Selling out of stock on Amazon can be started with just a computer or smartphone, so even beginners can get started ,
it can be said to be an excellent side business
However, when you actually try exporting to Amazon for the first time, you will run into various problems .
This time, we will introduce
common failures when
along with specific examples
let's think about how to deal with them so you don't end up in the same situation yourself
1. Listing and shipping of counterfeit products
The first thing to watch out for is
the sale of counterfeit products .
As the name suggests,
it involves falsely listing branded products
Many people would think
that they wouldn't make such a basic mistake
end up dealing with counterfeit products and making mistakes
Those who handle
figurines etc. need to be especially careful.
these products
look real at first glance
In fact, one of the items
was sold as a fake made in China .
If you look closely, you can see that
the product on the left simply has the background of the image on the right cropped out.
very difficult to judge the product photos
based on appearance, as they are often made from the same products as the real thing .
the country of manufacture in the product description
is
"china"
it says
"chinese edition" you can assume that it is a fake.
Products that clearly state that they are Chinese versions
in the product description are still considered to be of good quality, and some vendors
do not have anything written on them.
How should I judge?
1-1.Judging by price
In that case, decide
on the price of fake Chinese products extremely low .
It sells for
about 1/4 of the original made in Japan There's always a reason why things are cheap .
When you look at the price alone, you might be tempted to reach out, but
a crime to handle counterfeit products .
Please don't do this.
1-2. Contact the vendor
, there are
when nothing is written in the description column, or
you can't shake your concerns carry such items , but
if you really want to carry such items,
please contact the seller You can also easily contact sellers on eBay.
Don't hesitate to contact us even if you are not good at English.
1-3.What happens if you handle fake products?
Young sellers with low ratings
are more
their Amazon accounts not only suspended, but
permanently banned There may not be many people selling items without stock, but
be careful when importing items from overseas such as eBay and selling them
``
Don't jump at the immediate low price You will be caught off guard.
2. Infringement of intellectual property rights, copyrights, etc.
On Amazon,
there are products that can be sold and products that are prohibited
Its products
range from products made with wild animals and plants to medicines and firearms
Above all,
what I would like to pay attention to this time
products that have intellectual property rights .
Listing of applicable products is mainly regulated by manufacturers and distributors
There is a wide range of products that are restricted from being listed from
famous brands such as Apple and Disney to minor brands that you have never heard of
The current situation is very confusing , as some manufacturers only allow used items to be listed .
Intellectual property rights are a mistake that
almost all beginners
make at least once.
It's really common for items to be sold without you even realizing it.
2-1. What happens if intellectual property rights are infringed?
Of course, if you violate intellectual property rights, you
will receive
a warning from Amazon your account will be suspended,
or if it is malicious, you will be immediately suspended.
Please refer to
this article for detailed information on intellectual property rights, warnings from Amazon ,
3. Miscalculation of profit
It's better not to do any of these, but
mistakes in calculating profits are also among the mistakes you shouldn't make.
3-1. Is there a deficit even if the price difference is double?
Before listing a product,
you should first calculate the profit
・Sales price
・Purchase
price・Sales fee
・Foreign exchange fee
・Shipping fee
・+α (outsourcing and tool costs)
What would you think if you heard that
can be purchased for 1,000 yen on Amazon overseas
The price difference is more than double,
so don't you think it's not a bad product?
However, this product
is not necessarily profitable .
It's a little more detailed, but let's actually calculate it.
3-2.Actually calculate and explain profit
For the sake of convenience,
let's assume that you are selling 800g of office supplies
Product "Office Supplies"
- Sales price: 2,500 yen
- Purchase price: 1,000 yen
- Sales fee (15%): 375 yen
- Shipping fee (e-packet light 800g): 1,140 yen
Sales price − (Purchase price + Sales fee + Shipping fee) = Profit
2500-(1000+375+1140)=-15
a deficit of 15 yen .
In the case of small-lot listings,
there is an additional closing fee, and
although it is not necessary for those without inventory,
there is also a separate fee in the case of FBA listings.
What if this a PC peripheral
The sales fee
for PC peripherals the price will be 200 yen.
2500-(1000+200+1140)=160
We made a profit of 160 yen
However, it is easy to forget that
there is
additional exchange fee I don't think you will withdraw money every time an item is sold, so
let's say that 100 units of this item are sold.
Foreign exchange fee = Gross profit (Sales price - Purchase price) × Quantity × 2% (Payoneer foreign exchange fee
)
(2500-1000) × 100 × 0.02 = 300
The exchange fee is 300 yen .
For PC peripherals, if
you handle 100 products with a surplus of 160 yen, the exchange fee will be 300 yen,
160×100-300=15700
This will result in a surplus of 15,700 yen
For office supplies, if
you handle 100 items with a deficit of 15 yen, the exchange fee will be 300 yen,
-15×100-300= -15300
This will result in a deficit of 15,300 yen
It was a little confusing.
