Originally posted on Housakicks
Before I divulge the reasons behind my decision to shut down my Amazon store , I want to make sure folks understand that it wasn’t birthed out of anger. Amazon is the largest third party merchant marketplace worldwide; the substantial amount of traffic the platform gets is enough to ensnare sellers and brands into thinking they desperately need Amazon to thrive- and that’s where the danger lies . The very first reason why you shouldn’t make Amazon your primary destination for reaching your customers is actually the main reason why people join the marketplace -traffic
Traffic
Yoke of Slavery
Returns
Sellers Will Be Soon Charged up To $1500 To Sell Adidas & Nike Shoes On Amazon
Payouts
All sales may look like they are final, but they aren’t final. I’ve already showed you how returns can easily ruin sellers. Major retailers can get away with massive returns but a small business owner can’t. Even though you may get a $5000 payout, if you sustain a 30% return rate for every payout, you might only end up with $3000 or even less once you process the returns. Here is the danger: the returns often occur 2 weeks after the payout. So you see how much of a horrendous system Amazon is. If you’re a small business owner with a low capital ( let say $10,000). Suppose you buy $10,000 worth of products and list them on Amazon. And let’s assume that you sell all of them within a week with a 25% mark up. So you’re making about $2500 for a $10,000 investment. Now let’s also assume that your payout comes a week after you sell your items. Now your hands are tied and your business is on standby, you have virtual money that you can’t touch for another week. So you can’t invest anymore and you’re losing money because you can’t purchase anymore inventory until you receive your payout. Now let’s say you receive your payout and you sustain a 30% return rate ( and let’s equate that 30% to $600). So now your profit is $2500-$600=$1900. And I forgot that Amazon selling fees are also 15%, so you aren’t really making $2500 on a $10,000 investment. You may end up with $800 profit or a little less every two weeks if you’re lucky on a $10,000 investment. Now if you think this is a good system for a small business then more power to you. Amazon only works for major businesses not small timers.
There might be flaws in my argument but I’ve given you enough reasons to consider building your own platform. You are free to agree or disagree with my propositions. All I know is this, you’re giving away 15% of your profit, living in fear, disregarding your own online presence, putting up with unreasonable returns; if you are enjoying it then by all means stay on Amazon and keep on keeping on.
If You Resell Nike on Amazon You’re Dead and There is a Date for Your Demise | WSJ
Here is a video from my partner Chris that explains in detail how he dealt with this.