FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon.

Here is a
high level overview of how the process works:

You source products from overseas

You brand these products under your brand name

Your products are sent directly to an Amazon warehouse

Amazon organizes, stores, and ships your product

Amazon handles customer service and returns

You get paid!

FBA Growth University is a comprehensive course on

everything Amazon FBA. Upon completing the course you
will have an in-depth understanding of how to source and
brand products, and sell them on Amazon.
Email Address: A unique address just for your Seller Central
account

Name: Either your name or your business name

Address: Either your address or your business address

Deposit Method: Bank Account or 3rd party service for receiving

your Amazon payment

Charge Method: Credit card for paying the monthly fee (note:
once you start selling, the fees can be taken from your Amazon
account instead of your credit card)

Documentation: To prove your identification (note: We will cover

this further later) -Deposit method and credit card number

EIN Number: This number is needed for tax purposes. If you are
operating as a sole proprietor in the USA, your social security
number will work instead of an EIN number. If you decide to get
an EIN number instead of using your SSN, you will need to get an
official EIN number and can apply for one here:
[Link]
1) Go to [Link]

2) Click “sign up” below the “become a selling header”

3) It will prompt you to login. Enter

your email and select ‘Create a New
Account” (We suggest you create a
new email address that you will use
going forward for everything related
to your business. This is the best way
for you to stay organized, and you
can do this easily and for free
through [Link].)

4) Verify your Email address and

click "Create your Amazon account"
5) Choose your ‘Business location’ and ‘Business type’
This next step in the Amazon seller registration process is
to share your business location and business type.

Your business location: This is the country in which your

business is located. It’s extremely important that this is
accurate, as Amazon will be verifying it.
Your business type: Select "none" I am an individual
6) Enter your personal information
From there, you’ll be asked to provide Amazon with a number
of personal details. This. includes a form of identification
(either your passport number or your driver’s license). You
may also be required to give them your phone number. Again,
this is for verification purposes.
7) Choose your marketplace(s)
Once you’ve completed the above section, check the box below the
marketplace(s) — this refers to the countries you plan to sell in (eg.
[Link], [Link], etc.) — select, and then click ‘next’.

8) Enter your billing information: Another way Amazon is now

verifying a potential seller’s identity is to make sure their credit card
information is valid. So, after you’ve chosen your marketplace(s),
you’ll be asked to enter in the number and expiration date of one of
your credit cards, as well as the name that appears on that card.
9) Add the information for your product(s) and Amazon store
After you supply your credit card information and it has been
validated. you’ll be asked a few questions about your Amazon
store and the products you plan to sell. To move onto the
next phase of the Amazon seller registration process, you’ll
need to answer the following:
The name of your Amazon store (Can be changed later)
Whether or not you have UPC codes for your product(s) -
YES you do.
If you are the manufacturer and/or brand owner of the
product(s) you’re selling- YES you are.
If you have a registered trademark for your product(s)
Most likely not.
10) Address validation
Lastly, once you have completed all of the other steps in the
verification process, you’ll be asked to confirm the business
address you provided in step six (the ‘Personal Information’
screen).

After clicking on the ‘Confirm’ button — if the address

displayed is correct - a new screen will appear. It explains
that you will receive a postcard at that address, along with a
verification code / OR Amazon will request a phone call set
up to verify you. Then, when you receive the card, enter the
code provided into the ‘Enter code below’ field and click
‘Next’ to finish the verification process. Or the phone call will
have you verified. Once you’re verified, you’re in!

To be on the safe side, we recommend setting up 2-step

verification on your account (for increased security). But, once
your identity and business information has been verified, all
you need to do to get started is to log into
[Link]
 To create your first brand in:

Baby
Health & Household
Arts, Crafts, & Sewing
Home & Kitchen
Industrial & Scientific
Office Products
Pet Supplies
Sports & Outdoors
Toys & Games
Tools & Home Improvement
Easily Breakable Products Electrical Plug ins
lots of variations Contains lithium batteries
textiles and clothing Patented
Hand Soap Hazmat Replacement parts
Hyaluronic acid Weapons related
Ice ball maker Pesticides
Coconut oil Essential oils Medical devices
Face Masks Covid-19 related products
Food Bags CBD products
Food Containers
Frying Pans
Green coffee bean extract
Latex Gloves
Chefs torch
Yoga Mats
Oil Diffusers
Silicone Cup
Vitamins
Water Bottles
Blender Bottles
Hand Sanitizer
iPhone Case
Accessories Fidget Pop Toys
Led Lanterns
All fidget toys
 Product research is the most important step in this process, but you
also do not want to let and endless search for the right product slow
you down from launching. Finding the right product is much more
about finding a profitable product than a product or niche that you
are personally passionate about.
You need to have an open mind when it comes to finding your first
product. Try researching categories you might never think about
selling in, and be open to categories you may personally never
consider shopping in.
Products with extremely high revenue likely have lots of competition.
This process is about finding the sweet spot: a product with a decent
profit margin that sells for over $20, good revenue, and limited
competition.
Multiple products with lower revenues are just as valuable if not more
valuable one one product with high revenue. This is where the long
term vision comes into play.
Never exclude yourself and your brand(s) to a single category
whatever the reason. As you build your brand(s) it’s important to
continue product and category research and be open to expanding
into new categories.
Simple products with the least parts or accessories, are going to be
the easiest to get manufactured and branded.

