing URL. Then, click “Create.”

After step 6, your tag and URL are complete! Take the URLs and paste them into your ads on other platforms. Once you launch those ad campaigns, the URL will track any clicks you get and will display where the clicks are coming from. From here, you’ll be able to who is viewing your listing and which platforms are getting the most traction. By the end, you can test different platforms, remove ads that don’t have enough clicks, and scale up the ones that do!

Advertising with Attribution

Amazon sellers and vendors interested in Attribution can utilize this tool to understand their customers’ behavior. When a customer clicks on your tag on another platform, Attribution will capture the most important metrics for your products including:

Visibility Metrics

  • Clicks: the number of times customers click on your URL
  • Impressions: the number of digital views and engagements
  • Page Views: the number of customers viewing your listing and product page

Conversion Metrics:

  • Add-to-carts: the amount of times your product is added to a buyer’s cart on Amazon
  • Purchase rate: the number of sale conversions from page viewers
  • Total sales: the amount of times your product is sold

These metrics provide a ton of insight into your customer’s behavior and how they view your product. By tracking your audience, you can see exactly which channels are performing well and which are underperforming. These metrics will also reveal which platforms your market segment is located on.

For example, if you see that your Facebook ads are not getting enough clicks, you can either try a new Facebook ad (A/B test and reiterate) or reduce your Facebook budget and invest in better-performing channels. If you happen to get a lot of clicks and sales on a specific site, you can scale the ads and increase your budget to capture more clicks. 

You may also see that your customers are more likely to use one site over another. If your customers are clicking your links on Facebook more than on Twitter, you should focus more attention on Facebook ads than Twitter ads. The ability to track and analyze your customer funnels will allow you to optimize your strategy by cutting poor-performing channels and maximizing proven channels.

Benefits of Multichannel Traffic

If you currently don’t advertise on non-Amazon platforms, Amazon’s Attribution tool might not be helpful. But, it also provides a new opportunity to expand your marketing and traffic to multiple channels. While advertising and sponsored ads may have an upfront cost, they can be extremely useful to launching your products and increasing your sales. These are some of the best advantages of multichannel traffic:

  1. Product Visibility: With ads and sponsored posts on multiple platforms, you get more visibility and traffic on your product listing. This increases the eyes on your product and can lead to higher sales.
  2. Amazon Best Sellers Rank: Higher sales for your product means your product’s Seller Rank will also increase. Better rankings can also mean more customers viewing and buying your product on Amazon.
  3. Brand Building: Launching and selling a product can be extremely difficult because your brand is unknown. Ads can provide more sales, reviews, and trust for your brand.
  4. Shareability: Product listings and ads on social media are easy to share. If a customer likes your product, they can simply repost, share, and recommend your products to their friends.

What Are You Waiting For?

You can start advertising with Amazon’s Attribution tool now for free! This tool can be extremely powerful for Amazon sellers who advertise on other platforms as long as you are already brand registered. Start using Attribution today to learn more about your customers and optimize your Amazon sales!

To source products to start your Amazon business or improve your sales, check out Sellgo.com and our FBA tools!

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Amazon Returnless Refund: 5 Things Every Seller Should Know

Returns are one of Amazon’s and their third-party sellers’ biggest challenges to selling products online. It was reported that 30% of all products ordered online are returned. Traditional brick and mortar stores have never experienced a return flux as we see with e-commerce, reporting only 8.89% of all products being returned. The main culprit behind high online returns: free return shipping.

Unlike past times, returning products has become easier than ever. Specifically when you look into marketplace giants like Amazon, which guarantee free returns and shipping for most of their products, returning a product is as easy as putting the item in a box and dropping it off at a post office.

These online return policies are still evolving and changing today. In 2017, Amazon released a new type of online return, returnless refunds. Returnless refunds allow customers to get 100% refunds without having to ever return their products. You read that right. With this policy, customers can report any product to be defective, receive a full refund, and get to keep the product after. The topic of returnless refunds has been a huge debate topic among Amazon sellers. With this latest controversy with returnless refunds, here are 5 things every seller needs to know about this policy.

What is a Returnless Refund on Amazon?

