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You spoke, I listened 🙂
In the last few months, I've received at least one email/day asking for advice on how to sell cosmetics on Etsy, Amazon, and Shopify (if you don't know what Shopify is, read this post).
In this article, I am going to focus on Amazon because it is the most profitable one. The income potential is massive. Amazon has more than 270 million active customer accounts and still growing.
Selling cosmetics on Amazon. Overview
3 months ago, I started to sell one of my products on Amazon as a side business.
My goal was to learn how to do it, so that I could create a guide for my readers. In fact, I know for a fact many of you want to sell beauty products on Amazon.
$3700/month. This is my balance until now. It doesn't seems bad at all considering that I started from 0 and never engage for more than 4 hours /week into this business.
I've always been skeptical by nature, but I need to say that with Amazon I was completely wrong.
It is simply as powerful as everyone in the space is claiming it to be.
Here are the advantages of selling on Amazon
Now let's see the downsides:
Amazon restricted categories approval
On Amazon, there are some "gated categories" and the BEAUTY one is among them. Therefore, you need to obtain an approval before you can start selling your products there. This discourages many wannabe entrepreneurs, but it is not going to stop people who really want to succeed.
Cosmetics /OTC products can be found in both the "Beauty" and "Health and personal care" category. While some categories don't require any kind of approval, these two do.
Amazon wants to make sure the products you sell are safe for the customers, the information you provide are not misleading, and you have all the authorizations required. Consequently, in order to sell cosmetics in the beauty category, you must obtain the following documents:
As I started my side business, I visited many forums and Facebook groups and found out that $3000/month is nothing. People who do this as a full-time job are making way more. Therefore, even if these requirements may seem like a huge barrier, it's worth to make an extra step and comply with Amazon policies. Besides, you should be able to provide those documents anyways.
Amazon can really help jump start your beauty business and the risks involved are close to 0.
Let me explain.
Worst case scenario: you're not selling your inventory. Solution: reduce the price to sell out everything. By doing this, you won't make money but at least you won't lose it either.
Amazon selling fees
Usually "easier" means less profitable.
Again, fees should not discourage you at all. There's still the opportunity to make a lot of money. My $3000/month have been made with no strategy and minimum effort. If you put the work in, you'll see results.
People might argue whether starting with Amazon is the right thing to do; you could use the same effort in setting up your own e-commerce store and building a brand.
I think it depends.
If you're young, just starting out, and inexperienced, Amazon is a good choice. If you're a seasoned entrepreneur, maybe you want to look somewhere else.
Starting a cosmetic business on Amazon, doesn't necessarily mean you're going to sell your own products (private label). You could also be selling other brands' products or simply raw materials for DIY cosmetics (for example beeswax, jojoba oil etc.).This makes your possibility almost endless.
For instance, I had a client who wanted to sell his own beauty products, but down the road he changed his plan. He was left with hundreds of pounds of raw materials and didn't know what to do. I suggested him to repack the raw materials and sell them on Amazon. Not only he recovered all the money spent for the ingredients , he made so much more that he eventually decided to do that as a full time job.
This is not complicated at all. All you need are some containers, labels, plastic bags, and a nice design.
The following is a list of tools to help you succeed on Amazon:
Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon ) is the service that gives you the opportunity of using Amazon warehouses to pack and ship your products.
How does it work?
Step 1: you pack your units and apply a special label on each one (provided by Amazon)
Step 2: you ship all your inventory to Amazon
Step 3: when someone buys your product, Amazon ships it for you.
Amazon referral fee is higher if you use their fulfillment service. The fee depends on the dimensions of the object you sell.
When using Amazon FBA, you 'll receive a request to provide a MSDS for your product.
This is where many people freak out as they have no idea what Amazon is asking them. I created this video to show you how to create a MSDS in 10 minutes.
Amazon vs Etsy for selling beauty products
Another question client ask me regularly, is if it's better to sell cosmetics on Amazon or Etsy.
