5 Common Amazon Listing Mistakes By Sellers

Today’s business owners have more options than ever for getting their products in front of their desired audience. Amazon is one of those incredible options that makes it easy to sell anything and everything. What’s more, you only need a little investment in shipping and production methods.

But Amazon has strict policies to keep retailers in line. There are many ways to improve your product listing, and newbies may easily make mistakes that could cost them in the long run.

Though it may seem like a tough learning curve, adhering to these policies ensures you’ll get your products seen by an audience. More importantly, it improves the odds that the products will eventually land into the hands of more customers. Here are 5 Amazon listing mistakes which you should not make.

1. Setting up an Amazon account incorrectly.

If you want to set off on the right foot with your Amazon selling, setting up your profile correctly is key. Take the process slowly and be sure to double check all the boxes as you fill out your profile. This will be the place you’re able to view orders, see order histories, manage inventory, selling statistics, and so much more. Make sure you have a solid basis before launching by avoiding these Amazon listing mistakes:

• Creating more than one account. This is illegal by Amazon’s own policy, and will surely get you booted from the website in time.
• Promoting your own website. Not surprisingly, Amazon prohibits brands from pushing people to their own website, whether for purchasing or any other reason. Though this can be a downside, you’ll need to follow the rules if you want to keep your products on it.
• Not optimizing your account. Ensure you get as many customers as possible by adding keywords, checking out what’s trending on Amazon, and seeking out customer reviews.

2. Making errors when listing a product.

There’s nothing worse than ordering something on Amazon and finding that the item does not match the description. In fact, Amazon has filters that track sellers who have too many inaccurate product descriptions and penalize those sellers. Make sure your product has an accurate listing by following these Amazon listing tips:

• List correct prices and quantities
• Accurately describe sizes, colours, etc.
• Make sure UPC numbers or parts match up
• Provide bright, professional photos from a legal source (don’t steal from another business)
• List accurate shipping timeframes

3. Delivering poor customer service.

Amazon is known for offering customers excellent perks like free 2-day shipping, free returns, quick email responses, and friendly customer service team members. Uphold this same reputation by offering quality customer service yourself, or you could be penalized by Amazon. Here are a handful of important Amazon listing tips to ensure you offer great customer service:

• Quickly respond to questions, emails, and any other inquiries
• Thank customers for reviews, whether good or not so good
• Address any poor reviews by correcting the issue or offering a refund
• Check your seller platform regularly for notifications
• Don’t pay people to write positive reviews
• Practice patience when customers don’t read descriptions fully

4. Not thinking through fulfilment.

Thinking through all the details of your fulfilment process is crucial to success on Amazon. Whether your orders trickle in slowly or start off with a bang, you need to be prepared. Make sure your fulfilment process can run smoothly no matter how busy your business gets. If you’re offering 2-day shipping on your product, you’ll need to have a tight turnaround and a seamless process to make it happen. Consider these elements when planning your fulfilment:

• Make shipping costs affordable
• Be sure your shipment team is reliable
• Make sure inventory quantities are accurate
• Offer free returns if you can afford the cost

5. Competing with Amazon.

There are many fish in the sea when shopping on Amazon. Sellers like yourself will have many competitors, and Amazon itself may be one of them. It’s best to avoid selling something Amazon already sells since the company will always come out ahead in aspects like margins and inventory. Before you start selling something, do your homework. Don’t offer a product that already is offered by dozens of sellers or sold by Amazon itself.

Success on Amazon.

Amazon rewards those who play by the rules. Though there may be many policies and best practices to learn, you’ll benefit from knowing them in the long run. Be sure not to make any of the above Amazon listing mistakes and you’re sure to increase your chances of success as a seller.