Returnless refunds are given to customers who request refunds for their purchases but are not required to return the product. Returnless refunds allow sellers to quickly resolve product issues such as defects or purchasing errors. In normal circumstances, refunds can take up to 3-5 business days and require customers to bring back the product in question.

On Amazon, returnless refunds are an optional feature for Amazon third-party sellers. In some cases, returnless refunds may be cheaper than shipping the returned item back. Sellers may opt into the returnless refund policy to save on return shipping costs, even if it means losing a product unit.

For more information on Amazon’s Return Policies.

Pros of Returnless Refunds for Amazon Sellers

You may be wondering why any sane Amazon seller or online merchant would agree to returnless refunds. Returnless refunds mean sellers could lose dozens if not hundreds of products by customers submitting a simple return claim. In some ways, that’s true, it doesn’t make economic sense to “give away” free products. But in many cases, returnless refunds provide tons of benefits that outweigh the cost of a “free” product.

1. Returnless refunds can save sellers money from return shipping:

Return shipping is really expensive. For Amazon sellers, the cost to ship a product to a buyer can cost between $2 to $140. If you’re selling a cheaper product (less than $10), it can be more expensive to ship the product back to Amazon. Not to mention, if a product is truly defective, returning the product is pointless since you won’t be able to resell a defective product. So you could potentially lose the product and pay an extra cost to ship it back to Amazon, By removing product returns, you might lose the product, but it’ll save the cost of shipping the product back.

2. Better customer relationships:

Defective or poor products can be extremely frustrating for a customer. The last thing they want is to fight tooth and nail for a refund. Returnless refunds allow customers to get refunds faster and reduces the points of friction that can hurt your business. The customer no longer has to worry about packaging and shipping the product back. and will receive a refund in 1-2 business days, which is a lot faster than typical refunds. The faster and easier the return, the more likely the customer will come back and purchase from you in the future. In an article by Invesp, 92% of consumers will repurchase a product if the returns are easy.

3. Good publicity:

If you can improve the customer’s experience during the return process, they might tell their friends and colleagues about your product and brand. Although it didn’t work out with this first product, the customer understands that you will provide them a safety net. The customer will feel a lot more secure if they needed a refund. Word of mouth is great publicity, and returnless return policies can drive a lot of it.

4. Saves time and resources:

When Amazon released its returnless refund policy, they claimed it was a highly supported and request feature by Amazon sellers. Returns can be extremely expensive, and the cost of fulling traditional returns can be detrimental to small businesses and sellers. There are products that cannot be resold. One example is beauty products, which when returned, cannot be resold due to health and safety protocols. When these products get returned, they typically get disposed of or destroyed. Essentially, sellers are paying to return a product they can no longer profit from. Returnless refunds are a cost-effective measure for sellers to cut their losses and save the time and resources that would have been wasted on fulfilling returns.

Dealing with Bad Actors

While returnless refunds can be beneficial to sellers, others have disapproved of Amazon’s returnless refund policy since its release. In 2017, many small businesses and Amazon sellers voiced their concerns about the new refund policy, claiming it could set a bad precedent for future returns. One of the biggest concerns around the policy was that it may encourage bad actors and potentially scammers from buying products on Amazon. These bad actors can claim a false return due to defects or unsatisfaction, then get a full refund and keep a free product,

If you are worried about these bad actors taking advantage of the returnless refund policy, there are a couple of tools and troubleshooting solutions to protect your business and products. For starters, Amazon monitors the amount of refunds request by any buyer account. Accounts with excessive returns may be suspended by Amazon. Secondly, sellers can choose specific products for returnless refunds. If a product is too valuable and can be resold, you can decide to opt out of a returnless refund for that particular product.

Opting In for Amazon Returnless Refunds

There are two methods of opting into returnless refunds,

The first method is by setting Returnless Refund rules.

1. Go to your Amazon Seller Central account and head to “Return Settings” located in your Settings menu

2. Click “Returnless Refund” and then click “Add New Rule”

Amazon keeps doing return - less refunds I need them to STOP - Order Management, Shipping, Feedback & Returns - Amazon Seller Forums
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/amazon-keeps-doing-return-less-refunds-i-need-them-to-stop/435526

3. In the rules, set a price range for products you want to opt-in for Returnless Refunds (you may also select specific product categories or specific reasons for return)

4. Click “Save”

Now your products are ready. Any product within the price range (and within the category/reason for return if applied) will be eligible for Returnless Refunds.

image
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/how-do-you-interpret-the-returnless-refunds/406163/5

The second method is through setting Returnless Refunds for specific products and SKUs (stock-keeping units).

