At the request of several of the regulars.
We’ve been selling on Amazon for a few years now. We sell a few plants and most of our biological controls range (that’s nematodes to eat slugs, ladybird larvae to eat aphids and other charming things like that).
There are several things you need to know about the way Amazon works. Key is that it wants to have only one product code for ALL vendors across its network. You then have to compete for the “Buy Box”. This is who Amazon says sells the product. All other things being equal this will depend on a combination of price and reputation.
In some ways the tool kit you get is quite good. You can manage your inventory either by uploading items individually or by uploading as a file which takes a bit of getting your head round (as in I’ve not done it). However you don’t seem to be able to clone an existing product which is a bit of a shame as the system depends on you getting the right tags/keywords for the products that the customers will search by. It would be nice to have them already there. Although it will remember what you put in the field before which can save you time.
It’s pretty good at keeping track of how much product you have left although it is slightly unpredictable but we’ve never quite been able to nail whether it’s us or the system.
You can run sales for limited periods and other promotions although some of the promotional routines are counterintuitive (as in I haven’t managed to do what I want to do yet which is to give my readers a special discount code)
You can have variations and add-ins too but that’s limited to certain categories of product – such as clothing etc.
But they won’t let you have more than one store per company which can be limiting so you have to be sure about what you want to do. It’s difficult to have more than one shipping regime also – some products are perishable and need different treatment from something that’s inert.
Two more issues you need to be aware of – they get annoyed with you if you follow up the customers with e-shots – since as far as they are concerned they’re their customers rather than yours. Also there is no mechanism for taking orders when things are out of stock. You commit to your shipping time and if you’re out of stock you can’t take orders. With very few goods actually made in the UK and the general flakiness of US/Chinese suppliers about getting customs documentation right that can be a major issue.
But apart from these niggles it’s a pretty good system for the novice or someone wanting to only sell a few (hundred or so) items. They charge you 15% for the privilege of getting you the order – but being realistic, we know from doing it on our own that that IS about what it costs to generate a sale.
The most important thing though is your reputation. Like on E-bay, people vote as to how good your performance is. We already had a track record going back a couple of years for selling plants and biological controls in a small way so when we set up The Intelligent Garden we simply changed the name of the store and added a lot more products.
Our reputation is generally pretty good and we work hard at keeping it that way by responding promptly to messages and keeping people informed of what’s going on.
But then we are geared up as a fulfilment house – we had to do that because the ornamental plant industry struggles with the idea of just in time fulfilment – unless they’re the likes of Roundstone who are supplying limited ranges to B&Q. So for the intelligent garden stuff, our administrator ships my product the 3 days of the week that she’s in and I do it the other days. We have in depth cover –sometimes I pack some of the biological controls range.
The important thing is to be on top of it – ultimately your brand and your business depend on it.
It would also be a good way to start for someone wanting to sell their own knowledge products. Amazon do offer a complete fulfilment service but I’ve not explored it.
On balance it’s a good offer – the benefits definitely outweigh the disadvantages that I’ve flagged up already.
It’s great to come back from the pub to discover you’ve flogged another couple of soil test kits. Beats selling e-books any day.
If you want to discuss how it might fit your own business feel free to ring me on 0845 094 0407. Or have a look at our Amazon Store
Alan
WordPress Support for blogs and websites