Selling on Amazon FBA, short for Fulfillment by Amazon, is an increasingly popular method for Amazon sellers to make money through the e-commerce giant. For sellers to take advantage of this option themselves, they first need to know what exactly it is. Second, they need to understand the advantages of the program and third, they should know a few pointers on maximizing the opportunity provided here. Keep reading into the following paragraphs for all three.

First, what exactly is Fulfillment by Amazon? Amazon is of course a leading website on the Internet, featuring one of the largest marketplaces for sellers to make their products available. While known largely and traditionally for selling books, Amazon products run a wide gamut, from DVDs, CDs and electronics to jewelry, clothing, and home and garden products. Typically, sellers would put listings on Amazon, wait for an order, and then ship the item to the buyer. Fulfillment by Amazon changes this. In FBA, sellers ship their items to Amazon, who then stores the product in its own warehouses, taking care of the packing and shipping when sales are made.

Second, what advantages does this offer the seller? The advantages are numerous, but some are immediately obvious. While there are fees for both monthly storage and the actual packing and shipping, sellers don’t have to maintain physical space for their own inventory, nor do they personally handle sending things out anymore. A seller can send one box of 50 books once to Amazon instead of waiting for all of them to sell and shipping out 50 individual orders.

According to Amazon itself, sellers who use FBA also get to take advantage of the trust in the Amazon brand, and Amazon itself also handles the customer service issues for those shipments and returns, further reducing the seller’s personal responsibility and workload. Sellers then get to focus more time on discovering new product or just enjoying life. FBA sellers also have their products eligible for Amazon Prime Free 2-Day Shipping and regular free shipping, saving their buyers money and increasing sales.

Spencer Haws, writing for NichePursuits.com, tried the service for himself, and he generated a test case where his product went from zero sales to over four grand a month in revenue. This demonstrates how FBA allows for business growth and scaling, as Haws accomplished this in just one month.

Third, there are three easy things sellers can do to make the most of using this service. Whenever possible, choose to sell items that are physically small, as this reduces the monthly charge for overall shelf and storage space from Amazon. Likewise, focus on products that are likely to turnover quickly, to also minimize the number of monthly charges paid for storage before they sell. Also, choose the slowest,cheapest shipping possible to Amazon, as this is another expense in the process.

While selling on Amazon FBA does involve fees for shipping to Amazon itself, storage fees, and costs for packing and shipping, Amazon does much of the work for sellers, freeing up their time and physical space, handling both inventory and customer service issues on top of all that. When sellers note that using the American FBA service is easily expanded into Canada and Mexico with Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.mx listings, the growth potential offered by Fulfillment by Amazon is obvious and enormous.

Originally posted 2016-02-27 20:35:55.