1. Go to your Amazon Seller Central account and head to “Return Settings” located in your Settings menu

2. Click on “Return Attribute Overrides” and download the template

3. Follow all the instructions on the template.

4. In the template, enter the code “RETURNLESS_REFUND” in the “prepaid label exemption code” box

5. Upload the completed template into the Return Attribute Overrides page

With that, the products you listed in your template will now be eligible for Returnless Refunds.

Picking Your Returnless Products

If you need help picking products for the refund policy, here are some key questions you need to ask before opting in:

1. Can the product be resold?

2. How much does it cost to return the product compared to the profits of reselling the product?

3. How does the returnless refund policy impact my inventory?

By asking yourself these questions, it determines the cost-effectiveness of opting into returnless refunds. Products that cannot be resold or if the profits do not cover the cost of the return, it might be worth using returnless refunds. And lastly, some sellers won’t have the capacity to give away “free products.” The reality is that products cost a lot of money. If your business is tight on resources, you might not be able to lose any products. Whether it may be, ask yourself these questions and determine the best solution for your Amazon business.

Looking Forward to What’s Next

We understand returnless refunds are not for everyone. Some sellers and businesses might not see the added benefits or cannot afford to lose a product. But for some sellers, returnless refund policies can be a lifesaver. Not only can sellers save costs by not paying for return shipping, but it can also provide a lot of relief for their customers. With faster and easier refunds with less friction, it might even convince customers to come back or better yet, promote your products to their network.

Depending on your business needs and practices, it might make sense to opt into returnless refunds. The best next step is to review your products and understand the potential cost of returning products. How much does return shipping cost? Can my products be resold? If not, does it make sense for me to pay for return shipping? Or should I just save costs and let my customers keep return products? No one knows but you, the business owner. If it makes economic sense to opt-in, returnless refunds might help your business in the long run.

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2021 Guide to Amazon Vine Program

In 2021, Amazon revamped its popular and exclusive Vine program. The Vine Program only allows the most trusted and helpful reviewers to join their program. As a result, the Vine program has become a huge opportunity for Amazon shoppers who want to help other customers and get early access to new products. The Vine program is also one of the most popular programs among Amazon sellers and vendors who are eager to get their new products off the floor.

Whether you’re a hopeful reviewer wanting new products or an ambitious seller hoping to get reviews, the Vine program is an awesome opportunity.

What is Amazon’s Vine Program?

Amazon’s Vine program hand-selects an esteemed group of Amazon reviewers to review new and pre-release products before they even hit the market. Each reviewer or “Vine Voice” is screened and must fulfill specific criteria to even be considered for the program. If selected, these Vine Voices are then given free products from different vendors also participating in the Vine program. These Voices are asked to test these new products, review their satisfaction and product performance, and share their opinions on Amazon for other customers to see before they purchase the same product.

Amazon’s goal behind the Vine program is to combat the multitude of fake reviews on its platform. Amazon is filled with fake or malicious reviews, and it often hurts the entire Amazon marketplace.

For shoppers, fake reviews may lead to poor purchases, higher return rates, and lower satisfaction among customers. For sellers, fake reviews can hurt your sales, and even destroy a product before it even launches. With the Vine program, Amazon can provide customers with genuine reviews and help jumpstart sellers and their products.

How to Join Amazon’s Vine Program?

As mentioned, Amazon’s Vine program is extremely selective. Product reviewers can only join the program through an invitation after reaching a specific Reviewer Ranking threshold. On Amazon’s Vine Help website, they state,

“Vine Voices are selected based on several criteria, but primarily on the helpfulness of their reviews as judged by all other customers and by their demonstrated interest in the types of products that are featured in the program. Customers who consistently write helpful reviews and develop a reputation for expertise in specific product categories are most likely to be invited into the program.”

