So you’ve selected a private label product to have made, checked out some prototypes, and ordered your first shipment. You’re ready for the next phase in selling your own private label products – deciding how and where to sell your products to get the best return possible on your investment! Where to sell, where to sell – that is the question, and it’s one we’re ready to help you answer today in our new ‘Best Places To Sell Your Private Label Products’ feature! From e-commerce giants, to wholesalers, to mom and pop shops, there is a plethora of options to choose from, but we’re here to help you figure it all out.
Amazon is the most popular platform for private label sellers. This is no surprise, given that they make it very convenient to list private label items already on Amazon by making current listings customizable to your own specifications and pricing. Amazon has an incredible consumer base that spends well and often relies on the site heavily for their shopping needs. It helps to have a very large built-in customer base!
To sell on Amazon you’ll need to set up a descriptive, appealing listing and work to stay in the first few pages of relevant searches by keeping your prices competitive, getting great reviews (get creative in motivating customers to review your products!), keeping up with a high seller rating, and conducting quality control to keep your order defect rate low and ensure timely shipping. Fulfillment by Amazon makes being an Amazon seller super efficient and requires minimal manual effort. This in turn enables you to focus on your business plan and on reaching more customers.
Becoming an in-store Walmart supplier is an extremely selective and difficult three-step process, but if you pull it off it can be an incredible opportunity. As Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world, you’ll be reaching tons of shoppers. Walmart is best suited for companies who have scaling capabilities as Walmart is huge, and for items that are very cheap to produce as Walmart’s main concern is low pricing.
A more accessible way to reach Walmart customers is to list your products on the Walmart Marketplace which is a platform of third party sellers connected to Walmart.com. The Marketplace is in its early stages, so right now there is limited seller competition – it’s the perfect time to get in on the fun. Listing a product on the Walmart Marketplace isn’t as simple as other e-commerce sites, and you do have to be approved to join, but that can actually be an advantage for you as again, the competition is limited.
Target’s focus is on great design and great value, and if your product meets that description it can be a wonderful fit and an amazing opportunity for your company. Target doesn’t work with all that many private label companies, so it can be extremely difficult to impress their buyers, but companies have reported that once they did the experience was really great and that Target helped take their company to another level.
To introduce your product to Target buyers, sign up for RangeMe, a free service that helps buyers easily find the products they’re looking for which Target buyers use regularly. You should also go to industry tradeshows – showing off your product there and getting into industry specific publications can help with brand exposure and business development.
eBay is extremely accessible and it allows for flexibility and freedom for you to make decisions regarding many different aspects of your business. Many choose to sell on Amazon over eBay, but depending on your product type, Amazon’s presumed superiority isn’t clear cut at all. For example, if you’re selling something that would sell well both in bulk or individually, eBay would allow you to list it both ways.
Certain items like custom-products and clothing sell better on eBay. And eBay’s seller fees are lower than Amazon’s, so if your margins are already very low, that definitely should be taken into account. Additionally, many choose Amazon because of the hassle-free FBA program, but you can actually have your eBay orders fulfilled by Amazon by requesting unbranded boxes for multi-channel fulfillment.
Selling Private Label Products In “Mom and Pop” Stores
Mom and Pop Stores for Private Label Products.
Mom and Pop stores are relatively small, local shops and are usually family-owned. Unlike the giant retailers who have long standing business relationships with other giant companies, Mom and Pop stores are a good bet to be open to working with new people who are pleasant to work with and can offer them a great deal.
Becoming a supplier for a Mom and Pop store is a realistic if modest goal, but can still be very beneficial for your company. If your end goal is to get into a major retailer and work on a much larger scale, it’s helpful to have proven success in stores already. Getting products into a local Mom and Pop store can be a good starting point to work up from. This is also a good option for sellers who aren’t too tech savvy and would prefer to work with people in person – the old fashioned way.
Where Is The Best Place To Sell Your Private Label Products?
Amazon and eBay are a lot more accessible than Walmart and Target, but once you get into these giant retailers you’re assured steadier sales and major large scale orders. Also, while they do offer their consumers a variety of similar products, they won’t be offering too many identical products side by side on their shelves. That means that once you’ve beaten the competition by cutting a deal with Walmart or Target, you’re competing with other products in a much more focused playing field. In the world of e-commerce, on the other hand, there can be thousands of people selling an identical product to you, requiring you to work hard to stand out.
If you’ve decided to go the online route, it can be tough to decide whether to sell on Amazon or eBay, and whether or not to use FBA. Both platforms are amazing resources in their own right, both are easily accessible, and both offer wide consumer bases. If you have the mental energy and physical capacity to keep up with product listings on both, by all means do so. However, if you want to focus your attention on one platform, consider who your target demographic is and research whether similar products are selling better on eBay or Amazon. In many cases, private label products can be priced higher on Amazon and the site gets more traffic, so it’s used by more private label sellers. eBay is preferred by those selling unique or second hand items.
FBA is ideal for high volume, high margin sellers. If you aren’t moving so much product yet, it shouldn’t be too difficult to fulfill your own orders. If your margins are low, however, you may not be able to afford to cut into that with the Amazon fulfillment fee.
Conclusion
All of the spaces mentioned present a different kind of opportunity to you and your company, but all can be great if utilized properly. It’s important to consider the benefits and difficulties of each in light of your product, inventory size, and pricing to make sure that your hard work is most fruitful and that your product is getting exposure it deserves.
Check out our RiteAid and Walgreens features to learn about two great Private Label options! And as always, thanks for stopping by here at Innovative Private Label!
