Context: Small business that has been around for 40 years selling parts out of a brick and mortar location, and 4 years ago started an online store with great success. Leaving type of parts ambiguous, but think RV/ATV/Marine type stuff.

We’ve noticed costs from domestic suppliers for basic products go up substantially in the past 4 years, so for this coming season we’ve secured a line of lower cost/better value parts from overseas. We plan to re-brand to our own brand name and offer support/parts, and we can charge 80-100% markup on these and still be incredibly competitive with existing name brands.

When comparing our planned pricing to Amazon listings for comparable products, we are set up to be very competitive. We also have the advantage of warehousing in Canada alongside Amazon so we can offer quick shipping, and play into the Canada-ism in our branding.

The internal battle in my head is that we are trying to push our brand and online store, where we keep 100% of the revenue from. But it’s undeniable the impact Amazon has on the market.

We are wondering if it would be worth it to order additional stock to list on Amazon and compete against the other sellers with our value products. I have no experience selling online, and while it must be worth it with all the people doing it, it also wouldn’t be worth it for Amazon if there weren’t some gotchas. So I guess I am wondering

  • What are the average fees that it costs to list product on Amazon?

  • Does anyone else in a similar position have any experience with this?

  • And much broader, would it be worth it for us to list these products on Amazon?

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

  • MarcatBeach@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I was a top level vendor on Amazon a long time ago, before they turned into what they are now. Amazon back then did deals with major retailers to provide depth of product in specific categories. I carried toys. they actually contacted me.

    Being a top level meant no matter what I was the top of the search and nobody could compete with me on my products. was great. massive sales

    Now it has become the wild west.

    the main goal for you should be to drive business to your own website. think of it as a marketing expense at first, where the expense is really just lower margin sales. then do as other said, go have product made in China under your own brand.

    Also give them an incentive to buy from your website and not Amazon.

    The problem with Amazon is: the customer always wins. so you are taking returns. doing refunds you would not normally do. no point in debating with customers because it is not worth the negative feedback, or even worse Amazon’s dispute process. becomes a waste of your time ( if get enough complaints they take action on you the seller ).

    As long as the products you sell are going to be found doing a basic search, and not end up on page 10,000 then it is worth it.