NOTE: Your first product WILL be the hardest to launch, you are learning
so much throughout this process so be patient with yourself. The FBA
product launch process will continue to get easier as your offerings and
brand expands - so keep your vision big and stay open minded!
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you choose your supplier from [Link]

You should be very careful when selecting a supplier. Only work with Alibaba
suppliers who have trade assurance and are gold suppliers. This adds an extra
layer of protection and ensures quality products are made and delivered. In
most cases, a supplier who has Trade Assurance and is a Gold Supplier have
been inspected thoroughly by Alibaba. When we look for our suppliers we
want to make sure they are a serious company with experience. We
recommend taking your time when selecting your supplier. This is an
important part of the process.

To be a Gold Supplier on [Link] the company must pay. All Gold

Suppliers in China must pass Onsite Check while those from other countries
and regions must pass Alibaba’s A&V Check. Once approved, Gold Supplier
members are authorized to display the Gold Supplier icon to demonstrate that
their business has been verified by a third agency as a legally registered
business. The number of years a member has been a Gold Supplier on
[Link] is displayed along with the logo and updated every year.

Trade Assurance protects buyers’ orders, and it minimizes risk by guaranteeing

money back in the event of a supplier failing to meet the terms of the order
contract including: delivery delays, quality and quantity discrepancies or other
processing problems. Trade Assurance applies a credit-rating system that
incentivizes suppliers to produce and deliver high-quality goods on time and
according to the buyers’ specifications.

We recommend you at least contact 5-8 suppliers to begin with when

comparing MOQ’s, quality, and communication between each. It can also be
helpful to create a supplier spreadsheet of your top 3 for each product to keep
track. The supplier sheet should include contact information and also MOQ,
price, shipping information and anything else you find important to make a
note of.
 Why developing a long lasting relationship with your supplier is important:

Your supplier can help you have a successful business long term. You should
view the supplier you select as a long term business partner.
You can get better payment terms as you develop a relationship with your
supplier. This means that they will consider lowering the deposit you put
down to start manufacturing as you continue to do business with them.
Your supplier may give you ideas for add ons for your product. They have a
good pulse on what new products might come to the market, and can be a
great resource for product research and sourcing.
When you build a legitimate relationship with your supplier they may work
hard for you to speed up production timelines.

Communication suggestions:

A very important key when communicating with potential suppliers is to KEEP

IT SIMPLE. Keep in mind English is likely not their first language. Be polite,
and direct.
It is important to limit the amount of questions you ask the supplier at one
time, to avoid misunderstandings. We also suggest numbering each question
so your requests are clear.
It is okay, and normal to communicate on WhatsApp. It can be a quicker and
easier way to communicate with your supplier
Keep in mind that they are trying to make money too, and off of smaller
orders - sometimes suppliers make no money at all. They want to keep you as
a customer just as much as you need a good supplier.
Be nice, and be professional!
 Introduction message suggestion:

“Hi there, my name is ____. I am an Amazon FBA seller and

am interested in ordering 500 of the _____.” Could you
please let me know the MOQ and the price per item if I
order 500 units? As well as provide me with a shipping
quote ?"

NOTE: In order to get a shipping quote the supplier will

need an address. You can give them your home address so
that you may recieve your quote. Your final shipment will
be going to an Amazon warehouse, but for this you can
give them your home address.
MOQ = minimum order quality

Relating to Amazon FBA, MOQ is the minimum quantity of units that your
supplier requires to send you product. This can often be negotiated with
suppliers.

We highly suggest for your first Amazon FBA product you 500 units. 1000
units is a large investment, and 250-300 might not give you enough time
to restock in between shipments (which results in losing your ranking on
Amazon.) Ordering 500 units gives you the ability to launch successfully,
rank to page one, and have enough inventory to last until your next
shipment arrives.

Note: if it is Q4/the holidays we advise you to order 750-1000 units if it is

your first item. The demand is much higher during this time so it is
important to think ahead.
[Link] figure out if an item will be profitable for you, begin by contacting
suppliers to receive a quote so that you can determine the cost per unit.
You are also going to want to ask them for a shipping cost estimate (or
get a shipping cost quote through a website like Freightos.) They will ask
you for your shipping address and contact information for the shipping
quote. It doesn’t have to be the Amazon warehouse address, it can be
your address, as this is just to get a general idea of cost per unit. Only ask
for these details from your top three suppliers.

2. Once you do that, you will now know the cost per unit, as well as the
shipping cost per unit.

3. We will need to pull an ASIN number of one of your main competitors,

this will help the calculator give you an accurate profit margin

4. Now you can plug in all the numbers you have and figure out your
profit margin using the link below. We will use the Amazon FBA
Calculator for all products prior to placing an order, you can use the link
below to access it:

[Link]
Check if brand name is available using the steps in the
Trademark Related PDFs

You want to chose something that is broad, as you will be

adding more items to your brand and you want to make
sure the name in general enough to encompass future
items. However, consider a brand name that hints at the
category or niche you are in.

Examine your market niche to get ideas, and to see what

other people are doing

See how your brand name looks capitalized, as many

Amazon brands display their names at the beginning of
their title in all caps.

Get creative, but keep it simple!

