How to Fight Amazon Rights Infringement Claims

By Chris McCabe


The incidence of rights infringement claims at Amazon spiked upward recently, as many parties have realized how easily this can be abused to remove unwanted sellers from a desired listing.

In fact, Amazon’s policy teams have moved much more aggressively to suspend sellers, instead of warning them and removing the ASIN in question from their listings.

The net result of these actions is to drive up the number of suspended account appeals. These appeals require Plans of Action to address not only how you’ll resolve the current dispute with the claimant, but also how you’ll avoid such rights infringement cases in the future.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the increased friction around notice claims has resulted in new methods to prevent notice abuse. Amazon is now taking this subject very seriously and no abuse of Amazon’s systems or policies will be tolerated going forward.

Amazon rights infringement claims: a recap
The past notice process led sellers to contact rights’ owners via email asking for a retraction or attempting to resolve the dispute, then asking that party to contact Amazon directly. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t. Either way, you had little hope of hearing from the claimant due to their lack of incentive to “help” you with your Amazon problems. Their intended goal was to drive you off the listing and perhaps even get you suspended, and it worked like a charm. Why should they play ball with you now?

Patterns of abuse, such as repeated false claims, will likely result in account closure
Often the only recourse in these situations was to remove all such inventory and declare that you’d never again list or sell those items, while also submitting a Plan of Action. Given the inconsistency of Amazon’s internal processes and varying degrees of Standard Operating Procedure enforcement by investigators, sometimes this worked, and sometimes it didn’t.

In recent conversations with sellers and various internal Amazon contacts, I have discovered more about the new team assembled to handle reports of such abuse. Reports of abuse by false claimants, and counter notices, will be assessed and acted upon when sellers give proper documentation. Patterns of abuse, such as repeated false claims from active sellers, will likely result in account closure. From what I’ve heard, they’ll be laying down the law shortly.

Time will tell if these new actions will improve the lot of sellers coping with false claims. The status quo methods of referring sellers to the rights owner, and standing entirely back from the fray, should be coming to an end as suspended sellers demand more attention to the complainant themselves – and the nature of their allegations.

In the old days…
The process of vetting infringement forms always appeared shaky, even back during my days at Amazon. How could an entity that looked like little more than a free email address and a hastily filled-out complaint result in warnings and removals out of the blue?

Now, Amazon will have to take seriously your dispute over the validity of the form
As policy enforcers, our options were limited. We had to act on the forms to prevent accusations of a failure to protect right’s owners, and we had to limit Amazon’s liability from the damages associated with that failure. Beyond that, we had no obligation to research who had what rights out there in the world. That was your responsibility as a seller, and you had the court system available to you if you wanted to litigate it with the claimant.

But what if you can’t even tell who the claimant is? Amazon only gives you an email address, in some cases. You could hire an IP attorney to write a letter and submit it on their law firm’s letterhead to generate a response, but who knows if that will even provoke a reaction?

In the future, your previously bleak options will become real and productive ones, with the use of the counter notice process, explained in detail below. Now, Amazon will have to take seriously your dispute over the validity of the form they’ve received. Did they act on on a false infringement form that could have been vetted and disregarded? Also, did Amazon suspend your account based on one or more false infringement claims? Were damages incurred?

What if you’re suspended for notices?
You won’t have much time to work with right’s owners (through your attorney) to resolve legal disputes if Amazon has suspended you.

The filers of the forms know this, and it’s one reason why these tools are so effective for them. They know that reporting you for multiple listings within a tight timeframe could easily mean a month-long suspension, or longer, depending on the strength (or weakness) of your Plan of Action.

Will it be enough to show Amazon, through FBA removal orders and listing deletions, that you’ve successfully resolved the matter, and won’t list or sell those products again? You’ll need a solid Plan of Action with a convincing method that specifies your capabilities for future avoidance. Care must be taken to lay out preventive steps that will eliminate their need to warn or suspend you for this from now on.

These days, with hundreds (if not thousands) of claims coming in every week, the last thing Amazon wants is to enforce infringement claims over and over on the same sellers. If Amazon must keep reviewing your account while killing your listings and sending you warnings, then you’re considered more trouble than you’re worth.

How to create a Plan of Action
Write an appeal that demonstrates the action items below. At minimum:

You’ve retained professional legal advice not only to protect yourself, but to prevent future possible violations.
All items you sell are vetted and documented prior to listing them, to ensure that the brand will not come after you for selling it on Amazon.com.
You’ve immediately removed offending items when contacted by the right’s owner or brand, upon verifying that their claims are legitimate, to resolve the dispute.
Indicate that you are going over ALL listings with your IP attorney to ensure that nothing will violate another party’s rights when you sell it.
In other words, talk about adherence to compliance, and show that you understand your place in the reseller universe. If the brand comes calling and files notices with Amazon, you can’t run and hide. You need to address it head-on.

