How To Sell On Amazon And Make The Most Money

Selling new, used, or refurbished products is tough. Today’s online marketplaces help alleviate some of the pressure of making those sales by offering simple tools and opening up more customers to your products, but this isn’t a surefire way of making the sale.

So how do you go about making a sale?

Through Amazon, the process is straightforward but there are a lot of nuances to actually making sure that your product sells more than someone else’s, especially if you aren’t selling at the lowest price. It doesn’t matter what the product is, from electronics to appliances. If it’s available on Amazon, you can sell it with just a few simple tips.

This guide is intended to help you get the most out of selling anything on Amazon. Each step is part of the process of adding your stock to the marketplace, so if you’ve ever sold anything on Amazon these steps will absolutely be familiar to you. Important notes are listed in each, numbered and bolded so more serious sellers can find those key points easier.

Step 1: Determine if the product in question is worth selling on Amazon

It may not sound legitimate, but because of the shifting value of various products each online marketplace has a different price point for just about everything. Most products have an identical value, whether you’re on Amazon or eBay or physical retailers like Walmart or Target’s websites. However, sometimes that isn’t the case, especially if the product you’re selling is older or not readily in stock or available by most retailers.

Especially for older electronics like cellphones and computers this is regularly the case. RAM for desktop computers, for example, tend to go up in price the older they get, and they also get harder to find, for a number of different reasons.

That said, it may not always be cost effective to sell your product on Amazon. The marketplace is made for items that are mass-produced. If you’re selling artwork, for example, Amazon is the wrong place to be. The same tends to go for jewelry, rare or unique appliances, or foreign goods. That doesn’t mean that those product types aren’t readily available in many stores… it just means that Amazon may not be the best place for your product.

The best way to determine this is twofold:

1. Do a typical search on Amazon for your product. Without any serious SEO, type in what you would look for if you had to search online, such as the name, part of the name, etc. I might type in iPhone 6, for example, but might mean the 6 Plus. On Amazon not only does the 6 Plus not appear in the top search results before hitting enter, it doesn’t appear after as well on a full 1080p display, meaning anyone looking has to scroll down to find it. Why? Because both products are unique and popular, and the search didn’t specify enough. These are things you will have to take into account, especially if the product in question has an obscure name.

2. If it was easy to find, then the pricing is the next important thing. If you’re selling, say, a two-year-old TV set and to make a profit the price must be at least $300 not including shipping, but the model in question is selling brand new for $250 with free shipping…then you are either in the wrong marketplace or need to expect the sale will be at a loss. Immediately the best thing to do if the price doesn’t suit your need is to add the product anyways, for the price you’re looking for, and then look on competing marketplaces like eBay. If everyone seems to have the same price, then it’s possible that your required price is wrong. That may not change and it may get worse over time. Alternatively, the price may go up because of a decrease in stock. These shifts are difficult to follow and need to be watched closely, but with enough time it only requires a few minutes a day to determine for your inventory, depending on the size of the inventory.

If those two criteria are met, then your product is worth selling on Amazon. If not, stay tuned for our future guides to learn how to sell on other marketplaces.

Step 2: Label the product to match the consumer need

Half the job of selling anything is to make a relationship with the buyer. If they trust you, they are much more likely to buy. To build that trust isn’t complicated: just be honest about the product. Aside from a good moral reason to do so, in the long run it offers the most strategic business value because that trust will result in higher ratings and thus more buyers over the course of your selling career on Amazon (or any marketplace).

Therefore, labeling the product in question to match the basic needs and questions of the buyer is extremely important. If it is, for example, a refurbished laptop that has a few scrapes but is otherwise in excellent condition, that’s just fine. Those issues need to be listed up front, with additional photos on where those physical blemishes are.

All flaws in any products need to be listed openly and directly; in my experience with selling on Amazon that almost never leads to additional questions and always leads to better ratings. This comes in three parts:

1. Label the product correctly. This is done by finding the exact product that you’re selling, although Amazon may list multiple. There is no good way around this. It’s usually better to use the listing that has more information available (from more photos to more technical information). However, depending on your selling strategy, picking the listing with the lower price may be the better option. This is a case-by-case issue that you’ll have to solve. For differing model numbers however, there are a few good ways to find the best one: type in the model number directly in the search, or type in the ISBN number. The latter is almost always correct (though Amazon doesn’t always have the correct ISBN, so be wary), and just typing in the model number may still produce multiple listings.

2. Label the description appropriately for the individual or group of products you are listing. This means everything from the age of the product to how fast the shipping is. See my example below.

3. Always allow for expedited shipping and make sure all other listing options match. Expedited shipping for standard seller accounts means 2-6 days, which for most products is easy to ship for regular USPS deliveries, which is also almost always the least expensive while still providing the necessary insurance and tracking info. More on that below.

When I list products to sell, the description is almost always something like the following: “Lightly used, in excellent condition. Minor scuff on the right side. Fast shipping with tracking, ships next day.”