 Why is it important to build a brand for your Amazon FBA Business?
Trust: Establishing a brand helps build trust and legitimacy with your
customers, it helps them believe that you a legitimate brand
Brand recognition: as you continue to add products under that brand,
people will begin to recognize your brand and that can help with sales
Quality: it is important to source high quality products. As you create
brand recognition people will begin to associate your brand with
quality and continue to purchase from you

What is branding? Branding is the

promotion of a particular product or
What branding do I
company by means of advertising need created?
and distinctive design.

Logo - Your logo should

Why is branding important for your
represent the category you are
Amazon FBA product?
in, and your brand name should
1. Creating a brand with strong
also fit your niche. You could
branding elements is important
also consider a brand name (and
because you set yourself up more
therefore logo) that is very
long term success.
general like “Apple.”
2. You can focus on one specific
niche and really build a solid
reputation and customer base. Packaging design - be aware
Eventually you can get to a point that your first photo on Amazon
where the brand could be might have the packaging in it.
purchased. This is a huge opportunity to
3. It will be easier if you want to stand out from your
launch another product to stick to competitors. This is an
one specific niche when creating opportunity for you to highlight
your brand. the best parts of your products
4. Branding is about what makes us and branding.
different and what captures an
audience.
What it is a patent? A patent gives the patent owner a monopoly on the terms
of the patent, for a certain number of years. The patent owner can prevent
other people from manufacturing or selling anything covered in the patent.
Avoid selling anything with an existing patent.

What does patent pending mean? “Patent Pending” means that someone has
applied for the patent, but it has not been granted yet. Avoid these products.
However, sometimes sellers will put patent pending on their product just to
scare aware competitors, regardless - avoid these products.

Hiring a patent consultant: If you are concerned the product you are working
on or plan to sell might have a patent or patent pending status, you can hire a
patent consultant, you can do this by searching for a patent consultant on
[Link]

Ordering competitors product: It is a good idea to order your competitors

products. It can help you determine a way to make your product stand stand
out or differentiate it, and when it comes to patents; their product or packaging
will usually call out “patented” or “patent pending" so ordering their product
can be a great way to double check on the patent status of their product.

Doing a patent search:

1. Go to [Link]
2. Search the general broad term for the product you would like to sell on
Amazon
3. Read thoroughly through the description/abstract and compare it to the
description of the Amazon product you are planning to sell, if it does - you
need to either stay away from that product completely, or redo the design
from the ground up. The patented products shown here cannot be the
exact same as what you want to sell.
A Trademark gives you legal claim over your brand names, slogans, and logos.
Trademarks are for protecting brand identity; they do not protect inventions or
original works such as art or music. Trademarks give you nationwide protection
for your brand. Other sellers will not be able to use your trademarked brand
name or logo to sell products in the same category or “class” as you, unless it’s
with your permission.

What can you trademark?

A trademark is how individuals recognize your service or business in the
marketplace. The following could be trademarked:

A product name
Product Packaging or Labeling
A business name
A symbol or design
A logo or label
A sound

Trademark Strength:
To increase your chances of having your symbol, slogan, or name trademarked,
make sure you have a strong mark. Distinct names, logos, or symbols have a
higher likelihood of trademark protection. You want a brand name that is not
easily confused with another trademarked brand name, make sure it is easily
distinguishable.
How to run a Trademark Search:
Searching for a registered trademark is relatively easy. To begin, look through
the trademarks registered at the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Search System
(TESS). This search shows registered marks and the respective trademark
classes. There are 45 trademark classes—34 for goods and 11 for services.
Searching through TESS is free. The USPTO website provides tips on how best
to search for a particular trademark on goods or services. TESS will show
inactive and active registrations for trademarks and applications. For logo and
design searches, use the USPTO Design Search Code Manual. (Source:
LegalZoom)

Trademark Search Link:

[Link]

To conduct a thorough trademark search, make sure to do the following:

Conduct a Google search using the possible names you may use for your
business. Note what comes up in your particular industry.
With web-based businesses, you can search for domain registrar names at
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Check your state trademarks through the Secretary of State Office to
determine if yours is registered.
Check social media to see if another brand exists that is using your desired
brand name.
No, but we highly recommend it if you have the funds to do so. Every brand
selling their products online should trademark to be safe. A trademark protects
your products and your brand. It means you are the legal owner of your brand,
and only those who have your permission can use your brand name or logo.
Without it, you have no recourse to another person or company stealing your
name or branding assets. If you spend time and money investing in a new idea
and don’t get a trademark or patent in place, someone can start selling your
exact product and piggy back off your success. Also, having a registered
trademark allows you to sign up for brand registry on Amazon. Brand registry
gives you access to exclusive tools and benefits, and A+ content (the large and
extensive images and infographics in the description section of a listing) which
gives your products a competitive edge. You will learn more about the
importance of brand registry in the next videos and PDFs.

How much does it cost to trademark?

In general, the cost of trademarking a service or logo at the federal USPTO
office ranges from $250 to $750. The fee, according to the USPTO, is
dependent on two factors—the number of trademarks you seek and the
class of goods and services you'd like to trademark. (Source: LegalZoom)

Trademarking on [Link] comes with a slightly higher price tag

than doing it completely on your own, but it makes the process much more
straightforward, and we would suggest you do it through Legal Zoom if you
can afford it.

NOTE: The actual trademark process might take anywhere from 1-9 months
to be complete, BUT, you can apply for brand registry through Amazon with
a pending trademark so you do not have to wait.
What is Brand Registry? Brand registry gives you access to exclusive tools and
benefits, and A+ content (the large and extensive images and infographics in
the description section of a listing) which gives your products a competitive
edge.