The best way to increase your Reviewer Ranking and be eligible for the Vine program is to be helpful to other customers. This could mean writing engaging and insightful product reviews, providing genuine feedback to sellers, posting photos of the product, and answering questions in the Q&A. Under each product review, there is a counter that states, “X amount of people found this helpful” which may be one of the ways reviewers can increase their ranking.

Along with contributions to the Amazon community, the Vine program also looks at buyers and their interests. Since the Vine program will be testing products from any of their categories, they want to match the products to reviewers familiar with that product category. For example, if the Vine program was testing out a new fitness product, they are going to invite buyers who frequently buy and review fitness and health products.

Becoming a Vine Voice

If you contribute to Amazon and are invited to join their Vine program, congratulations! Here are the next steps you can expect:

Receive new and pre-released products:

Once you join the Vine program, you will be notified when a new product is shipped to you. Note that the products are completely free and provided by the vendors and sellers enrolled in the Vine program. Some Vine Voices may even receive pre-release products, which means you might even get to review products that have yet to be released for the open market on Amazon!

Start writing reviews:

After you receive and test out new products, you can begin writing and submitting product reviews. While you have to abide by Amazon’s posting guidelines, your reviews are your own. You can be as authentic as you want. Whether you write positive or negative reviews, your review and rating will not impact your Reviewer Ranking. You will even have a little banner next to your review with the title of “Vine Voice!”

Remember, the Vine program is all about reviews. When writing your reviews, be thoughtful and mindful of the customers reading your reviews, Be helpful and provide insight, in-depth experiences within your reviews! Your readers will appreciate it!

Benefits of the Vine Program

There are tons of different benefits of the Vine program, for both reviewers and sellers! For reviewers, the direct benefit is that you get free access to new and even pre-release products. If you are an avid Amazon shopper, this might be a dream come true! Along with free products, you get to help other shoppers like yourself. Amazon shoppers rely on your reviews to make confident purchases. Your reviews contribute to helping others, whether you know it or not!

For Amazon sellers and vendors, the benefits of the Vine program are even better! As a seller, you may think, why would I even bother with the Vine program? Doesn’t that mean I would have to give away products for free?

While yes, you do have to provide some upfront costs, the long-term benefits of the Vine program can launch your product into Amazon’s Best Sellers Rank. The truth is, launching a new and successful product on Amazon is extremely difficult. New products have little to no sales, and most likely have 0 product reviews. Along with low metrics, new products tend to struggle if they have little brand awareness or recognition.

The Vine program generates real reviews for real products. Sellers and vendors can send their products to the Vine program even before they officially launch their products. The program will provide essential early reviews and jumpstart your product. With more reviews, you’re more likely to have more visibility and sales. Not to mention, Vine Voices are the top reviewers on Amazon! It definitely doesn’t hurt to have an influencer promote and recommend your product!

If you want to enroll in Vine, simply head to your Amazon Seller Central account and click “Vine” located under “Advertising”.

Vine Program Updates in 2021

If you are a brand owner, vendor, or Amazon seller and would like to enroll in the Vine program, here are the requirements as of May 2021.

ASIN enrollment: Amazon will bill vendors $1,750 USD per enrolled parent ASIN

Stocking: Sellers are responsible for FBA fees to stock and ship products

Brand ownership: Vendors must be registered in Amazon’s Brand Registry

Review Threshold: Less than 30 reviews on your product’s page

Fulfillment by Amazon: Products must be enrolled in Amazon FBA must be in New condition

Note that Amazon Vine will not approve of these products:

  • hazmat or hazardous items
  • items sold in bundles
  • heavy or bulk items
  • dropshipping products
  • adult or “explicit” items

Sharing Your Vine Voice

The Vine program is a fantastic opportunity for both Amazon shoppers and Amazon sellers.

If you’re looking to join the Vine program as a reviewer, remember to be eligible, you need to help your fellow shoppers! Be insightful and engaging. Produce content and reviews that you would love to see if you were shopping for products on Amazon. For our sellers, we understand that the Vine program requirements are a bit steep, especially if you are coming from a startup or just beginning to sell on Amazon. If you have the capacity and want to find quick, reliable reviews, the Vine program might be the solution for you!

