FAQ’s

Frequently Asked General Questions

Mercato is Italian for market place.

In other languages. mercato. British English: market /ˈmɑːkɪt/ NOUN. A market is a place where goods are bought and sold, usually in the open air.

Every customer is dealt with on a case by case basis. One account could have 50 ASIN's but only need the advertising account monitored daily. Another account could have 10 ASIN's but need a complete account rebuild & strategy.

If you are a brand owner and have launched your own private label products on Amazon, you should want to eventually get a trademark if you are serious about growing the brand in the future. But when you're just starting out, you do not need a trademark.

Certain elements like A+ content are only available to brand owners.

Every product on Amazon requires a UPC generated that is purchased from a location like GS1. The only exception is if you are GTIN exempt, which you can read a bit more about here. 

Thinking about trying to buy a cheap, recycled UPC? Don’t. It is against Amazon’s terms of service and may result in them believing that you sell fraudulent products, resulting in an account suspension. 

The ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) is a 10-digit alphanumeric code assigned by Amazon that you won’t get until the product is listed and ready to go. 

Once you create your listing, Amazon will assign it with a unique ASIN, which is how they track specific versions of products listed on their site. 

Obtaining an ASIN is a critical part of your selling journey on Amazon.

Amazon’s IPI score helps to determine a seller’s ability to manage their inventory. It is rated on a scale of 0 (very bad) to 1000 (incredible), and it is updated every week. As of January 2022, a good IPI score starts at 450. 

There are four key factors when it comes to improving your IPI score: increasing sales, reducing excess inventory, and ensuring that all of your inventory is suitable for sale. 

Amazon has distinct product categories. You can register on Amazon and sell in 20 categories without getting prior permission from Amazon. Certain products require Amazon’s approval. Amazon has a page on seller central showing restricted products. These include counterfeit and contraband items, gift cards, tobacco products, drugs and drug paraphernalia, banned brands, products that evade legal restrictions, products that compete with Amazon Prime, offensive products and others. 

The most important term you haven’t heard of. Unique to Amazon, The Fulfilment Network Stock Keeping Unit (FNSKU) is used to track products and connect them to a seller. 

The FNSKU number is used by all Amazon fulfilment centers to identify your products. Only products that are fulfilled by FBA will have an FNSKU. 

To sum it up neatly, the FNSKU is what Amazon uses to track your products in their system. 

If you clearly state your requirements to your manufacturer, and they have the capability to label products while abiding by Amazon’s guidelines, yes, they can. 

However, most manufacturers do not understand the correct policies around shipping to Amazon, which can put your account at risk of suspension. It can also result in chargebacks and a weakening of your overall account health. 

Choosing the right 3PL to work with is an important choice. Partnering with a reputable, intelligent organization can help your business succeed on Amazon. 

A 3PL (sometimes known as Amazon Prep Centers) can correctly label and store your products. In some cases, a seller will provide pre-labelled packages to be sent to Amazon, known in the industry as “carton forwarding” or “case forwarding.” 

They are familiar with the business and specialize in shipping to Amazon, mitigating any issues or delays that you may encounter with a manufacturer. 

There are a few critical reasons why your shipments could be rejected by Amazon, but it is incredibly rare if you run your seller business correctly or use a prep center/3PL. 

The most common reasons for rejection include: 

  • If you mislabel your items 
  • If you are overweight on dimensions or actual weights (especially when the box weighs more than 50 lbs)
  • If your pallet is over 60” in height, is non-standard, is overhanging, or comes with the incorrect documentation 
  • If you don’t use an approved shipping carrier, or if your product is delivered to an FBA center from overseas and the duties are not yet paid 

The growth of e-commerce has been explosive, resulting in Amazon imposing inventory storage limits for sellers within the FBA network. 

In a nutshell, the best way to avoid inventory limits is to improve your IPI score, and by having products that fly off the shelf. 

Partnering with a 3PL or an Amazon prep center is another great way to improve your inventory limits. 

Amazon FBM, or “Fulfilled by Merchant,” has some key benefits and drawbacks. When you choose FBM, you can continually sell regardless of inventory limits. In general, it tends to be cheaper to fulfil larger items through FBM than it is via FBA. 

The A to Z guarantee is for buyers on Amazon. It covers timely delivery, genuineness of item and its condition. If buyer does not receive a product three days after the delivery date then he is eligible for refund. If a product differs from the one listed and ordered he is eligible for return and replacement or refund. If seller does not issue refund on returned items the buyer is protected. 

