6 steps to help you create product lists and Amazon catalogs for your Amazon Seller Central Account before you start selling!
Before you can start selling products on your Amazon Seller Central account, you have to set up your product listings and inventory to let Amazon know that you have inventory to sell.
Make sure to sign-up for your free Amazon seller account or follow along with our guide to 7 Steps to Activate Your Amazon Seller Central Account in 2021.
Once you set up your account, you’re now ready to add products to your Amazon catalog and start selling!
Step 1: Product Identifiers
The first step to adding a product to your Amazon store is to find your product in Amazon’s catalog. For most existing products, Amazon already has established product pages. To see if Amazon already has a page for your product, you have to check using a product identifier. Product identifiers can be as simple as the product’s name, but if you do not know or do not have the product’s official name, you will need to find the product identifier codes.
UPC, EAN, ISBN
Amazon uses a few different codes to identify products, including a couple of international standard codes as well as their own personal identification system. For standard codes, Amazon will use 3 codes, the first being UPCs or “universal product codes”. UPCs are one of the most standard codes and are widely used around the world. UPCs utilize a 12 digit number specifically given to every unique item and model.
The next industry-standard code is EANs or European Article Number, sometimes referred to as the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). Similar to the UPCs, EANs/GTINs are also used to identify the make and model of products. Instead of a 12 digit code, EANs use a 13 digit code.
The last standard product identifier code is ISBNs or International Standard Book Numbers. From the name, you can see these codes are specifically used for books and publications, both physical and digital. ISBNs are unique to every book, even books with different editions or variations.
Amazon Barcodes or ASIN
Amazon has been trying to unify the multitude of product identifiers by launching their identification system called ASINs or Amazon Standard Identification Number. These ASINs are used for every product listed on Amazon and are the easiest method to identifying products to sell on Amazon. ASINs utilize a 10 digit code for every product make and model as well. Every product that goes out from Amazon’s fulfillment centers leaves with a new Amazon barcode with the product’s assigned ASIN.
If your product is already being sold on Amazon, then you can simply add that product to your store and move onto step 3: adding Amazon Offer details. Whether you decide to use an industry-standard code (UPC, EAN, or ISBN) or Amazon’s codes (ASINs), be sure to communicate with your manufacturer and supplier to obtain any product identifier. This will save you a lot of time when adding products to your Amazon business, specifically when you’re adding a new product. Without the product identifier, you won’t be able to add any products to your Amazon store.
Step 2: How to Add New Products on Amazon Seller Central
In some cases, you might be adding a product that has not been listed on Amazon before. You’ll come across this error when trying to find the item through a UPC but the item has not been listed before. If this is the case, click on “I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon,” or “Create a New Listing” in your Amazon catalog. This is where you’ll be prompted to create a new Product Detail page that will generate a brand new listing that you can then add to your Amazon catalog.
Amazon Product Category
The first step to creating a new product listing is to select a product category. Sellers have two options to pick categories:
The first method is through browsing categories and individually selecting the best fitting category. This can range from Appliances to Baby Products.
If you’re unsure which category would best fit your product, we recommend using the second method, which is using an existing product as an example. This can be done by scrolling down the page to the “Search a Category” option, where sellers can search for and pick a similar product.
For example, if you were adding headphones but were unsure which category would best fit, you could search “headphones,” select a similar headphone brand that is already listed on Amazon, then select the product category. You can see that headphones would be under “Electronics” then choose that category for your new product listing.
Amazon Product Detail Page
Once you select the product category, you’ll then be asked to submit vital information for the product detail page. Here is where you’ll input the product identifier we discussed in step 1, which may be a UPC, EAN, or ISBN depending on what was provided by the manufacturer. Along with the code, you’ll also add the title, brand name, manufacturer’s name, and something called the “Manufacturer Part Number” or simply MPN. The MPN should be provided by the supplier or manufacturer of the product, so be sure to communicate with them to obtain this information.
Brand Name
Something we want to note is the brand name. The brand name is often overlooked, but it is actually really valuable for the customer. Buyers want to buy products from well-known, trustworthy, and legitimate sources. If you’re not sourcing a brand-name product, this may impact the profitability and sales of your products. We’re not saying that every product has to come from a Nike or Johnson & Johnson, that would be impossible in most cases. But the brand needs to be somewhat established so buyers are not hesitant to purchase from your catalog. Make sure to keep this in mind when you’re sourcing your products, that every potential product is coming from a trustworthy manufacturer.
Product Variations
The last step in adding a new product to Amazon is selecting product variations. The most common variation is colored (items with multiple color options), but sometimes this also includes variants like product packages or products with multiple sizes. Make sure to add all possible variations with clear and concise labels.