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How to Message Seller on Amazon with 4 Successful Tips

Whether you have a question about a product or need to report an issue with your purchase, it’s important to know how and where to contact your Amazon seller. In traditional brick and mortar stores, you would never be able to directly contact a brand owner unless you contact their corporate office.

Amazon cuts this bridge by allowing customers to directly contact their Amazon sellers. For shoppers, being able to send your seller a message and direct communication are key perks to buying on Amazon. Even for sellers, it’s extremely beneficial to communicate with your customers to ask for product reviews and ratings, troubleshoot any issues, or simply answer questions from prospective customers.

In this article, we’ll be discussing 4 successful tips you can use to get in touch with a seller on Amazon.

Contact the Seller Before Placing An Order

If you want to contact a seller before placing an order, the best way to connect is through Amazon’s “Ask a question” feature found on Seller pages. To find a seller’s page, go to the product listing and locate the Buy Box. At the bottom of the Buy Box, it should state, “Ships From” and “Sold By.” For FBA sellers, the product will be shipped by Amazon, but the “Sold By” should be the actual seller. In our example of the ‘Cute Kitty Night Light,’ we were able to find the seller, GoLine TECH, in the Buy Box.

If you are looking for a different seller, you can scroll beneath the Buy Box and click on “New and Used from” where you can see the other sellers selling the same product.

Next, all you need to do is click on the seller’s name, and you’ll be directed to their seller account page. Once you arrive, click on the yellow, “Ask a question” on the top right of the page.

Once you click, Amazon will pop up a new window to their Seller Messaging Assistant. The Assistant will help curate a message to the seller. If you have a question about an item for sale, the Messaging Assistant will direct to you a couple of different options including product details, return policy, and shipping. Go ahead and choose the message topic. You will then be directed to write a message and include any necessary information.

And that’s it! Your message will be sent to your seller’s messaging inbox and you should receive a response within 2-3 business days.

Contact the Seller After Placing an Order

In some situations, you might need to contact a seller after you placed and/or received an order. This could be to ask follow-up questions, report a problem with your product, or make changes to an order. If this is the case, you can contact the seller through your orders,

First, click on Orders under Your Account.

Then, you see a list of all of your previous orders. Find the product in question, and look to the right of the order. You will find a list of different options. One of these options should be “Get help with order” or “Problem with order.”

Click whichever button appears. You will then be directed to a new page, and then prompted to select a message topic. Once you select a topic, you can then select Contact Seller and send them a message.

Connecting Through Seller Feedback

Some customers want to connect with their sellers by leaving seller feedback. This is a common practice for customers who have already received their products but want to provide feedback to the seller about their experiences. If you would like to leave your seller feedback, head to Orders under Your Account. Then locate the product and seller you want to rate.

In the right menu, you should see an option to “Leave seller feedback”. If this option is not available, it most likely means it has been past 90 days since you purchased the product and you can no longer submit any seller reviews.

After you click “Leave seller feedback,” you will be directed to a form where you will see the Seller, Product, and a form to complete. The form will ask for a seller rating (1-5 stars), a question about the product, and a comment box where you can provide any message to the seller.

When complete, simply click “Submit Feedback” and you are done! Your seller feedback and message will be sent to the seller.

Buyer-Seller Message Center

The last method to message an Amazon seller is through the Message Center. If you contacted a seller before or after purchasing a product, your previous messages and conversations will appear in the Message Center! To access the Message Center, start by clicking on “account” under Your Account.

A new page will appear with 10 different options. One of these options will be “Your Messages.” When clicked, you will be directed to your Message Center.

The Message Center is a great place to review old messages between you and your Amazon sellers. If you want to follow up with the seller and keep the conversation going, the Message Center can help you! You can see your Buyer/Seller messages and view your sent messages.

Stay Connected on Amazon!

While these are great tips for customers to connect with their sellers, these methods can also be used by sellers to keep in touch with their buyers! For Amazon sellers, staying in touch is vital to sustaining your business. Connections allow sellers to request seller reviews, product reviews, and more!

We hope you all stay connected on Amazon, and even stay connected with us!

If you enjoyed our article, please connect with us and the Sellgo family on any of our social media platforms! We hope to see you there!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellgoinc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sellgo3

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellgo/

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What is UPC? Universal Product Codes and Why You Need Them!

