Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace, and it seems like it is growing day by day. With its objective to become “Earth’s most customer-centric company,” Amazon has changed the perspective of the customers about online shopping. Amazon has provided the sellers with a robust platform to reach out to the global audience. With Amazon introducing the Handmade Marketplace, artisans and crafters are now not limited to selling their products locally. If you are an Etsy seller, then you will love the idea of selling at Amazon’s Handmade Marketplace.

What is Handmade at Amazon?

With Amazon’s Handmade Marketplace, you have the opportunity to sell your products to over 250 million global customers. Handmade at Amazon is a different approach when it comes to selling on Amazon. For starters, the products you are selling must be handmade by you, the artisan, or an employee of your collective. Your product needs to be approved by the Handmade at Amazon team before you can start selling. You need to send an application regarding selling at Amazon’s Handmade Marketplace, and once your application is approved, you can sell in any of the desired categories including personal care, apparel, home décor, and jewelry among others.

If you are considering selling at Amazon’s Handmade Marketplace but don’t know how then you are at the right place.

To help you with the whole “handmade product selling on Amazon” procedure, we will go through the fundamentals of applying for and selling, including tips and tricks that we have learned from our research.

#1 Create a great product line

The first thing you need to do before you start filling your application is to find and create a great product line that is really valuable to your target audience. Hence, research is essential. There are plenty of sellers selling handmade products on Amazon. You can take inspiration from them or come up with your unique product. The goal is to create a product that will sell well on the Amazon marketplace. Choosing the right handmade product to sell will impact every other business direction you make. So initially, you need to forget a catchy company name, forget a beautiful theme, and forget which shipping options you offer. They are all important but what’s more important is to get right from the very beginning what exactly you sell.

The best thing you can do is go out in the local market and see what the crafters and artisans are offering. You need to find a niche product that serves a specific segment of customers. The term ‘handmade’ is probably the most effective descriptor to help emphasize the uniqueness and quality of a product. So, the product you choose must be unique and special in a positive manner that your target audience will find it interesting. It can be anything from jewelry, scented candles, bath bombs, clothing, and personal care products like shampoo, bear oil, etc.

#2 Get thorough with the features of Amazon Handmade

Although the fundamentals of your business will be the same regardless of Amazon Homemade platform, there are certain things that are only specific to Amazon Homemade. So, you need to get thorough with the features of the Amazon Handmade platform before you jump in. This will allow you to understand the necessary features including the specific ones that will help you with setting up your particular handmade shop on Amazon. Even if you have researched your product, you need to still go through the sellable categories to ensure that your chosen handmade product is credible for selling on the Amazon marketplace. On the other hand, there are plenty of programs available to help your handmade product selling business thrive. These include Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) that allows you to reach more customers and Sponsored Ads that will enable you to reach and engage with customers at every stage of their journey. Moreover, you will also get to know about how to do SEO, what types of images to use, and many other things.

#3 Complete and submit your application form

Handmade at Amazon requires you to complete and submit an application form. It has a strict vetting process, and you need to provide all the necessary information about you and your product before you can start selling. You need to provide with crisp and clear images of your product as well. The main objective of Handmade at Amazon is to encourage artisans and crafters to keep their art alive. So you can only sell genuine factory-free handcrafted products. You need to ensure that the photos you have provided are of high-quality in order to avoid delays in approval.

You are required to provide the following information when filling up your application:

  1. The category you feel best matches the product you are selling
  2. Are you going to sell in additional product categories?
  3. Type of products you will be offering in your primary category
  4. Three high-quality pictures of the product you are selling

In addition to the given information, you will also require providing the following information as well: 

Who makes your products?
You need to tell whether it is you who craft the product or whether you have artisans or employees working for you.
 
How many people work for you?
You may also need to provide information on how many people work for you.

After you have completed and submitted your application, Amazon will review all your provided information. This is to ensure that the product you are selling isn’t mass-produced and meets Amazon’s standard.

Upon approval, Amazon will send you an email notification welcoming you to the platform. The email will contain details about the fees involved, how to set up your Artisan account, and more.

We recommend you opt for a professional selling account instead of an individual selling account once you get accepted for selling at Amazon’s Handmade Marketplace. Although getting a professional account will cost you a monthly charge of $39.99, Amazon has waived off the cost till December 31, 2019. It is ideal to opt for the professional account because you will have to pay the professional fee once you start selling over 40 items a month. On the other hand, you will also have to pay an additional referral charge of 15% per handmade product. It may seem like a costly affair, but if you are planning to sell for long-term, this is the best deal you can avail.