Step 3: Amazon Offer Details
Regardless if you’re selling a new product or a product that’s already on Amazon, the last step is providing the Amazon Offer details. This is going into your specific product listing and how much you want to sell the item for. When deciding the offer details, do not forget about the Amazon Buy Box. When selling on Amazon, you’re competing with all other sellers who are selling the same products you are. To be competitive, you have to develop an Amazon Buy Box strategy that will help you beat out competitors.
If you need some help developing your Amazon Buy Box strategy, read our blog on 3 Hacks to Beat Amazon Top Sellers where we talk about developing a Buy Box and pricing strategy.
SKU
When creating entering the offer details, you want to start with the Seller SKU. SKU is known as the Stock Keeping Unit, which is basically how sellers manage and keep track of their inventory while they’re in a fulfillment center. The SKU is extremely important. You want to provide a unique SKU code to every product so you can keep track of all the products in your inventory and all sales that reduce your stock.
Price
Next, sellers can then place their selling price for their products. If you are selling a product that’s already listed on Amazon, you can see how much other sellers are selling their products for and use that as a basis to determine your selling price.
If you are selling a new item, you can decide whatever price you want, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. The first, is your profit margin. You want to pick a price that will cover the cost of the product and potential fees (service, shipping fees, etc.). Second, you should consider the MSRP, or Manufacturer’s Suggest Retail Price, in which the product’s manufacturer or supplier may recommend a specific selling price to ensure profitability. Lastly, you want to consider a reasonable price point for your customers. Buyers are not likely to spend hundreds of dollars for a cheap or simple product. So you may want to consider the price points of similar items on other e-commerce platforms or even in-store retail prices.
Product Quantity
The product quantity may seem straightforward forward but there is a ton of logistics that sellers must consider. For starters, how much stock did you purchase? Arbitrage sellers might only have a handful of items, but wholesalers could have hundreds depending on the minimum order quantity (MOQ).
In addition, the amount of stock can also be determined by how much stock you want to store at a fulfillment center if you are an FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) seller. We discuss this topic a lot in our previous blog, 2021 Guide to Amazon Fulfillment Centers, where the more stock you store at a fulfillment center, the higher the potential costs are for storage fees. Depending on your business needs, take these different factors and keep them in mind when determining the optimal product quantity,
Conditions
The conditions will most likely be the simplest information. You can select the quality of the products that you’re selling if it’s new or used.
Amazon Fulfillment Channel: Choosing Your Shipping Method
We go into great detail about the different shipping methods for your business in our blog, FBM vs. FBA. Sellers decide their fulfillment channel by analyzing their business needs (how much stock they sell, how much involvement they want, fulfillment fees, etc,). Once sellers determine how they want to ship their products to buyers, simply select either I will ship this item myself, Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), or if you are an Amazon FBA seller, you can select Amazon will ship and provide customer service.
Step 4: Amazon Product Images
Sellers will then be curated to add any product images. For products already on Amazon, sellers can usually skip this step since the stock photos for that item are already available. For new products, sellers can choose to take items themselves and upload them to Amazon. Some manufacturers and suppliers can provide high-quality and professional photos for the products they manufacture. Ask your supplier if they can provide these images to you, and if not, you can always take photos yourself.
Step 5: Writing Your Amazon Product Descriptions
For unlisted products, sellers will need to create and write a new product description for their product pages. The product description should be straightforward and sell the “value proposition” of your product. What qualities or benefits do the buyers get from this product? Why do they want it at all? These are the questions sellers want to answer when writing their descriptions. Feel free to include any additional product details such as warranties, product components, and any other added benefits. Along with the long descriptions, sellers can also add short bullet points that quickly and concisely describe the product.
Lastly, sellers should include any legalities that come with the product. This includes any legal disclaimers and CPSIA warnings. These legalities will most likely be provided by the manufacturers and suppliers that make the product.
Step 6: Amazon Keywords
Amazon keywords or “Search Terms’ are very vital to gaining more visibility for the products you sell. Essentially, these terms are the words people will be searching for on Amazon. Going back to the headphones example, some keywords I would want to add would be “headphones, earbuds, audio device, gaming headset, etc.” These keywords should reflect anything descriptive about your item. You want to include as many relevant terms as possible to ensure that your products will appear when people are shopping.
Finishing Up Your Amazon Catalog
Congratulations, by adding your Amazon keywords, your Amazon business is officially set up! Your Amazon catalog is stocked with products and your business can start selling on Amazon. If you’re an FBM seller, be ready to send out orders as soon as they come in. For our FBA sellers, the next step is shipping your products to Amazon fulfillment centers!
Check back in with us at Sellgo.com if you want to increase your earnings and return on investments. With Sellgo’s tools, you’ll see 6-digit earnings and grow your new business exponentially!
