One of my most popular questions relates to handling an Amazon product not selling, despite the sellers best intensions and ground work.
And yep, this is a risk. Every business has risks. Such risks are comparatively minimal on Amazon, but it isn’t merely a cotton-wool safe haven.
Now, there is a way out. In this post, I’ll be covering what to do when things aren’t moving in your Amazon business.
Most importantly: It’s not the end of the world. Many sellers do suffer from this at some point, but in the overall picture, the bulk of their product launches will do just fine, provided they did their research properly.
Sell at cost price
This is the most obvious answer and is what most people gravitate to when their Amazon product simply is not selling. Some even take a slight financial loss in order to get their money back, before moving on to the next product find.
You can sell at a price that at least covers your fees. That is: product cost from China + shipping fees from China to USA + inspection fees + Amazon fees.
There’s a lot of fees in this business, isn’t there? ???? Certainly ‘they’ have a great business model!
Through selling down at cost price, you’ll be out-doing your competitors on pricing. You might actually find that you get ranked almost instantly on page 1 and subsequently start making sales. Some sellers I know revert back to their normal price and retain a similar volume of sales.
High discount promotions
There are times that you’ll need to run a sales promotion in order to accelerate your way in Amazon’s SERPs. This is especially true for those who have been out of stock for a while.
Losing some money in order to find yourself back to page 1 isn’t a bad thing at all. Especially as you’ll save long term PPC expenses.
I like to use coupons. Amazon is coupon heaven. Commonly, Amazon sellers artificially inflate their prices slightly, then offer a coupon for the same discount. Let’s say 25%.
This may seem somewhat unethical, but every retailer has been doing this for years and years on Amazon. It’s how they’ve afforded to stay in business at times, as the customer thinks they’re somehow getting a better deal.
Harness the power of social media
I like to find influencers that have large followings. It will massively help to increase traffic to your listings. The larger ones always charge, the smaller ones typically don’t.
The best part is that their recommendation will stay online for years and years. It can create a solid traffic stream to your listing for the long term. Your listing may even go semi-viral. Neat!
If you’re suffering from an Amazon product not selling, then this may be the most affordable strategy. This is especially if you want to still make a profit on this order and get things moving organically.
Use liquidation sites
There’s a range of liquidation sites that you’ll easily find on Google. You can list your product on there for a huge discount to at least recover some of your investment back. This is totally a last resort.
Through Amazon seller Facebook groups I have found that there’s also other sellers that are happy to purchase inventory from struggling beginners. This creates a real safety net and why I’m an advocate of taking an Amazon course, as the community spirit alone is worth it.
Start today
Many people don’t ever start their Amazon business because they fear they won’t be able to sell their product online. It’s a real fear, but through these strategies, your risk can be minimized greatly.
We all have to start somewhere and we all make mistakes on this journey. You can start
The core of my message is: Just go for it!
