After 5 years on Amazon, sellers went from profitable to indebted

A seller who had been operating on Amazon for 5 years went from profitable to debt and bankruptcy, all because of infringement. In the new year, cross-border sellers should pay special attention to infringement issues when selecting products to avoid unnecessary losses.

The account was blocked due to copyright infringement complaint

Recently, a seller introduced his experience. He joined Amazon in 2019. At that time, he worked in a company for a period of time and accumulated some experience. In addition, he also had factory resources and other advantages. He was full of hope to work alone and was full of expectations for the first year.

As the business gradually improved, the seller sent more and more goods and additional loans. There was about 200,000 yuan in cash in the account. Considering the shipping cycle and shelf time, after sending 800,000-1 million yuan of goods, unfortunately, copyright infringement suddenly occurred in the account involving image issues.

The infringing pictures were stolen from the Internet. Because it was a new product and the scene pictures were not good, the seller used them directly, and wanted to change them after taking good pictures. As a result, after the pictures were reported for infringement, they deleted the pictures and directly removed the products from the shelves. There was no abnormality in performance at the time until they received a suspension notice.

The account was blocked, and the seller searched all channels and service providers, and also tried to force open a way to save it, but the result was unsuccessful. There was still about 200,000 yuan in cash and about 600,000 yuan in goods in the account.

When the seller realized that his account was hopeless, he was completely stunned, and his whole family helped him repay the loan. After sinking for a while, the seller began to pick himself up, moved the previous goods to a new warehouse, changed the labels, and re-linked them. After the new store began to receive orders, the nightmare came again recently.

Because when the goods were moved from the old store to the new store, they needed to be moved to the overseas warehouse. The large goods were severely divided into warehouses. The service provider made a fatal mistake when locking the warehouse and adjusted the seller's goods quantity to 0. When the Amazon warehouse received the goods, it found that its goods were pre-sold under someone else's ASIN. Then the seller was complained by the original ASIN seller. This complaint involved the authenticity of the goods, and the infringement type was counterfeit goods.

After receiving the complaint, the seller tried to contact the rights holder, but received no response and his account was blocked again.

The seller's experience is lamentable. After five years of operation, he finally got a pile of debts . As a peer, this kind of experience is worth reflecting on by cross-border people, especially when summarizing at the end of the year and planning for the next year, they should think more about it.

In the new year, sellers need to pay more attention to product selection and operation strategies

In recent years, as the rules of the Amazon platform have been refined and improved, sellers should pay more attention to the product's operating strategies and have a clear understanding of trademarks, patents, copyrights, certifications, platform compliance, platform policies and other aspects before putting products on the shelves .

Today's Amazon platform pays more attention to compliance. Once a seller's product involves infringement, there will be big trouble. In serious cases, the seller's account will be directly blocked like the above-mentioned seller, and both the money and the account will be lost . Sellers must take this as a warning in operations and product selection.

For sellers, between products and operations, products always occupy an important position. One seller said frankly that Amazon is not as difficult as you think, as long as you are willing to spend time researching products. What products will be hot-selling in the new year? Jungle Scout conducts in-depth research on Amazon product and category data to determine the hot-selling trends of products based on 30-day best-selling products and their changing revenue. The following products have good sales in December 2022, and these products may continue to sell well in January.

1. Sports and fitness equipment

In the new year, health is the most important thing. Many people’s New Year’s resolution is to start exercising and stay in shape. For Amazon sellers, this is a great opportunity to sell fitness equipment that consumers demand.

Jungle Scout's consumer trend report shows that consumers purchased 40% more sports and fitness equipment in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter, and this trend will continue into the first quarter of 2023.

Keyword tools show that people's interest in the keyword "exercise equipment" has surged significantly at the beginning of the year, and consumers will also actively search for these products after the holidays and the New Year. However, competition in this category is fierce, and sellers can try to think outside the box and develop some unique and powerful new products to reach the target audience using TikTok's huge user base. The following products have been hot in sales within 30 days.

Treadmill : Health is the most important thing in the new year. A treadmill can start a running plan and help your health. Sales of a treadmill product increased by 2705% in 30 days, and the search volume of "foldable walking mat treadmill" increased by 948%.

Hula Hoops : Another health product, hula hoops saw sales increase 2,268% in 30 days, while searches for “weighted hula-hoop” increased 411%.

2. Unzip the product

As the pace of life accelerates, many people want to relax, and the demand for decompression products begins to increase. Some novel, health-related decompression products are replacing the previous gyroscope products.

Gel ice cap : Using a gel ice cap to relieve pressure to a great extent, the sales of a certain product increased by 5125% within 30 days, which is an amazing growth rate.

Meditation Cushions: Meditation cushions continue to be a top choice for stress relief this January. In 30 days, one meditation pillow saw a 1,755% increase in revenue and a 603% increase in shoppers searching for “stress relief.”

Hand luggage scale : Traveling is also a way to relieve stress. Portable luggage scales are very suitable for traveling in 2023. As the epidemic situation is relaxed, spring is coming and it is suitable for outings. The demand for travel products will increase significantly. In 30 days, sales of luggage scale products increased by 3968%, and the number of shoppers searching for "travel essentials" increased by 547%.

3. Beauty Products

Brands in the beauty industry are creating more and more products to cater to the concept of self-care and personal care. Searching for "skin care routine" on TikTok shows that more and more consumers are learning about self-care, and some content creators and influencers have really helped to arouse more love of beauty. Products such as acne scar stickers have been selling like hot cakes recently.

Star pimple patches : People's awareness of beauty is increasing. Many big stars use pimple patches, which are also loved by more people and can be seen everywhere. In 30 days, the search volume of "starface pimple patches" increased by 710%, and the sales of a certain product increased by 709%.

4. Home kitchen products

Kitchen Slides: Viral kitchen hack videos on TikTok have led to a surge in interest in these slider devices, which has also led to a significant increase in sales. Sales of one popular device increased by 2,214% in 30 days, and overall sales in this category increased by 223% year-over-year.

Plastic Storage Bins : Plastic storage bins are ideal for refrigerator or pantry organization, with sales of one top-selling product in this category up 1,911% in 30 days and shoppers’ searches for organization and cleaning up up 920%.

Electric rotating brush : The new year starts with a new look, and for some people, cleaning is the top priority. In 30 days, the sales of rotating brushes increased by 158% year-on-year, and the sales of a hot-selling product increased by 886%.

The hot-selling products are for reference by sellers, but remember to understand the product’s trademark, patent, copyright and other issues before putting it on the shelves, and make adequate preparations to avoid pitfalls in the new year.

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