How To Resell on Amazon: Effective Tips To Earn
Are you looking for ways to make money on Amazon or to open your own Amazon business? Reselling is one of the most popular and lucrative methods for earning income through the online marketplace. By reselling products, you can capitalize on existing demand without having to create your products from scratch. With some research, a careful selection of items to sell, and a few simple steps, anyone can start selling on Amazon.
As a new seller for an Amazon Business or for beginners, it is also helpful to have an idea of the available reselling model that is available on Amazon, this includes:
Wholesale
When it comes to wholesale on Amazon, this refers to the bulk buying of products directly from the manufacturer or the supplier at a discounted price. From there, you can sell this on Amazon at a retailer price. This is also an effective way in reselling products especially if you have enough budget but are not ready to invest the time and money to be private label sellers.
Retail Arbitration is a simple sales model where the sellers buy discount products through retailers or a retail store and sell them on Amazon. These include online retailers. The key to retail arbitrage is to find items on sale or clearance that are selling for a lower price than they are listed on Amazon.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is also an effective e-commerce business model where the seller buys the products on demand from a wholesaler who directly ships the products to your customer. It also helps you to save money if you don’t want to use a large sum of money to purchase products.
Online Arbitrage
Another known e-commerce business model is where you purchase low-priced products from an online retailer and resell them on Amazon. This business model is essentially retail arbitrage, but what makes them different is the products are bought online rather than a brick and mortar store. It will also help you on how to sell online as a learning idea before starting your ecommerce store.
Generally, this is how reselling works:
- You will purchase the product: You can buy from retail stores, online retailers, or wholesalers at a lower price than its market rate.
- List the product: Make sure it is with a markup on Amazon using the Amazon seller app. The Amazon seller app allows you to manage your online business remotely. Logging in to your seller central account also allows you to manage other things such as inventory, update pricing, and more.
- Once purchased by the customer: You will ship it yourself or use the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to fulfill the order made. If you are using dropshipping, your supplier will ship the items directly to the customer.
- Gain the difference: This is between the cost and the selling price deducting the referral fee that is charged by Amazon.
Here are 10 steps to get started with reselling on Amazon.
Research And Select The Products You Want To Sell
Researching and selecting the products you want to sell is an important step in becoming a successful reseller in this type of online marketplaces. Knowing what types of items are popular, as well as understanding trends in the marketplace can help you identify products that have the potential to generate high sales volume. To do this, you need to
- Research potential suppliers and evaluate their offerings – Based on factors such as cost, shipping time, customer service ratings, etc.
- Requesting samples from different suppliers- Before making a decision can help you make an informed choice about which supplier is best suited for providing the products you want to sell.
- Refrain from fragile items or heavy ones – These types of items can potentially increase shipping costs.
- Ensure not to list restricted items – Some examples of restricted items are alcohol and hazardous items.
- Difficult to assemble and seasonal items – ensure to avoid this in your product listing.
- Select products with high margins – This is also effective to sell products on Amazon. You can also check other parameters such as its sales history, price history, and product profitability.
Source Your Products From Reputable Suppliers
When it comes to reselling, one of the most important steps is sourcing your products from reputable suppliers. It’s essential to ensure that you are getting quality items at competitive prices for your business to be successful. One of the effective keys to making money as an Amazon reseller is to look for a great bargain.
If you choose to do Retail Arbitrage, you will need to ensure to visit multiple stores to find the best deals. Here are some of the places where you can find a good bargain.
- Hypermarkets – Examples of these are the clearance sales of Walmart and Target where they have the lowest price compared to Amazon’s retailer price.
- Warehouses – Costco, for example, offers extremely low prices on their clearance items but you will need to pay annually for their membership to get their pricing.
- Department Stores – Check out for the end-of-season sales in department stores where the prices of the products are significantly marked down.
- Outlet Malls – Third party sellers or retailers often send unwanted or excess goods to outlet malls and they are sold at a lower price.
- Liquidation Stores – The Amazon return pallets are sold in large batches to an Amazon liquidation store at a cheap price and where you can buy random lots.
To help you check the prices, it would be helpful to use the Amazon seller app to scan the product package or the barcode to check its prices on Amazon.
If you will be doing Online Arbitrage, you will need to look for online stores and websites to find a great deal. To help you speed up the process, you can use online arbitrage tools which will show you potential details based on the scope you have set.
If you choose Dropshipping, you can look for dropshipping suppliers where you can get access to different products across different categories. Also, if you want to purchase Wholesale, you can look for local suppliers where you can purchase low-priced items.
Create An Amazon Seller Account
Creating an Amazon seller account is the first step in reselling in this marketplace. To do this, you will need to provide basic information about yourself such as your name, address, and contact information. Additionally, when setting up a seller account, you will need to select the type of seller you want to be: a professional or an individual.
