How To Sell T-Shirts On Amazon In 2024 (Step by Step Beginner Guide)

Some things do not require any introduction. Amazon is one of them. Almost everyone already knows about it. But do you know that along with purchasing from it, you can also make money out of Amazon?

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Yes, you can sell your products online by enlisting them on Amazon. An article on CNBC's official site titled, ‘Amazon says sellers are doing great on its marketplace, as regulators turn up the heat’ notes, “Amazon launched the third-party marketplace in 2000, allowing everyone from small businesses that operate out of their garage to established brands to sell their wares on the site.

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It has since grown to encompass millions of sellers and now accounts for roughly 60% of Amazon’s overall retail sales.” So, if you want to shift your offline t-shirt selling business, or want to start a new one, you can do that with Amazon. But is it a road of flowers? Certainly not! Therefore, along with guiding you to sell t-shirts on Amazon, this article will also mention some alternatives to Amazon so you can smoothly open an online store.

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Understanding Amazon

From an online shoe selling company in a small garage to a multi-million enterprise with a footprint all over the world, Amazon is an inspiration for every small business owner. While its headquarter is in Seattle, Washington, United States of America, you can find its software development centres, data centres, customer service centres, fulfilment centres, and websites throughout the world. In fact, pretty sure it is on your phone too!!

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Initially, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, named it Cadabra but shifted to Amazon for two main reasons. First to get the value of alphabetical placement. Secondly, Amazon was an exotic name representing the vastness of the Amazon river, the world's largest river.

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He wanted the name to reflect the size of the company and its motto, “get big fast”. Amazon offers a bunch of products and services. Here is a list of all the services with a focus on its retail services.

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Amazon Retail Services

Here is a list of amazon retail services:

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• Amazon Marketplace: This service lets third-party retailers sell or showcase their products through Amazon’s e-commerce platform alongside other Amazon items.

• Amazon Fresh: This service is particularly for groceries. Currently, it offers this service only in a few international locations and two dozen US cities. With the help of this product, a consumer can order groceries through the Amazon phone app or the amazon fresh website. The consumer can either choose to pick up groceries in the store or get them delivered to their home.

• Amazon Vine: This service is to help shoppers and manufacturers both. It lets manufacturers and publishers collect reviews of their products. This way shoppers can make better purchasing decisions and manufacturers or publishers can improve their products through feedback. This service began in 2007.

• Woot: This marketplace is particularly for items less in stock or refurbished items. It brings regular deals and limited-time offers every day. It was initially an independent company, acquired by the giant Amazon in 2010. Moreover, this platform offers free shipping to prime members.

• Zappos: Purchased by Amazon in 2009, Zappos is a hub of branded items. It has a range of apparel, clothes and shoes, from brands, such as Adidas, Nike, Uggs, and Sperry.

• Merch by Amazon: If you want to sell T-shirts through Amazon, this could be the most important service by Amazon for you. You will get to know more about this service in the subsequent sections.

• Amazon Handmade: Through this platform, you can sell your handmade products globally. It is helpful for artisans. However, it requires artisans to pay a certain amount with every sale and a fixed monthly amount.

• This might not go well with all artisans. They can switch to other online marketplaces, such as the Fynd platform. It is extremely useful for small business owners who want to increase their reach.

All these services are helpful for either shoppers or third-party sellers.

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Consumer Technology

Here is a list of consumer technology services offered by Amazon.

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• Amazon Kindle: You might have already heard of this service. It lets readers browse, choose an e-book of their choice, buy it, and read it. Along with e-books, the Kindle store also includes newspapers and magazines.

• Amazon Fire tablet: People often compare this tablet with Apple’s iPad. It was initially known as Kindle Fire.

• Amazon Fire TV: It includes a range of digital devices and media players that allows users to stream video content online on a high-definition paired television.

• Amazon Alexa: Who isn't familiar with this amazon device that allows you to access any information on the net, listen to music, and play with your house devices just by your stop. You only need to say ‘ Alexa turn the lights red’ and all your house lights will turn red immediately.

• Amazon Echo: Attached with Alexa this smart device answers all your questions just by asking.