The purchasing price is 1,000 yen
2,500 yen
, which is more than double the difference, so it seems like a good product, but
there is a huge difference in the weight of the product and the sales category.
This time I made a very convenient calculation, but
as you can see, there is a fine line between a deficit .
Detailed calculations are very important when running a business .
The more rough you are, the more you lose.
Will the product you are selling now really make a profit
Let's look at it again.
If you do not use tools,
you can use an official price simulator, but
if you are dealing with multiple products, you
use a spreadsheet software such as Excel
that calculates profit by entering the purchase price and sales amount Creating a formula because
it saves you the trouble of having to calculate it every time.
Even those who use tools can't feel safe.
Please review the profit calculation formula and settings.
4. Wrong ASIN code
This use tools to conduct product research.
Most of the product research tools out there
obtain
product information from ASIN codes it often happens that on Amazon overseas and Amazon in Japan,
the products are different
When you use a tool to identify products with good profit margins, you
may find that they are completely different products in Japan and overseas
If you list and ship the wrong product,
not only will you receive a complaint, but it
will also affect your account evaluation , so
we recommend that you check it with someone else's eyes at least once
5. Selling out-of-stock items
This is also a common mistake,
so be aware of it.
You might be happy that the product has sold as usual, but
then Amazon in Japan
suddenly finds that the item is out of stock.
5-1.What should I do if I run out of stock?
other shopping sites such as Rakuten and Yahoo to see if they have it in stock.
In addition to the famous Rakuten and Yahoo,
there are many other shopping sites in Japan
New products are listed not only on Seven Net and Yodobashi, but
also on flea market sites such as Mercari and Rakuma
・If the product is found
If you can find it in stock, purchase it as soon as possible to secure it.
please do not hesitate to purchase even if the than the price you originally planned to purchase from Amazon Japan
Even if you end up in the red,
secure the product and ship it.
Amazon tends to be strict about selling out-of-stock items .
It can be said that being out of stock has a significant impact on your account rating
If your account is suspended, there is nothing left to do.
・If you can't find it
If you cannot find it,
your only option is to contact
the buyer ``When we inspected the item before packaging, it was found to be broken and cannot be shipped. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we
would like to cancel the order.'' Just make sure you have the item in stock.
In any case, the response is prompt and courteous.
5-2. How to avoid stockouts?
How to deal with out-of-stock situations is also very important, but
the best thing to do is to prevent out-of-stocks from occurring in the first place .
What can I do to avoid listing out-of-stock items?
・Review of products handled
Are you listing only popular and best-selling products
It's true that sales are good, but
since everyone is putting their items up for sale, the cycle is intense and
we run out of stock on a regular basis
The strength of no-stock sales
that you can list a large number of high-profit products .
Of course, the number of high-profit products does not appear.
However, if you have no inventory, there is no risk of having unsold inventory , so
you can list many types of high-profit products
When researching, try to handle
high-profit products from multiple genres , rather than selling the same best-selling product at a low profit
・Regular confirmation
Do you have
any products that you put up for sale once and then leave it alone Don't just leave it as it is just because it won't sell.
It goes without saying, but
you need to review your products regularly
In the case of Amazon, unlike eBay etc.,
there is no specific listing period.
It's easy to forget, so get into the habit of checking it regularly.
・Use of tools
If you are dealing with a large number of out-of-stock products,
there are limits to manually checking the products.
Some product management tools
have a convenient feature that allows you
to cancel listings if you are out of stock or if the supplier's price fluctuates and you are not making a profit Managing products manually without making mistakes is time-consuming.
You may want to consider using a tool.
6. Misunderstanding sales volume
This is a completely careless mistake, but
I have experienced it several times.
Sometimes I intended to send only one item but ended
up sending two,
or vice versa,
when I sold two items but only shipped one...
If this happens, you will be completely in the red regarding this transaction.
It would be fine if I were to make a small deficit, but
I don't want my account evaluation to drop due to complaints from buyers.
Please respond as quickly as possible.
7.Shipping cost was higher than expected
This is a common mistake that beginners make, but
they calculate
profits based only on the weight of the product but when they package the product, it turns out to be heavier than expected, and
the shipping costs increase, resulting in almost no profit.
I often hear cases like this.
Be sure to take into account the weight of the package and
allow some leeway in your shipping calculations
High-priced items probably won't have that much of an impact, but
can easily end up in the red just by messing up shipping calculations
especially careful when the item is out of stock,
it is difficult to estimate shipping costs since the item is not on hand .
A business model of low profit and high sales
is not suitable for selling without inventory.
Be sure to research products that are appropriate for your
Summary of Amazon export failure cases and how to deal with them
we focused on out-of-stock sales in Amazon's resale business, explained examples of failures and ways to deal with them
The failure cases introduced are just a few examples.
Failure is inevitable when running a business
All humans make mistakes.
The important thing is to think about what to do next.
What caused the problem?
, How to deal with it? What should I do to avoid making the same mistake?
You can stop and think about it each time.
