8-Figure Amazon Private Label Seller Tips to Success

In the past five years, I worked as a civil engineer fresh out of college and struggling to survive the world of 9-5.

Excited to escape that restrictive space, I began selling my products on Amazon.

Today, I am the CEO of an organization that owns over 40 different SKUs, and an employee on full-time duty managing my private label items that generate more than eight figures annually.

This chapter explains the steps I took to make it happen.

The first thing to do is get started…

What Are Private Label Products?

Private label items are products and services developed by a single company and then brand and sold by another company.

Some of the most popular examples of private label products are Walmart’s Great Value brand, Target’s Mainstays along with Amazon’s Essentials.

Apart from physical products as well as services and intangibles like freelance work insurance and domains on the web products may even be private label items.

How to Find and Sell Private Label Products

If you’re thinking of starting an online company, it’s hard to come much better than selling private brand products through Amazon’s FBA program.

It’s fairly simple to accomplish and there’s a wealth of tools available to assist you in achieving success. Here, I’ll go over the 9 steps that are essential to success.

1. Brainstorm Product Ideas.

Ideas can spring up from any place.

Through time, I’ve discovered some cool ways to come up with amazing ideas for private-label products.

First, when I’m out and about shopping or looking through the aisles of a shop, I’m on the watchful eye for the latest, most popular fashion items.

It’s usually the latest stuff such as the kinds of things that Walmart and Target aren’t ready to stock.

As an example, I recently went to Anthropologie and came across an assortment of copper measuring cups for $25.00. It was then that I thought to myself, “Perfect!”

After I got back home, I entered this idea into my tools for research and found that it was a fantastic chance.

Another place to search for ideas for products could be Amazon itself.

Explore the subcategories and departments to find new products.

Check out the products that other sellers have by looking through their Amazon stores and listings of products.

Then, I browse the internet for some cool product ideas, too.

Social media always has an innovative, novel product idea that’s gaining traction. Also, check the websites Kickstarter and IndieGoGo as well. They’re both genius inventors who have come up with innovative, new methods to promote products.

2. Consider Specific Product Attributes.

What private brand products are you looking to market?

If you’re just beginning I strongly suggest that you begin with products that meet these qualities:

• Small and light. Your product must be able to fit in a compact flat-rate container (8 11/16 5 7/16” x 1/4 1”) that weighs no more than 1 or 2 pounds. This can help you cut costs on shipping costs both from the manufacturer and after it has been fulfilled (either by you or Amazon FBA).
• Non-seasonal. The sales of your product should not be dependent on the season. Examples of seasonal items include lighting displays for Christmas, Valentine’s Day gifts, winter clothing, etc. Beware of these products whenever you can.
• Unregulated. Certain products such as toys, food, and batteries have “red tape” which can make selling them difficult. I would suggest that you stick to items that are simple to produce and distribute, items that don’t require a ton of legal documents and/or certifications.
• Uncomplicated. Electronics can be enjoyable to sell, however, they can also cause lots of hassles and issues with customer service. Similar is the case for clothing and fashion products that might require you to offer a variety of sizes and colors in one SKU.

3. Conduct Market Research.

After you’ve identified several cool products you’d like to sell as private label products you’ll need to conduct some market research to determine if it’s worth it to offer.

When I first started making my own private label items through Amazon FBA, I had to do it the traditional method: using an Excel spreadsheet and a large amount of time staring at product pages.

Nowadays, we have applications such as the SellerApp Chrome Extension to aid us. It can conduct our research on products for us immediately.

Here’s how it will work:

• Conduct a search at Amazon.com with your idea for a product as a keyword. For instance, I’m planning to look up “copper measuring cups.”
• Once loading the page of search results, simply click after that, click the “KR” button to the right of your browser’s address or search bar to launch the SellerApp chrome extension.
• Check the data of the product. This Chrome Extension will show you the monthly average sales, the average reviews for each product, and much more, for the results of your search.

Then, that’s it!

Naturally, it’s important to have to be aware of the requirements to be looking for.

I prefer products that are sold at an average of 250 to 400 units per month.

Additionally, I don’t have too many competitors when I introduce a product and I make sure that the number of reviews on a product is lower than 100.

4. Research Product Suppliers and Manufacturers.

If you’ve come up with an idea for a product that is perfect and has verified your sales figures by using SellerApp’s tool, all you have to do is get it created!

We are fortunate that in 2020 we will be able to use Alibaba to assist us in getting the job accomplished.

If you’re unfamiliar with Alibaba, Alibaba is more than just an Amazon of China that allows us to buy bulk and wholesale products from manufacturers in other countries.

I recommend you read this blog to know how to source products from Alibaba to sell on Amazon.

It’s not just that Alibaba user-friendly It’s also safe also, since they rigorously test all their suppliers.

Here are the fundamental steps to find potential sources through Alibaba for your private-label product:

• Create a buyer account at Alibaba.com.
• Do a search of the product you are selling on Alibaba and Alibaba’s product database. Alibaba’s database functions similarly to Amazon’s.
• Find listings of products that match the private label idea you want to market.
• Send a message to the product supplier/manufacturer requesting more information about the product. I would like to inquire about what follows:
  • What is the cost per unit of this product if I purchase 500 units (or the number of units that need to be purchased)?
  • Can I get samples delivered to my place of business? If yes, what’s the cost?
  • What payment conditions and methods are you willing to accept?
  • How do I personalize this product?

