If you are handy and crafty, you can easily make a little bit of money on Amazon Handmade. Like Etsy, Amazon handmade allows you to sell your homemade arts and crafts. Unlike Etsy, you can put your product into the behemoth that is Amazon, and potentially get your product in front of the eyes of millions of Amazon shoppers.
Since Amazon Handmade only launched in 2015, you might not yet be very familiar with it. IO Scout will offer a breakdown for you, so you can see all that it has to offer.
What is Amazon Handmade?
Amazon Handmade, which is also known as Handmade at Amazon) is within Amazon, and it is a store where any artisan can sell handcrafted goods that are uniquely made. Artisans are able to sell their own one-of-a-kind goods from anything like knitting to quilts and everything in between.
How can you get accepted as a seller in Amazon Handmade? It’s a fairly easy process. Just make sure that all of your products are 100% handmade. The items cannot be made from a kit, but if you have employees, it is ok if they make them, as long as they are still handmade and not from a kit.
As a seller, you will not be permitted to sell anything mass-produced, and you cannot team up with other sellers on a joint account. You, or your business, must own the products you are selling.
How Amazon Handmade works?
You need to apply via the application process on Amazon if you want to be a new artisan. There is a Handmade category that customers can select on Amazon, and that’s where your products would be.
There are some fees to be an artisan on Amazon Handmade. You can join Handmade, create your shop, and list any of your products completely for free. The fees do not happen until you make a sale, which means you will never lose money, just a little profit. After you make a sale, Amazon Handmade will take 15% of your sale.
When you apply, have all of your information ready. Amazon will want to know everything about you and your products, so have facts and prices ready, as well as pictures of yourself, your product, and your workspace. Amazon wants to make sure you are a serious seller before approving you.
What's the difference between Amazon and Amazon Handmade?
The biggest difference is that to sell on Amazon Handmade to apply and be accepted; you can’t just start selling. Sometimes it could take a few days or weeks to get approved.
One other thing to consider is that your products must fit into a category available on Handmade. While you might easily be able to sell some knit blankets, you might have trouble selling something more obscure like a homemade remote control boat. If there is not an approved category for your product, it could take months for a category to be developed.
It can be challenging to maintain a seller’s account on Amazon and an account on Handmade, so you might want to choose only one option.
A nice feature in Amazon Handmade is that you will be able to set up a unique Artisan Profile, which you can’t do as a regular Amazon seller. You can personalize your profile, include a photo of yourself, a banner for your shop, and feature any products you want. You can also have a blog of sorts, and offer any abilities you have at making custom products for consumers.
Overall, the biggest differences between Amazon and Amazon Handmade are:
- Handmade allows you to set up a personalized profile
- With Handmade, you do not pay any fees until the product sells
- You need to apply to sell on Handmade, but not on Amazon
- Amazon Handmade is basically a category within Amazon – just like you could shop “books,” “movies,” or “shoes,” now you can also shop “handmade.”
The good news, when a consumer shops for something in all of Amazon, search results will include your products in Handmade.
How to sell on Amazon Handmade
There are pros and cons to selling on amazon handmade. First off, if you can get your product included as part of Amazon Prime, you should. Prime customers love the free, expedited shipping, and will be more likely to buy a product that is Prime than is not.
Consider some of the key pros and cons of shopping through Amazon Handmade.
Pros:
- Create a customized profile
- Advertise any products that you can customize
- Interact directly with buyers
- Your listings never expire
- Payment is easy – consumers can pay the way they would pay on Amazon – with a credit card, PayPal, or sometimes even with rewards points from their credit cards
Cons:
- Must apply to be a seller and wait for approval
- 15% fee on each sale
- Your category might not exist
Don’t forget about keywords – you will want to make sure your Handmade profile as some keywords that consumers will shop on. For example, if you are selling quilts, don’t get so caught up in the product description, fabric, and colors, to forget to include the word “quilt” in your advertisement.
How to start to sell On Amazon Handmade
It is pretty easy to get started with handmade Amazon. The first thing you will need to do is fill out an application. Then, you might have to wait some time. It take up to a few months to be approved.
If you are already an Amazon seller, you can sell without reapplying as a Handmade seller because you are already approved as a seller. But, if you are only selling Handmade and do not need access to other Amazon seller benefits, you can sell on Handmade without paying the same fees that Amazon sellers pay.
If you need help getting started, you can also consult with our personal assistant, who is available to help you 24/7 and will easily answer any questions you have, big or small. You can ask any questions about Amazon – they do not even have to be specific to Amazon Homemade. Our assistant can help you get set up and decide on how to best price your products.
Register to sell on Amazon Handmade
Registering is going to be the easiest way to get started, and soon you might be selling some amazon handmade best sellers.
You will get a custom URL that you can use to market your shop. You will be able to send this URL to friends, family, and potential customers. Also, you can publicize this on social media, websites, and blogs, to get maximize traffic to your own personal Amazon Handmade store. This will be a great way to attract consumers and increase sales and profits.
Where to find product to sell?
In most cases, you are going to already have a specialty. Maybe you have been quilting for decades, or making handcrafted jewelry and you just need somewhere to sell it. Amazon handmade could be that location.