Benefits of Brand Registry:

Accurate brand representation
Powerful search and report tools
Ability to remove listings using your brand name
Brand-building benefits such as Enhanced Brand Content
Have more control over Amazon product pages that use your brand name
Use exclusive search tools to find possible brand infringement cases
Remove listings that incorrectly use your trademarked terms or logos
Strengthen your product listings with Enhanced Brand Content and
Storefronts

How long does it take for Amazon Brand Registry Approval?

Assuming that you already have a trademark, or you’ve submitted a request
through the IP Accelerator program, the entire approval process should take
about two weeks. Just make sure you submit everything Amazon needs for your
brand the first time around. Also, make sure you review all of the eligibility
requirements, and please note that your brand must have an active registered
trademark in each country where you would like to enroll to qualify.
A lot of the registry’s perks and capabilities live right on your Amazon Seller
Central dashboard. As a member of the Brand Registry, you can go to the
performance tab on Seller Central’s main navigation bar, and select “brand
dashboard” to gain access. This screen will give you a holistic view of your
brand performance, with additional information and metrics to dig into.
Access A+ Content:
One of the best features of Amazon’s Brand Registry is its “A+ Content Manager”
(formerly called Enhanced Brand Content). You should be able to find the tool
under Brand Benefits, but you can also locate it under the Advertising navigation
tab. A+ content allows you to add further text and images to your product listings,
over and above the standard plain-text product description. Ultimately, having A+
content gives your listing a much more professional look.

A+ content can improve your sales:

As soon as you select the ASIN for which you plan to use A+ content, it’s easy to
create your enhanced listing. Amazon’s simple template setup allows you to select
different module layouts, and media to upload. Make sure you’re focusing on the
quality of content and not the quantity. Less is more! Lastly, you’ll have to submit
all enhanced content for review. (Before it goes live, it needs Amazon’s approval.)
Once submitted, you can easily check the status of your submission on your Brand
Dashboard, enabling you to stay on top of any requested revisions.

With A+ content you have additional features:

Product video: Unlike sellers whose products aren’t registered, brand-registered
sellers can add product videos to their listings. This can be a huge boost to your
conversions, as buyers don’t have to guess what your product is or how it works.
The video, if done well, could be the difference between a shopper walking away,
or pressing the ‘Add to Cart’ button.

Amazon storefronts: Stores are often composed of one or more pages, with each
page made up of a header and footer surrounded by a number of content tiles.
And when you choose to create a store, the step-by-step process is
straightforward. You won’t need any special skills to get it done! Sponsored
Brands are another way to engage with customers, and are the headline ads that
appear at the top of the page in your Amazon search results. You can utilize these
ads to help drive discovery of your brand, using custom messaging to help
shoppers see your brand the way you want it to be seen. Customers are already
searching for your product, so what better way to draw attention to your brand!
Your images and product photography are the most important part of
your listing. They are what will convince customers your product is
better than the competition, and will likely be the deciding factor in
why someone will or won’t choose to buy your product. We
recommend your product have at least 5 images and they should be
high quality photos & infographics.

You can take the photos yourself, hire a professional photographer,

or you can have your supplier provide photos, and then you can
send them to Fiverr to have the coloring and photos enhanced. If
your supplier can provide you with simple white background photos
of your product this is the option we suggest. From there you could
have a designer on Fiverr edit and photoshop your photos.

The pictures are important to have completed before the rest if your
shipment arrives at amazon's warehouse. Once your product arrived
and begins getting uploaded to your Amazon inventory, the listing
will go live. So you want to do what you can to have your listing
ready for your launch week.
NOTES about Resolution & Dimensions
Image size: Your Amazon picture sizes need to be at least 1000
pixels wide or tall, and 1600 pixels on the longest side. You can’t
make your images bigger than 10,000 pixels on the longest side.
Image frame: The product should fill 85% or more of the frame.
Background color: ALL product photos should have a pure white
background. File format: You can upload JPEG, PNG, GIF or TIFF
files. Amazon prefers JPEG.

If you are going to have a photographer take the photos, make sure
to let your supplier know you will need one unit sent to your home
and have it expedited. This should be low-cost, or the cost of a
sample.

More about product photography:

If you take the images at home all you need to purchase is a light
box or lighting accessories so you have a white background so it
can be easily edited and be of professional quality. You can find a
lightbox or lightbox with stand on Amazon

If you want to get your images professionally taken there are

many options to find local photographers that specialize in
amazon product photography: For example Facebook, Craigslist,
or Fiverr.
First image: The main image should be your product with a white
background. This is standard, and is actually an Amazon requirement. The
main image should not have any graphics or illustrations on it. However,
we do suggest that if you have nice packaging to include the packaging
with your product in your first photo.

Secondary images: Secondary Images should be lifestyle images, showing

your product in use, or displaying benefits or instructions if needed.

Infographics: Infographics are what you will see many competitors using
on Amazon. Infographics are creative illustrations that use design to show
how a product may be used, it’s properties, it’s size etc. These can be
created by designers on Fiverr if you supply them with your photos and
instructions for what you want.

Photoshop: If you are unable to take or have lifestyle photos taken, or

create photos of your product in a certain space - you can again outsource
this to someone on Fiverr who will photoshop your images into a scene.