But before thinking of the viability of a Plan of Action you may not need to write, yet, let’s talk solutions and first steps. What should you do when you get one of these and when should you counter?

Once again, I spoke to Suzi Hixon, The Private Label Lawyer, about how Amazon sellers need to react when confronting such right’s owner claims.

As an IP attorney, Suzi suggests that you:

First attempt to reach out to the right’s owner for an explanation of the allegations. Even if you’ve received a baseless notice and your account has not been suspended, do not ignore the letter.
It’s wise to reach out to the complainant politely. Don’t get angry and defensive, and certainly do not send accusatory or threatening letters to other parties or their attorneys. Also, don’t assume that you know what the basis for the IP rights infringement is.
In many circumstances, the right’s owner is enforcing IP rights that you might not even be aware of. Tell the alleged rights’ owner that you strive to respect other’s intellectual property, and that you are writing to them to determine the basis of their claim. Ask them to substantiate their claims, including any registration numbers upon which the claims are based.
Oftentimes, the right’s owner (or their agent) will explain to you the basis of the allegations, and may encourage you to retain your own attorney going forward. They may or may not agree to retract the complaint pending your removal of any infringing material. They may ignore you entirely.
Unfortunately, however, we are seeing more and more situations on Amazon where sellers are submitting false or unsubstantiated intellectual property rights infringement claims to intimidate and damage competitors. What do you do when you receive an allegation of intellectual property (IP) rights infringement from Amazon when the allegation is false or unsubstantiated?

You can consider filing a “DMCA counterclaim” (“counterclaim” or “counter notice”) to Amazon.

Please note: filing a DMCA counterclaim can have serious legal ramifications. Seek the advice of an attorney who can help guide you through determining whether the IP rights allegedly owned by a complainant can be substantiated.

What is a DMCA counterclaim?
An intellectual property rights holder may submit to a service provider (e.g., Amazon) a “takedown demand of allegedly infringing material.” The provider will then remove the allegedly infringing content, and it must then notify the alleged infringer. This is what happens usually when you’ve received a “notice” from Amazon.

The alleged infringer (i.e., the recipient of the notice) then has the opportunity to file a DMCA counterclaim in which they contest the claim of infringement. The provider should then forward the counterclaim to the initial complainant. Unless the complainant files an action seeking a court order against the alleged infringer, the provider should reinstate the material within 10 to 14 business days after receiving the counter notice.

In other words, with a DMCA counterclaim, you are telling the alleged right’s owner to put up, or shut up.

How do you do file a DMCA counterclaim?
First, try to determine the status of the underlying intellectual property rights that are allegedly being infringed. Again, we’re seeing lots of issues on Amazon where sellers are touting rights they do not have. You’ll need to reach out to the alleged rights’ holder or their agents, if possible, as discussed above.

Second, make sure you are confident that you are not infringing the alleged rights holder’s intellectual property. Hopefully, the complainant or their attorney will respond to you with the basis of their allegation. You might want to have your own attorney cross-check the validity of this.

Third, as long as you are not infringing the complainant’s IP rights, prepare your counter notice to Amazon.

Note: the DMCA creates liability for knowingly making false claims in a DMCA takedown notice or counter notice. If the alleged rights holder (complainant) has a solid infringement claim, sending a DMCA may trigger a lawsuit. Proceed with caution!


You’ll need to provide a legal signature, your full name and contact information, an identification of the material that’s been taken down and where it appeared before it was removed, and a statement made under penalty of perjury that you have a “good faith belief” the material was removed by mistake or misidentification.

If you misrepresent that material is not infringing, you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorney fees). Again, if you are not sure whether or not the material is infringing, you should contact an attorney before submitting a counter notice to Amazon. This can be a complex matter with legal ramifications. I cannot stress enough here how important it is to proceed with caution.

You will also need to indicate your consent to the jurisdiction of a federal court in the district where you live (if you reside in the U.S.), and you must provide your consent to accept service of process from whomever submitted the takedown notice, or that party’s agent.

At this point, the complainant should receive a copy of the counter notice from Amazon. If the complainant does not provide to Amazon, within 14 days, that a lawsuit has been filed, your content should then be reinstated.

Again, filing a DMCA counterclaim can have serious legal consequences, on and off the Amazon platform. In fact, it could trigger a lawsuit. Be sure you have a good faith belief that the removal was the result of a misidentification or an error, and consider retaining an attorney to help you.

This information is not legal advice. You are responsible for any use of this information. You should retain competent legal counsel if you have any questions.


So Amazon will be more responsive to abuse of the rights infringement notice process AND you can make use of counter notices, in the proper circumstances, to defend yourself against false claims.

