5 Amazon FBA Business Mistakes Sellers Need to Avoid in 2022

The Amazon FBA business model has been a lucrative choice for many. 

Statistics show that over 564 million products are sold in the Amazon US marketplace alone. And there are 2.45 billion monthly visits to the Amazon website and app altogether. 

However, we still see Amazon sellers making mistakes in how they approach their FBA business. 

And today, we’re sharing tips on how you can avoid these tactical mistakes and maximize your profitability in your Amazon FBA business this 2022.

Let’s get it started. 

Mistake #1: Choosing products based on your gut feel 

Most Amazon sellers make the mistake of treating their Amazon FBA business as an experiment. 

And part of this is choosing products based on gut feel instead of numbers. 

Experienced sellers who know their business by heart may do this now and then. But that’s only because they already know and understand their numbers and trends. 

If you’re starting out or new in the Amazon business, you need to keep track of your numbers and how your products perform. 

Having little to no data to figure out how you’re going to go about the business can lead to your failure. 

What you want to do is eliminate spending wasting money. Sure, you can invest in any product if you have deep enough pockets. However, that’s not always the case. 

You need to understand how Amazon works so you could have a higher chance of success and profitability. 

And a huge part of this is the searchability factor. 

That’s why inventions rarely work as well when selling on Amazon because nobody knows how to search for them. 

People go to Amazon to search for and buy products. So it helps to sell existing products that people already buy. 

It might tempt you to create something new. If it’s an existing product you’re improving, then that might work. 

But if you don’t have the data for what product to sell or if you think you’ll just wing it, then you’re set to fail. 

Using the right data can help you set your costs, identify your competition, and plot out profit margins. 

These expenses can include sourcing product costs, shipping fees, FBA fees, and other costs. 

This will help you get an idea of whether the product you’re choosing is good or not. It will also save you from spending unnecessary costs and help you increase your chances of success. 

Check out our Money/Time Investment Tool here to help you plan out your Amazon FBA business better. 

Takeaways: 

• Use data to make business decisions, including choosing the best products to sell 
• Inventions may not do as well on Amazon because of searchability factors. 
• Go for existing products to increase your chances of success in the marketplace

Mistake #2: Launching products on your Amazon FBA business too soon

Another common mistake is launching your products too soon on Amazon. 

The problem is, the Amazon FBA business is becoming more and more competitive. 

There are also sellers who think that launching at least 10 different products is an effective strategy to get started. 

What they don’t know is that you’ll need to have key success factors in place. This may also cause you to spend money you don’t have. 

So how do you thrive as an Amazon seller? 

Instead of launching multiple products at once, focus on getting your data right. Then choose the best product to sell on Amazon instead. 

The next step is to have a fool-proof process that will make your sales repeatable. 

Get your product research right. Look for the right keywords to use for your PPC. 

Build your brand and get excellent reviews and feedback for your product. 

You need to prove your process works first so you could get more cash flow to sustain your business. Then reinvest the cash in your business and watch it grow. 

Build your business for cash flow from the start. So that means you’ll have to have high ROI and high profitability for your products. 

You’d want to sustain yourself and your lifestyle from the business you’re building. 

It’s better to start slowly and master your data and processes first. 

Remember, it’s not a race. Business is all about your experience and the journey. 

Discover how to earn money on Amazon and create real profit here. 

Takeaways: 

Mistake #3: Using product variations to grow your brand 

There will be a lot of experts out there who will tell you that their training is based on creating bundles and variations. 

In reality, variations won’t have much of an impact on your branding and business growth. 

There’s a phenomenon called the paradox of choice. It states that the more options a person has to choose from, the more difficult it is for him to decide. 

Author Barry Schwartz expounds on this in his book, The Paradox of Choice. 

Imagine asking your partner to go to the grocery store to buy milk. 

When they get to the dairy section, they’re blasted with tons of options. There’s whole milk, low fat, sterilized, skimmed milk, ultra-pasteurized milk. 

Then there’s organic milk, lactose-free milk, A2 milk, and raw milk. Not to mention the plant-based and nut-based milk like almond, oat, soy, coconut, hemp, rice, and pea milk. 

To make matters worse, there are so many brands for each variation. 

Something as simple as buying milk can be overwhelming, especially if the individual is presented with so many options. 

