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Amazon Seller Top Mistakes Some of the biggest mistakes are the easiest to fix.  I can always tell a new seller even before I look at their feedback by seeing their shipping rates.  Generally, they price themselves right out of the competition.  I’m sure they never get any sales.  Another rookie mistake is to not use a repricer.  Very quickly, all the competition is priced just low enough that the merchant will never make any sales.  Here is a list of other, simple-to-fix errors. The picture has to match the product If your image does not match the product you are sending, there is going to be trouble.  And trouble will arrive right now.  I cannot stress this enough.  There must be no ambiguity.  For instance, we sell gimmicked coins.  If I want to show the front and the back, I have to use two images.  If you show these in one image, the customer will think they are getting two coins.  This might sound crazy to you, but it won’t to your customer. The title has to match the product Like the image, the title must be clear.  Some merchants like to put the words “2 pack” in the title.  This is a problem if you have been selling them one at a time.  When you are setting up new products in Seller Central, you have the choice to sell more than one of an item.  It is on the “Vital Info” tab and it is called “Package Quantity”.  If this number is “1”, then the words “2 pack” should not appear in the title.  This will just confuse the buyer and cause you problems. The dimensions are “approximate” We sell performance pads for magicians.  These are soft pads that they put on the table before they do a card trick or some other magic.  We sold one to a customer who had built an entire table around our exact dimensions.  Then they ordered the pad.  Our dimensions were off by less than ¼ of an inch.  This was enough to throw him into a rage.  I’m sure I spent 30 minutes on the phone with him.  Needless to say, all our descriptions state that all our dimensions are “approximate.”  This allows us a little wiggle room on each product.   The description has to be complete If you do it right, you should only have to do a new listing one time.  I try to give complete information each time I do a new listing.  This includes providing mundane information like the size of the packaging and the size of the product.  (See Chapter 7 for an explanation of the difference between “packaging” and “product.”)  This may seem crazy, but I strive to do it right the first time, because doing it all over again is a disaster.  Be honest about your product.  Don’t make claims you can’t meet.  Give details.  When customers are looking online for a product, many of them know exactly what they want.  They are trying desperately to find this exact item.  The more detail you give, the more likely they are to find you. Answer all customer service emails within 24 hours OK.  This is one of the downsides to selling on Amazon.  You must respond to customer inquires with 24 hours.  This means that you have to check your email at least every 24 hours.  I have email sessions no more than every 23 hours.  That means that someone in your company has to look at a computer for somewhere between 2 and 30 minutes each day, every single day of the year.  Yes.  I read my email on Christmas Day.  We get between 4 and 12 emails per day.  Usually 6 or less on weekend days.  If you can’t check your email and respond, your sales will suffer.  And an “out of office” email will not work.  Amazon will catch it if you are doing this. Manage your feedback You will get some negative feedback.  It is a fact of selling online.  I have never seen a seller who didn’t get negative feedback.  Some feedbacks can be removed.  Here is Amazon’s list: * The feedback includes obscene language. * The feedback includes seller-specific personally identifiable information, such as e-mail addresses, full names, telephone numbers, etc. * The entire feedback is a product review. * The entire feedback is regarding fulfillment or customer service for an order fulfilled by Amazon.* I have never had a feedback with obscene language.  I think we’ve only ever had one feedback with SELLER-specific information.  We have used the last two multiple times to remove negative feedback.   To use the “product review” exception, you must meet a few criteria.  First, the feedback can’t state that the product failed right away.  Amazon feels that in this case, this is a defective product and should be handled by you contacting the customer and offering a replacement.   Second, the feedback can’t state that the item was different than the description.  Again, Amazon feels that this is between you and the customer and you have to work it out.  (I can’t stress enough that it is really important to provide accurate information with an exact image of the product.)  If you can get over these hurdles, you’ll probably get the feedback removed.  In this case, Amazon does allow the customer to leave another feedback.  Nevertheless, I attack negative feedbacks right away.   Most recently, my main success has been with the last exception – The “FBA” exception.  We have at least one or two negative feedbacks per week that complain that they didn’t receive their order, or it was damaged in transit.  Amazon will strike through these feedbacks and add a statement that they are at fault.  I don’t know what is gained by leaving them there, but I do know that they don’t count against you and that is what is important. 