It’s unclear how long all of this might take, but Amazon may be moving things in the right direction at long last.

They understand the nature of the problem and from what we hear, they’re turning their attention towards adequate solutions.

(SOURCE)

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How to Use Amazon’s Inventory Reports: Active Listings and Cancelled Listings

By Joshua Price

As we settle into 2017, it certainly looks to be a year of change in every area. I’m personally very excited about the growth and changes we’ll be seeing this year in technology, customer behavior and marketing. As business owners we’re all conscious of our markets, target customers and geographies. Regardless of your size, it’s really important to stay up to date with all the changes happening in this space.

One of the most useful products of the technological revolution of the last 25 years has been the ability to handle, record and report on vast arrays of information. Customer data has been a crucial part of online marketing for a long while now. Cookies, for example, are abundant online, and if I collected real cookies at the speed I consume digital ones, I’d be as wide as I am tall (and I’m really tall).

So today we’re going to discuss data. Specifically, I’m going to draw attention to some of the most important inventory reports that Amazon provides: the Active Listings Report and the Cancelled Listings Report. These reports are core to some of the services my company provides and I cannot stress enough how important it is that you use them.

Active Listings Report
How to generate this report
In Seller Central, hover over Inventory then select Inventory Reports.

On the Inventory Reports page, use the drop-down menu to select the report you want. So in this case select the Active Listings Report then click Request Report to request the data from Amazon.



Note that the report will not appear straight away – it takes time to generate. Once it’s ready, you’ll be able download it to your computer using the links in the Check Report Status & Download section.

The report will download as a .TXT file, which will open by default in a plain text editor like Notepad. To make sense of the data, you will need to right-click the file then select Open with to load it into Microsoft Excel.

What the report contains
There are 27 columns in this report, however for most basic items, only 14 or so of them will be populated with data.



Here’s what they are and what they mean:

item-name – This is the product title, as displayed on Amazon. Only 80 characters (including spaces) are shown. Longer titles are cut off.
item-description – This is the product description for the item, as displayed on Amazon. Only ASINs you’ve created will show, so “piggyback” listings will not display a description, unless you’ve contributed one to Amazon.
listing-id – This is the internal ID for Amazon to track the listing. It can be seen when manually editing a listing in Seller Central.
seller-sku – This is the SKU you allocated to the listing or that was automatically generated by Amazon upon listing creation.
price – This is the price of the item. Note that no currency is shown.
quantity – This is the quantity of stock available on Amazon currently (reserved stock for pending orders is shown in a separate column).
open-date – This is the listing creation / open date. Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH-MM-SS.
product-id-type – This is the type of ID you used when creating the listing or offer. The code will be 1, 2, 3 or 4. The most common are 1 (for ASIN) and 4 for (UPC/EAN).
item-condition – This is the condition type selected. The code runs from 1 to 11, and the most common is 11 (New).
asin1 – This is the ASIN for the item.
will-ship-internationally – This and the other columns next to it refer to shipping settings for this item. 1 = Yes, and 0 = No.
product-id – This corresponds to product-id-type. It’s the actual value of the product ID, such as an ASIN, UPC/EAN, ISBN etc.
fulfillment-channel – This is the setting for fulfillment. Mainly you will see “Default” meaning Merchant Fulfilled, or “Amazon” meaning FBA.
How to use the report
Thanks to the varied information in this report there are many applications for the data. One of the most common is editing, updating or deleting listings by entering the data into an Inventory Loader File (more on that in a moment). You can also use it to update your stock management software or own spreadsheet with current stock levels.

As this is an active listings report, it only shows active listings – not inactive or blocked ones. That means it can also be used to ensure an item is listed correctly and available to buy on Amazon.

I work with clients on a variety of tasks, and this is the report I ask for the most. It’s a quick way, in combination with a business report, to get a solid overview of a selling account. It allows for an understanding of products, stock availability, price and more.

How are some of my top tips for making use of the Active Listings Report.

Tip 1: Bulk editing dispatch latency
One of the changes you could make, and can be a brilliant tool during busy periods, is changing your lead time to ship orders. This gives you more flexibility with shipping times, avoiding warnings or costly suspensions.

Here’s how to do it:

Download your Active Listings Report as above.
Download the Inventory Loader File template (go to Inventory, Add Products via Upload, then follow the instructions on the page).
Copy the ASINs and SKUs from your Active Listings Report into the corresponding columns in the Inventory Loader File.
On the Inventory Loader enter your new dispatch latency in the leadtime-to-ship column. The default on Amazon is two days (simply “2”). I recommend entering 3 days to 5 days during peak times (just enter “5”) if you are at risk of not meeting the two-day lead time.
In the “update–delete” column enter “U”.
Save as a “Text (Tab delimited)” file from Excel. Say OK to losing any non-compatible changes.
Upload in Seller Central.
Without using the Active Listings Report to get this information, it would be impossible to quickly and easily update your dispatch latency like this. A seller’s worst nightmare during peak times is losing their selling privileges, so make sure you keep on top of your lead time and increase it if you need to.

