Amazon FBA

nortong

I have started selling via FBA on Amazon, early days but not much happening yet but I could do with a bit of advice, please.

I have touched on this before in a previous posting but I am still worried about the lack of positive reviews, or any reviews for that matter, on the one product I am selling. Some people say that without product reviews I am wasting my time and that I should get a minimum of five before I can contemplate a successful sales campaign. As I want to add new products at regular intervals it seems that I am going to face this issue every time I list a fresh item!

At least the Ebay feedback system applies across the board no matter what is sold. Apparently the best way to generate reviews is to give free or sell at huge discounts in return for a review - this means that every time I put a fresh item up for sale I will have to go through this ridiculous rigmarole!!

Would it be better to just pay for Amazon's PPC scheme or do I have to bite the bullet and get the reviews no matter what or would I be better off reverting to selling on Ebay?

I would really like to hear your experiences of this. Many thanks!

bingo_bango

I'm not a seller so I can't give you that point of view, but I do buy quite a lot on Amazon these days.

If I see a product but it has no reviews, I tend to skip past it and find a similar product that has been reviewed. I understand that doesn't help sellers who are in a position like you as I suspect quite a few buyers will do the same, but it might help you decide whether a campaign is worth the effort.
FWIW I tend to look for a minimum of 3 reviews so it wouldn't mean a huge amount of discounting for new products if you decide to go down that route.

I should also point out that if I see a product with no reviews at a ridiculously low price I tend to think it's either a fake, really poor quality or just an out and out scam. I will still take the time to read the specs but just will not buy at that time.

Perhaps sending a free item to previous buyers who have taken the time to leave a product review might be the way forward? Not sure how you get them to 'buy' the item in that case, as a verified purchaser review will certainly hold more sway.

As for Ebay, it really is a last resort for me these days. I rarely use it unless what I want isn't available anywhere else.

nortong

Thanks Bingo Bango, it's not really conducting a campaign that worries me, just the thought that I have to do this every time I list a new item. I suppose the answer is to restrict myself to a very limited number of products - not my original intention. It does not seem worth paying £35.00 / month to Amazon on top of going through all that palaver. Very disappointing.

RFW

I've got several items that sell really well that have no reviews.
It depends what you're selling. I'd guess if it's electrical reviews are more helpful.
Better to have no reviews than one bad one which can kill an item.
Sponsored advertising can work really well and can be from £1 per day. If you add a discount to start with that will boost your item and get that crucial first sale.
Good reviews help but sales are more important as far as being found goes.

RFW

I just checked and two of my best sellers have no reviews. I've sold about 200 items between then in the last couple of weeks.

nortong

RFW, thanks for that! I am going to do some sponsored ads - Amazon are offering an initial £20 free leg-up. Really interesting to hear your experience of this.

sequence

Reviews definitely matter. My sales on one item rocketed after it got several 5* reviews. But how you can (legally) get reviews I don't know. FBA worked well for me. But I found it to be quite time consuming and expensive preparing the shipments and sending them to amazon, since I sell on other market places it was easier to just fulfill them myself.

RFW

sequence wrote: »

Reviews definitely matter. My sales on one item rocketed after it got several 5* reviews.

I think it definitely depends on what it is. The items I mentioned selling well are straightforward and not something I'd be bothered about having a review if I was writing.
Reviews per sale are very low, probably less than 1% in my markets.
I agree it can be good to have five star reviews, book publishers distribute free copies to reviewers, there isn't another good legitimate way of doing it. Maybe offer a competition or freebie via social media, Amazon allow you to give a discount code so you can "sell" a free item to someone that would make the review be from a verified purchase. That said you can't guarantee that whoever leaves the review will leave a good one. In my experience people who get something for nothing can be the worst critics.

As for FBA it's different for everyone, I have a few items that work out cheaper for Amazon to post than for me to do it, running at £1 per item less so well worth it for me. There are some others that aren't worth it at all.

I will say that selling through Amazon has given me a space to grow and an ability to plan for future sales that just isn't possible with Ebay.

forgotmyname

Maybe i am an exception, when buying off Amazon i rarely read the reviews. I usually know what i want and how much it costs elsewhere so just want a good price and an easy option to check the buyer out.

I priced something up yesterday and could not find the sellers details. Instantly off the list even if it was a bargain.

RFW

forgotmyname wrote: »

Maybe i am an exception, when buying off Amazon i rarely read the reviews. I usually know what i want and how much it costs elsewhere so just want a good price and an easy option to check the buyer out.

I'm swayed by some bad reviews, not so much by good ones.

soolin

I have been swayed by poor reviews, but I do read them carefully to see what it is that people don't like- sometimes people have misunderstood what an item is or how it works- so the poor reviews are a result of that.

However, I am no longer buying on Marketplace, the stuff I buy is almost impossible to find from UK sellers- even though they are definitely there. All I get are buy box Far east sellers with horrendous feedback and who aren't even the cheapest. Half the time when I try and search other sellers it just doesn't seem to want me to move away from the buy box page. I'm also irritated at the false location details0 showing estimated delivery in a week from the UK and then only after a couple of days finding it has switched to a 40 day estimate from the Far east.