I manufacture a unique product line and an Amazon rep contacted me wanting me to sign up and sell my products. The thing is I have read hundreds of horror stories about good merchants be permanently suspended over trivial occurrences. Some cases where Amazon as turned around and began selling the same products! So, does anyone have experience with Amazon? Is the exposure worth the risk of self fabricated product being counterfeited and sold at a fraction of your price?
If you're making the product yourself I think you should be fine. From my experience and many people I've talked to, the only threat you really have is if you are selling a product that is easily manufactured that is not sold specifically by amazon, or amazon is just breaking into a specific type of product. I've talked to more than a handful of people at conferences that were in this exact situation. After starting a successful amazon storefront, Amazon decided to start selling the product themselves. With their nearly-free shipping and their ability to bulk purchase far in excess of what a normal business is capable of, it's easy to see who ended up losing. It's hearsay as far as Amazon is concerned, but Amazon has access to specific product conversion data for each seller on their platform. It's not a tough decision for them to start selling something themselves. Obviously, there is no guarantee that nothing could ever happen, but from a logistic perspective, it would be very difficult for amazon to enter a space where the products are unique and / or custom made. Here's an article I wrote a few years ago after talking to some upset and out of business online sellers. I don't think this article applies as much to your type of business but is definitely something to keep in mind. What I would be most concerned about in your situation is making sure you can live up to Amazon customer's shipping, product quality, and policy expectations. Amazon customers expect a cheaper product and a better process than many online sellers are able to give. This means you need to make sure that your shipping methods are in the price range and delivery expectation of Amazon customers. You need to make sure your product details are excellent to prevent returns. You need to make sure you can make a profit with Amazon's huge commission. You need to make sure you can live with getting your money in a few weeks instead of tomorrow. There's a ton of good stories from businesses that have prospered on Amazon's platform. It's really just a matter of giving it a shot. It's free to join which is good. You may find that it is perfect for your business. You may also find that you are far better off with your own website. Custom and niche product website are often very successful if they can get a decent following and are well made. In cases like yours I don't think there's any way to predict the outcome until you give it a try.
Thank you greatly for the detailed reply and for the link. When it comes to them liking a cheaper product, I will need to increase my prices ~10% to cover the extra costs and still make a decent profit. Also, I would imagine that A has connections to companies that have quick turn around time when it comes to the design, manufacture, and readiness to sell new products from scratch. Instead of manufacturing my own products if they where fabricated for me offshore then I would be able to lower my prices and feel just fine about joining Amazon even despite if they have a company making their own version. But even that scenario a $3 lower price and free shipping from A will supersede my product line. The reason why this concerns me currently is I do not have the capital and business connections to have a 100 * 100 = 10k items produced. (I have 100 item designs and assume at least 100 per item to start with) Just thinking aloud here. Well, after reading your link and This long thread I have decided to not join amazon with my main product line. I may however develop a smaller product line, one I would not be devastated if/when it becomes copied and mass produced.