My Amazon Experience

[Runum]

I started to post on the other Amazon thread but, honestly, don't want to get into a pissing match. All I can share is some of what is working for me and learn from suggestions. I have learned a lot from others and it's my time to share some thoughts.

I have been selling products on Amazon for about 3 years now. Some of my stuff has been imported and some domestic (US). I have had a several dogs and a few successes.

There is plenty of info available about selling on Amazon so I won't go there.

One of my products I have been selling has been a break even deal for me to sell on Amazon FBA at retail mainly due to PPC costs. The main keywords I have been using have been subjected to a lot of click fraud and it really ads up in cost. I have complained some to Amazon but the costs vs sales is way out of whack, Amazon does not seem interested in addressing it.

I was considering scrapping the product but I thought about trying Amazon Vendor Express. What did I have to lose, a break even product?

I made an offer to Amazon and they accepted. This has been going on for a couple of months now.

Lessons learned so far:

I still had some product in FBA. When Vendor Express got my product they edited my product page and took over the buy box. My FBA inventory was sitting stagnate costing me money.

VE made a second order from me so I asked them to take on hand inventory from FBA. Apparently that can't be done. Luckily I had some on hand inventory to send to VE.

When Vendor Express sends you an order you have 3 days to fulfill. You become the VE warehouse.

I had my FBA inventory returned to me. THEN Vendor Express sold out of product. I could have made some more sales through FBA at that time but the window of opportunity was narrow.

I just shipped VE my 4th round of orders. This has started slow and is picking up some steam.

I no longer have to do PPC. I can do AMS now also.

This product is now profitable to me since I do not have to pay for PPC.

I still have some other products in FBA doing well. Of course, I also make sales on my own website and am working on growing that.

Doing my Christmas season planning now.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

@Runum -- I'm gonna edit your thread a bit for SEO and eyeball purposes ... when I saw the thread title, I thought you might have moved to Arizona.

 

[Runum]

@Runum -- I'm gonna edit your thread a bit for SEO and eyeball purposes ... when I saw the thread title, I thought you might have moved to Arizona.

LOL. Nope still in TX. Didn't think about AZ = Arizona. Thanks for the heads up MJ.

 

[amp0193]

I just shipped VE my 4th round of orders. This has started slow and is picking up some steam.

I no longer have to do PPC. I can do AMS now also.

This product is now profitable to me since I do not have to pay for PPC.

I don't quite understand.

What about selling through Vendor Express is making your product sell better organically without ppc?

Did it increase your conversion rate?
Did it increase your Search Rank?

Are you running A+ content on your page?


Could you have done a multi-channel fulfillment order to send a bunch of your FBA product to VE, or is there some sort of special prep that you have to do to the product first that would requiring shipping it to you first?

 

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[Runum]

I don't quite understand.

What about selling through Vendor Express is making your product sell better organically without ppc?

Did it increase your conversion rate?
Did it increase your Search Rank?

Are you running A+ content on your page?


Could you have done a multi-channel fulfillment order to send a bunch of your FBA product to VE, or is there some sort of special prep that you have to do to the product first that would requiring shipping it to you first?

My conversion rate with VE is 100%. They order, I fulfill.

I didn't say the product was selling better. I said it was more profitable and less headache for me.
My search rank fluctuates and improved a little, not a huge jump. I actually sold more units by FBA but at more cost to me. The VE sales have started slower but are picking up.

I don't do Vendor Central so, no, I do not have A+ content.

I did not consider a multi-channel order. It may have worked better than what I did. Thanks for the suggestion.

The prep for my product was the same for FBA and VE.

 

[amp0193]

My conversion rate with VE is 100%. They order, I fulfill.

I didn't say the product was selling better. I said it was more profitable and less headache for me.
My search rank fluctuates and improved a little, not a huge jump. I actually sold more units by FBA but at more cost to me. The VE sales have started slower but are picking up.

I don't do Vendor Central so, no, I do not have A+ content.

I did not consider a multi-channel order. It may have worked better than what I did. Thanks for the suggestion.

The prep for my product was the same for FBA and VE.

Let me word it differently.

Why is VE different than if you had just turned off PPC instead?

If you had turned off PPC, you wouldn't have had a PPC cost.


Is there some sort of X factor that is making VE sell product without ppc, that you couldn't get through your own organic sales?

 

[Runum]

Let me word it differently.

Why is VE different than if you had just turned off PPC instead?

If you had turned off PPC, you wouldn't have had a PPC cost.


Is there some sort of X factor that is making VE sell product without ppc, that you couldn't get through your own organic sales?

Ah, gotcha.

I have tried this product with and without PPC. The organic sales are OK but I wanted to increase the sales and maximize profits and minimize pains. Increasing PPC did not have the desired results vs cost.

I don't know the VE X factor yet. Still learning and analyzing. I am still not sure they will exceed my organic sales results but time will tell.

I don't get notifications of retail sales with VE.

I do keep an eye on the listing to monitor the VE inventory as much as possible however, VE does not always list all of their inventory. There are times they will say "Only 12 in stock" when I know I just sent them a lot more than that.

 

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[amp0193]

Ah, gotcha.

I have tried this product with and without PPC. The organic sales are OK but I wanted to increase the sales and maximize profits and minimize pains. Increasing PPC did not have the desired results vs cost.

I don't know the VE X factor yet. Still learning and analyzing. I am still not sure they will exceed my organic sales results but time will tell.

I don't get notifications of retail sales with VE.

I do keep an eye on the listing to monitor the VE inventory as much as possible however, VE does not always list all of their inventory. There are times they will say "Only 12 in stock" when I know I just sent them a lot more than that.

Gotcha.

What sort of terms did you get. Are they paying up front, net-30? net-60?? Was their any negotiation, or did they just lay down what it was going to be?

 

[Runum]

Gotcha.

What sort of terms did you get. Are they paying up front, net-30? net-60?? Was their any negotiation, or did they just lay down what it was going to be?

I proposed the price that I would sell to VE. My sell price was double my cost. They accepted and made multiple orders.

VE pays once a quarter. I have been paid once so far.

 

[MacApple]

Do you have ownership to the product listing page?

What changes did they make? Keywords, product listings, subject matter, images etc??? Anything noticeable that could be helpful as an effective selling strategy on your other listings.

 

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[Runum]

Do you have ownership to the product listing page?

What changes did they make? Keywords, product listings, subject matter, images etc??? Anything noticeable that could be helpful as an effective selling strategy on your other listings.

I don't have control of the listing.

I can choose to edit the listing but my edits do not show up for the public. The only changes I can see are that they removed a couple of out of compliance images and added one of their own. My keywords are still there but I can't tell if they have changed them on their end. Product description is the same.