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Other than this, amazon offers Amazon echo dot, Amazon echo show, Amazon Astro, Amazon prime, Amazon prime video, Amazon drive, Twitch Prime, Amazon music prime, Amazon pay, Amazon Music Unlimited, Kindle store, Amazon Appstore for android, S3, Amazon simple queue services, Amazon EC2, Amazon S3 glacier, AWS identity and access management, Amazon redshift, Amazon Pagemaker, Amazon lex, Amazon Polly, Amazon recognition, AWS DeepLens, Alexa voice services, Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Translate, Alexa skills kit, Amazon basics, Amazon elements, Mama bear, Presto, Amazon essentials, Happy belly, Goodthreads.

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As someone who wants to sell t-shirts on Amazon, the merch by Amazon is the most significant feature. Before knowing more about this service, have a look at the steps to sell t-shirts online.

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Steps To Sell T-Shirts According To Amazon

If you search online for how to sell t-shirts on Amazon, the first link you will get will be of Amazon explaining the process in three simple steps. Here are those steps:

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Register on Amazon

The first step involves registering yourself to Amazon by filling in various details, such as email id, name, and contact details. Make sure you enter your legal contact details and name. Once you submit these details, you will have an account created.

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Submit Your Business Details

Enter your store name. Then if you want to sell t-shirts, choose clothing and accessories in the category. After choosing the category, submit your address and your preferred way of shipping orders.

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Refer to this guide to learn about available shipping options for Amazon sellers. Then update the details of your GST and request approval. You may not know this, but clothing and accessories are among the restricted categories on Amazon.

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Thus, you need to fill out a small form to require auto approval. After the approval, you can list t-shirts on Amazon. But is this process enough? Is this information enough for you to shift your small business on Amazon and turn it into a big one? Obviously, not! There is still a lot to know and understand.

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Step By Step Guide To Sell T-Shirts On Amazon

Did you know that every month 200 million people worldwide visit Amazon to shop? So, the call to begin an online t-shirt business might be a turning point in your life. Here is a step-to-step guide to help you sell t-shirts on Amazon.

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1. Start An Amazon Store

Begin with setting a storefront. This would require you to create an Amazon seller account. After that, you have to choose a plan that suits your business purpose. Here are two options you get.

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• Professional Plan: If you are someone who thinks that your business has the potential to sell more than 40 items a month initially and also who is interested in marketing and advanced selling tools, you should opt for this plan. It costs you $39.99 per month.

• Individual plan: If you are not yet ready to pay for advertising or selling tools and want to start low, you can opt for an individual plan. Under this plan, you will have to pay $0.99 to Amazon for each item sold. This plan is particularly helpful for small businesses with sales of less than 40 products every month.

Once you are done with account set-up, move to the step ahead.

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2. Choose A T-shirt Fulfilment Provider

You want to sell t-shirts but for that, you need to have sufficient t-shirts, that is inventory. You can manage your inventory in various ways on Amazon. Two of the most popular ones are Merch by Amazon and Fulfilment by Amazon. You will learn about each in the subsequent sections.  

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Understanding Merch by Amazon

Merch by Amazon is the top choice for t-shirt sellers. Launched at the end of 2015, Merch by Amazon enables you to sell your t-shirts with the support of Amazon employees and earn money.

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The program quickly became popular. It was initially easy to sign-up for an MBA but now it is an invite-only program. This means you can request to get this service by Amazon but it depends on the company whether it will allow you to showcase your products or not.

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Here are some facts about MBA which will help you to understand this Amazon service in a better way.

• It is a print-on-demand service by Amazon. It includes various products, such as long-sleeves, sweatshirts, hoodies, t-shirts, tank tops, zip-hoodies, and pop sockets.

• To make money from MBA, submit your design and a price for your products to Amazon. Every time a customer purchases a t-shirt of your design, Amazon will pay the price to you.

• In this service, you only have to upload your designs. The process after that, such as shipping, packing, printing, and selling will be handled by Amazon. Moreover, Amazon will sell these products under its brand name.

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In simple words, your only work will be to upload your t-shirt design. But the process to get accepted for MBA service is not simple. Here is a step-by-step process to register on Merch by Amazon.

