Every month, more than 200 million people look for products on Amazon. This huge number shows that sellers have many opportunities to develop a lucrative source of passive income on the platform. If you decided to become an Amazon seller, then the main thing you must know is which merchant plan serves your needs. Do you understand what your needs are? This guide discusses all the advantages of Amazon seller plans. In turn, it helps you decide whether you to operate as an Amazon individual seller vs. a professional one.
Main Reasons to Pick an Individual Plan
An individual seller plan works best for smaller transactions with fewer sales volumes than the “bigger guys.” Startup businesses and mom-and-pop stores often choose this option for a number of reasons:
1. No monthly fee
You do not need to pay a basic monthly commission — only a small fee for each transaction (just $0.99 per unit).
2. Having essential analytics at a low cost
With an individual plan, you do not have the option to create Amazon-sponsored advertisements. However, if you only get a handful of sales per month and do not desire more complex reporting, stick with this selling solution. This is especially true if you sell more expensive and niche products to help cover your Amazon FBA fees and operating costs.
3. Selling products in ungated categories
You develop Amazon listings and sell goods in ungated categories. This refers to those niches that do not require a professional plan.
Main Reasons to Become a Professional Amazon FBA Seller
A professional plan is available to those sellers who need more information and tend to move many goods each month. Key pros of this solution include the following:
1. Winning the Buy Box
The Buy Box is just what it sounds like. It is a helpful box for the platform’s users to click to immediately buy a product. This is located right under the ‘Add to Cart’ button within a listing. It dramatically simplifies the buying process if a shopper has an active and valid credit card connected to their account. However, the Buy Box is only open to professional resellers and professional private label/brand sellers. This is an option that Amazon either gives or revokes, so merchants cannot simply “opt-in” to the feature.
2. Using sponsored ads
As noted previously, merchants with an individual selling plan cannot launch Amazon-sponsored ads. Therefore, they miss out on the huge profit-boosting and cost-saving perks of having well-optimized PPC campaigns. Estimating your profit margin and ACoS helps decrease your campaign costs. It also boosts ad engagement by targeting the proper audience. Besides, using a self-driving and automated PPC tool does much of the work in a single click. These actions made easier include automating data-driven bids, optimizing budgets, and generating keywords. It is key to further improve the potential of your advertised products. So, without a professional plan, you miss out on such opportunities.
3. Advanced reporting
Paying more for a professional seller plan means being able to do more. Merchants who select this option still develop new product pages like with the individual plan. Besides, they actively track and manage their FBA stock, consult order feeds and reports, utilize the Amazon Marketplace Web Service to carry out critical API functions, set their shipping rates for preferred goods, and create incentives and promotions (ex: coupons). In addition, professional merchants implement taxes with orders, create those abovementioned sponsored ads, grant access rights, and manage user permissions.
Conclusion
If you aim to sell less than 40 units per month, you should operate on the marketplace as an individual seller. Then, you pay only $0.99 per unit, and you are all set. However, if your monthly sales volume is higher than 40 units, you pay an extra $0.99 for every unit. Also, you restrict your business as you are bound to limited features.
Suppose your goal is to establish an Amazon brand, enhance your sales with Amazon advertising, work with automation, save time, and operate on multiple marketplaces. In this case, an Amazon professional seller account is your next move. Do not concentrate on the monthly subscription commission ─ focus on your result.
Finally, consider using helpful third-party apps to grow your business. Various complementary tools help sellers find the winning product, boost their visibility, increase traffic, improve conversions, and make the most of advertising.
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