UPCs or “Universal Product Codes” are one of the foundational product identifiers that the entire business world relies on. Every item or product in the world is assigned a global identifier, a series of numbers and letters that keep track of a product and any of its transactions. UPCs, like other product identifiers, enable any seller, merchant, or business to purchase, sell, or keep track of their products. For new companies and Amazon sellers, it is vital to secure UPCs for your products before you are allowed to distribute and sell anything on Amazon.

By learning about UPCs, you’ll get a better idea about how they play into your Amazon strategy, and how you can use UPCs to sustain, grow, and accelerate your business.

What are UPCs?

The easiest way to break down UPCs is by looking at a simple product label. Labels consist of two different parts: the barcode and the unique digit number. Barcodes are a series of lines and black bars in a unique sequence, often read by barcode scanners. Along with a barcode, each product contains a unique 12 digit numerical code called a GTIN, or “Global Trade Identification Number.” Each label contains a UPC (barcode) along with a 12 digit GTIN below. Essentially, the UPC is the same as the GTIN, except the UPC is displayed through the barcode.

What are GTINs?

As mentioned, GTINs, or Global Trade Identification Numbers, are part of labels and are the numeral codes assigned to products. Every product in the world has a different GTIN depending on the brand owner or manufacturer and the product model. GTINs come in varying lengths, but the most common are GTIN-12, or 12 digit numbers.

GTIN-12 can be broken down into 3 parts. The first 6 digits, the next 5 digits, and the 12th and last digit.

The first 6 digits are known as GS1 or “Uniform Code Council”. GS1 are also called “company prefixes” because they represent a specific company. Every company has a different set of numbers for different companies. For example, Nike’s products may have a different GS1 code than Adidas.

The next 5 digits are known as the “product number”. As the name implies, each product model and type has a unique product number. For our example, Nike sells two models of shoes. Both shoes will have the same GS1 (since they are both under Nike), but each model will have a different product number.

The final and 12th digit is known as the “check digit” which is a unique number assigned when calculating the 11 digits together.

GTINs and UPCs work together to keep track of every product and its respective transactions. By using UPCs and GTINs, businesses and consumers can quickly and efficiently scan products, check product details such as pricing, and keep track of inventory and sales transactions.

Should I Use UPCs or ASINs?

If you sell on Amazon, you might be wondering: UPCs? What about ASINs? How do they relate to UPCs?

ASINs are known as “Amazon Standard Identification Numbers,” and like UPCs, they are used to keep track and monitor specific products stored, sold, and shipped on Amazon. Unlike the 12 digits found in UPCs, ASINs are only 10 digit product identifiers. Every product on Amazon is given a unique whenever they are registered in Amazon’s system. ASINs should be familiar to anyone who shops or sells on Amazon, as they are the most common product identifier on the entire marketplace.

Before you can buy or sell a product using an ASIN, the product needs to be registered on Amazon using a UPC. For most categories, you will be required to provide the UPC when creating a new listing for your product. As a result, you need the UPCs to sell anything on Amazon.

Don’t stress out if you don’t know your UPCs. If you have your products on hand, your products should have a barcode on the packaging which includes your UPC barcode and GTIN. In case your products do not have a label, contact your supplier or manufacturer immediately. Your product provider should be able to provide your product’s information including their UPC.

*Note: In case you are selling books, may receive an ISBN (international standard book number) instead of a traditional GTIN. If you happen to be outside the U.S., you may receive an EAN or “European Article Number” instead of the traditional UPC and GTIN.

How many UPCs Do I Need?

For Amazon sellers and businesses, you will need a different UPC for each product you plan on selling.

Remember, UPCs are needed to keep track of sales, so each variant of products will need to have its own unique UPC and GTIN. For example, if you were selling a shirt on Amazon in multiple sizes (Small/Medium/Large/X-Large), each size will require a different UPC and GTIN. For each of these UPCs, you will then need to create a new listing for each of these variants. If you sold the shirt in 4 different sizes, you should have 4 different UPCs. After adding these products to Amazon, you should receive 4 different ASINs.

Simply put, you need a unique UPC for every product you sell.

Strengthen Your Strategy with UPCs

UPCs are a foundational part of your business. Without the UPC, you won’t be able to sell any products on Amazon. But if you use them correctly, you can maximize your efficiency by scanning and tracking any product you want to sell online.