Tip 2: Bulk edit sale prices
The same idea works for putting items on sale.

Download an Inventory Loader File (it may need to be specific to your category), make the changes, and upload. You can enter a discounted price for a period of time – maybe a month for a seasonal sale – and the price will only apply for that time.

This is an easy way to help shift stock that’s stagnating, or give an extra boost to a popular line.

Tip 3: Weed out old stock
Many sellers have had their Amazon accounts for years, selling a range of items. It’s easy to accidentally leave an old, out-of-stock or discontinued line live on Amazon.

In my work with suspended Amazon accounts, I often see inauthentic or rights owner complaints focused on ASINs the seller hasn’t sold in months or years, but were still live in their account.

It’s important to keep your inventory clean in Amazon, because anything that you are not actively selling is a liability. You only need one unit “accidentally” left in stock and you could be suspended for selling inauthentic products – you won’t have an invoice from the last 180 days to show otherwise!

So I suggest using the Active Listings Report to periodically review your listings on Amazon and ensure there’s no old or incorrect stock still sitting there.

Cancelled Listings Report
We’ve covered how you can use the Active Listings Report, but it’s not the only inventory report you can exploit.

Let’s have a look at how the Cancelled Listings Report can be used.

How to generate this report
Unlike the Active Listings Report which is accessible directly through Seller Central, you have to ask for the Cancelled Listings Report to be added to your account.

Contact Seller Support to request the report. Be sure to tell them how often you want it to be generated. I once didn’t specify how regularly I wanted the report, and they set it to every 5 minutes! I received non-stop notification emails, “A new report has been generated”, for 48 hours until I could get the setting adjusted to once per day.

What the report contains
The Cancelled Listings Report looks exactly the same as the Active Listings Report above.

There’s no indication of why a listing was blocked, but you should be able to find that out by checking your performance notifications or Account Health dashboard.

How to use the report
The Cancelled Listings Report allows you to look at all the listings Amazon has cancelled (blocked) or that you’ve made inactive. This is useful for obvious reasons: you can quickly identify which listings are inactive and either fix the problem or remove the listing completely.

The Cancelled Listings Report is another great tool in the efficient running of your Amazon account, allowing you to rectify problems quickly and get your items back on sale.

I recommend using it often to keep on top of your inventory.

Wrapping up
In recent years we’ve all benefited from the growth of ecommerce – and Amazon’s growth specifically.

But with more customers and revenue coming to the marketplace, we’ve also seen an increase in sellers and competition. The value of information that can help us to get ahead and beat the competition – like these reports – is ever increasing.

I hope you’ve found this post useful, and I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about Amazon reports in the comments below.

(SOURCE)

When to give up on a private label product - ASK JUNGLE SCOUT EP #4.1

Ask Jungle Scout is a weekly show where we answer YOUR top questions about selling on Amazon, FBA and the private label business!


This week's questions:

0:15 How many sales should you look for when trying to identify a niche in the UK instead of the US? Does 3000 sales within the first 10 results still apply?

2:30 How do you prevent seeing an inflated sales number in Jungle Scout?

4:30 Should you ever give up on a product, and if so, when ?

Get an overseas marketplace selling discount from the UK Government

By Dan Wilson

When I learnt about Selling Online Overseas at the TradeMe meet-up in London on Wednesday I declared it to be the “best kept secret in UK ecommerce.”

If you’re examining marketplaces in other countries and want to start selling to international buyers, then this is a must see resource, courtesy of the Department of International Trade.

A representative from the Department for International Trade detailed what the Government is doing for online traders at the event. The British Government, even before the Brexit vote, was keen to develop exports, especially by SMEs, and one key opportunity it identified was that offered by online marketplaces.

3000 firms were helped last year by 12 regional experts who can guide you to opportunities for export. You can find out more about that here. But you can also take a DIY approach with the Selling Online Overseas tool.

They’ve developed a programme that will help ecommerce SMEs find major online marketplaces in other countries and see whether these online marketplaces are suitable to sell your products. And the tool can also help you discover how to list your products on an online marketplace and provide information about costs of listing and how best to fulfil.

But most of all, get this, you can access special terms negotiated by the UK government.

I’ll repeat that. HM Government has negotiated special terms with 40 or so marketplaces globally (and that is set to rise to over 100 in the coming weeks) and that can mean preferential selling fees. Here are some examples:

Trade Me is going great guns in New Zealand. And if you qualify and apply this way you’ll get a 15% reduction in commission from 9.85% gross (including payment fees) to 8.37%. And I understand that to be a lifetime discount after discussion with the DIT rep.

