For many Amazon sellers, Q4 is their most lucrative time of the year. But it also takes a lot of work, so we’ve put together seven Amazon selling tips you can use to make the most of that money-rich time.
1. Be Mindful of Storage Fees
Two dates to circle on your calendar are 15 February and 15 August, the dates when Amazon assesses for long-term storage fees. You’ll also want to keep in mind that storage fees during November and December are at their peak, but that can be offset by the higher volume of sales.
One strategy you can use is to send merchandise to fulfillment centres on 16 February or 16 August. You might also want to take a harder look at which items you send to the centres, as they’ll be crazy-busy during the holidays.
2. Balance Your Inventory
New sellers might not have enough funding to really bolster their inventories, so they’ll probably sell out of items — which can be good because then you’re not stuck with leftover stock. More veteran sellers can stock their inventories so they have a bit left over at the end.
The best way to forecast for the current year is to look at the last year and predict when you’ll sell out by, then order stock to meet your goals. If you end up over-stocking, remember that it’s usually better to sell at a discount or a loss than to pay long-term storage fees.
3. Use Extensions to Your Advantage
If you’re a new seller who doesn’t have last year’s data to work with, that’s okay. You’ve got tools like Keepa and camelcamelcamel to help you out with historical data. Hint: toys sell really, really well during Q4. Look for deals on toys from places like Walmart, Target, Aldi, Ollies and Alibaba.
Related: Best Amazon Seller Chrome Extensions
4. Make a Plan and Stick to It
There will be peaks and valleys during Q4, and it’ll be oh-so-easy to get over-excited during the peaks and overly despondent during the valleys. But make a solid plan relatively devoid of emotion, and stick to it. Trust the process. And don’t get caught up in the whirlwind and mania of Q4. Set a schedule for when things will happen and prepare for the highs and lows of the season.
For example, use FBA or SFP up until Christmas Eve, instead of FBM which could result in lower sales. If you haven’t won a Buy Box before the holiday season starts, that’s usually because the low-cost sellers have gotten it. That’s fine, wait for them to sell out and move on in around mid-October.
5. Subcontract and Outsource
Don’t look at sales in strictly dollars-and-cents terms, but how wisely-spent money can bring the biggest returns. If paying local teens to package things for you frees up time for you to fulfill more orders, that can be worth it. Same if you’re driving packages out to a shipping centre instead of paying someone to pick them up for you. Figure out how much your time is worth and spend accordingly.
6. Use Inventory Management Software
There are very few situations in which not using inventory software would be the better option. But for about 99.9% of sellers, it’s the smart thing to do. It helps keep everything in one location, can manage feedback reviews easily and efficiently, and reprice individual items at a rate far faster than you could.
7. Promote Products and Optimise Ads
Q4 is when you’re going to likely get the most visibility all year, so it’s doubly important to make the best possible use of that. Create ad campaigns so ads get to the most people as possible, but be careful not to overspend.
Same with promoting products. Start early to increase product sales ranks and be competitive right out of the gate so you can enjoy raising your prices when demand outstrips supply.
Final Thoughts
Whatever strategy you employ, it’s crucial to have Amazon repricing software in your corner to minimise errors and labour hours. Because things can happen so fast during Q4, using a repricer helps ensure you’re there to meet every change head-on instead of reacting to it after the fact.
And there’s no better option than Repricer. Short of bringing you coffee in bed in the morning, we’ll do just about everything else. Find out now by signing up and starting with a 14-day free trial.
