Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

[biophase]

Thanks again Bio for your contribution here.

I have one question pertaining to Amazon listings. I have noticed from time to time that some of my products images go away or are replaced with images that I did not even upload. I contacted seller support and they said they reserve the right to remove any product images or add any product images they like to "enhance" the listing.

My product images meet their requirements and I think are good pics. Some of the ones they have taken and added are worse than mine. They even put up a picture of my product packaging that is terrible. This also causes a mix of product pics on listings where I offer multiple colors.

Have you ever experienced this? It is happening a lot more than I would like.

I have not experienced this but I some others who have. It seems like Amazon goes through certain categories and does this.

 

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[biophase]

Hey Bio,

What are your thoughts on buying/modifying items with minor electronic/electrical components from manufacturers in China? Minor being say a cup warmer that plugs into a USB port. The concerns would be sub-par quality and I believe if it contains batteries, it may be restricted (not too certain about the latter).

Thanks!

Being that it's a cup warmer infers that it heats up and has some sort of heating element in it. I would stay away from it due to liability concerns.

 

[biophase]

Great thread biophase! Just one question for now:

Could you elaborate on that? Why it's so necessary to add new SKUs? (supposing you already have a few dozens SKUs)

What if you just keep improving your products? How competition would beat you?

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

If you have the #1 product in a niche, you should keep improving it. But there are only so many sales that you can get from one product. Even if you have 12 products, do you ever just stop? Your competition may have the same 12 products as you ranking at #2. Then in a year, they have 24 products and you still have 12. Which brand is getting stronger?

I guess the real meaning behind it is that you need to be always growing and improving. I don't understand how so many companies on Amazon have only 1 product. It feels like they are satisfied with that one product. Maybe they think the sales will last forever?

 

[Dicky Dee]

@biophase I think you i remember you saying either in this thread or another one that you start a new amazon account for every niche you're selling in, im currently thinking about doing the same with the second niche im selling in.

How do you go about getting another account? Do you need to start a new company etc. or do you just call seller support and tell them that you want to separate your products into different niche accounts?

 

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[GailWynand]

what are your thoughts on Jack Dorsey's Square company? How will it shape the industry?

 

[RisingStars]

Hey bio,

As you may knew from my previous questions I started selling on amazon not long ago.
Since I dont have that much money (still in high school) I cant afford tooling cost and 1000pcs order on a item for 8k, so I had to think about another way to compete and sell my products.
I imported a little product and translated the manual from bad english into german language, because the reviews of the competitor (chinese) stated that there was no german manual.

It went really well. I nearly sold out a couple days ago and rised the price from 17€ to 30€. People were still buying my product!

Anyways, yesterday I woke up and was in shock that another seller (from china) but his product under my listing.
I am selling under a brand name but it isnt registered. Already contacted amazon and I am in discussion with them to get this product removed, since he certainly dont have a german manual.

Amazon said I could stop this once and for all if I get a brand name registered. With lawayer cost this would be around 900€ in germany.
1) do you have a brand name registered for all your brands?

In another forum someone said that he somehow managed to get people away who listed under his listing.
He wasnt very gernerous with his knowledge and the post was from 2013 so maybe this doesnt work anymore:

He created a product with different variations and then put the competition product as a variation. Then he deleted his photos, describtion, title and bullet points for this variation.
2) Do you think this works? I am not an amazon expert so I thought maybe you know if this would work out.

 

[Jake]

Hey bio,

As you may knew from my previous questions I started selling on amazon not long ago.
Since I dont have that much money (still in high school) I cant afford tooling cost and 1000pcs order on a item for 8k, so I had to think about another way to compete and sell my products.
I imported a little product and translated the manual from bad english into german language, because the reviews of the competitor (chinese) stated that there was no german manual.

It went really well. I nearly sold out a couple days ago and rised the price from 17€ to 30€. People were still buying my product!

Anyways, yesterday I woke up and was in shock that another seller (from china) but his product under my listing.
I am selling under a brand name but it isnt registered. Already contacted amazon and I am in discussion with them to get this product removed, since he certainly dont have a german manual.

Amazon said I could stop this once and for all if I get a brand name registered. With lawayer cost this would be around 900€ in germany.

Not Bio but this may help if you haven't seen it. I don't see why a Lawyer would be required.

"
Apply to the Amazon Brand Registry
To complete an application, you will need to provide the following items:

1. An image of your product packaging with branding visible on the packaging.
2. An image of a product with your branding visible on the product itself.
3. Link to an active website that displays your brand or products.