• Visit the merch by Amazon page of Amazon and fill out a form, precisely a survey.

• This survey asks you to describe yourself, your experience with selling and designing products, and your designs.

• Once you submit all this information you have to wait for the MBA to review your form. After it approves your form, you are ready to upload your designs and set their prices. With MBA service, you do not need a selling plan.

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However, it does not allow you to have any control over your products. This means you cannot sell your products by your brand name, connect with your consumers, hear their feedback, promote your brand, etc.

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Other than these, some other cons of an MBA includes:

• A Complicated Process: Almost all niches in MBA are highly competitive. That is, there are already dozens of sellers selling t-shirts. The niches in the niches are also heavily packed.

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To make the process more complicated, there are copyright issues. This means before you put any design, make sure you do not infringe on an already existing trademark. In case, Amazon finds a trademark infringement or any other issues frequently in your designs, it will immediately dismiss you from Merch by Amazon services.

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• A lot of Research Required: You need to have an optimised list within Amazon. An unorganised or unoptimized list is a red flag for your business income.

Currently, you can use various keyword tools, such as Merch informer, to organise a competitive analysis. Undoubtedly, it is tough to find a keyword that is high volume yet less competitive. However, once you find it, your business could touch the sky.

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Another factor to consider is your product’s Best Sellers Rank. By keeping a check on this number, you can determine the demand for a product in the market. The higher the number, the worse a product is performing in the market and vice versa.

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These cons clearly show that MBA is a research-oriented marketplace. You can only survive if you have researched Amazon extensively before joining the service. On the other hand, most other platforms, such as the Fynd platform, allow anyone to have a place in the market. With these platforms, you will need to research but can also learn with experience.

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Understanding Fulfilment by Amazon

Another way to sell t-shirts on Amazon is through FBA. This service by Amazon is for those third-party sellers who want to automate their product shipping and fulfilment process.

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The concept of FBA is simple, that is, you sell and Amazon ships. If you have enrolled under this service, Amazon will take care of all your shipping process, including refunds and returns.

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Your inventory would be managed in Amazon warehouses. All you need to do is enrol under FBA and send your products to Amazon. Then it will be stored, packed, and shipped from Amazon warehouses.

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FBA is beneficial if you already have inventory and only want to sell them. However, it requires you to pay a certain amount which might not be affordable for all business owners. So, opt for FBA only when you have enough demand that you require additional support to manage your inventory.

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Some key cons of FBA include:

• Cost: For small business owners, saving money is as important as earning it. Although FDA is comfortable service, it costs you money. Most small business owners are unwilling to pay that amount.

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Also, this service can cost you more for low-cost items. It is because of the way Amazon calculates the amount of FDA. It depends on the storage that a particular item takes. Fortunately, you can use an FBA calculator offered by Amazon to know whether enrolling in a particular item under FBA would be beneficial for you or not.

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• More Returns: Many sellers have observed more returns or frequency of return after enrolling with FBA. While no one knows the exact reason, speculation is it happens because of the open return policy of Amazon.

• Long-term Storage Fees: Amazon is not a fan of stagnant inventory, that is it does not want a stock to stay in its warehouse for a long time. This means if your products stay for a long time in storage, you will have to pay more to Amazon.

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While it is not a hefty amount, you need to consider it as a significant factor while making a decision. It will help you decide whether FBA makes sense in terms of the financial expenses of your business.

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Moreover, the company charges extra and marks the metrics negatively for the products that do not sell frequently. To save yourself from these, the only option is to ship the unsold products back to your facility. You can view these products through the seller console.

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• Product Prep Requirements: Amazon wants the products in a certain way before they reach their warehouse. This means you need to fulfil the requirements set by Amazon to ensure that Amazon allows your product in their warehouse.

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These requirements include ensuring that the products are well packed and labelled. This also includes proper shipping arrangement that follows the guidelines of FBA inventory warehousing. While most of these requirements are easy, some are tricky and you might face a lot of difficulties initially.

• Sales tax: These are state-managed taxes. If your inventory is at a different place than the place from where your business operates, you might need to have a different tax rate. This con is particularly for places which do not have one tax system. Make sure you read about all these tax-related things before deciding the price.