Research your competition: What has always helped us is researching our

main competitors, understanding their sequence of images and using that
to help us make sure we do our best with ours. If they are Amazon's
choice or the Best Seller - they must be doing something right. Use their
listing to help you create yours.
You should now know what kind of packaging your supplier provides.
Usually they provide standard packaging with your logo on it.
However it depends on the item type. Sometimes there is more room
to customize a product's packaging, and other times it simply comes
in a ploy bag. Discuss this with your supplier.

You will need to understand the dimensions of your packaging in

order to get your packaging designed and completed. You can ask
your supplier for a packaging template to then send to a designer for
custom packaging.

Not all products necessarily need custom packaging. For example: if

you are selling a mouse or a keyboard vs. a makeup product. A mouse
or a keyboard may not need custom packaging and having standard
packing is perfectly acceptable. For the cosmetic product packaging
would be necessary and crucial.

We recommend you order a competitor or two's product to get an

idea's for your own packaging.

For logo design and packaging design we suggest you hire a design
off of [Link] to do your designs. These are generally very
affordable projects on Fiverr. Find a designer who's work you like and
follow the prompts to get them the information they need to get
started.
What are product inserts?
Product inserts are the cards that will go in your box or packaging, that
are used as a way to collect customer information, generate reviews,
sales, coupons. The opportunities for their uses are endless! Product
inserts are an affordable out of the box marketing opportunity for your
brand.

Asking for reviews on your product insert:

You CANNOT ask for a positive or five star review
You CAN ask for customers to leave an honest review

How it works:
Using portals on Helium 10, you can use one of their pre-designed
insert card templates to create your own.
You will be designing it, downloading the PFD, and then sending to
your supplier
Your supplier will handle printing the insert cards and putting one
with each unit

Portals:
With portals you can design the insert card, generate a QR code to put on
your insert card so that customers can land on your portal's landing page
when they scan it, collect customer email addresses, and request an
honest review.
When do I have an insert card made?
When you place your order, be sure to tell your supplier that you
would like each unit to have an insert card. They should be able to
print these and insert them.
Begin designing this once your order is placed, you do not want them
to put this off until the end, and even consider asking your supplier
the last day that you could send them over your insert card PDF, that
will give you a deadline.
What is a UPC Barcode? When we private label products, we need to
include barcodes on each of our units so that Amazon recognizes them as a
part of our listing. UPC = Universal Product Code. The Universal Product
Code (UPC) is a barcode symbology that is widely used in the United States,
Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, in Europe and other
countries for tracking trade items in stores.

What is an FNSKU Code? FNSKU = The FNSKU is an acronym for Fulfillment

Network SKU or Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit. The FNSKU is the
way that Amazon identifies a product as unique to the seller that has sent
it to the Amazon fulfillment center.

How many do I need? Once we are getting our product manufactured we

will need to purchase a UPC barcode so our supplier can apply it to our
product packaging. You will ONLY need one UPC code per product.
Example: If you order 500 units of one unit, you will only need 1 barcode. If
you order 500 units total, and 250 of them are blue, and 250 of them are
red you will then need 2 UPC codes.

Getting your UPC/GS1: You need a UPC Barcode to use and convert into a
FNSKU code, which is the barcode Amazon will use to recognize your
products and track them. You will be purchasing a UPC barcode from a
certified seller. We recommend the official GS1 Database at:
[Link] You can purchase your first barcode for $30 and
then use this to create your draft listing where then you can convert it into
an FNSKU code.

How many UPC/GS1 barcodes do I need to buy? As a first time Amazon

seller we do not suggest that you launch a product with variations;
meaning selling a product that has different color or size options at
purchase. However, if you are selling a product with different sizes or
colors you will need to purchase a GS1 barcode for each variation.
 You are now going to create your product draft Listing. The goal of
this step is to generate your FNSKU label, which you will send to your
supplier for them to apply to each unit.

Warning Labels & Restricted Categories

In addition to getting your FNSKU code, you are also creating the
draft listing with the purpose of knowing if you will trigger any
hazmat warnings, if it is in a gated category or will require approval.
There isn’t a list of “restricted products” but you should do some
research on your category and product to double check everything.

It is much better to know this important information now and not

make the mistake of having your products shipped and ready to go
but having to delay your launch because you find out later your
product is gated and may require approval. Although you can get it
fixed, it takes a bit of time. Amazon support requires a very strict
format of label requirements, picture order, location of labels, etc.

We strongly recommend you be more than sure before your product

arrives that you create your listing and make sure your specific
product does not require label requirements. Also you will know
ahead of time to let your supplier know this information while they
are manufacturing your product.
What is the purpose of creating a draft listing?
Our products cannot ship until our supplier has put an FNSKU
code on each individual unit. Follow the below steps to take the
GS1 barcode you have purchased, and convert it into an FNSKU
code on Amazon. Then you can download the PDF of the FNSKU
and send it to your supplier.

How do I create my FNSKU barcodes?

Create the product’s draft listing
Go to your seller central
Go to manage FBA inventory
Click on the drop down button of the item you're going be
sending into Amazon and select “print item labels”
It will take you to a page where you can print the barcodes
Send these labels to your supplier. They will print them and
apply them to each item

NOTE: If you do not see the labels, or anything else that seems
out of place do not worry, it can be an easy fix! The goal is to
create the listing, make sure it is fulfilled by amazon and print
the PDF of the FNSKU labels that you can then send to your
supplier who will label everything for you.
Some FBA sellers will get asked to submit photos for product approval. This does not
apply to everyone, you will know if you have to submit these or not. During this step
you must show that your product branding is permanently affixed to your product with
all of the correct warning labels if needed. You CANNOT photoshop your way through
this step as Amazon will know if you are trying to fake your way through this process.

