Why Did My Product Stop Selling?! With Vanessa Hung

 

When your Amazon Seller Central account is up and running, you can run into issues that might cause disruption in your sales. The last thing you want to spend time on is trying to figure out what the problem is. It’s time-consuming and frustrating. New sellers don’t know where to turn, and seller support can seem unhelpful when you don’t know what the issue may be.

Vanessa Hung, founder and CEO of Online Seller Solutions, fell in love with the problem solving. She has spent several years helping sellers solve their Amazon account issues so they can focus on selling. She joined us on Amazon Made Simple to talk about her passion for Amazon account management, tips for sellers trying to diagnose problems, and how her agency helps sellers save time and focus on selling.

 

Variations For New Sellers

Before you hire someone to do any job for you, you need to understand how that job should be done so you can hire the right person. That’s why Vanessa suggests that new Amazon sellers learn how to add variations on their own before they delegate it to someone else.

When you create variations in Seller Central, Amazon offers a template to download. They also have policies and instructions that explain their flat files and variations, but they can be tedious and hard to understand. Vanessa has put together simple steps with graphics to help Amazon sellers create variations. She recommends beginners start with Seller Central and not with flat files in their first launch.

 

What Can Amazon Sellers Do To Solve a Seller Central Problem in Less Than 10 Minutes?

Most sellers simply don’t know what their issue is, hence, they don’t know what questions to ask. When the issue can’t be found, they can’t explain it correctly to seller support which can allow the issue to go unresolved.

It can become frustrating when your listing is down or you’re not selling; even worse, you can’t figure out why. Don’t panic – 99% of issues you have in your Seller Central account can be resolved. “Detach yourself from the emotion of the situation,” Vanessa recommends. Put aside your anger and frustration. Take 10 minutes to calmly find out what the problem is.

You can pinpoint the problem just by looking around your Seller Central account. Here are the areas to check first.

Catalog

Go to the back end of your listing to determine if there are any errors. If there is a catalog issue, it will be marked by a red flag. For example, if you see a red flag and it tells you that your brand name has an error, you now understand the problem and can ask the right questions to reach a solution.

Account Health

If you don’t see any errors or red flags in your catalog, visit the Account Health section of your Seller Central account. Here you can see all complaints that have been sent in for your products. It can be a shipping or customer service issue; it is also possible that your account might have violated the Amazon Seller policy.

Voice Of the Customer

You may not have issues in your catalog or account health. The next step is to keep an eye on what customers are saying in the Voice of the Customer section of Performance. If you have a high number of returns because of issues with your product, Amazon will suppress your listing. Sometimes you’ll get notified of this through email, but not always, so it’s important to frequently check this section.

 

Rethink Your Optimization

Sometimes it’s neither of the problems above. Maybe your photo quality is poor, you’re not using SEO optimization, or your PPC campaign budget wasn’t sufficient, so it wasn’t performing well.  In that case, it’s a branding and listing content issue.

If you aren’t seeing problems in your Account Performance, you may need to reoptimize your product listing. Check the connection between the message of your brand, and how your product is advertised. If you don’t have Account Performance issues, there’s a high chance that your listing is not optimized.

 

Most Common Seller Central Issues

Some of the most common (and most resolvable) Amazon Seller Central issues are:

• Discrepancies in the catalog. New sellers sometimes put incorrect information on their product detail page. This can create an account health or brand issue in the future. Make sure your product details are accurate.
• Inventory issues with FBA. Sometimes Amazon can lose or damage your inventory. They’re not proactive about resolving these issues and reimbursing sellers, so you must stay on top of it.
• Violation of policy. If what you’re selling violates Amazon policies, your account can be suspended or shut down. Educate yourself before launching a product to make sure you are not violating something in the marketplace.
• Product in the wrong category. Even if your product is in the right category, sometimes Amazon glitches and your product can “fall” out of a category. It’s a frequent issue but easy to resolve with seller support.

 

How Online Seller Solutions Can Help You

Online Seller Solutions specializes in Amazon account management for novice to advanced Amazon sellers. They don’t launch products, do your product research, or run PPC campaigns. They solely help sellers navigate Seller Central and problem solve to help customers fix issues and maintain good account health. If you have a problem, they are the mechanic shop for your Amazon Seller Central account.

Vanessa also has a passion for sharing her knowledge and tips with fellow Amazon sellers. Check out the blog on the Online Seller Solutions website and follow them on Instagram for new resources and tips from Vanessa and her team on how to manage your Amazon Seller Central account.