The last item on the agenda for the Sellers’ Conference for Online Entrepreneurs (SCOE) was a panel discussion featuring many of the distinguished speakers from the event.
SCOE attendees and audience members were invited to ask anything that was on their minds. Let’s start by meeting the panelists:
- Ioan Mitrea – SellerEngine Software founder and CEO. Expert in international Amazon sales and repricing your Amazon inventory.
- Kat Simpson – ThatKat.com founder and online selling expert.
- Dianna Ratliff – Experienced in ecommerce website design and marketing. Email scoe@yourfriendontheweb.com for more info.
- Bob Wiley – Experienced Amazon seller, offering mentoring and coaching services to Amazon sellers.
- Shmuli Goldberg – Marketing Director at FeedVisor and author of The Buy Box Bible.
- Graham Ashcraft – From Seller Development at Etsy, providing a platform for small businesses to grow.
- Chris Green – Founder of ScanPower, experienced online seller and author of several books for Amazon sellers.
- Jason Smith – Host of Thrift Hunters on SpikeTV and founder of Thrifting with the Boys Facebook Group.
- John Lawson – Beyoncé expert, author, speaker, entrepreneur and founder of ColderIceMedia.
- Rhonda Schneider – SCOE organizer, cat lover and Grimm fan.
Now keep reading to jump right into the discussion:
Hands-Free Profit Bandit
Question from the audience, “I’ve been getting into retail arbitrage, using Profit Bandit. What wrist strap should I use to keep from dropping my phone?”
Ioan, “We’ve been talking about making Profit Bandit for Apple Watch. That way you could leave your phone in your pocket, scan with a bluetooth scanner and just glance at your wrist for results.
Audience oohs and aahs!
Acquiring Email Addresses from Amazon Customers
Question from the audience, “What’s the best way to capture emails from your Amazon customers?”
John, “A good way is to follow up with the customer. The easiest way is to call. Amazon gives you the phone number for every order. The only way you can legitimately contact them is to follow up on order and make sure it has arrived. Say that you appreciate their time, want to offer them a coupon for their next purchase. Then you get their email.”
Graham, “On Etsy, you can create a newsletter sign up link to post on your shop. You can also use Etsy ‘Convos’ to converse with cusomters.”
Audience asks, “Where are the phone numbers on your Amazon orders?”
Audience member answers, “If you started out as an Individual (non-Pro Merchant) seller and upgraded your account, you’ll need to contact Amazon to enable this on your account.
Audience member says, “Customer Solutions (a vendor at SCOE) offers what John’s talking about as a paid service.”
Bob adds, “It’s very important to be careful using that email once you have it. If the customer reports you to Amazon you’re in trouble. Amazon takes this very seriously. It is as big a deal as counterfeiting. Amazon’s customers are theirs, not yours.”
Buy Box Metrics
Audience asks, “When talking customer service metrics, how are brackets measured and what do they mean?”
Shmuli answers, “Brackets are defined by Amazon. They’re used to rank your Shipping Time, Seller Rating, and Customer response time. Example is a 98-100% Seller rating. Moving within a bracket has little effect compared to moving to a new bracket. 99% is basically as good as 100%, 97% is much worse than 98%.”
Bob says, “I recommend the Buy Box Bible by Shmuli.”
Shmuli continues, “Starting in June and July, make sure your next 90 days are fantastic. That puts you in a great place to compete for the Bug Box during the Christmas season.
Private Labeling & Etsy
John asks, “If you private label a finished manufactured item, is that acceptable to sell on Etsy?
Graham answers, “No. You must be in control of your product’s creative design in order to sell it on Easy. Just adding your branding and selling it is not allowed. If you make a significant change to that product’s creative design, then you can sell it. But just putting your name on it isn’t good enough.”
Shmuli asks, “An Amazon seller’s biggest fear is getting shut down. Having an item mistakenly declared fraudulent, etc. How does Etsy eliminate this worry?”
Graham says, “Etsy is devoted to the integrity of the platform. When an account is reported, they go through a process of being flagged, frozen and closed. Before an account is frozen, sellers are contacted asking for information verifying their business (pictures of the making process, studio, etc.). However, Etsy reps first check to make sure the initial report requires follow up with the seller or not.
No-No’s for Amazon Sellers
Audience asks, “What are the big no-no’s for Amazon sellers?”
Bob, “Counterfeit items, DVDs especially. Buying from well-known suppliers is the only way to protect yourself. Health and Beauty has vendor issues and ingredient issues. You almost have to be a chemist to completely understand the rules. It makes selling in that category much harder. Be prepared if you’re contacted by Amazon. Response time on Amazon is critical. Policy violations and warnings must be responded to within 48 hours.
I won’t even sell DVDs anymore. Too much risk. Don’t buy at yard sales. You will get reported. Amazon’s assumption is that you are counterfeit. You must prove otherwise.”
Ioan adds, “We get a lot of people coming to SellerEngine for help when they get in trouble. You have to have all your invoices, all your ducks in a row to prove your innocence to Amazon. It can help if you have a lawyer. Even then it can be difficult. We see a lot of trademark/copyright issues.
“But if you get suspended, don’t panic. People answer right away and send a panicked emotional email. Amazon wants you to acknowledge your mistake and present a bulleted plan for preventing it from happening again.
It’s not usually just one thing that gets you suspended. Look at all your metrics and address everything point by point.”
Bob, “When replying to Amazon, consider adding this sentence, ‘Customer service is very important to our business and the buyer experience is critical to our success.’ This is what Amazon wants to hear.”
Multiple Amazon Account Issues
Audience, “Are there issues with logging into multiple seller accounts? Or logging in from multiple IP addresses?
Bob says, “This is potentially an issue, but not as bad as most people think. If you’re working with someone else, go into User Permissions in Seller Central and add that person to your account. As soon as you do that the IP issue is off the table. Even if you’re logging into multiple accounts from a single location.”
Ioan adds, “It’s hard to know if you’re 100% in the clear. We’ve asked Amazon directly and they don’t have a straight answer about that.”
Audience, “What about employees who want to have their own selling account?”
Bob, “Open a case to find out. Get things in writing. Don’t ramble, be succinct and right to the point. Don’t get answers over the phone!”
Ioan, “Work within Amazon’s reality. It’s their platform.”
SCOE Seattle
Audience, “Will Amazon employees be attending SCOE Seattle in October of 2015?
Rhonda, “We always ask.”
Audience laughs.
Ioan, “Amazon loves things that are new. When they have something new to tell you about, somebody comes. When Sponsored Ads were coming out, they sent someone to talk about them, for example.”
Ed. Note: Remember that you can email Jeff Bezos, jeff@Amazon.com, to request an Amazon presence at SCOE 2015.
Rhonda, “SCOE 2015 Seattle will be taking place October 2-4 at the Crown Point Hotel at the airport.”
Everyone, “Thank you Rhonda for putting on a great event! See you in Seattle!”
Transcription Notes
The speakers should be commended for speaking candidly and in-depth on some very challenging topics. And of course, thanks to all SCOE attendees who asked questions or took the time to read this.
I did my best to capture the flow of the conversation between the audience and the panelists. Any spelling mistakes, misquotations or other errors are entirely my fault.
If you feel changes to this page are needed, please leave a comment or contact me, paul.cole@selllerengine.com.