• Amazon FBA Fee Payment: Amazon is very strict on its way to take the number of its services. You cannot use the next sale to pay the money from the prior one. The company deducts all the cost of its services before it pays you any amount for your sale.

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In case, the amount Amazon needs to pay you is less than the amount you need to pay Amazon, you will need to give a credit card so that Amazon can take the remaining balance.

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With all these cons, FBA does not look like a suitable option for small business owners. So, is there a fruitful option? Certainly yes! You can use a various online marketplace, such as Fynd Platform that will allow you to sell your product, interact with your consumers, and many more. You will learn about it further in the article. For now, let us shift to the next step in selling t-shirts on Amazon.

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3. Design Your Products

One of the most fun processes of your journey would be designing your t-shirts. Whether you choose Merch by Amazon or Fulfilment by Amazon, you will need to design your t-shirts.

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Now if you have not yet decided on your designs, you might begin with things you love the most. For instance, if you love Yoga you might come up with t-shirt designs that include yoga. If you love houseplants, you can add that to your design. You can make t-shirts with motivational quotes.

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Whatever you like, you can turn it into a t-shirt design. Here is a list of some popular t-shirts designed for your reference.

• Animal-themed design

• Holiday-edition designs ( beach looks, mountain freak designs)

• Vintage visuals (Disco to art Deco)

• Niche-related puns or inside jokes ( you can go with meme templates. The young generation is a fan of that)

• Motivational quotes ( one of the oldest yet demanded t-shirt designs)

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So there are a lot of designs that you can opt for. All you need to do is widen your creativity and think out of the box. After this, if you choose Merch by Amazon, your work is almost done. However, if you have opted for FBA or the direct marketplace of Amazon, you need to follow other steps too.

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4. Marketing On Amazon

If Amazon is not handling your marketing services, you need to use tricks to get noticed on Amazon. There are almost 1.9 million Amazon sellers who actively showcase their products to sell.

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On such a huge battlefield your product could disappear very easily. Thus, you have to work with a strategy to ensure that Amazon shoppers could discover you. Some of the aspects you need to work on are:

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5. Research On Amazon SEO

For a while putting yourself in the shoes of an Amazon shopper. You visit the Amazon store to buy a t-shirt that also represents your love for memes. Now you would search for a meme t-shirt on your search bar.

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A list of companies selling memes t-shirts will pop out. You will probably look at the first 5 or 6 companies and purchase them. No matter if the 8th t-shirt on the list was the best, consumers would not scroll to that product.

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This means you need to be at the top to get discovered by consumers. How will you get that position? Well, the simple answer is through Amazon SEO. It includes a list of strategies that will help you become more discoverable in this competitive marketplace. Here is the Amazon SEO guide if you want to learn more about it.

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6. Your Product Photo Should Be Compelling

Compelling photos directly affect your sales. Consumers will get a better shopping experience if your photos offer clarity and details of your products. Moreover, if consumers have a good experience they will shop more from your site making you more discoverable.

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Here are a few things that make a photo compelling.

• A well-lit, clear high-quality image that does not get pixelated easily.

• It should be according to the guidelines of Amazon that includes, no texts, white background, and no additional illustration.

• Your image should not only include one picture with a t-shirt on the front. It should be clicked from different angles showing close-ups and other lifestyle photos.

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If you fail to understand the types of photos to upload, you can once again put yourself in the shoes of a buyer and see which photos you would like to see before purchasing anything. For instance, if you prefer t-shirts with full sleeves you need to have a picture that clearly shows how that t-shirt looks with full sleeves.

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7. Market Your T-shirt List

Along with SEO techniques and good photos, you will also use the marketing tools offered by Amazon. After registering a seller account on Amazon, you can also access Amazon Seller Central, a service for Amazon sellers.

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Within this service, there are three prime services. They are:

• Sponsored Products: The ads for sponsored products will appear on page 1 of the result and page 1 of the product category pages.  That is on the first page of the results when you search for a particular item.

• Sponsored Display: This marketing tool is almost similar to the previous one yet more effective. The brands under this tool will be displayed on page 1 of search results and also everywhere on the web. That is your product would be displayed on a different website.

