Products to Avoid as a New Amazon FBA Seller

We encourage anyone who is interested in opening an Amazon FBA store to go for it! Starting a new business, whether it’s your first, or your tenth, is an exciting venture. For those who are novices at Amazon FBA, we understand that it can be overwhelming to search through all of the product categories and ideas and decide what to carry – so we wanted to give tips on products to avoid as a new Amazon FBA seller until you become more seasoned. 

Books/DVDs:

Ever wonder why a new hardcover might be $12.00 on Amazon, but when you pop into your local Barnes and Noble or Independent bookstore, that same new hardcover will cost $28.00? It’s not the bookstore that is being greedy –  books have such a tight margin that selling for anything less than the retail price means taking a loss, something neither B&N, or Indies, can typically afford. But Amazon takes a loss on books on purpose. Therefore, your pricing on these items will not be able to beat Amazon’s unless you get your books on a heckuva deal. 

But wait, there’s more! 

Thanks in part to Booktok and Bookstagram, select books and authors are trending. So it might seem like a great idea to sell books in your storefront to capitalize on this trend. However, there are a few difficulties to note:

• Trends come and go – the second you purchase a lot of all the Colleen Hoover books, or Sarah J Maas books, there will be another series or author trending. 
• If you can get a certain title cheap, readers can get it cheap too

• Costco sells many popular books at bargain prices
• Even the dollar store sells books
• Barnes and Noble and Indies also have sales, especially on remainders. 

Therefore, we feel it is best to put your time and money into products that will sell well and make you money. 

If you’ve already sold books, and done well at it, share your success stories in the comments. We love to hear different perspectives!

Big Name Brands:

While many big name brands allow resellers, keep in mind that they can and do change their mind, or your listings can be suspended while they ask you to jump through hoops to prove you are a legitimate seller. We have had a successful client suddenly become gated in a brand he had always been able to sell before, and fail to get ungated. Therefore, he was stuck with a lot of inventory he could not sell online, and could no longer return. Nike, Adidas, and Columbia are some of these brands. We recommend leaving these products off your store until you are more seasoned.

Meltables:

From April to October, Amazon will not store meltable products at their facilities as it is not temperature controlled. Most prep centers are not temperature controlled either, so therefore, removing your inventory to the prep center will not work. 

Food:

Food is also tricky. Amazon themselves will not accept anything with an expiration date less than three months out. But if you’re ordering from them to source for your store, it is likely you’ll receive something close to expiring.  This means you cannot sell it on Amazon. You’ll either have to return it or be out the money. 

Hazmat:

Please see our posts about hazmat here & here. 

Again, these are products to avoid as a new Amazon FBA seller.

Once you get the hang of the rules, we definitely recommend that you branch out into some of these categories. We wanted to share why some of these categories might be complicated for new (and even experienced) sellers, so that you can be informed. If you are a new OA seller needing help with your store, reach out to us and see how we can help!