Doing FBM, No Buy box, no PPC
I am currently engaging in Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) on Amazon, but I am facing an issue where I don't have the Buy Box displayed on my listings. Furthermore, I have been informed by a member of Amazon PPC Support that I cannot utilize PPC advertising without the Buy Box. Given this situation, I am seeking alternative strategies to generate sales and attain the Buy Box without relying on PPC. How can I achieve this?
Doing FBM, No Buy box, no PPC
I am currently engaging in Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) on Amazon, but I am facing an issue where I don't have the Buy Box displayed on my listings. Furthermore, I have been informed by a member of Amazon PPC Support that I cannot utilize PPC advertising without the Buy Box. Given this situation, I am seeking alternative strategies to generate sales and attain the Buy Box without relying on PPC. How can I achieve this?
5 replies
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
First of all, do your listings show as "Featured Offer Eligible"? If not, that is your issue, and what you need to worry about. There have been reports of seemingly random glitches where various sellers (including me) have lost FOE for no apparent reason; reports seem to indicate that it lasts about 3-5 weeks (mine may have been related to Reform Act verification, or that may be a coincedence).
Also, if you are new, then you will probably not be eligible until you have established a track record with Amazon. Sadly, it's a bit of Catch-22; you can't get BB until you've had sales, and you can't get sales until you get the BB so you can advertise. Note that if you ship some of your inventory to FBA, you will automatically become eligible for the BB, and may gain a bit of a background which could help with your FBM offers.
OTOH, if you are showing "Eligible", then you need to figure out why you are not getting the BB. Possible reasons are that your metrics are not perfect (a few late shipments, or late deliveries; or a large number of returns), or that your price is not what Amazon considers competitive. Note that Amazon tends to look not only at prices on Amazon, but also on other sites. So even if you have the best price on Amazon, if the same product is 50% less on the W-site or the E-site, you may not get the BB unless you get at least close to those prices.
Seller_OegFiz60hrEiU
Generally, when you complete your Brand Registry, you will get the Buy Box quickly.
Veronica_Amazon
Hello @Seller_s2Uu7h41POFUZ,
Veronica from Amazon here! I hope your week is going well. Im happy to see you have so great community feedback here from fellow sellers. While Amazon does not share any of the details of the Featured Offer algorithm however many factors contribute including but not limited to price, shipping, customer service, and stock. You can learn more about winning the Featured Offer here. Any Featured Offer Eligible Seller can win the Featured Offer, however matching prices may not be sufficient to win. It is possible to win, even competing against Amazon, but the algorithm determines the winner.
Regarding sales, you may also want to consider reviewing this Increase Sales Help page, for further ideas on troubleshooting low sales. Other sellers also suggest reviewing your product pricing as a method to improve your sales level and comparing that pricing with similar products currently selling on Amazon. Additionally, there if this a newer product, with a lower amount of reviews, you may want to consider Amazon Vine, as there is currently a free trial available for that program. Hoping some of these resources help the research into improving your sales.
Kindest regards,
Veronica_Amazon
Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX
You are falling into too many Amazon traps. None of what you state you do not have, or cannot get, is a problem.
THE BUY BOX:
The Buy Box is a ploy by Amazon to get sellers too use FBA. They think they will get it automatically, but they don't. If there are 20 FBA sellers on the same listing, only one gets the Buy Box. the seller who has it, buy when it is lost, they are sad, But another seller is happy. The reality is, FBM sellers do get the Buy Box. We only sell FBM and is comes and goes across our many offerings.
PPC's & ADVERTISING:
Why do you have to use advertising? The bottom line in advertising that no vendor will tell you is this. Advertising will not help to sell a dead product that no one wants, and if you have a good selling product it is not necessary. The reason this is not stated is because the vendor can’t make a profit unless sellers buy into the plan. Now, think about where your product in question fits in.
Did you test sell the product for a month using FBM to find out if it was going to be a good seller. After all, you would not want to buy advertising without having a base like to assess the effectiveness.
When you bought the product, you knew the profit that had to be made on each unit. You knew all the selling and shipping fees that had to be paid on each unit. You set your selling price based on this information. Then you start selling. Anything else you spend is directly subtracted from your profit. So now, with open ended PPC, how much profit are you losing by giving it a way to an advertising scheme?
Amazon selling is simple. Sell only products that buyers want and need. The lowest price offering will sell before the higher price offering. Are you the lowest price offering, or do you have to ask a higher price to pay for the advertising.
Do you have surplus income from sales to actually create an advertising budget? Amazon is very good as selling advertising products to sellers who want to succeed. But Amazon’s efforts are designed to keep your mind off ot your real bottom line, YOUR PORFIT.
Amazon does not make its profit from the buyers; they make their profit from the sellers. The more Amazon can sell you the more Amazon makes. Amazon wants you to sell with competitive pricing often quite higher than the lowest price offering. That way, Amazon cam sell you the advertising so you can keep your price higher. All the while knows the lowest price offering, in most cases Amazon's, will always sell before the higher price.
You are a business. Business’s that purchase advertising have advertising budgets; a portion of the already earned profitable income is set aside for advertising after business expenses are paid. If you do not have the surplus income, the money you pay the advertising vendor will come from subtracting from your future profits. If you do not keep this fact in the forefront of your mind, an online business can go downhill fast.
Remember, it costs no more to succeed in online retail sales as it does to fail in online retail sales. the difference is the amount of knowledge you possess to put forth in your endeavors. Think about what you are attempting to do.
See what happens when you apply the information above to your product.
We don't use any advertising, but all of our offerings are always within the three lowest which only differ by pennies. Do all our products sell everyday, no. But enough do sell to pay 9 employees and meet monthly expenses.
