Amazon has made it especially difficult to do dropshipping there. This is because the bulk of their money is made through either selling the product themselves or through people using Amazon FBA. Of course, this doesn't mean that you can't be a dropshipper there, you just need to be smart about the way you approach things. On this page, you are going to learn a few handy tips and tricks on how to sell dropshipping items on Amazon to score you the greatest chance of making a bit of profit in this competitive marketplace.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Dropshipping on Amazon
We won't go into depth on all of the advantages and disadvantages of selling on Amazon here, but if you are learning how to make money dropshipping on Amazon, you are going to need to know some basic information to know whether this is the right method for you or, perhaps, whether you should be opting for Amazon FBA instead.
Advantages
- You will not need to keep the products in stock yourself. This means you will save both space and money.
- Amazon is a massive market for potential buyers. Millions of them.
- It is easier to get your products seen on Amazon than it is starting up your own website.
- It is easier to change up your niche on Amazon than if you ran your dropshipping operation through Shopify.
Disadvantages
- It can be tough to compete on price at times.
- If you do not take the time to constantly optimize your product listings, you will never be found on Amazon.
- There is a ton of competition in many of the main niches.
- Your success on Amazon will be dictated by your supplier. you need to ensure you work with a quality supplier.
- Dropshipping will be more 'hands-on' than if you have done it through your own website. This means more hours spent doing customer support.
- Profits can be minimal until you start to get the Amazon 'buy box'.
Can you dropship on Amazon?
Before we talk about some of the other tips on optimizing your products to ensure the greatest success on Amazon, we need to talk about 'can you dropship on Amazon' because, as many people have found out, Amazon does make it incredibly difficult to dropship on their platform.
So, can you dropship on Amazon? Absolutely! Although, you do need to ensure that you are working with an actual supplier. Amazon doesn't have any issues with you sending out products via a third-party. They only care that your company name is the one on the invoice. The package must be sent in your name.
So, if you are dropshipping on Amazon, you mustn't be using 'cheap' websites to send out products i.e. you are buying from a cheap site online and saying that it is your product. It isn't. You need to be working directly with an actual supplier (i.e. a warehouse), or your account is going to be closed rather sharpish.
Tips on how to do dropshipping on Amazon
The following sections will consist of several tips that should, hopefully, provide you with a bit more guidance on how to dropship on Amazon. Do bear in mind that Amazon has made it notoriously difficult for dropshippers to make any sort of headway on their platform. This means that you would likely earn a lot more money if you spent the time creating your own website and getting it established. However, you should still dive into Amazon a little. You can't turn your nose up at the millions of people visiting the site each day, right?
1. Take your time to produce a quality product listing
If you want to make money dropshipping on Amazon, then you are going to need to spend time ensuring that your product listings are absolutely sublime.
There are a lot of people who think about how to sell dropship items on Amazon, but when they list their products on the site, they do nothing more than just copy and paste the manufacturer's description. Don't do this.
Yes. Having basic information up there may convert some customers, but it isn't necessarily appealing. It is worth taking the time to create a decent chunk of text for your product. Make sure that you say what the product is really about. Give people the information they need to know. Information that is unique and can't be found anywhere else. You will get more sales, and you will rank better in the Amazon searches. It really is worth putting in that effort as a result.
Remember that you should try and add as many product photos for your page listings as you can. The more photos (and the higher their quality), the more chance you have to make money dropshipping on Amazon.
Don't forget to pay attention to the title of the products on your Amazon listings. It is the titles that will reel in the customers. It is the first thing that they are going to see in the Amazon searches, after all.
2. Do your keyword research
Yep. Just like other search engines, the Amazon search engine will be based heavily on keywords. It is not going to be the only factor that determines where you appear in the searches. The overall rating for your products and how often they sell will also be factored into the equation, but everything will start with keywords.
If you want to make money with dropshipping on Amazon, then you need to do your keyword research. Look at what your competitors are ranking for. Try to get in on their business. You may also want to look for 'untapped' keywords where your products can appear a bit higher in the listings.
This is going to be an ongoing process, and you will always want to analyze how your products are performing based on the selected keywords.
3. You want that Amazon Buy Box
If you want to make money dropshipping on Amazon, and we are talking 'serious cash', then you need to win that Amazon buy box. This is the 'buy button' that people click to add products to their basket. If your product is the one attached to that buy box, then you will be mopping up the vast majority of sales.