Read More About Amazon Selling:

#4 Create your Artisan Profile

Now that you are a registered Handmade at Amazon artisan, it is time for you to set up your shop. Your Artisan profile tells buyers your story and inspires them to purchase your handmade products. Hence, you will want to spend as much time as possible to make it look great.

Are you a furniture maker, an expert potter, or a jewelry designer? Tell your target audience your area of expertise or the craft that you master in. Further, you can go into more detail about your creative process by telling your audience what materials you use and how you make your products. Lastly, customers feel more connected when they know the area the seller is operating from. Amazon marketplace respects its sellers’ privacy; hence, they will only share your country or state.

Once you have completed your Artisan Profile, click Save & Publish to publish your Artisan Profile on Amazon.com. You can then work on adding additional content and pictures after posting.

In the ‘Images’ section, you can continue sharing your story. Add images of you hard at work, your workspace, including images that have inspired your creations. According to Amazon’s guidelines, the images need to be at least 500 pixels. You can use cropped images that best suits your profile.

Lastly, in the “More About You” section, you can tell your target audience about yourself. Start by providing your name. In the next section, you can help your target audience understand the meaning behind your handmade products. You can tell everything from how you got started in order to inspire them, highlight your unique skills, and explain what your areas of expertise are.

#5 Start Listing Handmade Products

Once you have set up your Artisan Profile, you need to list your handmade products. You need to provide the necessary information for each of your product to complete your listing. As there will be no listing charges, your listing will never expire. Therefore, you can dedicate a proportionate amount of time in listing all your products. This will enable you to make your listings look great.

For listing your product, you need to choose the handmade category and the sub-category that is suiting your product. However, you need to be specific because this helps Amazon’s robust search algorithm to do its work by making your listing visible to your target audience.

For creating a unique listing, you need to take a combination of best practices and patience. When it comes to selling handmade on Amazon, there is no perfect recipe for success. The following are the steps you need to take for getting started.

 
1. Titles:
You need to write an eye-catchy title for each of your product. The title you write must be short and only represent the main product and no other information, options or customizations. That is, you must not include discounts and other aspects in your title to lure the customers in.
 
2. Keywords:
It is all about keywords. Being discovered by your target audience requires the use of proper keywords. The primary keyword needs to be included in the product title as it will help your product appear in the search. Keyword research is important in this aspect, and you can review your competitors’ listings to see what keywords they are using. Moreover, you can also use tools like Product Spy Pro Keyword Research Tool for getting highly ranked keywords for your Amazon product listing.
 
3. Product Description:
Product description gives your target audience an overview of the product you are selling. You need to write a product description in such a manner that it covers all the special aspect and features about your product while giving your customers all the necessary information as well. Most importantly, you need to include all the primary keywords and LSI keywords to ensure that your product appears in the search. Amazon’s algorithm is smart, so your idea of stuffing up the keywords will do no good. If Amazon finds about that, they may suspend your account.
 
4. Occasion Type:
You can select up to four occasions for the product you are selling. Occasion Type is a critical field that allows your target audience to discover handmade products for specific themes or events.
 
5. Product Images:
This is the most vital part of the creation of your product listing. You need high-quality pictures of your product clicked from all the angles possible so that your customers can judge the product just by seeing the images. Pictures play a crucial role in the buying decision of a customer. Customers mostly rely on product images to assess the product, and since they cannot physically examine the product, images are all that they got to make a decision.

Read More About Amazon Selling:

 

#6 Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

Packing and shipping your handmade products can consume an immense amount of time. By availing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) feature, you don’t have to worry about the packaging and shipping of your products. All you have to do is send your inventory to the Amazon fulfillment center, where a dedicated team of packers will take care of packing and sending out the orders in time.

#7 Don’t forget to advertise

Advertising your handmade product is essential, as it will ensure that it remains visible all the time to your target audience. You need to promote your product as much as possible and wherever possible. Social media is the biggest marketing platform for handmade sellers.

Conclusion

That’s it! This is how you can sell handmade products on Amazon. Selling handmade products is somewhat similar to regular selling on Amazon but with some tweaks. You can take inspiration from other sellers already selling handmade items on Amazon and ask whatever query that’s striking you. Moreover, you can also contact us regarding any questions regarding selling at Amazon’s Handmade Marketplace.

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