Forum

New to selling on amazon
 

Ive been an ebayer for a while now, cant say i know everything but i know a good chunk of how ebay/paypal works. Im about to start selling on amazon. Im just asking for some advice on what i should do when becoming a new seller on amazon. What should i watch out for what are big no no's on amazon. There are plenty things on ebay to watch out for, how about amazon? Any help is really appreciated.

There is a whole section dedicated to Amazon here on the forum. I would say just read the threads to become more familar with them. But the biggest thing is watch your velocity limits as too how much you sell per month.

When selling on Amazon be sure to ship out the buyers orders within 1-2 business days, if you wait to long it can bring big trouble for you on Amazon in the long run. For first time buyers you have to wait around 14 days (2 weeks) to have money disbursed to your bank account ( to verify you're legit, and that you shipped out the items). Be sure to always get a tracking number which you'll need in order to request your funds. This is about all i can say so far, i'm probably the youngest seller here on amazon & ebay, been selling online since i was 14 haha

A few things that come to mind are....Make sure to hit the confirm shipment button. My first order I didn't do it for over a week but did send the item out. They don't charge the buyers credit cards until you hit confirmed shipment.

Oh I just answered my own question I just posted in the Amazon forum. Yipee!

And keep sales under $750.

The shipping costs are deducted if you print your postage online but it still counts towards the $750

I would send it all Priority Mail (except first class mail which goes quick anyhow) with a note that you are a new Seller and would appreciate them leaving you feedback. Amazons feedback system is much more important than ebays. Make sure you have actually added the bank account to your payments because mine was added, they even checked it by almost making a dollar go thru but it wasn't actually added to the payment portion.

Refunds always offer to do outside of amazon when you are new. One refund and you can be booted.

I love calling Amazon. The men listen and take an interest, are very nice people, they are sweet. They never seem to want to get off the phone, never in a hurry. Yet they still act like they are being recorded if you ask me, like they want to let loose but can't. you can get alot of info from them of how they do things. one guy said they were gonna put me on a review real soon, he said I was doing well for just starting out. So I said wow then I better slow down so that doesn't happen and it never did. I thanked him for telling me cause i had no extra money to offset their holding my funds. Then I told them I sold on Ebay for the last 5 yrs, he probably wrote it down. SO far all the money goes into my account within 3 days.

I slowed for a month when he said the review word then increased it just a little this month. I am almost at $700 and fine so far. I will keep it at around $725 per mo.

How do you do a refund outside of Amazon? When my customer input her email address through the Amazon message it was removed before I could get it.

you might want to put a note in your shippings with your email address and tell them to contact you directly at that email address so that they do not send you a message though amazon.

Solid idea there.

Or you can always just send a money order... kind of a pain in the ass, but it does work.

I agree. I always enclose a note (copied) thanking them for their purchase and inviting them to call or email me with any problems.

Some buyers will still noly complain directly through Amazon, but it cuts down on it somewhat.

For the new guy...

Always be POLITE when dealing with customers. Amazon is VERY customer service focused. If you act like you belong in high school, they will block you quickly.

Know upfront that Amazon has a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for counterfeits. You will not be warned, just blocked.

If you go over $750 in your first month, your account will go into a 30 day review. You can still list and sell whatever you like, but your funds will be held until the review period is over. The lower risk your items are deemed by Amazon, the more likely you will be to pass the review.

As Nobody999 pointed out, and I agree, always enclose a note with each item thanking the buyer for their purchase and inviting them to call or email you (or just email if you are uncomfortable on the phone) with any problems. It also does not hurt to POLITELY ask for positive feedback.

My policy is to treat each buyer as if they were a friend of my mother's. In other words, BOY WILL I HEAR ABOUT IT IF SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT! Much of this is just common sense. But it eludes a lot of people. They argue with a buyer over a refund and lose their account. Actually, you CAN make your case without arguing. That is OK. But be rude, and you are gone.

Remember that the buyers did not HAVE TO buy from you and that Amazon does not HAVE TO allow you to sell on their site. Amazon does not have to PROVE anything to block your account. If they think you are up to no good, they can block you. If they think you sell crappy quality merchandise, they can block you. If they simply feel that you are not up to their standards of customer service, they can block you.

Unlike eBay, Amazon will always tell you WHY you were blocked. And also unlike eBay, there is no warning about selling counterfeits, they just block you. But just like eBay, once they make that decision, it is almost NEVER reversed.

Good luck!

A great read Jeff, Make sure you also observe Amazon stealth... as mac address, ip's and geo locations matter for ip with amazon. The upfront selling techniques are given by jeff as they have been in other threads but the stealth part of amazon is something you need to know.

one problem with that is if you send them a money order AND they file an A-Z they get to keep the item, a refund, AND extra $$!
one can only hope that the buyer is not out to scam anyone

Thanks for all the help guys, but i think ill just stick to ebay right now. Amazon seems so much different. Dont really have the time to get to know amazon.