I had a conversation yesterday with my husband that made me realize how important it is to make sure you have the correct app on your phone when sourcing. My husband pulled out his phone yesterday to scan the organic coffee he just bought to see what he could purchase it for on Amazon. Then he showed me the phone and said, “Look what you can sell this for on Amazon!” Using the Amazon App (see icon on the right), my husband found that the coffee he had just purchased for $5.99 was LISTED for $24. I said, “Interesting but does it actually SELL for that price?” If you've sold on eBay or any other marketplace you know that just because someone's asking a high price doesn't mean they are actually selling it for that.
I pulled out my phone with the Amazon Seller App and to do a little research. I scanned the barcode and found that the item has a 0 Best Seller Rank (BSR), which means in hasn't sold at all in recent history. It also has no FBA sellers. This made me look closely at the expiration date which is December 2015 so it isn't eligible to sell via FBA. Both of these pieces of information are not available on the consumer facing Amazon apps.
If you are getting started on Amazon, it is important to have the right tools. The Amazon Seller App is a great FREE tool that will provide you with data (BSR, Amazon fees, size, category, etc) that will help you make smart buying decisions based on facts not just potential earnings. There are a number of different Amazon apps out there for both iOS and Android phones. It's important to make sure you've grabbed the right one!
This post is a lead-in to a series I'm putting together about the important factors to consider when determining what products to source and sell. Over the next several weeks, I'll be discussing Best Seller Rank (BSR), # of sellers, expiration dates, size, hazmat, prep requirements, and how each of them should be factored into your buying decisions.
If you would like to have this series sent directly to your inbox make sure you join my mailing list (see the box on the right) and you'll receive and email when each post goes live.
Oh and one last thing! Later today I'll be jumping on Periscope to talk about what do you do next once your Amazon Seller App is setup. If you haven't downloaded Periscope [ iOS | Android ] to your smartphone or other mobile device (iPad, tablet, etc), make sure you do it before 2:30pm EDT so you're ready to ask your questions. You can follow me @amy_feierman. See you there!
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