• Sponsored Brands: The brands under this marketing tool will get the topmost position in the search result. They will get a different horizontal display for their product that will look different from the other products. It is a cost-per-click type of marketing.

You can choose any one of the tools and let Amazon promote your product.

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8. Work On Your Social Media Presence

You can attract a lot of people to your brand through a strong social media presence. Your niche is t-shirts. Now you might produce t-shirts for teens, youth, adults, or all age groups.

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So, first of all, you need to decide where you will find most of your target audience. If your target group is teens and youth, you will probably find them on Instagram. If your target age group is adults, you will probably find them on LinkedIn or Facebook.  

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Once you decode your platform, you should make a page for your business there. In the present times, personal branding is everything. If your social media page shines, it will directly reflect in your purchases.

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Also, make sure you follow the algorithm of all social media platforms. Every platform works with a different algorithm and has different criteria to decide which content should be displayed. Thus make sure you understand the algorithm of your social media platform well.

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So, these are some ways to promote your product on Amazon, through Amazon, and outside Amazon. These steps will help you to sell t-shirts on Amazon. But the question is: is selling on Amazon worth it? Will all your hard work give you an equal result? Let us understand these in subsequent sections.

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Why Choose Amazon?

If you are struggling with the decision of beginning your business on Amazon or staying on the platform, you should check the pros and cons of it. It will help you to decide whether it is good to work with Amazon or not. Here is a list of pros.

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Amazon is Already an Established Market

There is no need to describe the customer base of Amazon. Millions of people visit Amazon every month to purchase a range of items, laptops, phones, apparel, and maybe a kitchen pan.

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A report shows that almost 85% of brands prefer Amazon because of the reach it provides them, also known as customer acquisition. On the other hand, almost 72% prefer the platform to serve their target customer where they are.

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In short, for almost all sellers the purpose of Amazon is to acquire a customer base that may be difficult for them to find in offline stores or on their website initially.

Third-Party Sellers Also Perform Well

Do you know, that the third-party sellers generated sales of $3.5 billion on Amazon Prime Day 2020? Their sales went up by 60% from 2019. The pandemic could be considered the prime reason behind it.

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However, there is no doubt in the fact that Amazon could help you kickstart your business. In the initial days, the most challenging part is to make sales. You do not have your own identity. So, you need to leverage someone else's identity and brand name to sell your product. Once you begin selling a good amount, you might think of owning your site through different online platforms, such as the Fynd platform.

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Many Success Stories

There have been many instances where well-established retailers, who successfully generate traffic on their site, try to sell their products on Amazon. This is because the traffic of the retailers mixes with the customer base of Amazon to give maximum profit.

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You can also understand this through an example. Consider that you have a retail shop in Delhi. You are generating good profit from the shop. But you notice that a major segment of your customer base visits pacific mall daily. In that situation, you would want to open a store in the mall too.

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Similarly, Amazon is a big online mall. More and more sellers want to come there to get more customers. Speaking on the third quarter of 2021 (earnings conference call), Jane Elfers, CEO of Children’s Place, a well-established firm that came on Amazon in 2003, mentioned, “with respect to wholesale, we remain laser-focused on strengthening our partnership with Amazon, and they continue to experience very strong sell-throughs on our product.

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We've recently launched a new storefront on Amazon. We are significantly accelerating our investments in brand marketing, and we're projecting accelerated growth with Amazon for the balance of 2021 and beyond.”

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Other than this, Adidas also came in 2014 to Amazon to sell its merchandise. The CEO of the company, Kasper Rorsted  mentioned, "we're working intensely with Amazon to ensure that we have a good partnership, which we have today, but we don't [want to] jeopardise the brand based on the drive for the lowest cost.”

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Explaining more about the company’s partnership with Amazon, he added, "we don't tarnish the brand and we don't [want to] make price the most important parameter in how the product is being sold [because] the moment you do that, you don't have a brand anymore.” Praising Amazon, Rorsted also added, "Amazon is the best, without any comparison, transaction platform in the world."

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On the other hand, Harmit Singh, CFO of Levi’s in 2019 has a different opinion. Talking about the company’s competition with Amazon, he said, "Amazon is a great customer for us and we've been working with Amazon brilliantly for the last couple of years. So we don't compete, you know, we work together, but importantly we have brands. We have a direct-to-consumer business that's growing and we have a wholesale business that is growing.”

