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Originally Posted by topnotchsports  Hey GOA, got a question for you if you got the time I'd appreciate it. I've got the same situation as JamesNorth. I'm doing all of my sales on eBay at the moment. I sell a pretty unique product. I sell various customizable displays for autographed memorabilia, not the actual memorabilia just the displays for stuff they already own. I do very well with them on eBay. Last year I tried Amazon in hopes to expand sales. I knew my products were better suited for eBay but I just thought adding extra sales couldn't hurt. So I purchased some UPC codes and listed some of my better selling items. I was shocked that my sales were almost non existent. I gave it about 2 months, and ended up just closing amazon account. It wasn't worth having to check and answer questions all the time for a few sales here and there. Just to give you a better idea I was selling 20-25 a day on ebay and 1 every 2-3 days on amazon. I mean I had a lot more listed on eBay and had been selling for a while, but Amazon was quite a disappointment. The one thing I know is that most people don't go look for my product. Usually it's from people either purchasing or browsing for autographs on eBay and they come across them. Since autographs are a very risky item, you really only find very reputable companies demanding top dollar for their items on Amazon. But with xmas coming soon, I'd like to make as much as possible while I can. So my question to you is since you seem very high on Amazon, do you have any advise on giving it another shot. Having more listed, giving it more time to build up reputation, a different marketing technique, or anything else that could increase exposure? Because people love the products, I just need them to find them. Or should I just chalk it up to it's not the right market? Because as we know time is of the essence around this time and I would hate to put tons of hours into something that's not gonna produce results. Thanks in advance for any input.
Anyone else that has any advice/input is welcome & appreciated  |
Unfortunately, I only list against existing ASINs, so my advice will be more theoretical than based on real world experience in this case. Just full disclosure.
HOWEVER: That doesn't mean I don't know the ins and outs about Amazon and what makes a quality product stand out. I have optimized existing listings in the past, and the below advice should help you sell your items on Amazon as well.
1. You need good, REAL reviews from REAL customers. This means no buying Fiverr reviews, no reviewing your own products, none of that...AUTHENTIC REVIEWS from REAL BUYERS.
2. Your seller account needs it's own GREAT reviews. People need to know they can trust YOU to deliver your great items. Unlike eBay, where low feedback is ignored, on Amazon, no feedback or low feedback makes you a leper.
3. If you haven't before, use FBA for ALL your items. This will GREATLY help you moving your items even if you have low feedback, because a lot of customers don't know the difference between third-party sellers using FBA and Amazon.com selling the item.
These are the 3 biggest things you can address to maximize your sales. (I'm assuming based on your post that your product is already awesome and that you have already completely filled out your product details page with key features, keywords, etc. I don't want to give you a bunch of "no duh" advice, but if you want the basics too, just ask).
Now I'm going to address how to get them done one by one.
1. Reviews. How to get product reviews, step by step.
Create a system to track whom you contact to write reviews. Basically, you need to keep track of everyone you contact regarding writing reviews for your products. I recommend Google Spreadsheet.
2. Find potential reviewers. This is actually pretty easy. Go to your existing product page for your own product on Amazon. Then scroll to the section that says “Customer Also Bought Items By” and the section “Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed.” These sections lists the competing products that customers view and buy when they consider your product. This is a goldmine. You are only one step away from targeting the best reviewers you could ever have–the people reviewing your competitor's products.
3. The pot of gold. Visit the Amazon page for the first competitor that you identified in Step 2. Now, near the top left of the page, click on the link to the customer reviews. This will list every review the competing product has received. To make this process easy to track, click on the option that lets you sort the reviews by “Newest First.” Now you will see the most recent reviews next to the reviewers name. You found your leprechaun.
4. How to get a review. Click on each reviewer to get details on the person. Note that this step will require you to pay attention to detail. Sometimes the reviewer will leave a phone # or email address, in other cases they will share their name and business, and in some cases they reveal squat. You're looking for people you can find contact info in 60 seconds or less---via Google, Facebook, Twitter, or by phone.
5. Make contact. Once you identify potential reviewers, reach out to them explaining that you discovered their review on Amazon. Explain that you have a book or product that you think may be of interest to them, and would like to send it to them. Further explain that
you are seeking an honest review of the item you send, but that they don’t have an obligation (this process is about inviting reviews, not forcing reviews). You'll probably have about half the people you send your product to write reviews. And yes, some people might even write a bad review---but remember, you're NOT paying for reviews. You're not in a gray area: Amazon allows you to give away products in exchange for HONEST reviews (Google Amazon Vine)
6. Repeat forever. This process takes two elements that scares many people away: time and money. You need to make an effort (time) and you need to send a product to a reviewer (money).
An alternative to this method is to use a service that automates this. Here's an example:
http://shopwithreviews.com/index.php
Now, I don't know if this service is technically allowed. I would NOT use it before clearing it with Amazon and making SURE you are allowed to use this site.
2. Getting feedback.
You basically need to spam the email of every customer you get. 3 days after their item is delivered, send a friendly email asking for feedback. 2 weeks later, another. Another 2 weeks, another. Then another 3 weeks later. Don't make it day and date, just use this as a general guideline. Less than 10% of customers leave feedback on Amazon.
3. FBA is self-explanatory, and there is a wealth of info on the subject both on this forum and off. If you have specific questions, feel free to ask.
Let me know if there's anything I wasn't clear about.
Reporting a violation numerous times 
