With more than 300 million active users, Amazon is the largest online marketplace in the world and one of the best places for you to launch your ecommerce business in 2023. Unsurprisingly, thousands of small business owners are leveraging the platform to sell their products and rake in huge profits. The good news is you can get started selling on Amazon quickly and easily with these tips and tricks.
Pick a category
If you are wondering, ‘what can I sell on Amazon as a new seller?’ the first thing to note is that the marketplace is divided into 33 different product categories. These categories include books, beauty, home & garden, cell phones and accessories, kindle, musical instruments, etc. Some categories like art, music, collectibles, and jewelry require approval before you can get started selling on Amazon. Still, 13 other categories do not require approval, so you can start selling today.
The 13 categories for new sellers are:
- Amazon Device Accessories
- Amazon Kindle
- Beauty
- Books
- Camera & Photo
- Cell Phones & Accessories
- Home & Garden
- Industrial & Scientific
- Kindle Accessories and Amazon Fire TV Accessories
- Major Appliances
- Musical Instruments
- Sports
- Tools & Home Improvement
Find top-selling products
The next step after selecting a category is to find hot, top-selling products. This process involves deep market and consumer research to gain insight and is a key to achieving success for your ecommerce business before you even get started selling on Amazon. You should look into product trends, metrics, consumer preferences and behavior, keywords, seller ranking, and even what the competition is up to.
Other factors to consider
Before deciding what to sell on Amazon, consider these three factors that can make or break your e-commerce business:
- Product condition: In terms of condition, products on Amazon are either new or used. Most people shopping on Amazon want to buy items not previously owned or used by another person. As such, new items enjoy high demand. On the other hand, used items are products that have once belonged to another person. They enjoy lower demand than new items but are much cheaper to source.
- Product size: The general rule of thumb regarding the physical size is to avoid large/heavy items and opt instead for small/light items. Small/light items are typically cheaper than large/heavy items. They are also cheaper to ship and ultimately attract lower fulfillment
- Product price: A good price point for your products is typically between $15-$100 in range. Prices within this range are high enough to help you make a good profit and low enough to generate consistent sales.
Optimize cash flow
Cash flow is especially critical to the survival of your ecommerce business because of Amazon’s protracted payout schedule. When you get started selling on Amazon, it’s important to proactively plan for healthy cash flow so that it doesn’t hurt your business in the long run.
Working with a partner like Viably is a great way to optimize your cash flow and guarantee that you always have access to the cash you need to push towards your business goals.
