As an Amazon seller, you’ll be selling a lot of items. However, there are items that you sell but are too small to be shipped by themselves. This is where the concept of Amazon Add-Ons comes in.
IO Scout will be explaining what Amazon Add-On Items are in a moment and how they can put you more at an advantage when it comes to your sales. What you need to understand is that there are items that are complementary to what customers are buying. Do you think anyone would buy a TV without a remote control?
The short answer: Of course not. But sometimes, it makes a lot of sense to purchase an add-on item because you need it. With that said, let’s dive into the topic of add-on items and how they can be beneficial to you as a seller.
What are Amazon Add On Items?
Amazon add-on items are pretty self-explanatory. They are complementary items that are too small or cheap to be bought or shipped. These add-ons can be included with an item the customer purchases, but there’s a caveat.
Customers purchasing an item that is priced at $25 or more will include add-ons that are part of the order. You’ll see add on items with a blue banner that can be found on the initial product page. Since there are some products you can’t purchase as a stand-alone, they can be add ons that will slightly add to the total price.
While this is commonplace in places on Amazon, it makes a lot of sense. It might not be a good economical solution for sellers, but individual items can be a constraint on customers as well. When push comes to shove, it’s better to get a package deal than get something that is small, cheap, and too small to ship.
Among the various examples of items that would be considered “add-on” items would be travel hygiene products. You’ll get a travel kit that has a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and so on. You likely won’t purchase travel items that you can get for a dollar at Walmart.
Not to mention, why would anyone want to pay extra shipping for a $1 product anyway. You’d be paying the base price plus another additional $1 just for the shipping. That really doesn’t make sense to the customer at all.
It used to be that add-ons could only be purchased in bulk and nothing else. Now, they can be able to purchase an add-on with their original item. If these add-ons were sold individually, Amazon would lose money (and so would the sellers).
How to find Amazon Add On Items?
One of the things that you’ll notice is that you won’t be able to use the Amazon filter to find just “add-on” items. So you’ll need to find it using the search function. While it might seem tedious, it’s the only way.
Most of the time, you’ll be able to find add-on items just by using the search term. You’ll find the relevant items and choose what you need. Don’t forget, you’ll also need to specify which add-on items you’re looking for (i.e. -- Cooking add-on items).
Remember, not all search results will give you relevant results. So you’re probably going to have to wade through all the irrelevant items just to find the right one. It’s not a perfect search engine, but it tries its best to help.
Amazon Add-On Items: The Controversies
While there are some good things about Amazon Add-Ons, there are some things that can turn people off. What exactly are they? Let’s dive in:
The MOV of $25 doesn’t sit well with customers
OK, let’s face it. A minimum order value (MOV) of $25 on Amazon just to get add ons will not sit well with most customers. They might be happy with purchasing items for less with the add-ons. But $25 might just be a bit too much.
Even Amazon Prime members don’t seem all that happy about this requirement. Some may even purchase the stand-alone item itself and get an add-on offsite like Walmart. Plus, customers can save time and money if they feel that it’s warranted.
It can cause sellers to have fewer sales
It should come as no surprise that even the MOV can hurt sellers as well. Especially when a customer can decide to purchase an add-on for the product they are ordering elsewhere the same day (and for cheap). For this reason, Amazon sellers have seen their sales take a hit.
If you are someone considering the idea of selling on Amazon, knowing what add-ons can do to sellers and customers may change your strategy a bit. Not to mention, you may have second thoughts on the items you want to sell. If you have an item that requires add-ons and you plan on selling it, reconsider the idea before making a final decision.
Sometimes, you might have to change gears and find a different product (assuming you haven’t bought any yet). IO Scout has plenty of product research tools that give you plenty of details. One of them is whether or not add-ons would be needed.
From there, you can be able to decide if the item is a “go” or “no-go” in terms of selling it.
My Products are Now Amazon Add-On Items -- What should I Do?
One of the confusing things about Amazon is that their algorithm might not pick up on which items are considered add-ons. Some will point to reasons like the weight of the product or the price. No one knows that the cut off point is between add-ons or regular items.
If your items become add-ons, your sales will likely decrease. You can mitigate this using the following options:
- Bump up the price: Why suffer from profit loss by continuing to sell at the same price? The best thing you can do is up the price. The good news is that you might not have to up the price by a lot to remove the “add-on” status. One of the issues would be for this is the customer. They may not be keen on the idea of purchasing a small item for a ridiculous price.
- Package them: This is one of the simplest solutions. You can package the add-on with the main product itself. TV with remotes, baseball with a bat, etc. You get the idea.
- Offer multi-pack options: You can offer customers multiple package options. Pack of 3, pack of 4, and so on.
- Consider Amazon FBM: Fulfillment by merchant is a great way to mitigate any problems associated with add-on items. Not to mention, you get an added bonus of using Amazon’s FBA service.
- Use the “Small and Light” program: Believe it or not, Amazon has a “Small and Light” program. If you don’t want your customers to deal with the frustration of a $25 MOV for add ons, you can be able to sign up for this program and sell the products through here. However, it must meet certain requirements for weight, price, and the units you can be able to sell.
- Consider more products: Adding more products to expand the range will definitely be the better option. Why sell three products when you can sell double that?
How do you get rid of add on items on Amazon?
The easiest way to get rid of add-on items on Amazon is to discontinue them. However, you can consider the idea of choosing one of or some of the options above. This will depend on how much money you may have. If you can’t expand your product range, you can consider other options like increasing your price.
Can you get add on items with Prime?
You can. But buyers will still be subjected to the same minimum order value of $25.
What does add on item mean on Amazon UK?
Add on items on Amazon UK will apply to the same minimum order value and process as if you were purchasing products from the Amazon US site.
What is an add-on subscription from Amazon?
It depends on which Amazon service you are subscribing to. Most of the subscribers will be those who have signed up Amazon Prime Video and have access to video add-ons.
Final Thoughts
If you are a seller on Amazon, add-on items can be a good thing. But they can be a bad thing if there are more customers who refuse to order $25 or more on items just to get the add-on itself. If anything, you have the choice of selling items without add-ons or take the chance to sell items with add-ons, but at a higher than normal price point.