If you fancy trading on US emerging marketplace star Newegg, and apply via the tool, you could enjoy commission reduced from 12% to 11% (and down to 10% for merchants selling over $100k/month).

Cdiscount is huge in France and Selling Online Overseas say: Try for free for the first 3 months (only pay commission on items you sell). This is valid during 2016 for all new registrations and subject to acceptance by Cdiscount.

Is anyone already taking advantage of these deals? I do hope so. But they are certainly worth looking at if it’s new. And we’ll keep you posted in the weeks to come as more arrangements are publicised. 

(SOURCE)

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4 Amazon Influencers That Will Make You a Better Seller

By Britanny Line

The Amazon marketplace is huge and always changing, so it can be difficult to keep up with all of the information you need to know.

To make your life easier, we’ve compiled this list of four Amazon influencers that can help you stay up to date with Amazon news, as well as ecommerce news in general.

Through their blogs, websites, and social media accounts, these eCommerce masters will surely make you a better seller.

Read on to learn about the Amazon experts that can help you become an expert, too.

1. Andy Geldman

Andy Geldman has been blogging about eCommerce for over 13 years. So, we think it’s safe to say he knows what he’s talking about.

Geldman is the founder of WebRetailer, a fantastic source for all things ecommerce. From product sourcing tools to selling internationally to predictions for the ecommerce future, Web Retailer covers everything about eCommerce. 

Given his extensive history in this niche, Geldman is someone we recommend keeping a close eye on.

2. David and Ina Steiner

David and Ina Steiner are essential resources for all online sellers. They’re the co-founders of eCommerce Bytes, a one stop shop for industry news and tips.

The husband-and-wife duo has been managing the website since 1999. Even after 18 years, and despite their website’s old-school feel, the Steiners still have plenty of information to provide.

No matter where, what, or how much you sell, eCommerce Bytes provides relevant information to anyone involved in online sales.

3. Stephen Smotherman

Stephen Smotherman is the man behind Full-Time FBA, a website helping FBA sellers “turn part-time hours into a full-time income.”

If you’re currently an FBA seller, Stephen’s advice can help you maximize your profits and minimize your time spent doing so.

And if you’re not currently an FBA seller, Full-Time FBA can still be a useful tool for you. Spend some time exploring the website to learn more about FBA and if it’s right for you.

In addition to blog posts on matters such as keywords, seller metrics, and outsourcing, Stephen also uploads tons of videos to his YouTube channel.

From understanding FBA fees to handling customer returns, Stephen’s videos are a super easy way to learn more about all things Amazon.

4. Chris Dawson and Dan Wilson

Chris Dawson and Dan Wilson manage Tamebay, which provides information for a huge variety of eCommerce sellers.

Originally created to provide tips exclusively for eBay sellers, Tamebay has expanded to include Amazon and other online marketplaces.

Beyond featuring general news and tips, Tamebay also features an ebook library and even hosts events. This makes it an excellent resource for ecommerce sellers looking to learn new information and network with other sellers.

---

Keep an eye on these Amazon influencers to stay up-to-date with eCommerce news—and to make better selling decisions.   

Are there other Amazon influencers out there that you rely on?

(SOURCE)

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Compare Amazon Business Models

By Jordan Malik

Global retail ecommerce sales in 2016 grew 8.7% over 2015 to $1.9 trillion, according to ecommerce solution provider PFS (source). Amazon sellers like you and I make up a huge part of that growth.

But when it comes to sourcing products to sell on Amazon, there are quite a few different business models and avenues. 

Arbitrage, Retail or Private Label?

I have found 4 business models to be viable: Retail Arbitrage (RA), Online Arbitrage (OA), Wholesale (or Retail Distribution), and Private Label.

I'll lay out the pros and cons of each below.

Disclaimer: I own a large private label business. But I have many Amazon sellers in my network and I know a lot of people who have become really successful entrepreneurs using every one of these methods along the way. So, with my own personal bias aside, I'm still writing objectively.

Here we go:

Retail Arbitrage

Retail arbitrage means to physically buy products, usually at a highly discounted rate (e.g., in a store clearance aisle) and sell them on Amazon.