Those three sentences typically make a product sell pretty quickly for a few reasons: it’s concise, it’s exactly what the customer wants to hear, and it’s for the most part what the customer wants to know: how fast will the product be mailed out, what condition is it in, how used was it, and what guarantees does it come with for shipping.

Anything else is information that should be listed through photos (like any wear or damage). And if the customer has any more questions, the good news is that unless it’s a seriously expensive buy (more than $1,000), it’s not generally necessary to remind prospects to contact you with any questions on Amazon.

As for shipping, I always suggest USPS because they have regularly been the cheapest and most effective method to ship packages both large and small (though at a certain large size they do become more pricey than FedEx or UPS). Expedited shipping is a feature few buyers on Amazon use, but more importantly if they see that it’s available it offers them that extra security that yes, you can ship it fast. Which makes them more likely to buy.

Also regarding shipping, the best practice is to ship out new products the next day, typically before 3pm or at the last local shipping center pickup (which varies by location). You can find out easily by asking your local store where all shipments go, or experiment by saving the tracking numbers and watching the shipments go out.

This leads to the next major way to make sure that you can get good sales through Amazon: customer reviews.

Step 3: Always ask for customer reviews

Early on when I started selling anything on Amazon, from used video games to old electronics, I’d write down the addresses to ship to on a post-it note and write those addresses on the given envelopes and boxes to mail out, but instead of just throwing the post-it notes away, I’d write a little note that worked wonders: “Please leave feedback :)”

That little note increased my ratings from next to nothing to dozens, and increased the chance of a review from maybe 5% to ~50%. Nearly half of sales that I added that little note to actually reviewed my sale, and I quickly went from an unrated seller to a 99% rated seller. And that rating very quickly made additional sales much, much easier. All it requires is to ask.

Note that I didn’t use the Amazon shipping paper, which they suggest you use for the shipping label and for including with the shipment. The reality is that using these two printouts is a waste of paper for both you and the buyer; you’re going to waste the ink and the label because you could just write it on the envelope or box (and save on tape), and the buyer won’t have to throw away the paper to a product they obviously know they bought.

And if you’re worried about what happens if the wrong person received the shipment, a little paper with the package won’t help. But tracking information and insurance will. 

Step 4: Pay for tracking and insurance… when it’s cost effective

As a business, it makes sense to buy tracking and insurance for everything, especially if you want to keep customers happy all the time. Unfortunately, if anything goes wrong with the shipment, there is only one solution to making the customer happy if you don’t have additional stock, and that’s to give a swift refund. And if you do have additional stock… then it may not be cost effective to send another unit because someone messed up on shipping.

Tracking and insurance only help with one thing: delivering additional ease of mind to the buyer. It’s not that big a deal, but if the shipment is delayed or if the shipping service loses or breaks it, that money has to be rebuffed. But if the product sold is less than $25 and the shipping cost is negligible, another $3-$5 for tracking and insurance isn’t worth it.

Typically I don’t buy insurance unless it’s $100 or more, and I don’t buy tracking unless it’s a larger package or roughly the same price. Thankfully USPS offers free tracking if you use a priority box, which also tends to be cheaper than using your own boxes (if that’s an option). Ultimately getting insurance and tracking is a case-by-case thing, but you can speed it up by setting basic limits like the dollar value.

5. Automate everything

Shipping from the same address? Buy a monogram address stamp. Sell a lot of the same size/type of product? Buy the shipping equipment (boxes, bubble paper, tape, etc.) in bulk. Only ship things out at fast shipping centers with lots of employees (to keep the line moving), or use the self service station if you can. The list to automate goes on and on, and it follows only one golden rule: time is money.

The more you waste dealing with packaging and shipping, the less money you get to make. If you plan on selling more than a dozen items through Amazon in the next year, professionally or just to earn some extra cash on the stuff you have lying around the house, do the following:

1. Buy an address stamp. There are hundreds, and they go for anywhere from $10-$100, Buy one for $20 and it’ll last you years, and you’ll never have to write your address down again.

2. Keep boxes and shipping equipment from anything you buy. I buy things from Amazon and online constantly, so I have a steady stream of boxes, packing paper, bubble paper, and envelopes available at my disposal (you’d be surprised how often companies or individual sellers use decent envelopes for packing material…it’s crazy!). I haven’t had to restock on any packing equipment in years except for tape. Can’t reuse that.

3. If you use USPS, always stock up on their medium flat rate boxes. Locally they always disappear and they’re tough to find, so I keep a few at home just in case and always take the full stock from my local USPS store.

4. Keep a pen handy, just in case. You never know when the shipping center you’re using doesn’t have a pen handy. Keep one close.

5. Get the Amazon Seller App. The days of post-it notes are gone thanks to the iOS and Android Amazon Seller app, which lets you communicate with customers, get shipping information, and do just about everything else. It isn’t perfect, but it does everything you need when you’re priming a sale to go out.

