22 Feb What is Amazon FBA? Advantages and disadvantages of this sales model

Have you ever heard of Amazon FBA? Do you know what the acronyms refer to? You probably haven’t heard of it if you are not familiar with Amazon’s platform, but don’t worry, if you want to know everything about this concept keep reading because we will tell you everything you need to know in this post.

Amazon FBA refers to the Amazon FBA Spain program or Fulfillment By Amazon Program. It is a program that offers the option of storing your products in Amazon’s warehouses, with Amazon taking care of the entire logistics process. It is available to all sellers who want to sell their products on Amazon.

Therefore, Amazon FBA sellers no longer have to worry about the storage of their products, shipping, returns and customer service on all Amazon platforms, but only have to focus on the shipment of stock to Amazon.

What are the advantages of using Amazon FBA?

There are a number of advantages that the seller can benefit from when using Amazon FBA, among these advantages are:

• Increase in sales: using the Amazon FBA program allows your offers to gain not only visibility but also competitiveness. Besides, your products can also have free shipping, Amazon Prime and other advantages.
• Selling outside Spain: by benefiting from the Amazon FBA program, you can also sell in the rest of the European continent and thus reach many more customers and potential buyers. All you need to do is publish your inventory from a single seller account and Amazon will take care of shipping the products to the European countries.
• Uninterrupted customer service: Another advantage of the Amazon FBA program is that it provides you with customer service that is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. This service is provided in the local languages of the Amazon websites where you are selling your products.
• You don’t need to send all your products to Amazon’s warehouses: another advantage to take into account is that you don’t need all the products you sell to be in Amazon’s warehouses, as you can choose and send only those that you want.
• You can even sell while you are on holiday: for example, if you decide to go on holiday and activate the holiday settings in Amazon Logistics, your products will continue to be sold while you are resting.

Besides the advantages mentioned above, you will also benefit from the option of gift wrapping, products will be labelled as «sold by your shop and managed by Amazon», faster shipping, etc.

And what are the disadvantages?

The disadvantages you can expect if you join the Amazon FBA program are as follows:

• You lose control over your customers. In other words, Amazon does not provide you with their details so you cannot contact them in any way. This is because when you send your products to Amazon’s warehouses you lose control over, among other things, shipping and delivery times.
• One disadvantage is that it will cost you money (storage costs, shipping fees…).
• Another disadvantage is the risk of cancellation of your account if you do not meet Amazon’s standards. While this is not very common, it is a possibility if your product does not have a good impact.
• Stock still depends on you. If your product sells very quickly, you should pay close attention to the stock and check your account regularly so that you do not find yourself in such a situation. It is highly advisable to send the corresponding products before you run out of stock.

Do you want to sell on Amazon through Amazon FBA?

It is very easy to start selling on Amazon, you just have to follow a few simple steps:

1. Register as a professional seller on Amazon.
2. Upload the products you want to sell to the different Amazon platforms. However, you can choose whether you want to sell only in Spain or in the rest of Europe too.
3. To qualify for the Amazon FBA program you need to select the Amazon logistics option for the products you want to store in Amazon’s warehouses.
4. To get the shipping labels you first have to fill in the necessary fields.

It is very important that you do not forget about your account. Use good photos for your products, create titles providing the benefits of your items, use the right powerwords and keywords in the specifications and descriptions of your products, etc. Although it may seem an easy task at first glance, a good management of your account is time consuming and needs a lot of dedication.