If you are a distributor or reseller applying for brand ownership on Amazon, you will also need to upload an authorization letter from the manufacturer or brand owner.Download a template request letter for you to send to the manufacturer."

https://sellercentral.amazon.com/hz/catalog-brand-application/brand-application-wizard

 

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[RisingStars]

Thanks Jake,

That will be definetly cheaper than a real brand registration.
1. Thats doable. Do you know if the branding has to be printed or can it be a sticker?
2. Same as above. Is it possible that this is a sticker, or do I need to let the manufacturer let my brand name print on the item?
3. So for example a shopify website.

One big question left: Do I need to get the authorization letter from the manufacturer?
Because in germany, since I am the importeur, I am named the manufacturer. Maybe the rules are different in the US then I will have to ask amazon.

 

[Jake]

Thanks Jake,

That will be definetly cheaper than a real brand registration.
1. Thats doable. Do you know if the branding has to be printed or can it be a sticker?
2. Same as above. Is it possible that this is a sticker, or do I need to let the manufacturer let my brand name print on the item?
3. So for example a shopify website.

One big question left: Do I need to get the authorization letter from the manufacturer?
Because in germany, since I am the importeur, I am named the manufacturer. Maybe the rules are different in the US then I will have to ask amazon.

I've yet to do this but I imagine a sticker would be fine.

I don't see why you would if you're the brand owner.

I'm an Amazon FBA newbie. I'm sure you can google for more info, apply and find out, or send Amazon a message. Others probably know more on the specifics.

 

[DrkSide]

@RisingStars & @Jake

Amazon Brand Registry does nothing to stop other sellers from listing against your pages. It just makes it easier to make changes to the detail pages.

I am dealing with my second Chinese hijacker this week currently. They aren't as tough when you are in stock but since I am out of stock they automatically get the buy box.

 

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[RisingStars]

@RisingStars & @Jake

Amazon Brand Registry does nothing to stop other sellers from listing against your pages. It just makes it easier to make changes to the detail pages.

I am dealing with my second Chinese hijacker this week currently. They aren't as tough when you are in stock but since I am out of stock they automatically get the buy box.

Thanks for this. So the only way is a "real" brand registry in the country you are selling in right?
Is your hijacker shipping with prime? Or does he ship from china?

Mine is shipping from China so I got a big advantage but I dont want to imagine what will happen if he uses FBA and goes 5€ cheaper than my product.

So I just got a message from amazon sellerperformance:

They told me that another product can be removed, if it is not exactly the same as in the describition.
Since I offer a german manual and the other seller clearly wont, I can order from then and make a photo prove that they are not selling the same product as me. Then their product will get removed from the listing.

I will still look into registering a real brand.
Bio did you do this for every of your brands?

 

[DrkSide]

Thanks for this. So the only way is a "real" brand registry in the country you are selling in right?

Not sure what you mean about a "real brand registry." We have trademarks in the US that we can use. But Amazon doesn't care about them.

They told me that another product can be removed, if it is not exactly the same as in the describition.
Since I offer a german manual and the other seller clearly wont, I can order from then and make a photo prove that they are not selling the same product as me. Then their product will get removed from the listing.

First I send a C&D email to the seller. That will normally make them remove their listing in my experience. I also purchase one of their products in case it doesn't. However, It can take a week or two to get a product here from China. At which point the hijacker has been selling 15-25 products a day and can ruin the reviews in that short time.

 

[RisingStars]

Not sure what you mean about a "real brand registry." We have trademarks in the US that we can use. But Amazon doesn't care about them.

First I send a C&D email to the seller. That will normally make them remove their listing in my experience. I also purchase one of their products in case it doesn't. However, It can take a week or two to get a product here from China. At which point the hijacker has been selling 15-25 products a day and can ruin the reviews in that short time.

In germany one can register a name and then there will be a litte "R" in a Circle after the product. Amazon told me if I do this, I will be the only seller for my product (If I dont sell them to other traders)

How would such a C&D email look like? I already purchased a product from them but it will take 7-21 to arrive at my place. At this point their product is only 1€ cheaper then mine and from china so I win the buybox. Hopefully this will stay like this, because I dont want my reviews to get destroyed.

 

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[DrkSide]

In germany one can register a name and then there will be a litte "R" in a Circle after the product. Amazon told me if I do this, I will be the only seller for my product (If I dont sell them to other traders)

How would such a C&D email look like? I already purchased a product from them but it will take 7-21 to arrive at my place. At this point their product is only 1€ cheaper then mine and from china so I win the buybox. Hopefully this will stay like this, because I dont want my reviews to get destroyed.

