Amazon Handmade Store

[kmmcrafts]

Well, I think I finally got my account set up correctly ( I hope ) and put one listing up in my Amazon store.. The way they have that site set up is totally opposite of any other site I've sold on, LOL so it's certainly been a learning experience for sure.. I've got well over 2000 pictures that I had to go through and resize them to meet amazon's requirements.. Wow, what a pain in the rear this store set up has been..  The formatting for the description etc is way different.. so before I put up too many more items I want to re-write my descriptions.. as they do not allow paragraphs as far as I can tell.. Since writing this with paragraphs during set up but when the item went live there are no paragraphs in it.. So another thing to figure out as I don't care for it to be all bunched together.. I may just make very short and too the point descriptions.. another site I sell on requires the long descriptive description so that is how I'm used to writing them..     

Now, I still have learning to do.. as once I get my first sale.. I'll have to figure out the whole shipping thing.. and how to process the order according to Amazon's rules and guidelines...

Anyway, here is my first item listing.. Now I just have about 400 more items to get listed on there, LOL

https://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Clock-Western-Handmade-Cherry/dp/B07B5HRQ94/ref=sr_1_1?s=handmade&ie=UTF8&qid=1520016546&sr=1-1&keywords=cowboy+boot+clock

If anyone is selling on the handmade section of amazon and has any tips or suggestion on my store there feel free to comment your critique if you have one.. LOL

[don in brooklin on]

Very interesting.  Ad looks good.

If you want to resize a bunch of pictures, I use PIXresizer

[kmmcrafts]

Amazon is old school... I just was thinking that just maybe.. it is html.. so to make my paragraphs I had to use html to make them work, lol.. duh.. not sure why i didn't think of that a few days ago.. LOL Anyway.. now I know.. maybe I can move on and get some more listings up..

I did manage to get all my photos resized.. took some figuring out but I was able to get them all done in one batch.. 

 

[amazingkevin]

7 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Well, I think I finally got my account set up correctly ( I hope ) and put one listing up in my Amazon store.. The way they have that site set up is totally opposite of any other site I've sold on, LOL so it's certainly been a learning experience for sure.. I've got well over 2000 pictures that I had to go through and resize them to meet amazon's requirements.. Wow, what a pain in the rear this store set up has been..  The formatting for the description etc is way different.. so before I put up too many more items I want to re-write my descriptions.. as they do not allow paragraphs as far as I can tell.. Since writing this with paragraphs during set up but when the item went live there are no paragraphs in it.. So another thing to figure out as I don't care for it to be all bunched together.. I may just make very short and too the point descriptions.. another site I sell on requires the long descriptive description so that is how I'm used to writing them..     

Now, I still have learning to do.. as once I get my first sale.. I'll have to figure out the whole shipping thing.. and how to process the order according to Amazon's rules and guidelines...

Anyway, here is my first item listing.. Now I just have about 400 more items to get listed on there, LOL

https://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Clock-Western-Handmade-Cherry/dp/B07B5HRQ94/ref=sr_1_1?s=handmade&ie=UTF8&qid=1520016546&sr=1-1&keywords=cowboy+boot+clock

If anyone is selling on the handmade section of amazon and has any tips or suggestion on my store there feel free to comment your critique if you have one.. LOL

Nice big ad!

[JimErn]

I looked at your ad on amazon this morning, 3/3, there are paragraphs for the description - maybe I missed a post where you said you got it figured out.

I scanned some other artwork on the handmade amazon site, some leave the production method blank, most are much more general than you show - there are no paragraphs in that area, maybe that is what you were referring to.  I would shorten it to a very general description

Good luck

[kmmcrafts]

I did figure out how to make paragraphs in both the description and in the production method.. Yes I need to figure out how to shorten it up.. I also have modified the description and shorten it some.. Forgot how time consuming this is to "learn " to sell on a new site.. all the button and whatnot are just natural for me on all the other sites.. having to learn where they are on Amazon is time consuming. 

Worried about my first sale there.. since I have no idea how to process the order and do the shipping labels on Amazon.. Also Amazon is very strict on shipping times etc.. and they dock your pay if the item doesn't ship on time.. They also allow the customer to make a return within 30 days.. ( excluding personalized items ).

I got a second listing up today.. starting to learn the listing process.. and I'm sure after a few more it will be a breeze to do, LOL

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Kevin can you post a link to this so we can see what this is about. oop s I just found it in your first post. Have to take a look around this platform and see what everyone else is selling too. I am having a hard time following that site. What are you listed under and how do you find you??  If it is under handmade does that mean anything in all the catagories are hand made because I am doubting things especially looking at prices. I do have a pretty good understanding of material costs and job labor costs and some of this does not add up. Just like on etsy some people sell pens for less than the components it cost to buy. Many times I feel like buying the pens and just stripping them down and use the parts for my own design. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[kmmcrafts]

7 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Kevin can you post a link to this so we can see what this is about.

