I’m always trying to find ways to beat the big boys who sell on Amazon. By “big boys” I mean companies that sell in large volume, or drop ship with merchandise they do not physically have. They are able to make most of their profits from the shipping profit margins. But not the little guy.

In contrast, the profit I get is by dealing in products that are in demand, so I need to determine what products can get a nice up-sell profit. That still often means making sure to price the product competitively, meaning that it makes most sense to either match or beat the lowest price for a product so your appears on the first page of results.

Another option is to differentiate your products to make them more appealing. For every product I sell, I try to differentiate myself from competitors in three ways:

1. Write Good Copy

   – Sell your product by being very specific about the condition of the specific merchandise being sold. Include content that differentiates yours. Sometimes this means you may choose to charge more with the thought that buyers may choose your product due to building trust.

2. Use Images

   – I scan or grab a pic of every product I have. For books, it often means I try to include a cover image and an image of an inside page that includes the ISBN. Again, the purpose is to build trust, to let the consumer know that what they are buying is accurate. I’ve noticed that the “big” sellers contain no photos and the same standard copy for the condition of the merchandise.

3. Rounding the Overall Cost

   – I do not know if this really works or not, but with Amazon, the consumer sees both the product cost and the shipping costs (if any). I make sure to charge an amount that, when combined with Amazon-calculated shipping costs, rounds to the nearest quarter. That is, final total price for the buyer ends with .00 .25 .50 or .75. Maybe it’s my own desire for rounding, but it may be a reason for someone to choose my merchandise.