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These statements also show that most big brands profit from Amazon because they already have a name and they only want to earn more customers now. However, most small business owners have bigger goals than that.

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You can Access High-Quality Logistics

Having the best products does not ensure good sales unless you have sorted your supply chain. Amazon provides you with the supply chain. FBA by Amazon is another reason most sellers prefer Amazon.

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Not only customers but FBA brings a vast supply chain to you that you can use efficiently for your benefit. Send all your inventory to Amazon and let them ship your product throughout the globe.

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Another significant benefit of FBA is your product becomes eligible for a two-day shipping policy for Amazon prime users. This is one of the most sought-after features of Amazon that every prime member looks for in every product. However, as already mentioned, FBA comes with some costs and cons.

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An Easy Way to Enter E-commerce

In comparison to other ways, it is easy to create a marketplace on Amazon and sell your products. You don't have to stress about marketing, getting customers, or delivering your products to them on time from the initial day of your business.

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However, if you choose Merch by Amazon then it is not easy. You have to submit the form and wait for the approval. There is a high chance that you do not receive approval. But if you succeed in getting approval, the journey would become easy for you. While all these pros of getting customers from day 1 are tempting for every business owner, you should not overlook the cons of choosing Amazon.

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Why Not Choose Amazon?

Here is a list of reasons to not choose Amazon

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Almost Zero Control of Your Business

With Amazon, instead of a business, you might end up becoming a factory. There are many examples of brands that have made a place in their consumer’s hearts because of the story they have. For instance, the story helped the brand Warby Parker to grow a lot.

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When Dave Gilboa, one of the founding members of Warby Parker, was in grad school, he lost his glasses. Unfortunately, the new glasses were so expensive that he had to just cross his first semester without seeing anything properly.

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This made him think about the need for a glass brand that sells inexpensive glasses. Consumers love these stories and relate to them, thus boosting sales. However, with a platform like Amazon, you cannot share your story with consumers. If you think carefully, you will observe that you do not know about the story of any third-party seller on Amazon.

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While you might think that it is not a big deal. But, it is! The CEO and creative director of Stacey Bendet, Alice and Olivia mention, “Brands today are like media companies. Ten or 15 years ago it was really just about making great clothes. Today it is about telling a story, reaching your customer and engaging that customer in more dynamic ways.”

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Working on Amazon reduces your USP and makes you one of the millions of third-party sellers on their platform. To understand this point clearly, take yourself as a consumer. Whenever you purchase from Amazon, how many times do you notice the brand selling that product? Probably never.

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Amazon decreases your brand awareness. Instead of the brand name, consumers only look for the reviews and make their decision accordingly. This might give you sales but would fail to give your brand the recognition it deserves.

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Moreover, if Amazon someday changes its algorithm and begins promoting only by paying some cost, your brand might fail to perform well because of limited recognition. So, if for you your brand identity is comparatively more significant than customer acquisition, opt for platforms, such as the Fynd platform that will help you establish your website and promote your brand directly.

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Lack of Quality Customer Data

Every brand needs to have rich customer data that they could use for various purposes. While your website could offer you a detailed insight into your consumers, Amazon would not do that. This means that customers might make purchases from you but you would not get quality data.

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These quality data are of great use. You can use them to offer personalised services and products to your customers. In a survey, the researchers asked the digital device users of the USA about their actions if they get personalised content from a brand.

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51% confessed to making a purchase, 49% told that they might become one of the loyal customers of the brand, while 46% mentioned that they will suggest the brand to others. Do you remember the recent trend where a lot of people were putting out their Spotify insights on their social media handles?

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People loved it because it was customised. However, Spotify could only provide such detailed insight because of rich consumer data. You would not be able to do that with Amazon. So, you can switch to your website through platforms, such as the Fynd platform and market your products efficiently through customisation.

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Amazon Might Become Your Competitor

In the period of time many small and big merchants have accused Amazon for using data collected from best selling merchants and using it to manufacture similar products and sell it at comparatively lower price.