To Get Product Approval:

Submit 6 live images of: the product's top, bottom, both sides, front and back
Packaging has to have info stating: manufacturer, address, contact info (NOTE:
this is ONLY required for this sample/to get approval, this does NOT need to
be on all products.)
Make sure your product/packaging has the correct warning stickers on it if
they are required
Photo Tips:
make sure to have nothing in the background of the photos, just the product
and a white background
Do not cut anything off in the image
Do not zoom in on the image
Shoot straight on, don’t have photos taken from an angle
Manufacturer Details:
In order to complete this step you will also need to provide manufacturer
details. YOU are the manufacturer. Therefore, you will need to request
approval as the Manufacturer. NOT as a reseller or distributor. You will also
need your address on the product packaging that matches the address in your
Amazon seller central account.
Have your address on your outer packaging in the following order:
Your company name/brand, your full street address, full city, state zip
NOTE: We use our home address solely for the purpose of getting approval, it
will not be on every single unit and shipped to customers, it is just for this
one unit you are taking images of to provide to Amazon to get approved.
NOTE: This is JUST for one SKU to get through this approval process, you do
not need to redo all of your packaging.
Getting your products inspected is optional, but recommended:
We recommend that you hire a third party inspection company after you
receive your samples. Especially if your items are fragile, or simply if you want
a second set of eyes on your product before it ships. Throughout the
manufacturing process, you can request photos from your supplier, however if
you have the time and money to execute a third party inspection we highly
suggest it.

Timing:
You should contact a third party inspection company at least two weeks in
advance of your desired inspection date.

Recommended Company:
We suggest the following trusted third party inspection company:
[Link]

Why we suggest it and how it works:

We don’t want to neglect our final product although our samples may have met
standards. The WORST thing that can happen is you send your supplier 100% of
the total payment and go through the whole process only to find out there was
damage to some of your units.
An inspection company will be there once your order is complete and give you a
comprehensive report of all of your units and its packaging. They will send you
an entire packet with photos of your units. They will give you the green light if
everyone checks out and will also tell you of course, if there are any issues.
This is NOT required, however it is recommended especially if you are working
with extremely fragile products. Please note again, this is an extra cost, this is
optional. We don’t do this for all items, but have done it for fragile products, or
products where we may have some quality concerns.
If you do a third party inspection we suggest you have at least 20% of the
inventory selected for inspection, and be sure it is a random selection.
There is a lot that goes into Amazon FBA shipping and logistics. For a very
detailed article written by our good friends over at Helium 10, please check out
this link and read the entire page to get a thorough understanding of how
shipping/logistics works

[Link]

Shipping tips and advice

Make sure to check multiple sources and compare prices so you can negotiate
your shipping cost. It CAN and should be negotiated! Personally, we have always
brought the initial cost down either with our supplier or a third party who
arranged our shipping for us.

There are multiple ways that you can get your shipment delivered to the Amazon
warehouse:

1. Have your supplier take care of the entire process from packaging, labeling
and shipping everything to Amazon for. We pay them one total fee, that
includes the order, and everything else including shipment to Amazon.
2. Hire a third party from [Link] and have them handle the shipment for
us after our supplier is done with manufacturing. Your supplier will still do the
labeling and packaging and get the product ready for shipment, but the
freight forwarder you hire would be handling the shipping.
Shipping terms:

FOB: is used to indicate whether the seller or the buyer is liable for goods that are
damaged or destroyed during shipping. "FOB shipping point" or "FOB origin"
means the buyer is at risk and takes ownership of goods once the seller ships the
product.

For accounting purposes, the supplier should record a sale at the point of
departure from its shipping dock. "FOB origin" means the purchaser pays the
shipping cost from the factory or warehouse and gains ownership of the goods as
soon as it leaves its point of origin. "FOB destination" means the seller retains the
risk of loss until the goods reach the buyer

DDP: means (delivered duty paid) this term indicates the seller must deliver the
goods at their own expense and risk to a destination in the import country, taking
care of all formalities and paying all import duties in addition to all costs.

EXW: means the seller makes the product available at a designated location, and
the buyer incurs transport costs.
Helium 10 Portals:
You can now create a “Portal” on Helium 10, and have a landing page for
your product launch all within minutes. It is very easy to create, looks
much better than just sending a direct link to your product and it gives
your customers more content. There are so many benefits of creating
Portals, not only for a better customer experience but also for the
advantages like collecting emails and offering discounts. We recommend
you take some time to study the Portals section of Helium 10, watch their
tutorial videos so you can learn exactly how to utilize all that they offer.
There are other features such as QR codes, product inserts, and much
more that is on the Helium 10 platform so use it all to your advantage!