Registration and listing on Amazon are free. However, when you sell a product Amazon will deduct its charges such as packing, courier charges and its service fee that varies across categories. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Account Management

Amazon account management can help you further your brand online while focusing on your core business. Hiring Amazon experts like The Mercator Agency can provide you with strategic insights to scale up your Amazon online business presence, generating more revenue.

Hiring an Amazon agency is the best way to make sure you reach your business goals. Agency's have experts in various fields who can help you with anything from reaching new customers to increasing sales and decreasing costs and time spent on marketing—all while maximizing your ROI.

Staying in the know about Amazon’s ever-fluctuating policies and trends can be time-consuming. For Amazon sellers, account management services can improve workflow and allow you to focus on day-to-day operations.

Continuous listing Optimisation & Search Engine Optimisation.

Daily PPC Reviews and Optimisation.

Using an Agency allows you to focus your time on other aspects of your business, knowing your account is in safe hands.

Hiring an Amazon account management agency is not required, but many businesses utilize these services to stand out in Amazon’s highly-competitive marketplace.

Not sure if Amazon account management services are right for you? Get it contact with us! We don't bite and we will give you some honest advice. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Amazon Advertising PPC

Amazon Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is an advertising model used within Amazon's marketplace. It allows sellers to create ads for their products and pay a fee to Amazon each time a potential customer clicks on their ad. This model is integral to Amazon's advertising system and is designed to help sellers increase visibility and sales of their products on Amazon's platform.

Amazon PPC campaigns are primarily categorized into three types, each serving different advertising objectives and targeting options. Here's an overview of each type:

  1. Sponsored Products:

    • Description: These are the most common types of ads on Amazon. Sponsored Products promote individual product listings on Amazon.
    • Targeting Options: Advertisers can use automatic targeting (where Amazon chooses keywords and products to target based on the product's information) or manual targeting (where the advertiser selects specific keywords, products, or product categories).
    • Placement: These ads appear in search results and on product detail pages, making them highly visible to shoppers.
    • Best For: Boosting visibility and sales of specific products, ideal for all types of sellers, from beginners to advanced.

  2. Sponsored Brands (formerly known as Headline Search Ads):

    • Description: These ads promote a brand rather than individual products. They feature the brand’s logo, a custom headline, and multiple products.
    • Targeting Options: Manual targeting is used, focusing on specific keywords.
    • Placement: These ads appear in more prominent positions, such as the top of search results, offering significant brand exposure.
    • Best For: Building brand awareness and showcasing a range of products. Ideal for sellers with a registered brand on Amazon.

  3. Sponsored Display Ads:

    • Description: These are relatively new and offer the ability to target customers based on specific interests or behaviors, and retarget customers who viewed particular products.
    • Targeting Options: Advertisers can target by product or by audience. Product targeting allows you to choose specific products, categories, or other product features. Audience targeting focuses on specific customer interests or shopping behaviors.
    • Placement: These ads can appear both on and off Amazon, including on third-party websites and apps.
    • Best For: Increasing product visibility, driving brand awareness, and retargeting customers. Suitable for sellers who want to reach customers beyond Amazon's platform.

Each campaign type has its unique strengths and can be used in different ways depending on your advertising goals, whether it's increasing sales for specific products, driving brand awareness, or reaching a broader audience. Successful Amazon PPC management often involves utilizing a mix of these campaign types to create a comprehensive advertising strategy.

Amazon PPC costs will vary for each seller depending on how many ad campaigns they are running, and how many keywords they are targeting. 

Every Amazon seller has a different budget that they are willing to spend on Amazon PPC. A general rule of thumb is to try and spend around 10-15% of your revenue. Some sellers will spend more, while some may spend less.

It is best to use an Amazon keyword research tool so you can find keywords that are most relevant to your product that also have plenty of search volume. Once you have found your keywords, you can review on Amazon Seller Central how much you will need to bid to rank for those keywords.

It is not totally necessary as there are other ways to advertise your products, but many Amazon sellers do use Amazon PPC and find it helps with sales. Generally, it is suggested to use Amazon PPC as it will help with your product ranking, which helps get your product in front of potential customers.

If you have just created an Amazon PPC campaign, it is suggested that you let it run for at least 2 weeks so that you get enough data to help with decision-making if you want to make changes to your PPC campaign.

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