Professional Account Or Professional Seller
They are charged an extra fee every month, but they also have access to additional features such as bulk editing and uploading product listings. This costs $39.99 per month and you can get access to additional tools and features. A $.99 cost per item fee is waived for a professional seller/account.
Individual Accounts/Sellers
This is free and does not carry a monthly fee, you will need to pay $0.99 every time a product is sold on Amazon in addition to the standard 15% commission fee (depending on the specific category).
Alternatively, you can sign up for an Individual account and later upgrade to a Professional seller once you have exceeded your monthly sales to 40.
Set Up Product Listings With Accurate Descriptions, Images, And Pricing
Creating successful product listings on Amazon is essential for your reselling business to gain visibility and generate sales. It requires creating accurate descriptions, uploading high-quality images, and setting the right prices for each item.
Doing this correctly will not only help to sell products but also stand out from the competition and also ensure that customers have all of the information they need to make an informed purchase decision.
By taking the time to set up detailed and informative product listings, you can increase your chances of success when you resell on the Amazon platform.
Setting up product listings with accurate descriptions, images, and pricing is critical for any reselling business to gain visibility and generate sales on Amazon. Here are some tips for setting up successful product listings:
- Create detailed descriptions that accurately describe the item you are selling. Include information about the materials used in the product, its features and benefits, measurements, colors/patterns, etc.
- Upload high-quality images of your products that capture all important details. The better the image quality, the more likely customers are to be interested in purchasing your item.
- Set competitive prices for each item based on similar products offered by other sellers. Monitor competitors’ prices regularly to remain competitive.
- Leverage promotional tools such as coupons, discounts, and free shipping offer wherever possible to drive increase sales volume.
Optimize Your Listings For Search Engine Visibility
Optimizing your product listings for search engine visibility is a critical step in becoming a successful reseller on Amazon. By optimizing your listings, you can ensure that customers can find and purchase the items you have listed for sale. This involves using keywords, relevant descriptions, and other tactics to help increase the ranking of your products in searches.
Additionally, leveraging promotional tools such as coupons and discounts can also be beneficial in driving the sales volume up. With some research and effort, any seller can learn how to optimize their product listings on Amazon for maximum search engine visibility and to become a successful Amazon seller.
Manage Customer Service Requests Promptly
One of the most important aspects of being a successful Amazon reseller is managing customer service requests promptly. Providing an excellent customer experience is key to creating loyal customers who will continue to purchase from your store.
Responding quickly and accurately to inquiries, complaints, or other issues can help ensure that shoppers have a positive experience with your business. By taking the time to respond promptly and courteously to all customer service requests, you can improve your chances of success in becoming Amazon sellers.
Utilize Fulfillment By Amazon (Fba) Services To Reduce Shipping Costs And Time-To-Market
To reduce shipping costs and time-to-market when reselling is through utilizing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) services. FBA provides sellers with access to a wide range of fulfillment options, including storage, packing, shipping, and customer service for their products.
This helps minimize the cost and effort associated with managing product inventory and ensures that orders are delivered quickly and efficiently and you can do this on your seller central account.
Additionally, FBA also offers promotional tools such as coupons and discounts which can be used to drive sales volume high. By taking advantage of these services, any Amazon reseller can increase their chances of success when selling on Amazon.
If you find the Amazon fees are too high for the items, you can start with FBM or use a third-party logistics company (3PL).
Market The Products
To help generate sales for your reselling products on Amazon, you will need to use a marketing strategy. You can use the following tips which can help to drive up sales and gain a competitive advantage over other Amazon sellers.
Monitor Reviews Of Your Products Regularly And Respond Accordingly
Monitoring customer reviews of your products is an important step in becoming a successful reseller on Amazon. By reading and responding to customer feedback, you can ensure that shoppers are satisfied with their purchase experience and also work to improve the quality of your products and services.
Additionally, appropriately responding to negative reviews can help improve customer satisfaction as well. By taking the time to monitor customer reviews regularly and respond accordingly, any Amazon seller can increase their chances of success when reselling on the Amazon marketplace.
Promote The Products On Social Media
Social media is widely used and it is not only for entertainment purposes but also helps to gain more customers. Posting about the products on different social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram.
This can also help to create the brand identity and to reach potential customers outside Amazon’s scope. It can also help to boost the ranking of your online store and the right way to market the products on social media is to have a conversation with the followers.
Use Amazon PPC Ads
Look for keywords that the customers are using to find the products and bid on these keywords.
Take Advantage Of Promotional Tools Such As Coupons and Discounts To Drive Sales Volume
Promotional tools such as coupons and discounts can be highly effective for an amazon reseller looking to increase their sales volume on Amazon.