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You can also see this by carefully observing Amazon basics. You will find that most of their products are similar to the products that are already in their platform. Talking about the issue, the former head of Shopify Plus, Loren Padelford says, “Amazon is like a mall owner who will open an identical store next to you, sell all of your products at a cheaper price, and try to convince consumers it’s the same thing. That’s not actually a mall owner, that’s a competitor masquerading as a mall owner.”

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Many Amazon sellers believe the same. Deneiro Bartolini, a top class Amazon seller, mentions, “selling exclusively on Amazon would be similar to building an entire brand on Instagram versus having a large email list. In the first scenario, you are at the mercy of the platform that is hosting you, while the latter allows you to be in control of your network no matter what the host platform decides to do.”

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However, Amazon denies this and responded, “we strictly prohibit our employees from using non-public, seller-specific data to determine which private label products to launch.” “While we don’t believe these claims are accurate, we take these allegations very seriously and have launched an internal investigation.” Whether to believe this or not is your choice. But if you are shifting your business to Amazon, there are chances of this happening to you too.

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Counterfeit Products are a Issue

A while back, Nike dismissed its Amazon store and began focusing on direct business. Do you know the reason behind Nike’s decision? Well, it is because of counterfeit products.

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In a statement related to it, Nike mentioned, “As part of Nike’s focus on elevating consumer experiences through more direct, personal relationships, we have made the decision to complete our current pilot with Amazon Retail. We will continue to invest in strong, distinctive partnerships for Nike with other retailers and platforms to seamlessly serve our consumers globally.”

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What happens is when a merchant begins to earn good on Amazon, a list of products join the platform that imitates the product of top selling merchants. The ease of opening stores in Amazon is the primary reason for it.

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Any business owner would not like this. David Kahan, CEO of Birkenstock Amercias, mentioned, “the Amazon marketplace, which operates as an ‘open market,’ creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardise our brand. Policing this activity internally and in partnership with Amazon.com has proven impossible.”

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There are many counterfeit products selling on the platform without any action against them. These products not only harm the growth of original owners but also play with the consumers mind.

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It is Expensive

While setting up a store on Amazon is simple, maintaining it requires a handsome amount of money. When you enter the platform, you will notice that there are already thousands of merchants who are selling t-shirts already.

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So to win from them what do you need to do? Marketing? Yes, which will cost you a lot. James Thomson, an employee of Buy Box Experts, an Amazon consulting and management firm, mentions, “Product discovery is an uphill battle on Amazon.

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You have to have advertising and a larger marketing strategy in place if you want consumers to find your products, because if you’re not on the first page of organic search results, you’re going to struggle.”

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You might need to purchase the marketing tools from Amazon. You might not know this but advertising is among the top income sources for Amazon. The margins in retails are too low. Thus, Amazon widely depends on marketing income.

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It collected $31 billion in 2021 from advertising sales. Undoubtedly, Amazon would try to promote its marketing business. In the process, it might make its algorithm in a way that only businesses that use Amazon marketing tools could get the top positions in the search bar. After knowing the pros and cons of Amazon, you can wisely decide whether this marketplace has the potential to cater for your needs or not.

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Other Option To Sell T-shirts Online

After a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of Amazon, you should also know about the alternative options where you can sell your t-shirt. As you already know that selling through your website offers you tons of benefits and only one con, which is struggling initial days. Without a doubt, you will have to do a lot of work on marketing and advertising to get customers for your brand.

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However, your strengths would be recurring customers, quality customer data, and brand awareness. You can create a website through a comfortable user-friendly platform, such as Fynd Platform and then work on your website.

If you get stuck somewhere on the website, you can ask for support through the Fynd platform. These platforms help to easily establish a website and begin creating a brand identity.

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While promoting business through your own site, try to focus more on your USP. It will give you an edge. Also do not forget to optimise your site for better ranking. Your other supporting hands could be email marketing, social media handles, etc.

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Conclusion

While Amazon is among the topmost platforms, you cannot ignore its cons. Fortunately, you can use the list of platforms mentioned in the article to sell your t-shirts without the barriers offered by Amazon. Make sure you research each platform to know which one will cater for your needs most efficiently.