Get the Holiday Party started early! Instructional or a Love Fest?

Selling on Amazon
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This has popped up in my NSFE widget a few times. It was also pinned when it first came out. No less than three Amazonians and less than three sellers have commented on the thread.

Get the Holiday Party started early! Prime Big Deal Days are here!

I just made the following post on the NSFE, yes I was trying to be kind. Like it or not, and this is just my opinion. However, I am looking for yours too.

@Danny_Amazon @Roberto_Amazon @Cooper_Amazon

First, I appreciate the post and the tips Danny gave. However, I am going to provide some constructive information that I donā€™t think you all, or Amazon is aware of.

This feels like a bit of a love fest, and I do like the ā€œTeamā€ coming together here, something we do in our studio office everyday. Even so, here are some facts from a 12 year Amazon seller, and 35 year business owner, and employer.

Prime Day/Days has unintended consequences for us small to midsize sellers and businesses. Sales drop off before the event when it is announced. They they pick up a bit until a week or so before the Prime Day/Days happen.

We have seen it since Prime Day was invented, each and every year, now we see it a few times a year since Amazon has expanded the event.

Everyone thinks, they are going to get a deal. While our margins are good on our manufactured right here in America products, we typically do not put them on sale. Many reasons for that including, most times the customer does not see the sale until checkout. But that is another story and belongs in another thread.

So while they wait for the deal, sales for us small and midsize sellers tank.

We can live through it and have on each Prime Day however, we have multichannel relationships, including our own websites. We also have a regional customer base that does not relate to what Amazon does day to day.

Our team members are always paid on time and in a fair manner. In part that comes from Amazon sales. This anomaly causes a decrease in overall funds available to make those payments.

They feed, provide shelter and buy the everyday items needed by a family. So do the owners, that happen, as it should be, are the last to get paid.

Consider this, consider sharing this with your internal teams and ā€œconcerned groupsā€ a pebble dropped in the eCommerce ocean can make a large wave as it spreads out.

So what about you Sellers Ask Seller Friends? Is Prime Day/Days good or bad?

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I have never seen a prime day bumb, maybe a small slump pre prime day, but nothing statistical.

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No impact here ā€¦ no slump ā€¦ no bump

A time back we tried doing some promotions with our product ā€¦ little to nothing happened. Amazon is not friendly when setting up promotions and cost more time and effort than the any results we have achieved.

So in the end ā€¦ for our product, we set the price as low as we can and leave it there. The customer gets the best price we can sell it for on Amazon and maintain profitability. The customer gets it when ever they shop. We only change when our costs change (which is normally either an Amazon fee increase or USPS increase).

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Nail, meet hammer.

Once upon a time, Promotions were usually profitable for us for all Product Lines proffered by all of our SoA Accounts - but when Amazon first showed a profit from the Sponsored Advertising Division, the ā€œgroundscapeā€ changed, radically - and we ourselves no longer find the value that previously did obtain.

We still run Coupons for select Offer-Listings in the Amazon Global Catalog, because our number-crunching of ROI continues to suggest that doing so is worthwhile for remuneration to OUR coffers - but in recent years, the margin keeps shrinking (largely, methinks, due to Amazonā€™s sheer greed, as compounded by sheer ineptitude fomented by The Thirty Tyrants the TPTB [link, About Amazon blog, ā€œS-Teamā€ membership list]).

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Same, a slow down before and no noticeable bump after. I donā€™t enroll products. I think Prime Day is mainly for the benefit of ā€˜sold by Amazonā€™ offers

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For the most part, I sell things people not, not things people want. These tend to be things that if you need, you need now, not sometime between now and Black Friday. This means that I get no benefit from Prime Days, and no meaningful slump before hand. Therefore, I ignore Prime Days.

This.

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