Coupons provide customers with an incentive to purchase items by offering them a discount, which can help generate more sales.
Additionally, discounts can also be used to drive sales volume as they encourage shoppers to purchase items at discounted prices. By taking advantage of these promotional tools, any seller can increase their chances of success when they resell on Amazon.
Track Competitors’ Prices To Remain Competitive
Tracking competitors’ prices is an important step for any reseller looking to remain competitive on Amazon. By monitoring the prices of similar products offered by other sellers, you can ensure that your prices remain competitive and attract potential customers.
Additionally, tracking the pricing strategies of your rivals can also help you identify opportunities where you can offer discounts or promotional offers to increase sales volume. With some research and effort, any seller can learn how to effectively monitor competitors’ prices to remain competitive when reselling on Amazon.
Win The Buy Box
The “buy box” refers to the “Buy Now” button on the listing pages on Amazon. Since there are different sellers on each listing, only one person can get the sale, and Amazon does have a system to determine this. Here are some of the tips to help you win the buy box:
Sign Up For Professional Account
Only a professional account is eligible for the buy box.
Ensure To Maintain A Strong Account
When you have a good customer service score and feedback, this is a big advantage.
Offer Competitive Prices
You don’t need to always have the lowest price but you should at least be close to it.
Ensure To Have Lots Of Inventory
Always make sure to have an inventory of the listed items. Without the stocks, the Buy Box will simply move to another seller.
To check for the buy box eligibility, you can go to your “Manage Inventory” page and proceed to Preferences – Buy Box Eligible. Then, click on the “Save Changes” button located at the bottom of the page. You should be able to see a column that displays the Buy Box eligibility status for each of your products.
But, if you are experiencing some issues winning the buy box of the products, you may need to reduce the price further.
The Best Products That You Can Resell On Amazon
Any products that you are looking for whether it is for your personal use, kitchen, recreational, and more, all of these can be found on Amazon. It is said that Amazon sells 4000 items per minute with a large number of people purchasing and reselling things on the same marketplace. Reselling is a method that has been used to launch an entire enterprise in some cases.
But, with the large number of products that you can sell, how will you determine which one to resell? The following products seem to be profitable genres and goods that are excellent options to begin your reselling journey on Amazon.
Electronics And Accessories
Electronics are considered to be the highest-selling category on Amazon. Although it can be competitive at times, there is a frequent high level of demand. Some of the profitable items to resell are computer and smartphone accessories and also chargers for different electronic gadgets.
Home And Kitchen Appliances
This category has seen to have an increase in its popularity over the years. Some of the best products in this category are weighing scales for food, tumblers, shakers, and more.
Books
Books have been around for centuries and have always been an excellent source of knowledge. With their low-cost prices, used books are excellent options to become a reseller on Amazon as it offers great potential for profits. You can also look for rare books or vintage editions for even higher profits.
Toys And Board Games
Toys and Board Games are excellent options for reselling as it appeals to a wide target market of adults, teenagers, and also children. Being able to offer vintage toys that people cannot find in stores can be an excellent way to gain higher profits.
Clothes
Clothes are another popular item to resell on Amazon because there is always a demand for new items even during economic downturns. You can look for trending clothes styles or the latest fashion trend which you need to research well before buying.
Collectibles
Collectibles are popular because some of them can be very valuable. Some of the best items to look for are rare coins, vintage posters, and first editions of books.
Helpful Suggestions To Resell On Amazon
Thorough research, and finding effective products that you can resell on Amazon are some of the ways to become an effective reseller and earn profit for your retail store. Some of the following also include:
Follow The Trends
You can use different tools such as Google trends to find any upward products that are trending. You can also check the seasonality to find out which items sells better during the season or holiday.
Check The Restriction Of Amazon
Amazon also has restrictions on which products and brands you can sell. They also restrict gated categories such as food & gourmet which need the approval to list the products to sell. You can use the Amazon Seller app to check the restrictions by entering the product SKU and checking for the Selling Eligibility.
Find Quality Products
Regardless if it is a low or high-competition product, it is important to sell quality ones. Selling quality products helps to improve the chances of getting good feedback which always leads to more sales. Selling poor-quality items can lead to a high amount of returns which can cause suspension.
Purchase High-Margin Products
Amazon charges a big percentage fee to sell on their marketplace. With FBA, the fees can be as high as 25%. As a result, you must not purchase a product unless you can make at least a 30% margin.
Pros And Cons Of Reselling On Amazon
Like any other business model and other means to earn money, reselling on the Amazon platform do have its advantages and disadvantages.
Pros Of Amazon Reselling
Great For Beginners
Reselling is a great opportunity for new sellers who want to learn on how to sell online before they will invest in private-label products.