Why retail arbitrage works:

• It’s a great way to dip a toe in the water as an Amazon seller, as it requires less early investment
• You can hand-pick your items, some of which might be able to bring in huge profit margins
• When you find really good deals or clearance, you can be really competitive, even against Amazon themselves
• You can accumulate in-store rewards, points and cashback deals
• If you’re smart, this model lends itself well to seasonality, for example, selling in the Toys and Games category in Q4

Cons:

• You need to physically be there in person to get the best deals, and having a car is pretty imperative too
• Certain products and brand names can not be sold on Amazon without approval
• As an overall strategy, it’s most difficult to scale quickly because of the manual labor involved, esp. in seeking out the deals

Online Arbitrage

This is the online version of the above. That means we can wear sweatpants all day, right? Pros:

• No costs for driving and potentially less time consuming as you can source from the comfort of your home
• You can still accumulate those points and cashbacks
• You can build your online sourcing skills (which will be useful if you ever transition into any of the following two business models)
• You can buy in bulk and get it all shipped to you

Potential roadblocks:

• Shipping can be a pain point -- especially when things get delayed
• You are still tied to a specific location, waiting for deliveries
• As with retail arbitrage, it is more difficult to grow considerably

Wholesale / Retail Distributor

Some sellers decide to take the above models one step further and become wholesale distributors. This can bring some new positive aspects to the table, such as:

• Buying direct from the manufacturer means you can buy large quantities at discount
• You will need to be an approved reseller (see 'cons' below), which means it would be less likely to get hit with counterfeit claims or run into issues with Amazon
• Utilize purchase orders and save large upfront investments
• You can get in early on liquidation deals
• This model is great for utilizing Amazon FBA (no need to remove any price tags or stickers, you can get your inventory shipped direct to Amazon’s warehouse)

And the difficulties with this model:

• You need to find products that are not being sold by Amazon
• It can be difficult to get a foot in the door with becoming an approved reseller - you need to get good at negotiations and exercising your buying and selling power
• You can face competition with other resellers who are also competing for the buy box on Amazon. Ed. note: Good manufacturers/brands will enforce their MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) so your competing authorized resellers won't price-gouge. And even though there are non-authorized resellers who are sourcing the product via arbitrage, those tend to run out of stock quickly.

Private Labeling

Being a private label seller doesn’t mean you’re an inventor, or a product designer. It means you are finding products that already exist with sufficient demand, and then sourcing them from a manufacturer and selling them under your own brand label. Ed. Note: I also recommend you identify faults with an existing product - look at the Amazon customer 1- and 2-star reviews for it - and tweak the manufacturing to improve it and/or bundle the item or add value to it, to differentiate yourself from other competing products on Amazon.

Here are the positives of private label:

• Profit margins are generally higher (purchasing directly from the factory) and you can ship your products directly to Amazon’s fulfillment center (FBA)
• You have more control – you source the product, put your brand on it, create the listing and manage your marketing
• Selling private label on Amazon, as opposed to through your own ecommerce store, gives you access to a huge marketplace full of consumers who are ready to purchase
• You are not competing for the buy box on Amazon, as you would be as a reseller of a known brand
• You can do this from anywhere in the world, and if you are really entrepreneurial you can sell in different international marketplaces

And the difficulties:

• Initial investment is usually a bit higher
• It takes a longer time to get your product and brand name out there, and you have to create your own listing and photography
• You still need to invest an amount of your time and efforts to get good results. For example, you will need to become savvy when it comes to sourcing, building relationships with suppliers and manufacturers, and learn all about importing.

Which model is for you?

There’s no one size fits all, it entirely depends on what you want to get out of your business.

For example, at Jungle Scout we hear lots of inspiring stories from our clients. From parents who want a steady income stream so they can stay at home with their children, to people who want to quit their corporate jobs, to entrepreneurs who want to invest and scale up fast.

I know at the start of this post I said “what are the pros and cons of each”, but realistically, the “cons” are just things that you need to learn how to do, spend a bit of time on or investment on. This is just part and parcel of being in business, and I don’t know about you but I love the challenge 

Can you transition from arbitrage to private label?

Sure you can. In fact, a lot of arbitrage sellers who want to take their businesses further and scale faster do this. The good news is, you’re already pretty savvy as an Amazon seller by this point if you are running an arbitrage business. This immediately puts you in good stead, over coming into private label without any Amazon experience.

Here’s my top tips for breaking into private label in 2017:

1. Find the riches in the niches – Product research is so important. In fact, it’s important for sellers that fall into all four of these business models. But as a private label seller, your business relies on strong research to make solid purchasing decisions and ensure your investments are going to be profitable.
2. Verify demand before you move forward – No private label product research is complete without verifying demand for a product idea you are chasing. You can get accurate and up-to-date estimated sales volumes with Jungle Scout. Plus, you can also verify demand for free by using our Estimator tool.
3. Add value – A great way to find products that will earn you a lot of revenue is to find products where you can add value. Look out for products that are unique (usually the products you’ve never even thought of are the clear winners), where you can add value. Try bundling, increasing the pack size, improving the quality or adding a new feature. Top tip? Check the competitor’s Amazon reviews to find their customers pain points and ensure you resolve those issues with your product launch.
4. Get some Marketing acumen – Amazon is a fast growing and ever-changing marketplace and us sellers have to keep up and adapt our strategies accordingly. This is so important for private label sellers. For example, you will need to ensure you understand the basics of Amazon SEO and listing optimization and you will need to consider running Amazon pay per click campaigns. You can also split test your listings to increase conversions and send out automated email campaigns to your private label customers.
5. Get Started – Our mantra at Jungle Scout: "Taking action is better than not taking action." So long as you have done your research and have the drive and ambition to move yourself forwards, the only next step is to get started with that new product.