I wasn't aware that there were any ways for a small seller to have restrictions on who could list their product. I am planning on finding out about this today.

I just politely tell them that they have listed against an incorrect detail page that is protected by trademark. If they don't take their listing down that I will contact Amazon which can result in selling privileges being removed.

 

[RisingStars]

I wasn't aware that there were any ways for a small seller to have restrictions on who could list their product. I am planning on finding out about this today.

I just politely tell them that they have listed against an incorrect detail page that is protected by trademark. If they don't take their listing down that I will contact Amazon which can result in selling privileges being removed.

I just did that. Thank you. Lets see how this will turn out.

 

[kwodzilla]

I just did that. Thank you. Lets see how this will turn out.

I'm not biophase and I haven't tested this myself but I have it in my notes as the fastest way to get someone off your listing and may be worth considering:

If they don't respond to your polite C&D email, have a friend buy the product and have it shipped to them. Once your friend receives it, have them take pictures and alert Amazon that it is COUNTERFEIT and doesn't have the German manual. Wait a day then report to Amazon that the person that has hopped on your listing is selling a fake, counterfeit, not authentic product since you are the manufacturer and tightly control distribution. Apparently they act faster and take it more seriously when a customer (your friend) complains about counterfeit since they obviously don't want have counterfeit products being sold on their platform.

 

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[Entrepreneur99]

Amazing thread biophase!
I have a question about product improvement
What I've been doing is looking at Amazon reviews and looking out for low star reviews on an otherwise decently rated product to see what complaints people have about it and how I might go about providing a better version. However I was wondering if this is the only way to do this. Do you only choose products to import that people have specifically complained about, or do you make changes to products even with explicitly good reviews on Amazon if you think the changes will improve it?
Thanks

 

[RisingStars]

I'm not biophase and I haven't tested this myself but I have it in my notes as the fastest way to get someone off your listing and may be worth considering:

If they don't respond to your polite C&D email, have a friend buy the product and have it shipped to them. Once your friend receives it, have them take pictures and alert Amazon that it is COUNTERFEIT and doesn't have the German manual. Wait a day then report to Amazon that the person that has hopped on your listing is selling a fake, counterfeit, not authentic product since you are the manufacturer and tightly control distribution. Apparently they act faster and take it more seriously when a customer (your friend) complains about counterfeit since they obviously don't want have counterfeit products being sold on their platform.

Wanted to personally thank you and give a little update to everyone.

Thanks to @DrkSide I wrote a C&D to the chinese guy and he luckily removed his product from mine.
Got a email from amazon this morning, saying that they WON'T remove the chinese product from my listing.

Well I told the chinese guy that amazon will remove his listing anyway and ban him from selling so I got lucky.
To prevent that this ever happen again I will probably register a real trademark for my brandname and put stickers on my packaging/get a new packaging and get stickers for the brand of the product.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[Ross Morgan]

I hope this noob post isn't too ridiculous. I want to get a crap product up on AmazonASAP to get my feet wet in the world of ecommerce. Right now I need to contact manufacturers to get samples of my product but I need to register on Alibaba. Please forgive this terribly newb dilemma, I have no company yet and it appears you need one to register. I'm sure there's plenty of people who don't have a company that use Alibaba, any suggestions?

 

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[TKDTyler]

I hope this noob post isn't too ridiculous. I want to get a crap product up on Amazon ASAP to get my feet wet in the world of ecommerce. Right now I need to contact manufacturers to get samples of my product but I need to register on Alibaba. Please forgive this terribly newb dilemma, I have no company yet and it appears you need one to register. I'm sure there's plenty of people who don't have a company that use Alibaba, any suggestions?

You can use a generic company name (I.e. Tyler's rubber co.) In my experience, manufacturers rarely ask for company details as long as you write professionally. Remember, you are the one buying from them and they want to make $$$.

Be cordial, give respect, and be thorough with your inquiries. There are many suppliers who are not manufacturers so doing your due diligence and asking the right questions is essential for weeding out the good from the bad.

Get in there and start sending some emails! Best way to figure it out

 

[Ross Morgan]

I hope you don't mind me answering Bio. You're a busy man!


You don't need a legit company (I filled mine with a generic name such as Tyler's rubber inc.)

In my experience, the suppliers that I have message and worked with have never questioned whether my company was legit or not. I find that it helps to

You can use a generic company name (I.e. Tyler's rubber co.) In my experience, manufacturers rarely ask for company details as long as you write professionally. Remember, you are the one buying from them and they want to make $$$.