Try this link and see if it gets you to my storefront on Amazon.  Clicking on a product and scrolling own a ways will show the " production method " This is what I need to re-write to shorten it up. I hope this link works.. since when I see it being logged in I see my seller dashboard but I think this link will take you to my products on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=hnd_pdp_byline?_encoding=UTF8&node=11260432011&lo=image&me=AB6VSD8IW7V6V

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

56 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

Try this link and see if it gets you to my storefront on Amazon.  Clicking on a product and scrolling own a ways will show the " production method " This is what I need to re-write to shorten it up. I hope this link works.. since when I see it being logged in I see my seller dashboard but I think this link will take you to my products on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=hnd_pdp_byline?_encoding=UTF8&node=11260432011&lo=image&me=AB6VSD8IW7V6V

I was able to get to your site with the link on your first post too. My question is how do I see other handmade items from other crafters. I click on handmade in top banner and then it drops down a bunch of categories. Where would you be in those categories if I did not have your name or this link you gave. What I am seeing does not make sense. Has to be a direct link to see these crafters if that is what they are calling the site. Something has to distance them from their other selling vendors. I do agree you have way too much info on there about a simple clock. Wood type and size and insert size is about all that is needed. Photos will tell the story. Do you have to supply all those photos for each item too so that they can see 360 degrees around the item?? Seems like a lot of work. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I was able to get to your site with the link on your first post too. My question is how do I see other handmade items from other crafters. I click on handmade in top banner and then it drops down a bunch of categories. Where would you be in those categories if I did not have your name or this link you gave. What I am seeing does not make sense. Has to be a direct link to see these crafters if that is what they are calling the site. Something has to distance them from their other selling vendors. I do agree you have way too much info on there about a simple clock. Wood type and size and insert size is about all that is needed. Photos will tell the story. Do you have to supply all those photos for each item too so that they can see 360 degrees around the item?? Seems like a lot of work. 

Okay I mis-understood your question.

This link takes you to the main handmade section of it.. and on the left is the category / menu.. to get to other woodwork type things you have to check a box on the left side under materials.. It's really clunky and complicated how they have the whole thing set up in my opinion..

https://www.amazon.com/Handmade/b?ie=UTF8&node=11260432011 

I only have to supply the one main photo.. but on my own website I made years ago I did the 5-8 photos for a good view..  since people cannot pick the item up and look at it in several different angles etc.. Many crafts sellers online only supply one photo.. This is one thing i mentioned in another posting about selling online sets my customers up to have a better idea of what they are looking to buy.. Helps tremendously in getting sales..  

Amazon handmade site items show on the main amazon pages if someone was to search deck clock or quartz clock etc.. my items should come up in any general search from amazon.. just might take several weeks to happen as the items have to get indexed into the systems search..

 

Something I thought was odd was.. that amazon is really old school for it's sellers... much of what I have to do to get a listing to show properly is html coding work.. Another odd thing is.. the site is super slow.. I put a listing up and it takes at least an hour for the photos to get into the system... so at first the ads say no image available... but then you check back a hour or so later and they are there.. Just thought it was odd because any other site I've sold on the listing goes up immediately.. They are just very old school on their site. They are taking in all this money but too cheap to get a decent selling platform for their customers, LOL 

Edit to add.. you can also just go to the main amazon page and near the search bar there is a drop down menu that you can scroll down and select "Handmade" and then type what you want to search ( ie clocks) Or Scroll saw etc. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by kmmcrafts

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I guess I am not asking my question right. Say I do not know you or know your link. I click on Handmade items, where would your work come under???  There is no clocks to the left there is no clocks underneath.  Would you be under home and kitchen?/  That person that does all those records there is nothing in his discription that says they are cut with a laser or scrollsaw. If cut with a laser is that hand made?? I typed clocks and man a whole lot of clocks came up. I need to play around some more. That is way too confusing. I do not know how people will find you unless they know where to look. You will not get many random buyers. 

 

OK I found you by clicking on handmade and then looking for desk clocks. No wonder Amazon is so big. Taking over the ecommerce world. Good luck with your sales. Keep us posted if you get all the kinks worked out. Maybe it is a sales avenue.  

Edited March 5, 2018 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[JimErn]

I looked at your 73 Dart clock, the perspective on the pictures bothers me.

