Top 5 Problems Encountered by Newbie Amazon Sellers

If you’re new to Amazon or planning to become a seller, you’d better prepare and manage your expectations. Here are some of the commonly experienced challenges by newbie sellers.

1. Delayed Profitability Be ready for potential challenges to your cash flow. Newbie sellers usually have issues generating money to maintain inventory, so it’s important to secure a buffer fund before you fully jump into Amazon.
2. Steep Competition Many new sellers find it difficult to penetrate the market because of the high competition. Take advantage of online Amazon seller tools designed to help sellers maximize profitability.
3. Amazon Price Wars This is common among sellers who are aiming to get the Amazon Buy Box. Inexperienced sellers tend to outbid their competition by offering the lowest price. However, this means settling for less and eating profit margin.
4. Getting Amazon Reviews Amazon’s algorithm considers customer reviews when ranking product listings; however, sellers are no longer allowed to directly ask for reviews in exchange for incentives.
5. Category Restrictions Gaining approval to sell in some categories can be quite challenging, especially for new sellers. You’ll need to secure certain documents before being approved to sell.

Amazon Selling Tips for Beginners

If you're new to Amazon, here are some tips that will help make selling easier and more lucrative.

• Focus on bottom-line growth. Make sure to account for all costs. Work toward lower costs and grow your bottom-line profits year-by-year instead of only focusing on top-line sales numbers.
• Improve the quality of your listings. The process of building and optimizing product listings is not a simple one-time deal. Monitoring and making regular improvements are necessary to keep up with the changing requirements and trends. It’s recommended to audit your listings and identify areas of improvement every three months.