Final Words

All four Amazon sourcing models discussed hold potential and each has it’s own place within the industry. I hope that this article has given you a few things to think about, whether you are just considering becoming a seller, or if you already are one and thinking about trying out a different method of making money.

Have you made the jump to private label? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.

(SOURCE)

How Good is the Amazon FBA Oppurtunity ?

Still unsure if FBA is for you? Watch this video!

17 Tips For Selling On eBay And Amazon

17 Tips For Selling On eBay And Amazon 

In 2017

By James Beach

Whether you’re a seasoned Amazon professional seller, or just starting an eBay business, it can be a challenge to sort out where to spend your time and energy next.   Fortunately, the seller landscape has never been better for those looking grow their business while reducing their workload. The good news is, with a massive market share and customer service focused policy changes at eBay and Amazon in the past few years, succeeding at online selling is becoming more and more about just doing your job well.  

We’ve gathered up some great tips for Amazon and eBay sellers alike, that will not only help you grow your business but build your brand and your customer service reputation.  Even better, they’re going to make your work day smoother, your email inbox happier, and satisfy your buyers. So, without any further adieu. Here are 17  tips for selling on eBay and Amazon. We’ve grouped them by the three most impactful areas to grow your online business.

Improving The Customer Experience

Amazon and eBay are always moving closer to tying customer service insights to your search ranking. Your feedback and response time play a huge factor in winning the Buy Box and appearing high in best match. Nothing will do more to raise your search profiles and grow your seller feedback and reputation than providing a better customer experience.  Here are some great tips for doing so.

1. Lightning Response

Buyers more than anything want to know they are being heard. Online sellers are competing against a local purchase which represents security and face to face communication. The number one thing you can do to make your life easier, and your customer love your business is to communicate quickly.  Start with prioritizing response time on incoming messages.  Amazon has long tracked this as a key indicator of your seller performance anyways. You will serve your customer better and greatly benefit your seller reputation. Nothing keeps a customer happier than hearing back within an hour or two rather than a full day. Even if you don’t have the answer just let them know you are working on it.

2. Fast Handling and Shipping Service

Of course, the very next step to great service is getting those items in transit as fast as possible and to use a fast shipping service. If you work with small items and self-fulfill there’s no better option than USPS Priority and Priority flat rate boxes. Not only do they have stellar shipment times, but the costs cannot be beaten. Fast shipment is the highest metric that will guarantee positive feedback in your selling channels.  

3. Even Faster Handling By Drop Off Time

Be sure to know your drop off times as well as last load out for your area.  Early on we realized that with our pickup time, our items were not actually departing the city until the following day.  With a small organizational change you can get all your shipments out the day they are handed off and arriving one day sooner. Typically the delivery agent (UPS or USPS) is happy to help make this change if you just let them know what you need.

4.Scripted Responses

As you grow your Amazon and eBay businesses and you find yourself writing the same responses to similar questions. Get an outlined google doc going. Organize your responses with headlines so they are easy to copy/paste and then adjust them to your customer’s specifics.  There’s no sense in writing the same things over and over and this will help to better develop a professional tone for your brand and your business.

5.Always Keep it Professional And Positive

It’s a given that in any business there will be conflict.  Unfortunately, with the anonymity of the internet, buyers often feel when there is a problem they need to start with an angry first contact. Know that it’s not you or your product. You customer is just fearful of not being heard. You are the calm in the storm. Always be professional in your response and work towards a solution. Steel your will to never allow a customer to drag you into a personal dispute. You’ll be happier and the conflict will resolve faster. Again, pre-written responses make it much easier to maintain a positive tone.

6.Give You Customer Options

Buyers just want to feel like they are in control. You can give them that by offering options. The easiest way to calm a situation is to offer the customer a choice. By doing so they feel like they have the power, and you can move faster to resolve any disappointment. Something like,

“I’m happy to help with a return or we can offer you a 10% courtesy discount on your item. Just let us know how you would like to proceed”

You’ll be amazed at how much this can help.

Focusing On Your Product Base And It’s Reach

Buyers are looking more and more for product support from sellers of all sizes. Learning more about your products is a great way to invest in your business. The more you know the better you’ll be able to sell and support your listings.  Here are a few ideas to get to know your products better.

