Amazon, to FBA or not FBA, thats the question.
Discussion
Now I have time on my hands Im looking at more streams to peddle our goods.
Ebay I hear nothing but trouble, based on the fact all of the goods are £65 - £176 I want to avoid people on there coming back to complain about absolutely nothing as it can very very quickly work out that moving into this could cost me more money than its worth as eBay's reputation is plummeting. Most other companys do it as a necessary evil rather than want to.
Amazon looks better, but Im torn between the following:
Using FBA (we only have oversized parcels)
http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/fulfilment-b...
Or using my own warehouse people and using their Pro service:
http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/sell-online/...
Benefits are that the Pro service is free for the next 3 months, so would be ideal to try and I really dont mind taking a 15% hit overall.
The overall return on either is still higher than we using reseller/dropshippers so it seems worth it.
Can anyone give me any of their experiences? Did anyone move from Pro to FBA or the other way?
We are getting sales via our own website, but Im just thinking if I can exapnd more its worth the hit.
Ebay I hear nothing but trouble, based on the fact all of the goods are £65 - £176 I want to avoid people on there coming back to complain about absolutely nothing as it can very very quickly work out that moving into this could cost me more money than its worth as eBay's reputation is plummeting. Most other companys do it as a necessary evil rather than want to.
Amazon looks better, but Im torn between the following:
Using FBA (we only have oversized parcels)
http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/fulfilment-b...
Or using my own warehouse people and using their Pro service:
http://services.amazon.co.uk/services/sell-online/...
Benefits are that the Pro service is free for the next 3 months, so would be ideal to try and I really dont mind taking a 15% hit overall.
The overall return on either is still higher than we using reseller/dropshippers so it seems worth it.
Can anyone give me any of their experiences? Did anyone move from Pro to FBA or the other way?
We are getting sales via our own website, but Im just thinking if I can exapnd more its worth the hit.
Part of deciding may come down to what you are selling. If it is something only you are selling then there's no advantage, however I have noticed that on SKUs with a number of sellers, Amazon pretty much give the buy box to FBA sellers no matter how much non-FBA sellers are cheaper by.
Most of our lines are sub £10 and it would only take being the cheapest on shared SKUs by 25p to get the Buy box. For the last six months of so on some of these SKUs we undercut the FBA seller by over £2 and still don't see the Buy box, which kills 95% of sales. Amazon don't seem to give this favourable treatment to SKUs which they themselves offer, just the FBA sellers. It pretty much kills the sales on the shared SKU as soon as an FBA seller turns up. I don't know if Amazon plan to keep this policy or even if they advertise it as an advantage of FBA.
Most of our lines are sub £10 and it would only take being the cheapest on shared SKUs by 25p to get the Buy box. For the last six months of so on some of these SKUs we undercut the FBA seller by over £2 and still don't see the Buy box, which kills 95% of sales. Amazon don't seem to give this favourable treatment to SKUs which they themselves offer, just the FBA sellers. It pretty much kills the sales on the shared SKU as soon as an FBA seller turns up. I don't know if Amazon plan to keep this policy or even if they advertise it as an advantage of FBA.
fellatthefirst said:
Amazon FBA is very easy and works well but obviously will cost you more than just dispatching yourself.
What's the reason for not wanting to stock and dispatch yourself?
Sorry I missed this...What's the reason for not wanting to stock and dispatch yourself?
We use a relatively small managed warehouse and a few couriers (their accounts with DPD, etc.) but sometimes the couriers are just making up the prices...
£6 usually to ship 2 items together... 3 or 4 times the couriers have double it for no reason at all leaving us to pick up the shortfall... its not much but its bloody annoying.
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