The numbers 73 are smaller than the word Dart, so the car should be sloped downward some, yet in some pics it looks level.  Makes my wee brain go huh?

Nice cutting by the way

[kmmcrafts]

10 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

I guess I am not asking my question right. Say I do not know you or know your link. I click on Handmade items, where would your work come under???  There is no clocks to the left there is no clocks underneath.  Would you be under home and kitchen?/  That person that does all those records there is nothing in his discription that says they are cut with a laser or scrollsaw. If cut with a laser is that hand made?? I typed clocks and man a whole lot of clocks came up. I need to play around some more. That is way too confusing. I do not know how people will find you unless they know where to look. You will not get many random buyers. 

 

OK I found you by clicking on handmade and then looking for desk clocks. No wonder Amazon is so big. Taking over the ecommerce world. Good luck with your sales. Keep us posted if you get all the kinks worked out. Maybe it is a sales avenue.  

Yeah Amazon works really strange with their searching to find a certain sellers shop..  But.. most people do not search for KevsKrafts.. they search for the item they are looking for.. and the handmade store while it's sort of a separate from the normal amazon.. items are found in the normal amazon store's search.. for instance.. go to the normal amazon page.. type in the search.. " Dodge Dart Clock "  My handmade clock shows up with several other "not handmade" clocks about half way down on the first page.. that may raise to the top if I have good content.. .. This is why I always tell people that selling on etsy with hundreds of other sellers with lower prices and laser made junk doesn't bother me.. nor should it bother you as a seller.. you spend more time worrying about those other sellers taking away your sales.. most of those other sellers do not fill out the extra credit ( what I call all the additional info I fill out ) such as the making process, tags etc etc.. You see both Amazon and etsy or even a stand alone web site.. they all factor this stuff in the search.. people that are not filling all they can ( adding many angles of photos ) the search features all are geared for content. the more content the higher you rank in the searches.. When people search for something.. if they don't find it on the first couple pages.. they give up and enter a different search term..  People that don't put in the work for the content don't typically get very high search ranking.. Unless they are paying money to rank higher.. which not many craft people are willing to pay out yet more money to be found..  

Just for fun.. I just typed in the regular amazon search " dodge dart ".. I was back about 3-4 pages.. Not bad considering I've only been on the site for 3 days.. as longevity also helps in search..

 

[lew]

Just looked at the site on Amazon and I think it looks real good! Very professional and clean. My wife and I do tin work and currently sell at a store in Lancaster Pa and to a wholesaler, but this might be a whole new avenue fro sales!

Thanks

Lew

[Slick Willy]

Very professional looking. I might try that someday, but I'm going to hit the small Farmers Market here first to see what customers here like.

[justdraftn]

How does this sell?  

How many pieces will you sell in a year?

 

[kmmcrafts]

On 3/26/2018 at 11:10 AM, justdraftn said:

How does this sell?  

How many pieces will you sell in a year?

 

I don't really know how well it will do for selling... I just started on there.. 

 

 

[Rgodwin]

Si how much have you sold?  Just curious 

[kmmcrafts]

3 hours ago, Rgodwin said:

Si how much have you sold?  Just curious 

Nothing on Amazon yet... but I got to say.. I haven't worked at all to try to get any sales on there either.. and I've been real slow at getting my 360 items listed on there.. I need to take a few days and just sit and get the listings on.. I just hate doing the listing part of the business.. Making sawdust is way more fun  

On a side note.. I've been getting a lot of page views and that is a good start to a first sale.. but with limited inventory I just don't expect much for sales until I get some good inventory up.. On a positive.. it doesn't cost me anything to list or have the site.. but once I sell they will take a FVF ( final value fee) of the sold item..  

[kmmcrafts]

Just wanted to update.. I finally have been starting to get some sales on the Amazon site.. so far so good on how the site is working etc.. took a lot of time to figure out their platform system etc.. but not a bad selling place on there now.. I need to get more listings up on there.. but trying to take advantage of the nice weather and working a lot out in the shop so adding more might be put off until late fall or maybe even after the holidays..

 

[rjweb]

Glad to see things are moving along, good luck with your new venture, RJ 

[meflick]

Thanks for the update.  If you get up in the Fall would probably help generate more holiday sales BUT if you get too many already from your other ventures might not want even more. 

[Scrappile]

I think Amazon needs to work on their categories some.  JTtheclockman, if I wanted to look for clocks like yours that sit on a desk or small table, etc, I would have a very hard time finding the.  What you show look like it is in the Kitchen category, I certainly would not of looked there.... but, they can't cover everything, I guess.

Glad to read you are getting action though.  Hope it keeps growing.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Scrappile