Since your products all need to be homemade, you need to either make them yourself, or verify that one of your employees made them. That’s not to say you can’t sell for your neighbor or friend, but in that case that person would essentially become an employee. You would need to understand how they made the product and personally verify that it is handcrafted.
Keep in mind that while you can have employees, your store must be small. You can only sell on Amazon Homemade if you have less than 20 employees. Amazon wants to keep out any big stores that are mass-producing materials, and they truly want this to be a place for homemade arts and craft.
Listing Products on Amazon Handmade
There are a few things to consider and a few actions to take when you are listing a product for sale on Amazon Handmade:
- First off – read the fine print and understand the details of Amazon Handmade. Get smart before you jump in and list your product
- Look at the listings of your competitors. Pay attention to how the product descriptions are written and what the pricing is
- Always use good images. This is not to say you can’t use your IPhone camera, but pay attention to lighting and background. Make your product standout, and don’t put your cat in the background
- Describe your product. This can be more important than the picture. Talk about colors and sizing, but most important – what makes your product better than the other options on the market?
- Set the right price – again, look at your competitors, and maybe set your price just a touch lower, so anybody shopping for the lowest price would be sure to land on your item
- The job doesn’t end once it is listed. Advertise! Promote your product. Tell all of your friends and family, but you should also set up social media platforms and put the right hashtags on your product to get it in front of consumers.
Set up your products
Now that you’ve listed it, you are ready to organize your Amazon Handmade page. Set up a strong profile, make sure you have a picture, and even put a heartfelt description in. People shopping for handcrafted goods want to hear your story. Where are you from? Why did you get into handcrafting? What is your passion? Buyer love purchasing from people they feel like they know already, or they want to invite over for dinner.
Something you can also include is photos of your workspace. Do you have a cool craft room? Put a picture on your profile of your craft room. Maybe a consumer will not want to purchase your product that is currently available because it’s the wrong color. But, she might see rolls of fabric in the background of your photo, and she might see a color she likes.
Don’t be afraid to offer customized products, and you can include pictures of different colors and schematics that could be available for purchase if someone likes them.
Amazon Handmade also lets you “copy” a listing. Remember, listings are free. So, don’t be afraid to copy a listing and repost it many times, just changing things like colors and sizes and whatever small specifics changed in the product.
Amazon Handmade fees
This is pretty straightforward. You can get all set up for free – you can apply, set up your store, and list your products. There is a 15% fee on each sale you make. So, you will not lose money. You do not have to take a risk, pay to list a product on Amazon, and hope it sells. You will not owe any money until the sale is complete.
Keep in mind that your fees might go up if you sell more than 40 items in a month. For high-volume sellers, Amazon might charge a monthly fee. If you are only selling a couple pieces at a time, this fee should not be a factor for you.
Can You Make Money on Amazon Handmade?
Absolutely. You won’t lose money, and you should stand to profit quite a bit depending on how many items you are able to sell.
The nice things is that yYou can set the prices for your product. You know how much the materials cost and how many hours you spent making it. Factor that in, add the 15% fee Amazon will charge when you sell it, and then add to the price whatever you want to make as your profit. Each time you make a sale you will get that profit into your bank account.
How much does it Cost to Sell on Amazon handmade?
It does not cost you money until you make a sale. There is no risk in selling products on Amazon Handmade. You do not have to put $100 in and then you lose it if you never make a sale. Amazon does not make any money until you make a sale, so you can list your products without worrying about them selling. There is no fee for your products to be listed on Amazon and not sell.
Is Amazon Handmade Worth it?
How can it not be? There is no risk. Right now, you have probably handcrafted numerous different items. They might be sitting in your craft room taking up space, and you would rather get them out into the world where people can see and enjoy them. Amazon Handmade is the best way to do that, as there are so many browsers on Amazon everyday your product is bound to get seen.
Some of the reasons Amazon Handmade can be so beneficial:
- It’s risk free – you will not pay any money until your product sells, and you do not have to pay just to list an ad
- You are exposed to millions of consumers who shop on Amazon
- It’s a great way to manage a business out of your home or craft store
Amazon Handmade vs Etsy
There are pros and cons to both, but in general, Amazon Handmade has more benefits that Etsy. With Amazon, you can make your products available for Prime shipping, which will attract a lot of customers, and Etsy does not have this option. One of the biggest pros is that you are selling on Amazon. Millions of people have Amazon Prime and do most of their ordering on Amazon, so it is easy for them to just add one more item to their shopping cart, since they are already shopping.
While you might attract different clientele on Etsy, people mostly go to Etsy specifically looking for handmade products, your product will likely be seen by more consumers on Amazon, simply due to the traffic on the Amazon website.
If you want to maximize the amount of people that will see your products, than Amazon Handmade can definitely help you do that!
FAQ
Is Amazon handmade better than Etsy?
It can be. While the fees are different for each site, the Amazon brand name alone means chances are higher that more people will see, and buy your product. Some people still prefer Etsy, and Etsy is still a good service to sell your homemade goods, but the brand name of Amazon can really help you sell your products.
Is Amazon handmade free?
It is not free, but you do not pay money until your product sells, so it is mostly no risk. If you happen to sell more than 40 units in a month, you might have to pay a small monthly fee.
When did Amazon Handmade start?
Amazon Handmade is not that old and only recently launched in October, 2015. However, it has the power of the brand name of Amazon behind it, so it has quickly become very successful.
