Is this how it's meant to be...
Hi all,
I am a new(ish) seller- been listing a month. I sell candles and melts (handmade)- my catalogue isn't vast but I have made a total of one sale! I haven't signed up to FBA because even after watching a video and contacting CS I still don't understand the process- do I attach a SKU to each item for example? And are sales likely to increase if I FBA?
In Amazon news section- they state they are reviewing their featured offer criteria in May- do you think as a result of this-more items will have the featured offer?
Thank you for any help/advice
Rebecca
17 replies
Seller_ZJhFeE3tNKzfh
To go into all of FBA would be far too detailed for here - you just need to read into seller university to understand it. However, to answer your queries - you do need to label all items you send it with an FNSKU (I would imagine this would be the case for you. You can use manufactuers barcodes, though if you are hand made I would assume you don;t have them). For items like candles, I would imagine you;d also need to provide melting temperatures if sending into FBA.
Sales generally are higher if you move to FBA.
With regards to featured offer buy box - this is a dictat from the EU and UK government. The only change is that FBA as a logistics method doesn't form part of the algorithm to decide who gets featured offer. Though only directly. As FBA will normally lead to more sales, and more sales are part of the algorithm, doing FBA will still make you more likely to get the featured offer.
NOTE - as a new seller, you don;t even get featured offer until a sales history is built up. What a sales history is, amazon don't advise. You can get the chance to get featured offer even as a new seller, by doing FBA
Seller_QuM1AZgzfU9x4
Each item would need either a barcode or one of Amazon's own labels (FNSKU) so that they can track them through their network and know they belong to you.
The upcoming changes to buybox eligibility would make no difference to you if you are selling your own creations. The changes are aimed at stopping Prime being a determining factor - so helping on listings with more than one seller.
That said, the wording they are using is suggestive that it will make little difference to those sellers either unless they can match the delivery speed of Prime.
Seller_B245x6YXlguH2
Sending a small shipment of one or two SKU's from your catalogue into Amazon for FBA might me worth a try. Next day delivery & the Prime badge will likely increase conversions.
As others have said the process is relatively simple. If your product or packaging doesn't have a manufacturers barcode Amazon will provide you with FNSKU labels you can print out on a thermal printer and attach to your products.
You can also opt to use the partnered carrier program which will provide you with a discounted UPS shipping label to get the shipment into the fulfilment centre.
To gain some momentum on new SKU's you should look to run PPC & discount the product. Unfortunately it's often necessary to loose money initially.
Good luck.
Seller_Fg2fqaWOnEtha
I sell similar products (candles, fragrances and incense) and I have tried FBA but to be honest I think that FBA is good when you have a very competitive listing but most sellers are FBM then you have an advantage. For new products or products that are not selling much on FBM, sending them to FBA is generally a waste of time and money. There might be exceptions, therefore you could try to send on or two items of all your range and see how it goes. Personally I wouldn't see it as a priority, the priority is to try to increase your sales on FBM first.
Seller_iZL0ysZFrLJmN
I am on handmade and as a handmade maker you get the buy box most of the time as your products don't have any competition on that particular SKU (you will obviously have competition from other makers of the same type of product).
My buy box varies between 95-100% most days. So, it is a case of either advertising to push your product upwards so that customers see it or just wait until it 'starts' for you. This can take quite a long time. I have one or two particular products that sell over and over, some every now and again - whereas others have never sold (I've about 180 products).
I tried FBA once before - then they changed it all and gave up as what I found, was that once the first increase in ranking from being FBA, some of my products just slipped down the list and never sold again. Then I had to pay monthly storage costs after a certain amount of time passed and finally paid to get them back to me to FBM them. Plus, you obviously pay more on commission for being FBA as they are paying the post and then there's extra FBA fees.
I have found that advertising worked better for me (financially) over and above FBA.
If I wasn't able to be around for a significant amount of time to send orders, then I think that's when I would go back and read through the tutorials for FBA.
I've been a featured offer on some of my products several times and personally, I haven't found it made a difference. If it's on page one of the search results for what the customers are searching for, then it is likely at some point it sells.
Hope this helps
Seller_FZJiyCoTnOJZs
I just searched for wax melts and over 400 products were shown to me - so it seems you are planning on competing in an already crowded market.
If you look at an individual listing (I randomly looked at a cheaper £4.95 example) you will see that in the technical details there is a bestsellers rank and also a link for feedback.
The rank on the product I looked at was over 300,000 in home and kitchen and over 500 in oil burners.
From this it appears this doesn't sell all that often. Although it does have some good reviews.
There is also a link to the top 100 sellers in both these categories so it would probably be helpful to you to look at what these products are and what they are doing to attract so many sales.
Hopefully you may then be able to improve your listing so people can find it and maybe buy it.
Seller_KZhPnqSRrvTv0
You'll find that sales are low when you start selling on Amazon, it's so they can monitor you. They usually pick up after several months.
All products should always have a SKU. It's best to give them your own, so you can have them the way you will understand them that best suits you.
FBA usually gives higher sale, because Amazon make more money from you that way. You'll need to price accordingly.
FBA is actually not that difficult once you get the hang of it. Just check the many videos that can be found on Amazon, or generally online - YouTube etc.
Seller_PqRORvCSLAuUn
With FBA it depends on how many items you are selling. FBA is good if you have multiple quantities of the same item or you sell a large range of products you don't have the warehouse space or manpower to process.
If you are selling things you made the best place to sell is a table sale or craft fair. Your customers can see and smell the candles and upsell easier. Online isn't the best place if you want to sell things that are hand made unless you are a company with a large following. With online market places like Amazon there are hundreds of people selling home made products and it's better to be a big fish in a small pool (a craft fair where you might be one of a few candle sellers) than a small fish in a big pool (an online market place where many people are selling from all over the country)
Seller_tRuvBEHDedp4q
Whether or not sales will increase doing FBA is like asking how long is a piece of string. It works for some people - not for others. There is no guarantee. There are just too many factors to consider:
Are they items people may want quickly?
Can you absorb the extra costs doing FBA into your current price or will you have to increase price and then not be so competitive?
How much room do your items take up? (ok I know you said you sell candles and wax melts so very little room, but its a concern for sellers of bulkier items)
If you are getting little traction and sales doing FBM I honestly do not see doing FBA will make a huge difference.
What I would do:
Add Premium delivery options to your current shipping template so customers can choose and pay for faster delivery.
Consider enrolling in Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP). You will get the Prime badge but not have to send items to Amazon or have to label/barcode your items.
If you do still want to try FBA (after all it works for some people) then only send in a small sample initially to test the waters. And do not forget you can have both a FBM and a FBA offer on the same item. So keep your FBM offer running even if doing FBA and compare the difference in sales.
Seller_AVteysPitiEJq
I've tried my hand at various crafts over the years and have listed candles and melts here. Whilst there was some interest and sales at the beginning (not FBA though), sales dropped off so I put my eggs in another basket, big one beginning with E that specialises in handmade.
Personally, I wouldn't send up to FBA as you may find one or more of your creations doesn't exactly come back to you in the same condition you shipped it (works the same way if a buyer receives something that has been thrown around). In my opinion, FBA works if you can afford to loose a few items to damage or missing units.
I would look into seller fulfilled Prime or setting your postage settings to offer quicker delivery such as next day. Look at your competitors and see what sort of postage they offer and better it.
As a last resort, you could try a few items up FBA, even for a short time to increase sales rankings.
Yes, there's a lots of competition but it's still a niche market so I do wish you the best of luck (ps....have you thought about personalisation...ie, add something to the product for mum or sister etc...that could put you one step ahead)