6. Keep spare packing material in your car. I can’t count the number of times I packed something using a box from the shipping center only to find that I miscalculated the space inside. Shipping material is surprisingly expensive. Never ever pay for it unless you have to. And if you’re in a rush and already in the store, no problem if you have some extra in the trunk.

7. Find the times that your local shipping center is usually empty and go then. I’ve spent over an hour waiting to send out a few packages, and that’s ridiculous. Each fully-sealed package should take no more than 30-seconds for a good employee to determine shipping cost and information on average. If it’s an APO or otherwise out of the country, account for those and ask for the required paperwork while you’re at the register; this will save time (and keep you from being bored if there’s a stack of packages to mail out).

8. If possible and within the budget, buy a USPS certified scale and buy your postage online. This will mean that you’ll have to deal with printing and either taping or buying sticker paper for the postage, but it will also save you the trip. If you have a UPS or FedEx account, the same holds true: take a handful of sticker envelopes to place those papers in and always print out the shipping form. If you have to hand write it, fine, but dropping a package off is always faster than going to the store and waiting in line.

Step 6: Communicate quickly and constantly

Amazon has a tricky and fickle mechanism to rate sellers, one that buyers don’t see. This seller rating has next to no value and shouldn’t be considered too much. Instead, follow this principle: if someone messages you, get back to them within 24 hours, and if possible within just a few hours. Answer courteously and concisely. And communicate wherever possible.

Amazon is, after all, a marketplace, and just like any good marketplace strong communication leads to strong sales. If you are quick to respond to potential and actual buyers, then they will be quick to follow suit and rate you well for timely communication. If you leave good reviews for buyers, they will have a greater likelihood of leaving you a review as a seller, which is infinitely more valuable.

And if you don’t communicate well… Not communicating well on Amazon is a big no-no. I’ve made the mistake of not doing so and had my account blocked for failure to meet Amazon’s guidelines. Why? Because customers were attempting to talk to me and I hadn’t responded (ironically due to a technical mishap on my end), and the products I listed for sale had been listed for years but never sold. Apparently some had sold but I never knew, and by the time I found out it was too late to fix.

My case there is extreme, but since then it has been a long road to fix my rating and how people communicate with me. One person bought an item from me and claimed it never arrived; I had not purchased insurance or tracking and it was valued at $150, but I had no way of proving otherwise. I made the case to Amazon but there was little that Amazon would do, because Amazon always favors the buyer.

Furthermore, what proof did I have? Not only was I forced to refund the full amount, but the claim against me and the poor user review lowered my reputation, which took years to bring back to a high level. I still haven’t managed to return to a 99% customer success rating. The only way to make sure that doesn’t happen, or at least that Amazon will side with you when bad people try to take advantage of the system, is to document everything in your communications with customers, and to communicate often.

Conclusion

If you follow these six basic guidelines, you’ll be very likely to not only sell a lot more product through Amazon, but to do so at a higher price than competitors who may have newer or even better quality products.

Every single point here is meant to help build trust. I’ve had some buyers stick with me because they knew I could deliver fast shipments that were safe and with good-condition products. And I’ve been on the opposite side of that as well.

A few additional tips:

• Don’t submit your inventory for Prime shipping. It may save you time, and it will definitely save you money if you need to store it in a warehouse if you have high volumes, but if not, shipping yourself will always be more cost effective.

• If you do ship items yourself, make friends with the local USPS, UPS, and FedEx employees. I’m on a first-name basis with my mailman, FedEx Ground, FedEx Air, and UPS deliverymen. We give each other Christmas cards. We chat when they come in or when I got into the store. Why? This rapport is not only good because hey, making friends is never a bad thing, but because people in shipping know the shipping business and can help you save money. If you need a pickup, normally that costs money; but if you’re friendly and your shipping company of choice is happy to stop by to make a free pickup, all the better. One store I used to go to constantly gave me discounts because we were friendly and because I gave them so much business at times.

• Add a smile and people will reciprocate. At times it’s easy to want to punch someone in the mouth when they are rude, especially a customer. Aside from protecting yourself, always keep a smile and a kind word for them. Not only will this help make any problems easier to manage, it’ll also have a much higher likelihood of getting resolved faster and for less financial expense and with less time wasted. As good as it may feel to tell an asshole off, it’s rarely worth it.

• Balance everything. Amazon has dozens of product information entry fields; stick to the basic ones, those are the few that customers see already. Balance your time spent communicating with customers versus handling shipments versus adding new inventory. Balance is the key to all of it. If you’re just starting out, it’ll take time to find that balance. Once you do, it’s easy to stick with it, but always remember to keep it. As soon as you lose that balance, it’s easy to make mistakes and lose money.

• Have fun. It doesn’t matter what you do, even if it’s just to sell on Amazon, you should have fun doing it. If you do, the whole experience will be infinitely better, and you’ll do a better job because of it.

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