Don’t forget that UPCs are not the final product! Like all product identifiers, UPCs and GTINs are just the first steps. You need to convert your products to ASINs! You can use any product identifier like EANs and ISBNs to add new products to Amazon and start selling today.

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How Much Does It Cost to Sell on Amazon? Starting an Amazon Business

You want to start your own Amazon business and start selling products on Amazon today. The only problem is: you don’t know how much it will cost upfront to start selling. The cost of starting your own Amazon business depends on a couple of things: the selling plan, what products you plan on selling, which fulfillment method you want, and a couple of other variables. While the options are flexible, these choices and costs are going to determine the profitability and success of your business.

We’ll be covering all of these decisions right now and to determine the best strategy for your Amazon business.

Seller Account Pricing Plans

The first cost factor to consider is your Amazon selling plan. There are currently two plans to choose from: the individual plan and the professional plan.

The individual plan is the cheapest plan and charges sellers $0.99 per item sold on Amazon. The professional plan is a bit more expensive, and charges $39.99 per month, regardless of how many items you sell.

How do you know which plan is right for you?

Pick the Individual Plan if:

You sell less than 40 products per month.

OR

You don’t know what to sell yet

Pick the Professional Plan if:

You sell more than 40 products per month

OR

If you sell restricted products that need to be ungated

For beginner sellers, we highly recommend you start with the individual plan. The Individual plan is perfect for sellers who don’t have any sales history or products to sell. When starting, you will likely have low sales and low inventory. With the individual plan, you will only pay the $0.99 fee for each item you sell. With less than 40 sales a month, this will end up being a lot cheaper than paying for the Professional plan ($40 flat fee per month).

The Professional Plan is recommended to any seller who sells more than 40 products per month and has an established inventory with profitable, replenishable, and high-demand products. Once you start selling more than 40 products a month, it’ll be cheaper than the Individual plan since you won’t be paying the fee per item sold. You can sell an unlimited amount of products and only pay $39.99 for the month. The Professional plan also unlocks different tools that can increase your sales and product visibility such as the PPC campaigns (sponsored ads) and API selling tools and reports.

With the Professional plan, you can also start selling gated or restricted products on Amazon that have less competition and higher sales potential. We cover selling restricted products in our previous article, How to Get Ungated on Amazon in 2021.

Remember that you can always upgrade your selling plan later on. So, start small with the Individual plan. Once you start building your sales and have a set product catalog, upgrade to the Professional Plan.

Referral Fees

The second cost factor to consider when selling on Amazon is referral fees. Referral fees are a percentage of the total sales price or a fee minimum that the seller pays Amazon. The costs of the referral fees change depending on the type of product. This is why we suggest the Individual plan for new sellers without established inventories. Every product has a different referral fee percentage or referral fee minimum. Amazon will charge you whichever is higher. Here are some of the most common categories and their respective referral fees:

  • Appliances (15% up to $300, or 8% for sales greater than $300 or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Automotive (12%, 10% for tires and wheel products or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Beauty (8% up to $10, 15% for sales greater than $10 or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Books (15% + $1.80 closing fee)
  • Camera & Photo (8% or a $0.30 referral minimum fee))
  • Clothing & Accessories (17% or a $0.30 referral minimum fee))
  • Electronics Accessories (15% up to $100, or 8% for sales greater than $100, or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Home & Garden (15% or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Kitchen (15% or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Music (15% + $1.80 closing fee)
  • Personal Computers (8% or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)
  • Toys & Games (15% or a $0.30 referral minimum fee)

*Note: This is not a complete list of all the referral fees for all of Amazon’s categories. For other product categories and their referral fees, please refer to Amazon’s Pricing web page.

From Amazon’s Pricing page: https://sell.amazon.com/pricing.html

As a reminder, Amazon will charge you whichever fee is higher. For our new sellers, make sure to keep this in mind when you source products to sell on Amazon. You may note that a once profitable product can become unprofitable and even cost you money to sell after accounting for referral fees

Fulfillment Fees

The third cost factor to sell on Amazon is fulfillment fees. Fulfillment fees include two primary costs: the cost to ship and the cost to store.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

If your products are shipped through Amazon or “Fulfillment by Amazon” (FBA), Amazon charges you a fulfillment fee per unit sold which included picking and packing your orders, shipping and handling, customer service, and product returns. These fulfillment fees are dependent on the type, weight, and dimensions of your product. Depending on your shipping weight, your fulfillment fees can be as low as $2.16 for small and light products and as high as $138.11 or more for special overside products weighing more than 90lbs.

