Expert’s Guide to Selling on Amazon

Welcome to the Buy Box Experts Guide to Selling on Amazon! If you’re thinking about starting up your own business as an Amazon seller, stick around, because you’ve come to the right place.

Amazon is the world’s largest ecommerce site. As of 2018, Amazon had $233 billion in revenue, and more than 5 million third-party sellers currently operate across Amazon’s 12 worldwide marketplaces. So selling on Amazon represents a huge opportunity—if you know where to start and what to keep in mind as you build your Amazon seller business. In this epic guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about selling on Amazon. Here’s what to expect as you make your way through it!

How to Use This Guide

This guide to selling on Amazon is meant to be a comprehensive reference for anyone who wants to get started succeeding on Amazon’s third-party marketplace. As such, we recommend you read through it from start to finish at a pace that’s comfortable to you. Keep a notepad or note-taking app handy as you make your way through the guide. There’s a lot to learn, so don’t think you need to remember or even understand it all the first time through. That’s why we put all this crucial information, gained from decades of experience as Amazon experts and sellers ourselves, in one place. We wanted to create an ultimate reference, one you can return to over and over as you build your seller business on Amazon!

What to Expect in Each Chapter

• Chapter 1 – Why Sell on Amazon. We’ll cover all the terms you need to know to get the most out of the rest of this guide. Then we’ll discuss why should you choose Amazon as a place to sell, along with the pros and cons of Amazon versus other marketplaces.

• Chapter 2 – Registering as an Amazon Seller. What happens once you’re ready to move forward with getting signed up or “registered” as a seller? And what steps should you take immediately to prepare your store for customers?

• Chapter 3 – Starting an Amazon Business. It’s a complex system, no matter how much retail experience or online experience you already have. In this chapter, we address several key questions: What happens when you launch? Why is this a significant step? What is now expected of you as an Amazon Seller? Do you launch with the most important products you plan to sell? Do you launch before getting un-gated in your key categories? Do you create new listings or match to existing listings?

• Chapter 4 – Using Amazon Seller Central. This chapter provides an overview of what key reports and tools are available in Seller Central. We cover the key tools and reports included in Seller Central, highlighting those underutilized tools and reports that are particularly helpful to sellers.

• Chapter 5 – The Buy Box. Given the importance of the Buy Box in generating sales on Amazon, it’s crucial for you to have a solid understanding of what it is, how it works, and how to improve your chances of winning it and earning more sales.

• Chapter 6 – Finding Products to Sell on Amazon. Consistently acquiring fast-selling, high-margin product is the backbone of a successful Amazon seller business. We discuss the product research you need to conduct for both branded goods and your own manufactured products, as well as the product development you’ll need to do if you want to sell your own goods.

• Chapter 7 – Finding Suppliers. To become an expert seller, you must develop high-level sourcing capabilities. Becoming an expert product sourcer, though, is not easy. In this chapter, you’ll learn the fundamentals of sophisticated product procurement.

• Chapter 8 – Amazon Product Detail Page Optimization. As a seller, you want to increase the number of visitors to your product pages (traffic) and the percentage of visitors who purchase during those sessions (conversions). We’ll cover how to use advertising and other tools to drive more traffic to your listings, and how to improve the content in your listings to optimize your conversion rate.

• Chapter 9 – Amazon Order Management & Fulfillment. In this chapter, we’ll discuss the different options available to sellers to fulfill their Amazon orders. We’ll also cover the logistics of handling Amazon customer returns.

• Chapter 10 – Advanced Product Marketing on Amazon. We’ll discuss the marketing tools and tactics sellers can employ to increase their product sales, in four main categories: Sponsored Product Ads, Gold Box Deals & Lightning Promotions, Holiday Promotions, and Amazon Marketing Services.

• Chapter 11 – Dealing with Customers. Great communication and customer service can make the difference between a hugely successful seller account and one that’s merely average—or worse. In this chapter, we’ll discuss best practices for communicating with customers, dealing with customer feedback, and resolving customer issues.

• Chapter 12 – Filing Tickets with Seller Support. In this chapter, we’ll discuss how and when to file tickets with Amazon’s Seller Support team. We’ll also share our insider approach to use Amazon’s support system to your best advantage and get the most out of the Seller Support team process.

• Chapter 13 – Amazon Seller Performance. We delve into the details on what actions or inactions put you at risk of trouble with Seller Performance, and what to do to recover from these troubles. We also address preemptive actions you can take to prevent problems from happening in the first place.

• Chapter 14 – Amazon Accounting. We share tips, tricks, and tactics employed by many successful Amazon sellers to help simplify their accounting processes.

• Chapter 15 – Measuring Costs and Calculating Profits. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of understanding your profitability so you make smart decisions about inventory management, procurement, and pricing. Which products/brands are the most profitable for you? Which products should you restock?

• Chapter 16 – Amazon Business Checklist. Throughout this guide, we cover the steps and processes every seller must follow to manage a profitable business on Amazon. In this chapter, we organize them in one place so you can stay on top of your responsibilities. We break down the steps into activities you need to take on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and as-needed basis.

• Bonus Chapter A – Advanced Buy Box Considerations. Are you serious about winning the Buy Box? Here are the key metrics you need to know about, and how much attention you need to pay to each one if you want to claim your share of the Buy Box.

• Bonus Chapter B – Amazon Accounting Reports. In this section we’ll review the different reports you’ll need to generate for bookkeeping and managerial purposes, including inventory, sales, and payment reports.

• Bonus Chapter C – Amazon Seller Common Misunderstandings. In our work with thousands of Amazon sellers of various sizes, success, and experience levels, we’ve encountered the same types of opportunity for improvement. We’ll share with you a number of seemingly small but significant details you might be overlooking—details that can have a profound impact on the performance of your Amazon seller business.

• Bonus Chapter D – Crash Course in Accounting. If you’re going to be in business, you must know how to keep score. In this crash course, we’ll explain the three types of accounting, share the top ten accounting do’s and don’ts, and more.

• Bonus Chapter E – Miscellaneous Things to Think About. There are a few other things to keep on your radar as an Amazon seller, including the different ways and sources to get loans, operating in Amazon’s international marketplaces, and taking advantage of Amazon’s Brand Registry program to protect your intellectual property and brand equity.

• Bonus Chapter F – Preparing for the Holiday Shopping Season. For most sellers, the holiday shopping season is the busiest, most critical time of the year. In this chapter, we will discuss the steps you should be taking to prepare for the holiday shopping season on Amazon. We also examine what daily tasks are needed to stay on top of your business through November, December and into January.

Ready? Let’s get started!