Of course, there are strategies that can help in the decision-making process. 

There’s the maximizer who wants to get the most optimal outcome. Then there’s the satisficer who focuses on what’s good enough at the moment. 

It’s also possible for the buyer to experience analysis paralysis, which can cause opportunity costs. 

The same goes for having too many variants available for your products on Amazon. 

Presenting too many options to your buyers can complicate the buying process. And eventually, this can cause you to lose the sale. 

Think of the purpose before providing multiple variants to your buyers, even with the sizing. You might end up with too many stocks and increase your storage costs. 

Having variants can also affect your PPC strategy. 

Let’s say you’re selling tumblers with a black and orange variant. The orange one gets 5 sales a day while the black one was getting 15-20. 

Technically, you’re not selling more. You’re dividing your sale into two instead. Your ASIN is affected because your sessions aren’t converting as well. 

This can cause your rankings to be unstable and also affect how you’re going to strategize your PPC keywords. 

Instead of focusing on variants, focus on your brand positioning instead. 

Think of who would benefit the most from your products and design them around that. 

To sum it up, the lesser variants you have, the better your products will perform. 

Takeaways: 

Read more about brand positioning on Amazon here. 

• Adding multiple product variations does not increase your sales. 
• Too many variants can cause analysis paralysis and eventually make you lose opportunities to sell 
• Focus on improving your brand positioning instead of adding product variants.

Mistake #4: Having the wrong mindset about Amazon PPC 

The worst mistake you can do as an Amazon seller is to think you no longer need PPC to be successful. 

Hear this: you do not want to stop PPC thinking that it will save you money. 

If you’re already doing well, then the goal is to keep it that way. 

Henry Ford once said stopping advertising to save money is like stopping the clock to save time. 

Instead, focus on optimizing your PPC so you could have better control of your results. 

If your PPC strategy isn’t working for you, then something is broken in your system. It’s either your listing needs improvement or you need to choose better, more relevant keywords. 

Money on Amazon will keep running even if you’re not. You can stop advertising thinking you’ll save on costs. Eventually, it will slow down your sales and cause you to pay more on storage fees. 

Stopping ads will give your competitors the advantage. They can get more of your buyers and sales while you lose ranking and potentially your business. 

You don’t always have to aim for the top of the rankings. But you can keep on bidding on the best keywords and see where you can get good placements. 

Understand that investing in PPC advertising increases your chances of getting sales. 

More sales mean less inventory. The faster you sell the products, the more you save on storage fees. 

So remember, Amazon PPC is a tool you should be using to your advantage. When you have the right mindset about it, the better your Amazon FBA business will be.

Get a better understanding of Amazon PPC here. 

Takeaways

• Don’t stop advertising, just because you’re doing good in the business. 
• Investing in PPC can increase your sales and drive profit
• Amazon PPC is a tool that you should use to your advantage

Mistake #5: Fixing listings before knowing what to optimize 

We always talk about how important it is for your products to solve your customer’s problems. 

Knowing this will help you understand how to position your products and create optimized listings on Amazon. It will also make you better at telling your brand’s story through it. 

You can have the best keywords in the world. But if it doesn’t speak to your ideal audience, then you still won’t get the conversion. 

Pricing also plays a huge role in your listing. If you overprice your products, they will not be competitive in the market. 

Your title, bullet points, content, and images you use can be a deciding factor for your buyers. So make sure you’re using the ones that make sense to your ideal buyers as well. 

Focus on two things instead: conversion rates and listing optimization. 

If your conversion rates are erratic, then it’s a sign for you to check and improve your listings. 

Don’t send irrelevant keywords to your listings because it might mess up your conversion rates. Instead, focus on highlighting how your products solve your market’s problem. 

Get more tips on Amazon listing best practices here. 

Listen to the full podcast episode here: 

Ep.86 Biggest Amazon FBA Mistakes to Avoid in 2022 That Could Kill Your Business

Final Thoughts 

The key to being successful in an Amazon FBA business in 2022 is knowing what to improve on. 

It’s necessary for you to keep track of your data and progress. This way, you’ll make it easy to duplicate your success. 

It’s also important to get your business basics right, like choosing the right products, prioritizing good cash flow, and knowing how your products solve your customer’s problems. 

If you need help in pinning these down, send us a message at realvipcoach@gmail.com.