Be cordial, give respect, and be thorough with your inquiries. There are many suppliers who are not manufacturers so doing your due diligence and asking the right questions is essential for weeding out the good from the bad.

Get in there and start sending some emails! Best way to figure it out

Thanks! Yes Bio is very busy and I'm sure he appreciates when people fill in for the basics. I know I appreciate it!

 

[Ross Morgan]

I saw this in another thread and I thought I bookmarked it but I guess I didn't.. Anyone know where I can convert my phone number so I'm not giving my out my cell?

 

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[Ramble On]

Google is your friend for this...

 

[BlahBlahBlah]

Hi,

I started importing just recently (setup a LTD. company just a couple of months ago after reading this and Ecom_man threads), I just have a quick question.
I received my first shipment a couple of weeks ago from a Chinese supplier, value around 600$ via Fedex. Once arrived I had to provide Fedex with the payment details so they could charge VAT/Duty Tax, which turned out to be around 200$
Today I received my first order from a supplier from Pakistan, value also around 600$. I noticed that he declared only 135$ as value on shipment and DHL only charged my around 40$.

My question is, once I prepare the book-keeping file for my accountant at the end of the year and he will pass the detail to the Tax office, will they wonder why on a purchasing transaction of 600$ I only paid 40$ taxes? Or once is done is done and should be up to Fedex/DHL to verify?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Ross Morgan]

I saw this in another thread and I thought I bookmarked it but I guess I didn't.. Anyone know where I can convert my phone number so I'm not giving my out my cell?

Google is your friend for this...

I tried google, I was having trouble finding anything that looked legit. Maybe I'm just being lazy, not trying to be though. I asked because I trust that I can count on the forum's answer.. Not really 100% sure what to even type into google for this to be honest.

 

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[biophase]

@biophase I think you i remember you saying either in this thread or another one that you start a new amazon account for every niche you're selling in, im currently thinking about doing the same with the second niche im selling in.

How do you go about getting another account? Do you need to start a new company etc. or do you just call seller support and tell them that you want to separate your products into different niche accounts?

If you do a second account with another niche you need to get it approved by Amazon and the niche's need to be totally different. I would probably just sell under the same account as I don't think most buyers really care or even understand how you are selling on Amazon.

 

[biophase]

what are your thoughts on Jack Dorsey's Square company? How will it shape the industry?

I don't know much about it. But from what I understand Square is just a payment processor. I don't see how that will change things in terms of me selling things online? All I want to do is sell products to consumers. How they pay or how I accept it really doesn't matter to me. Yes, it can save you .5% or 1% in processing fees, but it's not a part of your core business.

 

[biophase]

I imported a little product and translated the manual from bad english into german language, because the reviews of the competitor (chinese) stated that there was no german manual.

Anyways, yesterday I woke up and was in shock that another seller (from china) but his product under my listing.
I am selling under a brand name but it isnt registered. Already contacted amazon and I am in discussion with them to get this product removed, since he certainly dont have a german manual.

On your listing title does it mention the German Manual? Is your manual in a PDF form or is it printed and included in the shipment? If it's printed, put a photo of it in your listing. Put on your main photo what is included in the shipment so when someone receives the other seller's product they will know that something is missing.

 

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[biophase]

Amazing thread biophase!
I have a question about product improvement
What I've been doing is looking at Amazon reviews and looking out for low star reviews on an otherwise decently rated product to see what complaints people have about it and how I might go about providing a better version. However I was wondering if this is the only way to do this. Do you only choose products to import that people have specifically complained about, or do you make changes to products even with explicitly good reviews on Amazon if you think the changes will improve it?
Thanks

You can improve any product. It doesn't need to be one that has complaints. However, if you don't use the product yourself, how do you know what to improve? This is why you would look at reviews if you don't have knowledge of the product. You really need to know if you actually are improving a product.

For example, you take a dog leash that is 6 feet and you make yours 7 feet, thinking that the customer gets value in an extra foot of leash for the same price. But them you find out that customers don't want a longer leash, in fact it's more cumbersome and actually worse. Because you've never walked a dog on a 6 foot leash to find out what pain points there are in walking a dog, you just made your product different, not better.

 

[Dicky Dee]

If you do a second account with another niche you need to get it approved by Amazon and the niche's need to be totally different. I would probably just sell under the same account as I don't think most buyers really care or even understand how you are selling on Amazon.

I plan on selling one of the niche accounts later on is the reason. Did you have to create a new company or can you use the same?