Low Start-Up Costs
No need to have a big amount to resell products on Amazon unless you will be buying wholesale. The bulk investment will be the cost of the products.
Easy-To-Use Platform
There’s no need for you to be tech-savvy because Amazon will take care of everything that you will need.
Reach A Large Customer Base
The Amazon customer base is incredibly huge, and you will be able to reach out to many potential customers.
Offer Competitive Prices And Discounts
You can also offer competitive prices and discounts to attract more customers.
Cons Of Amazon Reselling
High Competition
Since Amazon is one of the largest online retailers or online marketplaces available, there will be a lot of competitors reselling the same products as you. You need to have an edge over them when it comes to pricing or quality assurance.
Hidden Fees
Amazon has transaction fees that you need to pay whenever a product is sold, in addition to other hidden costs such as shipping and storage fees.
Time Investment
Reselling requires time investment not only for researching what items to buy but also for monitoring your listings, answering customer inquiries, and updating stock levels regularly. This can become very time-consuming if done manually.
High Fees Are Charged By Amazon For Using Their Platform
Amazon charges fees for access to their platforms such as referral fees, fulfillment fees, and closing costs. These fees can add up quickly and reduce your profits significantly.
Competitive Market With Different Sellers Offering Similar Products
The market for reselling is highly competitive, with different sellers offering similar products. This makes it difficult to stand out and attract potential customers. To succeed, you need to be creative and think of unique ways to differentiate yourself from the competition.
No Control Over The Supply Of The Products
As a reseller, you will not have control over the production of the products. You also can’t control the quality of the product, and as a seller, your reputation depends on the quality of the suppliers.
Amazon Hides Your Customers
A marketplace like amazon and selling on this platform means that you are unable to build a long-lasting relationship with your customers. All the communication must involve order fulfillment and you are not able to lead your customers away from Amazon.
Different Ways Of Amazon Resell
Reselling items on Amazon needs a lot of time shopping for products since you don’t have a steady supply of items, you are constantly looking for other good deals.
Out of the Amazon Reselling models, the retail arbitrage takes the most effort, it is because you need to shop at brick and mortar stores or physically shop them. For Online arbitrage, it doesn’t require too much labor, but you will need to constantly check on the online deals which somehow can disappear faster.
For Dropshipping and purchasing from Wholesale suppliers are much better models than retail arbitrage and online arbitrage as well because you have a steady supply of the items and it has reliable suppliers available.
But, your ultimate goal is to have your website or online store where you can build your own brand and customer base. Keep in mind that Amazon resell is only a stepping stone. Whether you choose to start on retail arbitrage or online arbitrage, it is important to know about selling items or low competition products or reselling products that are on trend that can provide significant profit margins.
Conclusion
Reselling on Amazon is a great way to make money with low start-up costs and access to a large customer base. However, it can be challenging due to high competition levels, hidden fees associated with using the platform, and the time investment required for listing and managing inventory levels.
To increase your chances of success when reselling, you must research the best products to sell, ensure that you follow all of Amazon’s guidelines, offer competitive prices with discounts or promotions such as coupons or free shipping options, track competitors’ prices regularly in order remain competitively priced, maintain good customer service score and feedback ratings from customers who have purchased from you before.
With some effort and creativity into creating effective strategies for selling online on this platform can help maximize profits potential when reselling on amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What Is Reselling On Amazon?
A: This refers to the process of buying products from a manufacturer or wholesaler and then selling them online through Amazon’s platform. It involves buying products for less than their retail price and then reselling them on Amazon at a higher price, allowing you to generate a profit.
Q: What Are The Benefits Of Reselling On Amazon?
A: This offers several benefits, including access to a large pool of potential customers, low start-up costs, and an easy-to-use platform. Additionally, it also allows you to take advantage of competitive pricing and discounts to attract more shoppers.
Q: Is It Legal To Resell Products On Amazon?
A: Yes, it is legal to resell products on Amazon as long as you comply with the platform’s guidelines. However, some products may not be allowed to be sold due to certain restrictions and regulations.
Q: How Can I Increase My Chances Of Success When Reselling On Amazon?
A: There are several ways to increase your chances of success, such as taking advantage of promotional tools like coupons and discounts, tracking competitors’ prices to remain competitive, setting up PPC ads, having a good customer service score, and feedback, and offering competitive prices. Creating effective strategies can help you maximize the profit potential of reselling on Amazon.
Q: What Kind Of Products Can I Sell On Amazon?
A: You can sell any kind of product on Amazon, provided that the product is not restricted or prohibited. Some of the most popular categories for reselling include electronics and accessories, home and kitchen appliances, books, toys and board games, clothes, collectibles, and more.
