You’ve created a private label on Amazon because you believe your own original idea is better than anything else you could copy. But making one of these eight mistakes can spell trouble for you. Whether you’re just starting out or have hit a roadblock, FeedbackExpress is here to help.
1. Turns Out There’s Not Much of a Need for Your Product
Research is the key word here. You’ll want to investigate whether your private label has a viable audience and how much success you can realistically project for yourself. Setting out to compete with Walmart isn’t such a smart idea, as is:
- Turning off potential buyers with the complexity of your product
- Selling items that are too big or heavy, too fragile, too cheap, or too extreme a profit margin (either too much or too little)
- Stocking products that have to comply with different safety standards in different countries
- Not clearly showing buyers why and how you’re different
2. Buyers Don’t Have Favourable Reviews to Look At
Whether you’re suffering from a dearth of reviews in general or lacking in good reviews, buyers will be hesitant to shop for your private label if they feel they can’t make an informed, trusted opinion. Starting is the toughest thing, but momentum is simpler to keep once you get going. Along with using us, we recommend coming up with a solid review strategy that fits your needs specifically.
3. Buyers Have a Hard Time Finding Their Way to You
Without solid SEO, you’re going to have a really hard time showing buyers the way to your private label. Always be thinking of the best keywords when it comes to:
- Title
- Product features
- Product description
- Search terms
Related: How to Write Winning Product Titles for Amazon
4. The Price Isn’t Competitive Enough
If you’re selling pillows for $10 a pop and Joe Nobody is selling the same ones for $8, who do you think the buyer will shop from? That’s right — not you. You might be saying, ‘Yeah, but Joe Nobody is selling Sweet Dreams pillows and mine are under my own private label!’. Not only do yabbits live in the woods, but not pricing your products on par with industry standards will set you back.
5. There Are Copycats Out There Stealing Your Thunder
Kind of related to the previous point, one private label mistake on Amazon is copycats are riding your coattails to a hefty payday. If this happens, notify Amazon of the infringement right away. And hammer out a deal with your supplier that they don’t use your idea or design with another merchant or company.
6. It’s, Like, Super Hard to Make Out the Details in the Pictures
You know the saying, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’? Make sure your images are saying enough words and the right ones. Practice shooting until your images are clear, hi-res and show the item in various ‘poses’ or uses. Some tips:
- Use the sunlight to shoot with because natural light is the best kind of light
- Shoot your item against a neutral backdrop so the background doesn’t compete with the item
- Photograph the product from various angles to show all aspects of it
- Use RAW mode so buyers can view details easily when they zoom in
7. Fulfilling Orders Eats into Precious Time That Could be Spent Elsewhere
If you’re not using FBA, sign up as soon as you finish reading this post. For the vast majority of merchants, it makes perfect sense to implement it. After all, everything rests on Amazon’s shoulders: picking the product, sending it on its way, offering customer support, and taking the brunt of things if they go wrong.
8. Giving Up at the First Sign of Defeat
Babies learn to walk because they don’t stay seated on the ground when they fall. Instead, they heft themselves back up and try again. And again. And again until they’ve got it. If you’re not taking this baby approach when there’s still room for improvement, it’ll be almost impossible to make your private label work. The sellers who are successful are that way because they don’t buy into the myth of equating easy money with selling on Amazon. They spend hours and weeks and months perfecting their business model — and then keep up the effort relentlessly.
Final Thoughts
We’re not guaranteeing results if you follow these tips and work your ass off, but we can say they’ll greatly improving the odds of your private business succeeding. And if/when that influx of sales come in, you’ll need FeedbackExpress (that’s us!) to help you sort out all the reviews. But don’t just say you’ll give it your best effort, actually give it your best effort. And in return, we’ll start you off with a free 14 day trial when you sign up now.
