Here are several important updates that you might want to take action on:
Have a great week!
Jason Tay
www.jasontayonline.com
- Change in Amazon disbursements to 3rd party Payment Service Providers (PSP).
- Recommended Payment Service Providers.
- Insurance for Amazon sellers.
- Amazon PPC.
- Jason's personal Amazon seller training and coaching.
Have a great week!
Jason Tay
www.jasontayonline.com
1. Changes to Amazon Disbursements
Some important key points:
For more details refer to this page that explains and compares the best ways to receive and transfer money from Amazon and to pay your suppliers.
- Who needs to take note? Anyone who uses a Payment Service Provider (PSP) to receive your payouts from Amazon. If you receive direct bank deposits into your bank account, there is no difference, but if you are selling internationally, I would recommend using a PSP as the currency conversion rate can be many times lower than Amazon's 1.50%.
- TransferWise users especially need to know that it is currently not an Amazon PSP. This means that starting from 1st March 2021, bank account from TransferWise cannot be added to Seller Central. If you already have a TransferWise bank account saved as a deposit method in Seller Central, from 1st June 2021, your sales proceeds will be subject to a reserve hold by Amazon for up to 21 days before being disbursed.
For more details refer to this page that explains and compares the best ways to receive and transfer money from Amazon and to pay your suppliers.
2. Recommended Payment Service Providers
The current payment providers I would recommend are OFX and WorldFirst.
- OFX contacted me last month to offer an unprecedented low rate of 0.3% to anyone who signs up through this link.
- OFX has the lowest currency conversion rate for most sellers at 0.3% (compared to 0.6% for WorldFirst and 1.50% for Amazon direct deposits). This means that for transferring $100,000 in Amazon disbursements that involve currency conversion such as from USD to SGD or AUD, it would cost you $1,500 in fees if you used Amazon direct deposits into your bank account vs $300 if you used OFX, or $600 with WorldFirst. In reality, the potential forex gain with using a PSP is even better because you can hold a currency and convert when the exchange rate is in your favour. In addition, if you pay suppliers in USD, you can save on double conversion by having a USD balance and paying suppliers from that without converting back and forth.
- OFX and WorldFirst have pros and cons. OFX is best for transfer of funds that involve currency conversion due to the lowest rate. WorldFirst is better to pay suppliers because it charges a fixed USD15 fee for USD to USD transfers anywhere in the world vs 0.3% for OFX. TransferWise is actually much better for this, but since it is not an Amazon PSP, it is not feasible if you sell on Amazon.
3. Insurance for Amazon Sellers
You might have seen in forums that sellers are starting to get notifications from Amazon to provide proof of their Amazon compliant insurance policy.
Amazon has always required sellers to have Commercial General Liability insurance (CGL) if they meet the condition outlined below. However they have never enforced it... until about a month ago.
Amazon requires a seller to have CGL insurance if they meet the following conditions:
Amazon's main requirements for seller's insurance policy are:
If you are incorporated in the US, it has been easy to get insurance that meets Amazon's requirements. However for sellers that sell internationally across borders, such as a Singapore or Australian entity selling in the US, it has been extremely difficult to find an insurer that will provide cover that includes Amazon, let alone one that can do it at an affordable premium.
The good news is I have been working hard on a solution for sellers in Singapore and Australia and will co-hosting a webinar with 3 insurance companies who can provide insurance that meets Amazon's requirements for entities from the US, Singapore and Australia!
I will be co-hosting a webinar with the 3 insurers on 31st March 2021. I will be sharing the webinar details on my Facebook page and group. Stay tuned by following my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/jasontayonline and joining my free Facebook group, which is also a wealth of useful content.
Amazon has always required sellers to have Commercial General Liability insurance (CGL) if they meet the condition outlined below. However they have never enforced it... until about a month ago.
Amazon requires a seller to have CGL insurance if they meet the following conditions:
- Professional Seller Account
- Gross sales proceeds exceeding the threshold of the marketplace you are selling in for 3 consecutive months
- The threshold for the US marketplace is $10,000 US dollars
Amazon's main requirements for seller's insurance policy are:
- Commercial General Liability insurance with coverage of one million US dollars ($1,000,000) if the marketplace is the US.
