Amazon can be a really aggressive place to try and sell merchandise. Prices are constantly changing, and in order to stay competitive, you have to change your prices, as well. Besides that, you have to keep in mind things like supply and demand, various trends and sales, and so on. To try and make it a little easier for you, here are eight tips that can help you earn a profit.
- Don’t Charge Too Much or Too Little
Asking too much for your products will drive buyers away. There is so much competition on Amazon that a buyer will simply move on to a cheaper seller, leaving you with a ton of inventory collecting dust.
If you charge too little, more than likely your sales will increase. However, you will barely make any profit. The goal is to find that perfect price point where you can attract buyers and still make a decent profit.
- Don’t Be the Lowest Price
If you price your items lower than any other sellers, you will attract more attention. If buyers notice that all your products are priced lower than anybody else, they might jump to the conclusion that your merchandise is of poor quality and that is why you can afford to sell it so cheap.
Should this happen, you might find yourself on a slippery slope. If you try to lower your prices to get customers back, you will make even less profit, competing with people in the exact same position as you are in. If they lower their prices to try and stay competitive, you might do the same thing back. Before you know it, nobody is making any money.
It is recommended to try and price your merchandise 1.5 percent higher than the lowest seller. This allows you to stay competitive, but not at the bottom where things can go badly.
- Adjust for Supply and Demand
Supply and demand is a fairly simple concept. If there is more merchandise available than buyers, the consumer can wait for prices to drop. If there is less merchandise available than buyers, the seller can charge a little more. This is because if the buyer wants that item, they have to buy it before it sells out everywhere.
To adjust for this, Amazon sellers are constantly changing their prices to stay competitive and earn more profit. You know what that means – now you have to adjust your prices to stay competitive with that seller. You may wonder how people have the time to constantly be doing this.
A good majority of the sellers on Amazon use software, such as PriceFuel, that automatically checks their competitors’ prices and adjusts their own prices accordingly. These programs allow you to set limits so it doesn’t price your merchandise too low or too high.
- Match the FBA
Another pricing strategy you might want to try is pricing your products the same as the lowest FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) option. Usually this will increase sales, but of course, it will decrease profits at the same time
This is a good option for people who just want to get rid of merchandise that has been sitting around. If you are someone who stores merchandise in Amazon’s warehouses, be aware that you might incur long-term storage fees at some point. If you will soon be charged that fee, you might want to sell those products as fast as possible.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Charge More
You might think that raising your price will cause you to lose sales. However, that is not always the case. If you successfully promote an item resulting in higher demand, you can raise your price to reflect the supply. After all, you earned it.
- Examine Sales Trends
This might be a good time to get someone who can understand analytics very well. By examining past sales data, it can help you predict how future sales will perform. Depending on how thorough and detailed the records you have are, it can assist you in creating a thorough plan on how to execute future sales events.
The data can possibly give you various incites about the different areas that you can improve upon. With the correct information, you might be able to calculate what price points will be most profitable to you.
Besides relying only on data, use common sense and your experience from selling on Amazon to help point you in the right direction. If you observe your competition enough, you might be able to predict their upcoming moves, allowing you to stay one step ahead of them.
- Know What to Do with Excess Stock
There are times where you find yourself with a lot of one item in your storage area. You will need to make the call of whether to price it to sell quickly or hold onto it and see if you can manage to boost sales.
Merchandise that can depreciate in value should probably be sold within a reasonable amount of time, otherwise, you will never be able to make back the money you spent to purchase it. If the product you own has the potential to once again be desirable, it might be worth keeping it for a little while longer. Don’t forget to factor in any storage costs when making your decision.
- Keep the Seasons in Mind
It seems like an obvious thing to point out, but for people who may have thousands of products in their inventory, it can’t hurt to remind people: Adjust your prices to reflect the current season, if need be.
Prices on certain items can fluctuate dramatically over the year, so it is important to stay on top of this. For example, if you sell shorts, people are not going to pay as much for them in winter as they would when the weather is warming up. This is where supply and demand come into play again.
Conclusion
Now that you have learned some of the basics on how to yield a profit through Amazon, it is time to incorporate them into how you determine prices. Keep in mind, you might not notice results immediately. Be patient and try some of the different pricing techniques until you discover which ones work best for you.
