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Yes, but the problem is they are still actively encouraging so-called "private label" items. I became a seller on Amazon two months ago, because I'm developing
by bambax 10y ago
Yes, but the problem is they are still actively encouraging so-called "private label" items.
I became a seller on Amazon two months ago, because I'm developing new (unique) products and I thought it would be simpler to have them distributed by Amazon.
But making said products is taking much longer than anticipated, so in the meantime, and as a learning process, I started selling one product in "private label" mode (ie, a product that I buy "as is" from a Chinese factory, with my brand printed on it). It's kind of selling, although the competition makes it hard/impossible to turn any profit (since all products are virtually identical, competition is on price and maybe listing quality/exhaustivity).
But what is amazing to me is that a service called "Amazon coach" regularly sends emails to encourage me to sell more PL products. Today, Amazon coach recommends selling a meat tenderizer on amazon.de: there are already over 350 different listings for meat tenderizers on amazon.de, how many more do they need???
Some time ago I used to regard the "ships from Amazon" or "Prime" logo as markers for quality, because I figured, somehow, that Amazon did some kind of vetting before accepting a product for shipping. That's completely wrong. The sign only means that the product is stored in their warehouse (and will therefore probably be delivered on time); but it has no meaning whatsoever regarding the quality of the product. There is zero curation.
Selling on Amazon is teaching me to trust Amazon less.
And of course, the ocean of similar products makes shopping much harder; meat tenderizers are not the worst case by far: if you're looking for a corkscrew in the Home & Kitchen category, you're looking at 2,500+ options on amazon.de alone... and 16,000+ on amazon.com!! Crazy.
- flippyhead 10y agoThis has been very enlightening. I buy a ton of stuff on Amazon and have had the same incorrect assumptions.
- mbrookes 10y ago> I used to regard the "ships from Amazon" or "Prime" logo as markers for quality You need to look for (or limit your search to ) "Sold by Amazon". Not so say that Amazon doesn't sell some duff products, and they have some "private label" products of their own (Amazon Basics), but all of those will have had some degree of vetting.
- shiven 10y agoThis. Only if the product is "Shipped from and Sold by Amazon.com" is there a good chance I will buy it. Even at 1.5-2x the lowest price from other vendors (FBA, direct shippers etc.). I'd rather trust Amazon directly than anyone else on amazon.com
- ryanhuff 10y agoYou certainly pay for that trust. Last week, I found a product that I bought on Amazon was available locally for 11% cheaper. Fast forward to today, I was about to buy something else on Amazon (prime item sold by 3rd party), and decided to check eBay. The manufacturer was selling the item direct on eBay for 30% less. Amazon does provide a lot of protection value to the buyer, but its previous value proposition (save by ordering online), doesn't seem to apply any longer.
- uberrr 10y agoI have found that it's always worthwhile to check eBay before making an Amazon purchase.
- danudey 10y agoEven Apple power adapters sold by Amazon and not by a third party are 90% fake: https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-cables/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/19/amazon-fake-apple-chargers-ca...
- nitrogen 10y agoDoes Amazon commingle third-party stock with their own, or are their vendors selling them fake chargers? When I was looking at selling my creations on Amazon, they had an option to commingle stock with other sellers of the same item, but I don't know if that includes Amazon's own stock.
- massysett 10y ago