Do Amazon sellers have their work cut out for them?
Perhaps they do, but they may just have to give it that extra bit of effort from now on to make up for a surge in artisan products, which is bound to hit the Amazon marketplace in the following months. Yes, you heard right: Amazon is hoping its customers will go gaga over all things artisan.
Read on, and find out what this could mean for you and other Amazon sellers.
We Wrote the Book on Amazon; Artisans May Write the Sequel
Some of us heard it on the grapevine in mid-May, but we swiftly brushed it off, only to find that the unthinkable is happening as we speak. Lo and behold, Amazon is prepping up for the ‘Handmade at Amazon Artisan’ marketplace!
That’s just fine and dandy for all those Etsy sellers fortunate enough to have received this survey from Amazon, along with an invitation to take a sneak peak at the upcoming Handmade marketplace. But where do Amazon sellers now stand? Couple this revelation with the news that Amazon Prime members will henceforth receive free same-day delivery in 14 regions across the USA and Canada, and you’ll find that some MFN sellers are looking at a double whammy which is bound to affect their bottom line.
Will the Wheels Fall off for Third-Party Sellers?
It’s hard to imagine what effect Etsy shops’ unique, handcrafted items will have on the Amazon market. It’s even harder to imagine what will happen when even artisans who are not affiliated with Etsy start joining Amazon Handmade. In the grand scheme of things, Etsy’s 20 million or so active buyers, according to Statista, may not make much of a difference. After all, a large part of these buyers are interested mainly in vintage items, not custom, hand-crafted goods.
There’s a particular category of Amazon merchants for whom things are likely to stay very much the same, though: booksellers. Going toe-to-toe with artisans won’t affect booksellers much in terms of product, price, or delivery, provided they use the SellerEngine’s suite of applications. Here’s why:
1. Products Take on a Life of Their Own
Both FBA and MFN booksellers would most likely appreciate an influx of interest from people who cherish their books to such an extent that they scout around for custom bookbinders and other artisans on Amazon Handmade. Booksellers specializing in rare, vintage books would most likely be in the spotlight. In fact, the extra attention could be an incentive for booksellers to freshen up their inventory; yet another reason to have Profit Bandit within arm’s reach when sourcing books these next few months. Steer clear of restricted items, check sales ranks and price history, and list your books at the tap of a button.
2. Price Prevails
You have to hand it to Etsy: out of its 150,000+ Handmade Books, Films & Music products, 10% go for less than $3. Having artisans on Amazon is a great opportunity for conventional sellers to tap into product lines that make for excellent complimentary knick-knacks. Wouldn’t you slip your return customer a lovely, cheap bookmark courtesy of a Handmade Amazon seller, if you had the chance? That’s putting your two cents in, literally. Running Sellery every single day would enable you to stay ahead of the competition, win the Buy Box, secure repeat business, and reward them for their loyalty. So, you and other booksellers stand only to gain if you partnered up with an artisan.
3. Dreaded Delivery Deadlines
Amazon and some FBA sellers will deliver to Prime members the same day for free, while artisans receiving custom orders will most likely deliver in their own sweet time. That leaves MFN sellers stuck in the middle, without a one-of-a-kind product to justify delivery delays, and without the means to compete with Amazon’s lightning-fast logistics. Luckily for booksellers, SellerEngine Plus can help them take the edge off of doing their market research, managing their inventory, and most importantly, preparing some of their products to be shipped to a new abode, namely an Amazon warehouse.