The problem is that winning that buy box can be a little bit difficult if you aren't using Amazon FBA. If you are learning how to do dropshipping on Amazon, then you do need to be aware that winning the buy box is going to be an uphill battle for you. A lot of the success will be riding on the quality of the supplier that you are working with. If your supplier is sending out products slowly and of poor quality, then you stand no chance of getting the buy box. About the only thing that you can do is try to ensure good customer service on your end, and fantastic prices for your products. This is something that can be easier said than done.
That being said, as hard as it is, if you want to know how to dropship on Amazon properly, then you always need to be aiming to secure that buy box, no matter how difficult it is.
4. Price your products well
If you are learning how to sell dropship items on Amazon, you need to remember that Amazon will charge you fairly substantial fees when you are trying to sell products on their website. You will also need to pay fairly substantial fees to your supplier. You must also remember that people tend to head to Amazon to get decent prices.
One of the big problems with dropshipping on Amazon is trying to get the right balance between making a profit, and ensuring that the product is going to sell on the website. A lot of people have fallen into the trap of reducing their prices to try and get that buy box. Don't do this. You should know the minimum price that you can sell your product on Amazon. Never go below this. It doesn't matter how tempting it is. If you are selling below the cost price + fees, then you are going to be making a loss. Do you really want that?
Of course, always look at what your competitors on Amazon are doing but, sadly, if you are dropshipping, there are times where you simply will not be able to compete on pricing.
5. Find quality suppliers
When you are in the early stages of learning how to sell dropship items on Amazon, you will likely be looking at several different suppliers. We recommend that you start by working with just one or two quality suppliers.
A lot of your success on Amazon will be tied to the customer feedback system, as well as reviews on the products that you are selling. Since you are dropshipping, a lot of this is going to be out of your hands. This can cause a problem.
When you are starting to make money through dropshipping on Amazon, then you need to work with suppliers who have demonstrated that they are reputable. This means that they keep their products in stock, and they tend to ship fast. There will be problems on occasion but, for the most part, if you work with a reputable supplier, these issues will be kept to the absolute minimum. As long as you maintain at least 95% positive reviews on your profile, then your business won't be hampered too much.
6. Focus on Niche and Seasonal Products
One of the major issues with selling on Amazon is that if you are selling the most popular products, there will already be countless people doing the same. You are never going to be able to compete with Amazon or people selling through Amazon FBA when it comes to these products. We wouldn't even bother putting in the time and effort.
When you are running your own website, we would recommend that you stick to more evergreen products. You may also want to aim for things that are a bit more popular. However, the opposite is true on Amazon.
Since you are on Amazon, you don't really need to continually work on your product SEO or anything like that, which can make things difficult if you are selling seasonal products. All that work for a few sales each year. With Amazon, you need to do nothing more than a bit of keyword research and producing a quality product listing. A lot of people are making real bank on Amazon by selling seasonal products only. They just change them up throughout the year. You don't really have this luxury away from Amazon.
Focus on more niche products too. Don't sell what everybody else is selling. Go for the markets where there are still buyers, but less competition. Profits will end up being far higher as you have a bigger chance of being able to score sales.
7. Work on your customer service
Dropshipping on Amazon is going to be a lot more 'hands-on' in terms of customer service. This isn't something that you can set up and just let the sales roll in. A lot of success on Amazon will be based on your customer service skills. This means answering customer questions and responding to reviews. Make sure that you dedicate a bit of time each day doing this.
How Does SaleYee Help with Amazon Dropshipping?
Online sellers can easily find the top-selling products on Amazon by checking them out in "Platform Top Sellers." Amazon sellers can also take advantage of SaleYee’s big data-based product research, promotional events, and clearance to gain large profit margins while benefiting the free membership and huge discounts.
More importantly, instead of paying an excessive amount for Amazon FBA, working with saleyee.com is a much better choice because SaleYee has over 630,000 square meters of local US/UK/EU warehouses and offers fast and free delivery. Additionally, you don’t have to deal with multiple dropshipping suppliers and you can get help at any time with our 24/7 customer service.
All in all, with SaleYee, dropshipping made easy!
Conclusion
Dropshipping on Amazon is going to be a lot harder than having your own website. However, there is a massive market of millions of potential customers here, and they can't be ignored. While Amazon is unlikely to ever offer massive amounts of profit in comparison to running your website, it makes a great extension to your business and can generate at least a small amount of profit. You just need to make sure that you know what you are doing, and you put the effort into ensuring that your product listings are as great as they possibly can be.