7.Test A Product Niche At A Low Cost

As you find new product niches to sell in, there are several techniques you can use to investigate your new market for a lower cost. For instance, throwing all in on a Private Label experiment can be risky. Lower cost solutions allow you to test out not only how well the product sells, but the customer types that buy it. An easy way to do this is throughliquidation buys, retail arbitrage, or drop shipping.  Instead of going all in, look for a low-cost way to get in the door and test the waters.  This may help avoid some costly long tail inventory mistakes.

8.Price To The Strongest Market

As you start selling a new product, or repricing your old inventory, don’t forget to comp the price on all your channels. As sellers, it’s easy to get in the mindset of a fixed price point.  The reality is eBay and Amazon both are fairly captive audiences.  Think of them as individual stock markets, and the item you’re selling can often fluctuate wildly on both.  By making time to review competitive price points on all your marketplaces you can push your profits up on existing inventory.

9.Learn More About Your Products

Product knowledge is value. Every time you are asked a question, about your product take a minute to research it.  With every conversation about your product, you are learning more about it and that translates into your ability to sell and service it better. The long-term result of this is you become specialized and can charge more for your product, experience, and knowledge.

10.Research Before You Sell

We all want to make great sourcing decisions. Nothing will empower you more than doing you homework. With a wide array of research tools and the marketplaces themselves, learn how to better evaluate an inventory buy. We’ve got a great article here for getting at the most relevant data for new product sourcing.

11.Your Product Is Also The Box

It can be easy to focus only on the item you are delivering, but appearances can be everything.  The item delivered to you customer doorstep includes everything from the box and packaging to any package inserts or receipts. Take some time to review not only the safety of your packaging but the presentation it provides. A well-presented item leaves a great first impression on the buyer and will support their enjoyment of their new purchase.  It often only takes minutes to get your shipping employee up to speed on making things look great!

Make Good eBay and Amazon SEO Choices

After upping your product and customer service game, there are several easy choices you can make to have a huge impact on getting your items ranking higher.  Here are a few of our favorites to win the top spot on eBay and Amazon.

12.Free Shipping

Amazon and eBay Search love free shipping, there’s no way around it. But there is a reason,  9 out of 10 buyers say it’s their first consideration when buying online.  Quick handling and free shipping are easiest search bumps to get. While you may feel it’s an added cost, at the end of the day you just build it into your price. As a bonus is makes keeping tabs on your pricing between markets easier.

13.UPC’s. Know Thy Item.

All marketplaces are moving towards better data. By focusing on product identifiers like UPC,  eBay and Amazon allow customers to more quickly find the item they are looking for. eBay is making a big push this year to better catalog their seller’s inventory. Incorporating UPC, ASIN and other common identifiers into your listings now will reward your items with better search relevancy and a higher ranking.

14.Shoot For eBay Top Rated Plus

I know that in the old days the Top Rated Status on eBay was a constantly moving target. Thanks to the Fall 2015 update, eBay has made it much easier to achieve and maintain.  DSR’s, Return Rates and Feedback have mostly been removed from the equation. With a focus now on handling and tracking upload times, as well as not allowing any disputes to go unresolved.  They’ve developed a really good program for sellers and the search boost and discounts can’t be ignored.

15.Refresh Stale Listings.

Both the Amazon Buy Box and eBay search reward fresh items significantly. More importantly (and less known) is the effects of refreshing your listings doesn’t just help that one listing but gives a boost to all of your listings.  If you haven’t posted new inventory in while, pull a few of your items and relist them as new.

16.Offer A 30 Day Return Policy

Let’s just be frank here. With Amazon’s A-to -Z program and eBay’s not as described cases if your buyer wants to return an item they are going to, regardless of your policy. Why not get out in front of it. A 30-day return policy will boost your search ranking allowing you to price up a bit, and your irate customer emails are going to fall away making your life that much easier.  The truth is you’re likely not going to receive any more returns than you would’ve already and everyone just feels a little saner.  Just do it, your customer’s peace of mind will thank you.

17.Promotions and Markdowns

eBay this year has really been pushing a couple of options to sellers to pay their way to the top. While we have some mixed reviews about the markdown manager,  Promoted listings can be used to great effect for as little as a 1% fee.  Working that into your price is pretty straightforward, and the results can be huge. Amazon Sponsored Products, has also really shined this year. Particularly on high volume inventory. Both are really worth looking into to increase both your brand and items visibility.

 

Summary

Refreshing your customer service methods, your inventory handling,  and taking a look at your  SEO tactics can all help put your business on track for a great year. Hopefully, there are a few tips here that will turn into some great transactions and help you grow a leaner, happier business. All the best in your business this year. Now go make some great sales!

(SOURCE)