Are you tired of your boring old 9 to 5? Maybe you’re sick of spending hours each week on your commute. Or perhaps you can’t get that voice out of your head that keeps urging you to become self-employed. After all, what could be better than being your own boss? You get to work from home, or anywhere you want, and on your own terms and time.
Whether you’re just looking to make a little money on the side or are launching your full time, stay at home career, there are a lot of opportunities in online retail. Online vendors can work from anywhere, and they get to set their own schedule.
Becoming an online vendor with sites like Amazon is pretty easy – just about anyone with internet access can do it. If you’re good at what you do, it can be a pretty lucrative business. But what makes a vendor good? Keep reading for our top 4 keys to success in this non-conventional workplace.
1. Be Smart About What You Sell
The first tip for success in the online selling game is to be smart about what you’re selling. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to restrict yourself to certain items – say only selling trash cans. There’s a demand for pretty much everything online. The key to becoming a good seller is being the one to answer that demand.
That means choosing to sell items that people want and whose current vendors are lacking. Utilize tools like Jungle Scout review to research which items would be most profitable for you.
2. Set Competitive Prices
One of the easiest ways to increase your popularity – and sales – is to price your items competitively. This means striking a fine balance between what you spend on your items, what you spend on shipping costs, and the price you need to sell them at to profit. And, of course, keeping your pricing more attractive than your competitors.
It can be tempting to dramatically cut your prices to undersell your competitors, but this is a rookie mistake. It might drive up your sales to begin with, but eventually, it will become unsustainable. Research tools that can help you find appropriate prices.
3. Get Your Ratings Up
Another great way to increase your customer base and drive up sales is to make sure your products are being seen. And not only seen, but seen by the right people – people who would want to buy them.
That means advertising. One of the best – and easiest – methods of advertising is through good ratings. If your products have good ratings, they are more likely to be featured prominently on the website and in the list of search results. If you become a registered vendor, that also allows your customers the option to rate you. Good ratings in this category can really boost your business.
4. Know Your Competition
Research tools can do more than just help you set prices and decide which products to sell. They can also tell you a lot about your competition. After all, you need to know what you’re up against. Keep a look out for information like their prices, ratings, and shipping deals.
Keep an eye out for shipping deals in particular. It might seem trivial, but you’d be surprised how often shipping costs will make or brake a sale. Even something as trivial as a $5 shipping cost can lose you a customer, if your competition can beat your shipping rates.
When doing your cost analysis, remember that there are services like Amazon Prime that offer free, two-day shipping. That can be pretty tough – but not impossible – to beat.
