Are you thinking of selling something online but don’t know where to start?

Answer this first: if you go online shopping, what is the first site you type into the address bar?

If not the first, Amazon is probably one of the top ten sites you go into.

In fact, according to a survey conducted by PowerReviews, Amazon surpasses Google as the beginning of their shopping journey.

Amazon is now the biggest online retailer and has become one of the largest search engines as well. And if someone does search a product using Google, it’s likely that Amazon is still the number one result.

Now, if you’re looking to do some side hustle online selling could be perfect for you. One of your options is to create your e-commerce site. However, this could take you a few weeks to months to finally launch. Not to mention the amount of money you will have to shell out for the domain, hosting, themes, and other expenses regarding having a new website up.

While it’s impressive that you can have a website you can call your own, there are better ways to do this that’s not costly and easy to set up.

And that’s through selling on Amazon.

Still interested in pursuing this new path? If yes, here are the things you’ll need to kickstart your Amazon business.

Choose a selling plan

Amazon offers two plans: Individual and professional. The individual plan allows you to sell 40 items or less and charges only $0.99 per sale while the professional one will enable you to sell more than 40 items but costs $39.99 per month. Both can incur other selling fees as well.

If you’re new to this, it’s probably best to pick the individual plan at first and decide whether you’re ready to the next level.

Pick your product well

The type of product you’ll choose will determine if you will be successful in this venture.

First, search for a product you’re looking to sell.

Is someone already selling it?

If no one is selling it yet, do you think people will buy it?

There’s a ton of things you’ll have to think long and hard to come to a final decision.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to choosing the perfect items for your store.

Price it competitively

When pricing your items, you need to search for competitors who currently have your products on sale. Pricing is really up to you. However, there are risks involved.

If you want to price it higher than others, make sure you have an edge against them. But if you don’t have anything up your sleeves, try to price it slightly lower than your competitors.

Handle inventory and shipping

Since you are reselling items, you’ll need to have an inventory. It could be your room or an empty basement.

Fret not. If you don’t have space at home and wants to be in this business, make sure to check out Fulfillment by Amazon.

Final thoughts

Selling your very first item could be a truly memorable experience. This could get you going and inspire you to continue and finally expand. If you need more information on starting your Amazon journey, check out this guide from Shopify.

Scaling your brand could be a matter of finding the right niche and knowing how to market correctly. It will take time, but as long as you stick with it, you’ll soon achieve significant growth. Good luck on your new journey!

Originally posted on November 15, 2017 @ 10:06 pm