Starting a private label business on Amazon can lead to amazing things — if you know the ins and outs of getting it off the ground. If you feel like you’re spinning your tyres and aren’t sure of how to take things to the next level, RepricerExpress has some solid strategies you can use.
Make Sure You’re Selling the Right Product
There are a few factors that determine if a product has a good shot of doing well.
- Cost: Find a product that sells between $10-50, as that’s the sweet spot for it generally doing well. Going under $10 opens it up to having a reputation for being cheap-quality, while going above $50 tells buyers it’s an investment and requires thinking about. The $10-50 range makes it much easier for customers to click ‘buy’ without over-analysing or having regrets.
- Size: Small and light are the magic adjectives here. The easier and less expensive it is to ship, the more enticing it is to buyers. Try to keep things in the 18 x 14 x 8 inches size.
- Competition: If you’re having to battle with many sellers, it’ll be harder to appeal to buyers. But if the proportions are reversed, you’ll have a much easier time moving your private label products. Check for things like low reviews, competitor best-seller rankings under 1,000, and low-quality competitor listings.
- Uniqueness: Set yourself and your products apart from the crowd to get noticed, especially when first starting out. Whatever it is that makes you different, highlight that in a positive sense. You can use logos, branding, and colour psychology to help set you apart, as well as product features or service extras.
Related: 6 Ways to Create a Logo for Your Ecommerce Store
Make Sure You Have a Solid Supplier Relationship
A supplier can make or break your private label success on Amazon, so finding a good one is crucial. Some of the qualities you’re looking for in a supplier include:
- A minimum order size that fits your scale (i.e. if you’re on the small side, look for suppliers with smaller minimum orders).
- A cost that won’t hurt your budget. There’s a bit of wiggle room on this, so don’t be afraid to negotiate a little.
- The diversity of products they offer. If you can get your hands on a number of different options and styles, you have a bit more uniqueness to offer your buyers.
- How long it’ll take to ship things to you. Making sure you have a tight inventory (so you don’t run out or regularly carry a surplus and have to pay long-term storage fees) can be dependent on order lead time, especially during big selling times.
Create an Easily-Identifiable Brand
This is something you should start thinking about as soon as you’ve nailed down your products, as it will shape the branding you take. And once you have your branding in place, start working on trademarking it. You won’t be able to sell in Brand Registry until the trademark process is complete, and it can take the better part of a year to finish.
Scale Up Steadily
Expanding at a quick rate can be a heady experience — but not always the wisest one. Sure, it looks great to wake up and see 5 times more orders placed than before, but thinking about the logistics of fulfilling all those orders with your current infrastructure. Will you be able to do it?
It’s better to scale up steadily so you’re not sideswiped by all the administrative work necessary to fulfill the orders. Going at a moderate pace allows you to stock your inventory accurately, package and ship orders, work up the capital necessary to order more items, set prices at a point that’ll allow you to maintain a healthy profit margin, and deal with the tax implications that come with spreading yourself out further.
Related: 4 Ways to Scale Your FBA Business
Avoid Getting Listings Stolen
You’ve just done a lot of work crafting your brand, finding a good supplier, stocking your inventory, and ensuring you’ll be able to fulfil orders in a timely and accurate way. One of the worst things that could happen is discovering some lazy seller has copypasted your listings to profit off your work.
To protect yourself from this, you can use a couple strategies:
- Put your brand name in the listing and in at least one photo. It’s not a 100% guarantee that rogue sellers won’t copy from you, but it’ll make it a lot harder.
- Include your logo on the packaging so buyers know they’re getting it from you.
- Trademark your brand and sell on Amazon and Registry.
Final Thoughts
By building a strong foundation, you’ll make it easier to growth hack your private label into the business you imagined when you first started out. Another way you can help things along is by using a tool like RepricerExpress to ensure your prices are as competitive as possible — a valuable way of setting yourself apart from the competition even more. But it only works if you use it, so sign up today and enjoy the first 15 days free.
Related: The Best Products to Private Label on Amazon