Shopify Website:
Prior to Portals, the only way to stand out was to create your own website
using a platform like Shopify. We still have this option and it can work
well for some brands. However, it is more time consuming and it can be a
difficult task for beginners as well as an additional cost. So you have the
option of either creating your own website or simply using Helium 10
Portals for your landing page.
Before moving on in the course please make sure you
have completed the below steps:

Create your Amazon Seller Account

Product research and deciding on your first product

Ordering samples from multiple suppliers to compare quality

Finalizing which supplier to go with, negotiating pricing per

unit, and putting a deposit down on your first order

Purchasing a UPC Code from the GS1 Database

Create branding elements with designer (logo, packaging,

design)
Friends & Family:
1. Make a list before launch of all of the friends and family you can think of
to ask to buy your product. Ask them to buy your product, and leave an
honest review. Do NOT ask them to leave you a five star review.
2. Ask them to leave a review talking about the product and its features,
and to please upload photos or videos of the product as well.
3. Note - you do not want anyone residing with you or who has frequently
used your wifi to purchase your product. Amazon does not allow this,
you will get flagged.

Organic reviews:
2) The most obvious way to generate organic reviews would be to simply
have a great quality product. If you have a great product the chances of
getting a bad review are very slim. Having a thank you card (product insert)
will increase your chances of getting a review.
Please do some research on Amazon's TOS (terms of service) so you are
aware of the rules in place, and how to prevent doing certain things
regarding reviews that could get your account suspended.

Email review request:

Using Helium 10 will help you automate a sequence of emails that at the
end will ask for your customers honest feedback, likely positive feedback.
Here’s how: click operations, click follow-up, make sure your Amazon
account is connected, click automate product review requests!

For some more tips please follow this link to check out an article by Helium 10:

[Link]
Price:
When you first launch your product, you will launch your product at a
lower price than where it will end up. You will not start off with
reviews so it is important to be realistic about pricing. The goal of
launch week is not to make a huge profit, it is where we use our
strategies to begin ranking. Launch week is where we want to spend
more money on ads, get your product ranked to page 1, and position
yourself for long term success. So compare competitors prices and
come in close or lower than where they are at.

Calculating how many units you need to sell per day to rank to page
one for a specific keyword:
You have to calculate your required daily sales by researching the first
page where your competition is, running X-ray to get the data and see
their monthly sales. Divide the monthly sales by 30 to get daily sales.
That is the number of sales your competitors are making daily. If you
want to be on page 1 for that keyword, you have to match those sales.

Landing Page:
You should be using Helium 10 Portals or your own website for launch
week to direct customers to your landing page where it will be
optimized to rank you for the keyword you choose though Helium 10
gems (details below.)
Hidden Keywords Using Helium 10 Gems:
You do NOT want to just give your direct URL link to your product to
customers who are supporting your launch. If they purchase with a
direct link, you will NOT rank for any keywords. Amazon's algorithm
will know your customers searched for your exact product and
purchased it. With Portals, your customers will be clicking buy-now, it
will take them to your listing via a hidden keyword in the URL. Click the
link below and go to the second option, insert your keyword and ASIN,
copy the link, save the link somewhere easily accessible and share
THOSE thinks with those supporting your launch.
[Link]
General Terms:
CTR: Click through rate – Total Clicks / Total Sessions
CPC: Cost per Click – Total Spend / Total Clicks
CVR: Conversion Rate (Unit Session %) – Units Sold / Sessions
ACOS: Advertising Cost of Sale – Total PPC Spend / Total PPC Sales
TACOS: Total Advertising Cost of Sales – Total PPC Spend / Total Sales

Manual Campaign Targeting Terms:

Exact: The exact keyword in order, with no differences (ex. dog lick mat)
Phrase: The keyword in order, but with additional words (ex. large dog lick mat,
orange dog lick mat)
Broad: The keywords are included in the phrase but out of order (ex. Lick mat
for dogs, lick mat for small dog)

Auto Campaign Targeting Terms:

Close match: This shows your sponsored product ad to those who use search
terms closely related to your products. For example, if your product is a
“orange, dog lick mat”, your product would show up in searches for “dog lick
mat” or “small dog lick mat”.
Loose match: This shows your sponsored product ad to those who use search
terms loosely related to your products. For example, if your product is a
“orange, dog lick mat”, your product would show up in searches for “pet item”
or “dog bowl.”
Substitutes: This shows your sponsored product ad to shoppers who view detail
pages of products similar to yours. For example, if your product is a “orange,
dog lick mat”, your product would show up on detail pages for “yellow, dog lick
mat” or “red, dog lick mat”
Complements: This shows your sponsored product ad to shoppers who view
detail pages of products that complement yours. For example, if your product is
a “orange, dog lick mat”, your product would show up on detail pages for
“orange, dog feeding bowl” or “plastic, dog lick pad.”
What is Amazon PPC?
PPC is the advertising platform Amazon makes available to its third-party
sellers. It allows sellers to create ad campaigns for their products, and then
charges the seller each time a potential customer clicks and views the
sponsored product.

How to start your first PPC campaign 1: Log in to Amazon Seller Central and
select Advertising > Campaign Manager. Then on the very next page where it
shows Amazon Advertising you must select "Learn more" and then sign in to
the Amazon Ads Portal (using the same log in info as your seller account.)
Once you have logged into the Amazon Ads Portal, you will see the main
dashboard that looks like this:

If you have enrolled your brand into brand registry, then you may run
Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display posts, if you haven't then you can run
Sponsored Products.

We have selected Sponsored Products for this example to show a walk

through of setting up your first Auto Campaign.

Here you can begin setting up your first Auto Campaign. This is the same
process for setting up a manual campaign, you'd just select manual targeting.