Amazon CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGIES I dread the customer-service issues of each day.  Although I think I’m good at customer service, it is still the hardest part of my job each day.  Customers will contact you each day, by email or phone with problems.  One of the things I like about selling online is that we get the sales without spending time talking to customers.  On the other hand, you don’t get to talk to these customers so you don’t know them.  They don’t know you.  This can lead to some problems.   Many of the emails you’ll get will have the same problem.  For example, many claim that they did not get their package.  This is the most common problem.  I have created some text files with standardized language that I can use over and over.  This helps me save time in the response and make sure that I don’t shortchange the process.   One of the most common emails is “my order didn’t arrive.”  In nine out of ten cases, the package did arrive; they just didn’t see it.  (We send some small stuff that is easy to misplace.)  Amazon sends emails with tracking information.  It seems that people don’t see the email. Here is the text that I paste into the response email: Dear  (Name), (Always insert their name.  People love their own name.) I am sorry that you don't have your package.  Please accept my apology.   I tracked your package.  Here is what they say: (Here I insert the data from the tracking in text form.  Usually, I just paste the information about when the package was delivered.  They don’t need to see all the tracking information.  Just show them when it was delivered.) Would you please check with any neighbors, other members of your household or co-workers who maybe have your package?  Your order came with your bills and magazines in the mail.  Often packages are found this way.  Please do some checking and let me know.  Thank you! Sincerely, (your first name) (your phone number) In most cases, you’ll never hear from this customer again.  Sometimes they will email back that they checked and didn’t find it.  In this case, you have two options:  refund their money or send the order again.  Amazon indicates that they want you to refund the money and ask the customer to place a new order.  I have done this a few times and it generally makes the customer mad.  In most cases, we just send the order again.  Yes.  That’s right.  If the customer doesn’t get the order, you are stuck sending it again.  Amazon is a very customer focused company.  If the customer doesn’t get the package, they will force you to refund the payment entirely.  You might as well send it again if that makes the customer happy.   I’ve decided that this customer focus is actually a good thing.  Amazon customers know that they will get what they paid for and, consequently, they will buy again and again. You’ll have to give some consideration to sending expensive items with Signature Confirmation.  Signature Confirmation requires the carrier (USPS, FedEx, UPS) to obtain a signature from the recipient of a package.  I do this on Next Day and Second Day orders and orders over $100.00.   Sometimes, customers will ask me to “add something to their order.”  Here is that response. Dear (Name) Thank you for contacting us. I can help you.  Please order the additional item via Amazon.   (I provide a link to the product here so that it is easy for them to make the purchase.) We will hold your current order.  We'll combine the orders and ship them in one package.  Then we'll refund the shipping savings.  It will appear that we shipped two separate orders, but you and I will know different.  We can hold your first order for 24 hours, so please place your second order right away. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. Sincerely, (your first name) (your phone number) Amazon does not want you to offer any other payment option, but if the customer asks for it and you have him or her on the phone, you can talk them through the process of sending a check or take their credit card number for the charge. Occasionally, customers will contact you saying that they expect delivery much sooner than “the expected delivery email” they received from Amazon.  These customers are mad.  In virtually all cases, they have paid for Expedited, Second Day or Next Day service.  The text of the email explains how this happened. Dear (Name), Thank you for contacting us. Your order will be mailed (today, yesterday, last Friday, etc.) via Priority Mail (or Express mail or FedEx or UPS, etc.).  It will probably be in your mail box on (name the day of the week when you expect it to arrive).  You will get an email from Amazon with tracking information when we process the order. Regarding the expected shipping dates and arrival email:  You got this email from Amazon.  These emails are not in our control and are sent by Amazon.  They reflect the commitment that we agree to when selling on Amazon.  We ask for 1 to 2 business days to process an order.  Most orders are processed on the same or next day.  "Expedited Shipping" allows another 1 to 3 business days for delivery, making the entire package up to 5 business days.  If you look at our feedback, you'll see that the almost all shipments are delivered very quickly.  I'm confident that yours will be no exception.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT IN SALES on Amazon When we started on Amazon, we had a product that no one else offered.  It took a while for people to find us.  Once they did--look out!   What can you expect?  It depends completely on what you have and what they want.  What works in your current marketplace might have little or no bearing on what works on Amazon.  With Amazon, your marketplace is “the planet.”  All you need is a little tiny slice of a little tiny sliver and you’ll have more orders than you know what to do with.   I’ve used a number of different strategies to maximize sales on Amazon.  The first and most important is:  List everything!   You absolutely want to get every product listed on Amazon.  There is no cost from Amazon to do this.  Having every product out there gives you maximum exposure and increases your chances of making a sale.  In addition, you will find some products that will really surprise you.  We have a couple of products that we can hardly keep in stock.  I would never have guessed that they’d sell as well as they do.   Along this same line, I try to get the smallest quantity of products that I can from each of our vendors.  If they’ll sell me one, that is all I want.  Even better, I always ask for samples.  If I have a sample, I can list it on Amazon.  If it sells, I’ll buy more.  If not, I don’t have much invested—just the time it took to list the product and find a place for it on the shelf.   Amazon has a wide array of promotions:          Free Shipping.  Example:       Spend $250 or more, get free priority shipping on all jewelry orders.     Money off.  Example:         Spend $25 or more and receive $5 off.   Save 30% on this item when you purchase one or more qualifying items. For every 5 pairs of socks purchased, save 20%.            Buy One, Get one.  Example:         Buy 2 lipsticks, and get 1 free. Buy a muffin pan, get a box of muffin cups free.     Bounceback.  Example:         Spend $500 and get 50 member loyalty points. Each of these options offers numerous ways for the customer to qualify.  The merchant can exercise many limits on which products are included or excluded. I am not aware of any other online option that allows you so many ways to promote your products.  I have used promotions to offer free shipping, free products and reduced pricing.  Although Amazon customers do not opt in very often for these promotions, we have some very loyal customers who watch our promotions.  We are now adding a flier in our shipments, showing customers what they missed.  Here is that filer: After three weeks, we are already seeing results.  We have tripled the number of customers who opt in for our promotions.   We have also increased our sales on Amazon by going to what we call the “Free Shipping” model for pricing.  Over and over, online buyers show that they don’t want to pay for “Shipping and Handling.”  I got the message several years ago.  Standard shipping is free on everything we sell.  Now that doesn’t mean that we are giving away the shipping costs and losing money on every sale.  Oh no.  We have increased the price of every product to include the shipping.   So, if my competitor charges $4 for the item, plus $1 shipping, I just charge $5.  Who wants to pay a $1 for shipping on a $4 item?  No one.  Buyers would much rather just pay $5 for it with FREE shipping.  This really pays off if you are selling products that people buy two or more in one sale.  I cannot overstate the impact this has had on our sales.  You should consider this strategy.  In order to implement this strategy, you must know your shipping costs.  Don’t guess because you’ll either lose money or price yourself out of the business.