Handmade on Amazon announced that they will continue to waive the monthly Professional Sellers fee of $39.95 indefinitely. The following is their announcement:
“Monthly subscription fee waived for Handmade Artisans indefinitely“
“Thank you for being a part of Amazon Handmade and offering your unique, handcrafted items to millions of Amazon Customers. We are pleased to announce that we will continue to waive the standard $39.99 monthly Professional Selling Plan subscription fee for Handmade Artisans. There is no expiration date to this fee waiver. Seller Central content will be updated to reflect this change in the next few weeks. Our goal is to make it easy for you to pursue your passion and grow your business on Handmade. We hope that today’s announcement will help you achieve these goals. “
The following excerpt is from SELL YOUR CRAFTS ONLINE; The Handmakers Guide to Selling from Etsy, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Shopify, Influencers and More
Setting Up to Sell on Amazon
Before you apply to sell on Amazon Handmade, first make sure your product is in one of their approved categories.
Applying and getting set up as a seller on Amazon Handmade is not as simple and fast as other online marketplaces for handmade products. Amazon requires proof of identity from sellers.
Unlike Etsy, you cannot just open a shop and start uploading product listings. Some applicants have reported waiting several weeks or longer for approval. The application link is: https://services.amazon.com/handmade/handmade.html.
If accepted, you must subscribe to Amazon’s Professional Account for sellers. The monthly charge of $40 is currently waived for Handmade sellers, but that could change by the time you read this book.
Amazon Handmade gives you an Artisan’s Profile, where you can post your artist’s story and upload images of yourself. This is the place to share how you came to be a maker, your creative process, interesting facts about what you do, and more.
Setting up product page listings one at a time is straightforward but tedious. Copy and paste the content you used on your Etsy listings section by section, but it is time-consuming.
For examples of product listings on Amazon Handmade that do a good job of selling, browse the Amazon Handmade bestsellers. Amazon shows you the top sellers and you can drill down into categories to find products like yours. Click through to view the top selling products’ listings.
Make your product listing descriptions human-friendly, while including popular search terms. See Appendix 1.
Unlike on Etsy, you cannot create sections within your Amazon Handmade shop. Your product listings show up in the order that you publish them.
Amazon Handmade allows for product personalizing if you offer that. When setting up a product, you can add extra custom options for customers to fill in.
Also see the Amazon Handmade Seller Resource Guide at http://go.amazonsellerservices.com/resourceguide
What reviewers have said about James Dillehay’s craft business guides…
“James was a guest speaker on our Guerilla Marketing conference call and he blew me away with what he knows about selling online.”
— Jay Conrad Levinson, best-selling author Guerrilla Marketing
“Should be viewed as the blueprint for success in the crafts industry.”
— The Crafts Report
“James is by far the most qualified and talented marketer for the craft industry. His knowledge is only outweighed by his honest desire to help people.”
— Phoebe Welburn, Vice President, Welburn Gourd Farm
“This new book is so useful, we can hardly stop using it long enough to review it. If you’re considering establishing or improving a web presence, invest in this book.”
— The Crafts Fair Guide