Choose a name for your campaign. The name can be anything that helps you
remember the purpose of the campaign. We recommend naming your
campaign after the product, and then using the Ad Group name with the
campaign type and product’s variations, if any (see below).
Date
Select the start and end date for your campaign. If you want your campaign to
run indefinitely, leave the end date field blank.
Daily budget
Amazon allows you to set the maximum amount of money you want to spend
on ads per day. According to Amazon, if your ad spend comes in under the set
amount at the end of a day, the leftover amount can be used to increase ads
by 10% on a later date in the same month. Note: When starting out, we
recommend setting your daily budget to $25 or more. Most of your costs per
click (aka. pay per click) will be between $0.50 to $1.50. If you set your daily
budget for $10, that means your budget will quickly run out.
Paying for Your Ad Spend
Also, ad costs are charged either a) when you reach $500 in total ads or b) at
the first of the month.
The cost for your ads are taken directly from your account balance, and if you
don’t have enough funds in your account to cover the cost of your ads,
Amazon charges the credit card you put on file at the time of registration.
Targeting
Choose “automatic” for an automatic-targeting sponsored product ad.
Choose your campaign bidding strategy
There are three types of campaign-bidding strategies for automatic-targeting
sponsored product ads.
Dynamic bids – down only
Amazon lowers bids in real time when you’re less likely to make a sale. This
prevents your ad from showing up on irrelevant product searches.
Dynamic bids – up and down
In addition to lowering your bid as a ‘down only’ bid would, if your automatic-
targeting sponsored product is more likely to convert, Amazon will increase
the price of your bid by 10%.
Fixed bids
You set your bid and Amazon does not change it – unless you choose to
adjust it.
Tip: When starting out, we recommend that you choose ‘Dynamic bids – up
and down’ to maximize your chance at earning a sale on Amazon.

Set your bids

There are multiple ways to set bids for automatic-targeting sponsored product
ads:

Set default bid

If you wish to make things easy for yourself, you can set a default bid for all
types of matches. Amazon suggests $0.75 to start, regardless of the product.
However, we recommend bidding a little more aggressively when you’re first
starting out (bidding as high as $1.50 to $2.00) to ensure early sales.
Set bids by targeting group
For more advanced automatic-targeting, you can select bids by targeting
group, placing different amounts for each strategy.
Launch campaign
Be sure to double check all of your information. Then, once you’re ready, click
the yellow ‘Launch campaign’ button at the bottom of the page. You can also
save your draft if you need to come back to the listing later. It usually takes 30
minutes to an hour for your ad to premiere on Amazon.
Once you’ve had your automatic-targeting sponsored product ad running
for at least a week, you’ll want to review the data and make any necessary
changes.

Return to your automatic campaign

Return to Seller Central > Advertising > Campaign manager. Scroll down
below the graphs and find the advertising campaign you wish to adjust.
Then, select the ad group you wish to optimize.
Review your Data
In your ad group, you have information you can instantly review to help
you get a snapshot of how well your automatic-targeting sponsored
product ad is performing.
Create an advertising report
After you’ve had a chance to review the broad data for your automatic-
targeting sponsored ad, run an advertising report. The advertising report
creates an .xlxs (Excel spreadsheet) with data from all of your advertising
campaigns.
1. Select ‘Sponsored products’
2. Create a ‘Search term’ report type
3. Select ‘Summary’
4. Run a report for the last month (or any time that’s relevant to your
campaign)
5. Name your campaign
6. Deliver your campaign whenever it works best for you
7. Click the yellow ‘Run’ report button.
8. Go to ‘History’
9. Download your report and open it
The advertising report has a lot of important data about the keywords and
search terms Amazon customers used in relation to your automatic-
targeting sponsored product ad.
Focus on the following columns:
Customer search term. This is the exact term that an Amazon
customer used to find your product.
Total advertising cost of sales (ACoS). Your ACoS is the percentage of
the total sales made, related to the keyword spent on ads.
7-day conversion rate. Your conversion rate is the number of sales
made with seven days, divided by the number of impressions your
sponsored product ad received in the same time frame.
Create a list of poor performing keywords
Look for keywords on your search term report that are performing
poorly. We recommend selecting keywords that have had more than
10 clicks, and a high ACoS or low 7-day conversion rate.
ACoS
To determine your ACoS threshold, consider the profit margin made
on your product after fees and costs of goods sold are deducted.
If your ACoS is less than the profit margin, then it is a good ACoS. But
if the ACoS for that keyword is higher than your profit margin, you
may wish to place the keyword into the negative-targeting keyword
list for your automatic-targeting product ad group.
Conversion Rate
We aim for conversion rates around 10% for products priced between
$18-$25. For higher priced products, you might consider a lower
conversion rate. Once you know which words are performing poorly,
create a list. Then, add those keywords to the negative-targeting
keywords tab under the ad group.
Negative Keywords
Once added to the negative targeting keywords list, Amazon will not
display your automatic-targeting product ad in searches for that
keyword.

NOTE: PPC is a HUGE part of our business, and we don't ever want to
stop running PPC. Even if you are ranked on page 1 for desired
keywords and making organic sales, you still want to run PPC as it
will ultimately result in more sales! Check your reports often,
optimize your campaigns often. You will want to run many
campaigns and test as much as possible to find what works for you
and continue to double down on what is working well.