From Amazon’s Pricing page: https://sell.amazon.com/pricing.html

FBA also charges for storage fees. From January to September, storage fees cost $0.75 per cubic foot ($0.48 per cubic foot for oversized products). In October through December, these storage fees increase to $2.40 per cubic foot and $1.20 per cubic foot for oversized products. This increase is to account for the holiday and seasonal demand during Quarter 4 of the year.

From Amazon’s Pricing page: https://sell.amazon.com/pricing.html

Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)

For sellers who ship and store their products, known as “Fulfillment by Merchant” (FBM), Amazon charges a separate fulfillment/shipping rate depending on the product category, shipping speed, and selling plan. Products under the category of books, music, videos, and DVDs, Amazon charges a shipping rate depending on the shipping speed and shipping address. For domestic standard shipping, Amazon charges $3.99 per item. For faster shipping, Merchants can pay $6.99 for domestic expedited shipping and $14.95 for domestic two-day shipping. International shipping costs up to $46.50 for international expedited shipping.

From Amazon’s Pricing page: https://sell.amazon.com/pricing.html

In all other categories not mentioned, merchants will have to pay $3.99 per unit for domestic standard and up to $6.99 or more for domestic expedited. 2 Day shipping and international shipping are not available for other categories. Because FBM sellers store their inventory, Amazon’s storage fees do not apply.

For more information on Amazon’s fulfillment fees and which may apply to your business, check out Amazon’s Pricing web page.

Other Costs and Fees

By now, we’ve touched on the selling plan, referral fees, and fulfillment fees. These three factors account for a majority of the cost to sell on Amazon (not including product sourcing). If you have decided to use Amazon FBA, you will have access to additional services that Amazon provides to its sellers for an additional fee. This includes:

  1. FBA Label Service: Amazon will create and apply barcodes to any of your products, fee charges per item.
  2. FBA Prep Service: Amazon will prepare your products for shipping, fee charges per item.

Along with services, Amazon also charges additional fees to unplanned services they provide if there is any error with your products, packaging, and/or labels.

  • Long-term storage fees: for products that have been in Amazon’s FBA centers for over a year
  • Removal order fees: for products you want to be removed from Amazon’s FBA centers, Amazon will dispose of unsold merchandise for a per-item removal fee
  • Returns fees: for products returned by a customer, Amazon will process a free return for the customer and charge your account a fee for the cost of return shipping
  • Unplanned service fees: for products with incorrect or missing labeling, packaging, or preparation, Amazon will fix your products for a per-item fee

If you need more information on these other costs and fees, head over to Amazon’s pricing web page.

Keeping these Costs in Mind

If you just started selling or want to start selling on Amazon, it is vital to account for these potential costs when selling products on Amazon. More importantly, it is important to consider these costs before you source any product.

A general rule of thumb we recommend to all beginner sellers, pick products that are:

  • Small and lightweight: By selling small and lightweight products, you’ll notice the shipping and fulfillment fees will be a lot cheaper!
  • High demand: Products in high demand will be easier to sell and will acquire fewer storage fees long term.
  • High quality: Sourcing only high-quality products, you can reduce the number of returns and unplanned service fees.

Before you start sourcing make sure to calculate the potential profit margins and account for any applicable costs and fees! This can be easily calculated with Amazon’s Revenue Calculator. If you need any additional help, check out our blog on the Profit Calculator.

And lastly, if you are a new seller and aren’t sure where to start sourcing products, we highly recommend using Amazon seller tools like Sellgo’s Profit Finder and Product Tracker. Using seller tools can save you a ton of time finding high-demand and profitable products you can start selling now! Our tools will account for all of these fees and highlight the best products that are guaranteed to make you profit. So before you start your Amazon business, explore Sellgo and our tools that can help you jumpstart your Amazon sales journey!