Usually, I reach out to 3 or 4 suppliers in search of an item.

In each case, from these companies, I’ve ordered an item sample.

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5. Finalize Your Logo, Design, and Packaging.

Because it’s a private-label product, we are able to put our logo on the packaging and even on the actual product.

If you’re anything like me and aren’t adept at the art of graphic design, then you could locate affordable graphic designers who are professional and inexpensive to create eye-catching logos for your business on sites for freelancers.

Additionally, I prefer to design the product differently from the other products in the market.

You don’t need the skills of an engineer in order to modify your products.

Sometimes, it’s just as simple as changing the color or making the handle a bit longer.

In the end, I strive to provide the most appealing packaging that I can.

Thoughtfully designed packaging can enhance the experience for customers.

Additionally, you can include your website’s URL along with helpful information and much more on your packaging, enhancing your marketing strategies.

6. Determine Your Fulfillment Strategy.

Naturally, knowing what products to market and the best way to create private-label products is just half of the challenge.

We need to find a way to distribute these products in front of our clients.

There are many ways to meet your order.

Many people fulfill their products in their garages or their warehouse. Some use fulfillment centers of third parties to ship their products.

I usually rely on Amazon’s own fulfillment service, FBA.

Since its launch in 2008, FBA has been an important game changer in the world of Amazon sellers.

In addition, you have an access point to Amazon’s 2.5 billion monthly customers however, Amazon manages your items for you.

All you need to do is to send the inventory you have to Amazon. Then, they will store, sort, pack your products, and then ship them in order to ship them for you…not to mention that they handle customer support.

7. Decide On Your Manufacturer.

Once all of our ducks are lined up Now that we have all of our ducks in a row, what’s next?

The product that we’re likely to sell and the likelihood for it to sell when it’s listed on Amazon because of our market study.

We also designed the unique logo design, design, and packaging for it as well. We also know that Amazon will handle all of our shipping for us.

It’s now time to select the manufacturer.

It is possible that you remember from step 4, we suggested contacting three potential manufacturers for the private label item and getting the samples of each.

This part of making a decision is vital and you must do it right.

You can learn the quality of a company by the speed at which they deliver sample samples. You can also tell the state that the samples are in upon arrival and the method of communication used in tracking their progress.

This is for me, more important than the actual price of the product.

One mistake I’d like to warn you about is going to the company that offers the lowest price regardless of whether you are not satisfied with the performance of their product as well as the communication with the vendor is not the best.

We’d like our expenses to remain low, but the least expensive item isn’t always the best one.

Instead, I suggest using lower price quotes to negotiate prices with the manufacturers with greater communication and fulfillment abilities.

Once we’ve decided on the supplier we’ll make payment arrangements using our preferred method. Most suppliers take PayPal as well as Alibaba’s Trade Assurance to process safe and secure transactions.

8. Create Your Amazon Listing.

It can take 3-4 weeks for manufacturers to develop a product and then another 1-2 weeks to send that product off to the vendor, or the closest Amazon fulfillment center.

This 4-6 week time frame is the ideal time to design the Amazon listing.

Before you create your Amazon listing, ensure that you’ve got everything in place to launch and publish ahead of time.

Second, great product photos are a must. If you do not have seriously good photography skills I would recommend using an expert.

Then, the title.

It’s one of the most crucial aspects of your Amazon products that are private label.

It’s how Amazon determines the place where your item should be viewed within its databases.

Also, make sure the keywords you include for your name are appropriate!

For instance, if your company is marketing “copper measuring cups” and would like to rank for that keyword, make sure you add “copper measuring cups” at the top of the title.

Then, you can follow the set of keywords you chose by incorporating the secondary and tertiary keywords you’d like to rank for.

In the end, you should incorporate your product’s most appealing attributes and advantages in the description of the product field as well as bullet points.

They help your customers make an informed purchase when they visit your website.

The greater your private label product can meet the needs and wants of customers the more likely to purchase.

9. Optimize Your Listing to Increase Sales.

The majority of the Amazon FBA private label selling procedure can be described as “set it and forget it” however, you should still ensure that your listing is doing all it can to generate sales.

Amazon’s own internal advertising system – Amazon PPC is a fantastic method of attracting the attention of your own private brand.

With Amazon PPC you can are able to bid for “sponsored ads”, and these ads aid in making your product be featured in the initial page outcomes, as well as on the remarketing adverts outside of Amazon as well as on competitor’s product pages.

Reports can be run through Amazon Seller Central to find out which keywords convert, and help you decide which most profitable keywords to advertise on PPC.

You can also use the Amazon Keyword tool to find out what keywords your competitors are using to sell their products.

After several weeks of tweaking and changing your bids, you’ll be able to triple – perhaps even double! – your Amazon sales.

Once you are familiar when you are comfortable with Amazon PPC and the Amazon sales process, you are able to employ other tools to conduct tests to determine the efficacy of the various components in the Amazon FBA private-label product listings.

Testing A/B (or split-testing) is a great way to determine what is effective and what isn’t working.

When your split test is used, you conduct two simultaneous tests with minor modifications to your listing of products (eg. main image, price point, etc. ).

A computerized program like Splitly lets you know the things that work and what don’t.

I’m often shocked to discover the titles and images I thought would bring in sales were harming me.

Recommended Guide: The Amazon Advertising Audit Checklist.