- You must include Amazon as an additional insured. You policy must state that, "Amazon.com, Inc., its affiliates and assignees are additional insureds, as their interests may appear".
If you are incorporated in the US, it has been easy to get insurance that meets Amazon's requirements. However for sellers that sell internationally across borders, such as a Singapore or Australian entity selling in the US, it has been extremely difficult to find an insurer that will provide cover that includes Amazon, let alone one that can do it at an affordable premium.
The good news is I have been working hard on a solution for sellers in Singapore and Australia and will co-hosting a webinar with 3 insurance companies who can provide insurance that meets Amazon's requirements for entities from the US, Singapore and Australia!
I will be co-hosting a webinar with the 3 insurers on 31st March 2021. I will be sharing the webinar details on my Facebook page and group. Stay tuned by following my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/jasontayonline and joining my free Facebook group, which is also a wealth of useful content.
4. Amazon PPC
Amazon PPC advertising is essential for scaling private labels. PPC is very powerful, but can seem overwhelmingly complex. It is also commonly underutilized or misused, resulting in poor sales and high costs. However if Amazon PPC is properly understood and implemented, it is one of the most cost effective ways of driving impressions, clicks and conversions; in other words it is one of the best ways to market your products cost-effectively.
After spending years self-learning and investing over USD6,000 to learn from some of the top PPC experts, I have found Ritu Java, founder of PPC Ninja, provides the best practical approach to Amazon PPC. Her strategy and the way she explains it is a combination of being powerful yet easy to use for both beginners and very advanced sellers who are selling 7, 8 or 10 figures a year.
I've been in 2 masterminds with Ritu and hosted her for a couple of webinars that you can watch on my Amazon PPC page.
If you would like to get a solid practical understanding of Amazon PPC and how to implement PPC effectively, Ritu is conducting a very affordable 2 session workshop on 13 and 20 March 2021. You can find out more and register for it here.
After spending years self-learning and investing over USD6,000 to learn from some of the top PPC experts, I have found Ritu Java, founder of PPC Ninja, provides the best practical approach to Amazon PPC. Her strategy and the way she explains it is a combination of being powerful yet easy to use for both beginners and very advanced sellers who are selling 7, 8 or 10 figures a year.
I've been in 2 masterminds with Ritu and hosted her for a couple of webinars that you can watch on my Amazon PPC page.
If you would like to get a solid practical understanding of Amazon PPC and how to implement PPC effectively, Ritu is conducting a very affordable 2 session workshop on 13 and 20 March 2021. You can find out more and register for it here.
5. Amazon Seller Live Training
Finally, if you are interested in no-nonsense, down-to-earth training to learn how to create and sell your own private label products on Amazon, I have opened up registration for my next intake. I've limited registration to a max of 12 people so that I can interact with everyone more effectively during the 2 full days of Zoom training on 18-19 March, and also to ensure I have time for the four 1-to-1 consultations with each participant.
I've reduced this from 15 to 12 because I enjoy teaching a smaller group. I'm even considering reducing the intake to just 8 or 10 people, so do check it out and register early if you are interested.
Do note that selling on Amazon should be treated as running a business or part of a serious business. Please do not sign up if you are expecting a get-rich-quick, easy-money scheme that some shady gurus make it out to be. This is for people who are serious about using the opportunity that the internet and Amazon provides to start and/or scale a physical product business and are willing to put in the time, effort and finances.
More info on my Amazon training course page.
I've reduced this from 15 to 12 because I enjoy teaching a smaller group. I'm even considering reducing the intake to just 8 or 10 people, so do check it out and register early if you are interested.
Do note that selling on Amazon should be treated as running a business or part of a serious business. Please do not sign up if you are expecting a get-rich-quick, easy-money scheme that some shady gurus make it out to be. This is for people who are serious about using the opportunity that the internet and Amazon provides to start and/or scale a physical product business and are willing to put in the time, effort and finances.
More info on my Amazon training course page.