5 Amazon FBA Mistakes Sellers Make And How to Avoid Them

Mayan wants to set you up for success with your new entrepreneurial endeavor. Check out 5 FBA mistakes that new sellers make, and what you can When launching any new business, you definitely want to start off on the right foot. And that goes for whether you're opening a lemonade stand for the weekend (remember those?!) or launching a new store on Amazon. 

A multitude of problems can arise throughout your seller journey, and the issues can vary from your Amazon FBA store missing inventory to not managing your advertising budget effectively. These oftentimes little slip ups can affect your business in a big way, and you’ll be wishing you had prepared a little better.

But, it doesn't have to be this way.


Why Do Some Amazon Sellers Fail?

Learn from the success stories out there: the most successful Amazon FBA sellers know how to properly prepare for a new product launch, how to find the right products to sell in the first place, and use the marketing tools available to them. They know what to look out for and how to manage the most important aspects of their business so that they can gain a profit and grow their brand.

Basically, the reason many Amazon FBA sellers fail (especially in the first few months) is that they aren’t adequately prepared before they launch their business. And this makes it extremely difficult to get the ball rolling. 

Don’t be one of those failure stories! To help you jumpstart your new business journey, here are some of the biggest Amazon FBA mistakes that sellers make (and how you can avoid them.)

5 Big Amazon FBA Mistakes New Sellers Make ‍

You just signed up to be one of the on the Amazon marketplace and you're feeling completely overwhelmed. We get it. Ease some of that stress by checking out these common mistakes that lots of Amazon FBA sellers tend to make so that the same thing doesn't happen to you.

 Here are the main things to look out for:

• Mismanaged product launch
• Missing inventory
• Lack of product research

• Requesting positive reviews
• Not using Amazon’s Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Display Ads

Let’s break down the details of these Amazon FBA seller failures below.

1. Mismanaged Product Launch

A mismanaged product launch is a big reason why a lot of new Amazon sellers fail. Don't let that happen to you!



When preparing an Amazon product launch, it's worth it to over prepare and be meticulous at first, as the first few months of your FBA business launching is an essential time.


A successful new product launch in your Amazon store involves a long list of critical factors that go beyond preparing a product listing and pushing your products live. 

When launching a new product to sell on Amazon, you'll need to:

• Promote newly launched products on your social media platforms
• Organize discount codes and giveaways for your potential customers
• Set up a new PPC ad budget for the launch
• Optimize your product listing and subsequent Amazon ads

Let's not forget about SEO. For a successful product launch on Amazon FBA, you'll need to dedicate some time and optimize your listing with top performing keywords to make sure the right buyers are coming across your items. 

Keyword research will have to be done for your product pages as well as your Amazon ads. Want to dive into this part a little deeper? You can find out more about the tips and tricks of advertising in our post about Amazon PPC ads.

Remember to always be proactive and do everything possible to get positive customer reviews (more on that below) which will increase your early sales, which is key in a successful Amazon FBA store. 

2. Not Using Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Brand Video Ads

Not using the tools available to you is another big FBA mistake that Amazon sellers make and one you want to avoid, especially as a new seller. 

That being said, some of those major tools are Amazon's Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Brand Video advertising platforms. To become a successful Amazon FBA seller, it’s important to implement these into your business's marketing strategy. Not only can they help to increase sales, but they’ve become a big part of brand growth and awareness for a lot of individual businesses in the United States and beyond. 

Amazon Sponsored Brand video ads are even shown on platforms outside of Amazon itself, such as ESPN, Twitch, and other partners. This makes for big visibility potential for your brand. 

3. Missing Inventory

It’s no secret that Amazon sellers need their product ranking to be the best that it can be in order to get those sales. So as an FBA seller, just know that one of the key reasons that leads to a decrease in product ranking on Amazon is a lack of inventory. 

Amazon will not drive customers to your product if you are out of stock, or even running low, as it can create a negative product experience for your customers. We are not saying to overstock (because that can cost you a lot of $$ in warehouse fees), but it's essential to always be aware of your inventory levels so you can avoid this FBA mistake that lots of sellers run into.

To avoid the situation of missing inventory, make sure to track your inventory levels multiple times a day. This doesn't have to mean logging into your Seller Central account and constantly checking for inventory updates – our Amazon seller tip for you here is to look into an inventory management software to automate the tracking and reordering process for you.‍‍

4. Lack of Product Research

The top Amazon FBA mistake that new sellers make is choosing to sell products that they like, and not necessarily what their (potential) new customers are looking for! This means doing market research before launching your store.

Not doing the research to understand what customers are looking for is – according to many Amazon selling experts – one of the main reasons lots of new sellers fail. Never forget that in any type of marketplace (whether it's online or in-store) customer awareness is key.

Let's say you jump into this business trying to sell the trendiest product on the market. In that case, you’re going to be facing heavy competition from well-established players. And for a multitude of reasons, your competition's products will rank higher than yours and your fresh new product page will get lost in the mix.

To stand out in Amazon, our seller tip for you is to try and identify a niche where you can be competitive on quality, price, or service. Just one of those three aspects can be enough! While this may take a little more time, the results will be worth it. 


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5. Requesting positive reviews

One of the biggest Amazon FBA mistake
s that new sellers make is to wrongfully post reviews or ask family or business friends to post a positive reviews of their product or products. In fact, it is directly against Amazon’s policies. Any type of review, whether good or bad, that isn’t directly from a customer can be flagged and removed. Amazon monitors all product reviews to make sure they are authentic; this is to protect all shoppers from fraudulent products or pages.

However, positive reviews early on in your FBA store’s journey is a great way to boost your ranking and lead to more growth and sales on your end. So, what can you do to get these coveted reviews?

To get the traction you need as an early seller, you can look into participating in the Amazon Vine program, where the most trusted reviewers are invited to share their opinions about your new or pre-released items.

Be sure to check if you are eligible to become a Vine Selling Partner in order to be able to have these trusted reviewers evaluate your products. As of 2022, sellers must have a professional FBA selling partner account registered in Amazon's Brand Registry program to be able to participate in Vine. 


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