Ella Bella now an Amazon-fulfilled seller
February 5, 2020
After dabbling in the world of seller-fulfilled Amazon Prime, Ella Bella GF founder Mandy Groszko made the jump this year to Amazon-fulfilled Prime for her top-selling lactation cookie mix.
Wondering if you should also make the switch? Read Mandy’s thoughts on the pros & cons below.
The following Q&A interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: Why did you decide to switch to Amazon-fulfilled Prime from seller-fulfilled Prime?
Mandy: With seller-fulfilled Prime, you have to meet strict criteria, including maintaining a 99 percent approval rating & getting your product to the customer within two days.It was becoming a lot of work, jumping every time my phone dinged and getting to the post office regularly.
Also, my product is heavier, so I was only able to offer seller-fulfilled Prime to customers in states adjacent to Ohio. So even though I offer free shipping to everyone, not everyone would see it the same way, because some people search by Prime-only.
Q: What did you actually have to do to make the switch to Amazon-fulfilled Prime versus seller-fulfilled?
Mandy: I made 48 bags of mixes, then I followed Amazon’s own tutorials on how to prep and ship product to them. They really do step you through the process — they’re very customer-oriented, so they want products getting to customers quickly. They allow you to use their shipping prices, which makes it affordable to ship to their distribution facilities.
Q: Have you seen a difference yet in your sales since making the switch?
Mandy: I sold 21 mixes in January 2020, compared to 13 mixes in January 2019, a 62% increase in sales, and that’s without doing any marketing. It’s on me to keep track of my sales & know when to restock. But I can already see that I’m selling and shipping to more states than I did before.
Q: So do you recommend Amazon-fulfilled sales over seller-fulfilled sales?
Mandy: If you’re unsure if a product is going to sell, start with seller-fulfilled Prime because the fees are less, and that 99.9% approval rating is a real, hard limit. But if you can, go for Amazon-fulfilled Prime. I have so much time back. But know that you will still have to be promoting your product. Amazon won’t be marketing for you — it just happens to be the platform shipping the product.
