Amazon makes it easy for people interested in placing their shingles out to become new professional sellers on its marketplace. However, selling on Amazon in 2022 shouldn’t be based solely upon ease of signup.

New sellers should have a solid understanding of what it takes to have a realistic chance for establishing a successful business on Amazon.

There is a tremendous amount of information available online and in print about how to successfully sell products on Amazon.

Unfortunately, there also exists a substantial body of misinformation, that can seriously damage a new seller’s odds for creating a thriving Amazon business.

Potential new sellers must take the time to discover these common misconceptions. They should do the homework to be confident that the sources of information that they are trusting embody the three ‘R’s…reliable, relevant and recent.

A good place to start is by discovering …

What ‘Gurus’ Don’t Want Sellers To Know

Success will not happen overnight.

Occasionally, within the Amazon community there surfaces stories (urban legends) about new sellers reaping huge profits after being on Amazon for just a few months. Most of these tales are alluring shiny baubles that gurus exploit to attract individuals who are seeking to start a side-hustle or full-blown Amazon business.  

Gurus are usually quick to tell people who are considering becoming Amazon sellers how easy it will be, while painting exciting pictures of achieving virtually overnight wealth.

Many of those same gurus tend to avoid (or gloss over entirely) certain aspects tied to the journey that might dampen their target audience’s enthusiasm for spending thousands of dollars on their ‘can’t fail’ seminars and training programs.

They don’t want sellers to consider the fallacy at the very core of the seminar or training course. If everyone is copying the same exact method being taught, the likelihood of every participant realizing an ‘easy’ path to establishing a successful Amazon business that quickly generates “the kind of wealth they’ve always dreamed of” is highly unlikely.

Creating a successful Amazon business doesn’t happen overnight. There are no magic push-button systems for new sellers to have instant success. Success is built upon hard work and requires time…there really are no shortcuts.

It takes time to become profitable.

Another important thing that gurus avoid pointing out, is that most new sellers probably may not be profitable in their first month, or for several months.

Gurus love to showcase screenshots showing crazy-high revenue numbers for their first month in business or for certain periods of time. They don’t bother to clarify the gap between their revenues posted in the screenshots and their actual profits.

Revenues are not profit. They are the total amount in sales that have been made. It doesn’t take into consideration the expenses paid to make those sales such as purchasing inventory, FBA fees (such as long-term storage fees), shipping and advertising costs.

When new sellers launch a product on Amazon, their first job is to raise awareness about their products with their relevant audiences.

The most effective way to do this is by ranking high in Amazon’s search results. In order to achieve a high-ranking, new sellers on amazon in 2022 should focus on increasing their sales velocity.

A few marketing strategies that sellers can use to increase their sales velocity include:

  • investing money in Amazon PPC ads (running a launch campaign),
  • sending out discount coupons, and
  • discounting their products for a limited time.

Gurus are reluctant to reveal that for most new sellers, when they launch their first products on Amazon, they are likely to break even, or even lose money.

Misconceptions About Selling On Amazon in 2022

Listing products guarantees sales.

Amazon makes it easy for anyone to list a product, and shoppers technically can find it. But the reality is that Amazon is huge and listing a product doesn't mean it will sell. Sellers shouldn’t expect that just because they have created an account and listed their products that they will go from zero to sales heroes.  

Sellers should research the search and sales volume of their competition, run Amazon advertising campaigns, take advantage of Amazon’s New Seller Incentives Program, and optimize their listings.

Prices must be set low to drive sales.

There’s a misconception circulating among new sellers that with so much competition on Amazon, that the only way to get shoppers to click on their product listings is to set their prices lower than those of their competitors’.

Success selling on Amazon in 2022 is not just about which sellers are willing to sell at the lowest prices. New sellers can beat their competition by selling reliable products or by targeting and catering to a special niche of shoppers, while offering those goods at moderate price points.

New sellers should set prices to match their brand’s marketing strategy. Pricing says a lot about a seller’s brand and products (how they are perceived).

Sellers should keep in mind that when prices are perceived to be too low, they may make the products in question seem sketchy…cheaply made, flimsy and lacking durability.  This may compel shoppers to choose a more expensive competitor product, believing that quality increases along with the higher pricing.  

Sellers must create an original product to drive sales.

Nope. New sellers can reap substantial profits on Amazon even if their products are not original,  novel, or unique.

Instead of inventing a new product from scratch, sellers can modify/improve an existing product as per shopper demand. Sellers should take careful note of reviews in order to determine what shoppers like or hate about a product that is similar to the one they are thinking of launching, and then be on a mission to solve any current issues, incorporating those improvements into theirs.

New sellers should also consider that a large number of successful Amazon sellers have partnered with various manufacturers and become highly profitable by selling products that they have repackaged and rebranded with their own private labels.

Pro Tip: Above all, have a quality product and be completely transparent when describing it in the listing. If there are some shoppers for which the product isn’t a good fit, new sellers should make that crystal clear. Incorrectly describing a product and its benefits/features can not only lead to high return rates and negative reviews, but it can lead to costly problems with Amazon and the seller's account.

Sellers must have a lot of reviews in order to be successful on Amazon.

As mentioned above, new sellers can find success on Amazon even without a sizable number of reviews by appealing to and by providing products that service specific audiences and demographics.  

While reviews are certainly important for boosting a new seller’s visibility on Amazon, it is not the be all and end all for long term success.

Amazon is just too overwhelming.

At the start, Amazon can be difficult to understand. It can feel next to impossible to confidently move forward with well-defined strategies for new sellers. Everyone has to start at the beginning when they're opening a business, and selling on Amazon in 2022 is no different.

But it does get easier as time passes provided new sellers are willing to put in the work to dispel disinformation and to clarify misconceptions, allowing Amazon to reveal its mysteries.

Bonus Resource:

While starting an Amazon business is relatively easy, running it and making sure that it’s eventually profitable takes a fair amount of time and effort.

To ensure that your Amazon business is profitable, and you can maximize your profits, here is a short checklist of things to do…

New Amazon Seller Checklist

☑️ Familiarize yourself with Amazon’s rules and policies.

☑️ Determine the right niche for your brand

☑️ Study the reports or notifications generated by Amazon.

☑️ Be proactive in your marketing efforts and have a dialed-in marketing strategy.

☑️ Manage your inventory properly.

☑️ Conduct market research and take the time to learn more about your competition.

☑️ Create and stick to a budget. You should factor in Amazon’s fees, as well as know any hidden costs.

Entourage: Software to Scale Amazon Ads and Results Driven Management.