If you’re thinking about selling in Toys & Games this holiday season, there are a few things you need to know. Amazon has a list of holiday restrictions it puts out for 17 November to 5 January — for Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN) sellers. For Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) sellers, you can sell without these restrictions as long as your account is in good health. But for everyone else, RepricerExpress has what you need to know.
Amazon’s Criteria for Selling in Toys & Games Over the Holidays
You need to meet all of the criteria below before you can sell Toy & Games on Amazon this holiday season.
1. Your first sale on Amazon must occur prior to September 15, 2017. The sale does not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store.
As long as you’ve had at least one sale by now (and it doesn’t have to be in Toys & Games, it can be in any category), you’ve ticked off the first box on the checklist. But wait, there’s more.
2. You must process and ship at least 25 orders from September 1 through October 31, 2017. The orders do not need to be specific to the Toys & Games store.
Now we see Amazon getting a little stickier. Although we’re past the mark now, if you’re looking ahead to next year, you’ve got tons of time to meet that goal. And if you’ve already topped 25 items, then keep going to the next must.
3. Your pre-fulfilment cancel rate for the period from October 1 through October 31, 2017, must not be greater than 1.75%.
This metric has likely been put in place to make sure MFN sellers are adhering to a high standard of selling. As we mentioned before, FBA sellers aren’t required to abide by these holiday restrictions and the main reason why is that Amazon takes care of things like pre-fulfilment cancel rates and keeps them low. Buyers don’t have the FBA guarantee if you’re an MFN seller, so you’ve got to prove to Amazon you’re an objectively good seller.
4. Your late shipment rate for the period from October 1 through October 31, 2017, must not be greater than 4%.
You should be keeping this number as low as possible all the time, but having it low because you want to sell in Toys & Games over the holidays can be extra incentive. Use this as a time to evaluate your shippers and shipping methods and check that you’re shipping as efficiently as possible.
5. Your order defect rate must not be greater than 1% short-term as of November 1, 2017.
The last metric Amazon weighs heavily in consideration is this one. It can be tough to make sure you have a fantastic order fulfillment rate so if you’re worried at all, switch over to FBA. But if you’re confident in your abilities and want to avoid paying FBA fees, then just make sure you’re always keeping a close eye on your ODR.
How to Maintain Eligibility in Toys & Games
This category is one of Amazon’s most vaunted categories and can present a potential windfall for sellers, especially during the holidays. So, the last thing you want to happen is to lose your eligibility to sell in this category. Here’s what you can do to make sure you’re still good to go.
1. Regularly survey your metrics and make sure they meet Amazon’s standards
Check in after every sale for the beginning, then set up watch for once a day to make sure the numbers are still up there. If you notice them slipping, this watch schedule affords you plenty of time to even the keel and keep on a steady path. You can check on your sales in the ‘Manage Orders’ part of your Seller Central account.2.
2. Keep your inventory in good shape
If you run out of stock on a particular item, temporarily stop showing it until you can get it back in and are able to ship it. This will reduce/prevent order cancellations, which can affect the three metrics we talked about.
3. Ship your orders on time
We already went into what you can do to keep making sure this happens. If you’re having a tough time meeting good shipping numbers, then review the policies you have in place and adjust them as you see fit so you can keep meeting every sale on time. And if you work with dropshippers, then this is also a good time to cement your policies with them to make sure you aren’t left in the lurch.
Final Thoughts
Once you get into Toys & Games, you’re going to be faced with a new fight to gain extra sales this holiday season: pricing competitively. And for that, RepricerExpress got just the thing to help you out. It’s straightforward to use and you can set it up in minutes, giving you more time to focus on other areas so you can keep pulling in sales. But for that to start happening, you’ve got to sign up right now — and enjoy the first 15 days absolutely free, too.
