Selling your own products on Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify

Most online guides on marketplace trading offer to start a business without having your own production. The essence of such schemes is to buy in China and enter the market by “sticking” your logo on the product. And it is very rare to find information on how to sell your products on Amazon and other foreign platforms. We decided to fix this by writing detailed instructions for manufacturers.

What difficulties do new sellers face on Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify?

It would seem that having their own production, the seller is already “on the horse”, at least because they have organized business processes. Such market participants do not need to create a brand, test demand, analyze competitors, or worry that a Chinese supplier will send a shipment of inadequate quality.

But wait… Only the last point is fair. All other stages will have to be passed without fail, regardless of whether you are a manufacturer or resell goods from China.

In other words, the process of entering the marketplace is not limited to creating a seller profile in a couple of clicks. To get started, you need to

• choose a jurisdiction;
• register your own trademark in the US and/or the EU;
• register a company in various local/regional/international registers (depending on the planned sales geography and business specifics)
• open a bank account in the required currency for SWIFT/ACH/SEPA payments and the ability to accept money via PayPal, etc.

Let’s leave the issues of marketing, direct sales organization, and customer service for later. At the initial stages, it is much more important to resolve the issues of the legal spectrum:

• finding the optimal taxation model;
• interaction with foreign regulatory authorities;
• the need and frequency of income declaration;
• obtaining patents and certificates;
• frequency of reporting and practical implementation of all the above actions.

In addition, the difficulties include the basic things that are relevant when entering a new market: finding your target audience and marketing to them, competition, practical implementation of an online storefront (searching for relevant keywords, filling out product cards), etc.

Finally, how do you sell your product on Amazon and other marketplaces?

When you have figured out all the financial and legal aspects of doing business on Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify, it’s time to start solving problems related to logistics, warehousing, and marketing. Let’s try to understand a little bit about each of these areas.

Do you need a warehouse in the US to sell on marketplaces?

No, you don’t. It is more expedient to use Amazon’s fulfillment service (you send the goods to the marketplace’s warehouse, and the company provides storage/delivery to the customer). When selling on Etsy or Shopify, you can use the services of third-party companies that offer fulfillment services. This is often much more profitable than renting warehouse space and organizing human resources to ensure its efficiency.

How to deliver goods to an Amazon warehouse or third-party fulfillment warehouses

Often, container transportation is much cheaper than air delivery. But everything is individual, depending on the size of the cargo and dozens of other factors. You can use the services of private carriers or solutions offered by national logistics companies (for example, Nova Poshta Global (if you live in Ukraine).

What are the most important marketing expenses when entering marketplaces?

First and foremost, it is everything that builds brand reputation and influences the loyalty/interest of the potential target audience. We would rank the importance of costs as follows:

• buying reviews;
• setting up PPC advertising;
• management and promotion of social media.

We hope that the information in this article has cleared up some of your questions about how to sell your own products. For more information, you can contact us for a free consultation. To do so, please use the form below.