As usual, it depends.
I would say that if you don't feel comfortable with Amazon requirements or fees, you should opt for Etsy which has lower selling fees and easy access.
Etsy gives products that "artisanal" feeling that brand-wise might beneficial or not. How do you want customers to perceive your brand?
Here's an example. I tend not to write about "how to make your own stuff in the kitchen" because I want people to see me as a professional chemist with an academic background. I am not interested in attracting customers that want to make a body butter with a Kitchen aid food mixer. Hope this makes sense.
Based on what my clients experienced, Amazon seems to be more profitable than Etsy. Even so, I've had clients who started on Etsy and ended up building a major brand in the U.S.
In the end, I think the platform is important, but what really counts is your attitude to business and success.
The platform is important, but at the end of the day is your attitude towards success that makes a difference.
You are never going to sell anything if you just sit there and wait. Nothing on Amazon and nothing on Etsy.
Success doesn't come this way.
You need to attract visitors/customers to your listings. As already mentioned for Amazon, your beauty products need to be on page 1.
Amazon Ranking explained
Put in a simple way, Amazon works as a search engine, meaning they're both governed by an algorithm. The algorithm is responsible for your products to be shown on first, second , third or whatever page.
How can we take advantage of this algorithm and have our beauty products showing up on the first page?
By trying to fulfill as many "Amazon Ranking Factors" as we can. Below there's a ranking factors list. It is not exhaustive, but it will give you a general sense.
How can I find relevant keywords for my products?
I use and recommend MerchantKeyword. The process is simple. Visualize your products and think how would you look for it on Google. Then type the words in the keywords tool and see how many monthly researches. Based on this number, consider slightly changing your keywords (if search volume is too low).
I hope this post inspired you. If you're not selling on Amazon or Etsy, why is that? And, if you're doing it, what was the biggest challenge?
Before I go, I want to share with you a tip that allows to increase sales and beat competition...
PRO TIP: to differentiate yourself from competitors, besides having better photos and description, add something as a gift. Who doesn't like free stuff? This could be everything, but since you're selling cosmetics, an informative ebook is a great idea.
Thank you sooo much for the information. I am looking to start a hair care product line. Would you advise to start with an e-commerce website driven by a blog in addition to Amazon? Or do just one at first?
Definitely the e-commerce website. Amazon doesn’t help in building a brand which however is crucial to success.
Thank you so much for these tips. As a budding entrepreneur with limited funds the fees and requirements scare me but I’m willing to try this out. I’m yet to commence production but I’m out here researching for better ways to reach large customers to benefit from my natural skin care products made in Africa.
Good luck!
Hello, thank you so much for all the information. I’ve learned more in this article than I have after days and hours of watching videos. I have a question about selling cosmetics on amazon. I’m thinking of oils (for example castor oils) but there is already a lot of competition. Do you think I still have a chance in this category if I do good marketing? Also, I’ve read in some forums that Amazon makes it very hard to new sellers to sell cosmetics, and accepts very few new sellers, only established brands. Is this true? Because if I read your article, I suppose that’s not true, as you also got accepted into Amazon, right? Hope to hear from you! Best, Irene
Irene , you can still be successful on Amazon if you know how the platform works, have some money to invest in product launch, and know how to do marketing. Castor oil is more a cosmetic ingredients than a finished product. Way easier to sell that and get approved. Documents requested must be provided by your supplier.
How do I get my home made cream tested and approved to sell on Amazon?
You need to send a sample to a lab for long term and microbiological testing. I recommend Abich lab.
Hi Luisa,
Great article, thank you. I need to send a sample to the lab. I was wondering what testing is required by Amazon? only microbiological?
The same tests that are required by the FDA. You’ll also need a msds sheet for your product.
Dear Louisa, thank you very much for such a useful article and information. I’d be very greatful if you could give me an advice regarding selling african handmade shea butter and black soap on Amazon. I want to make an order from supplier on Alibaba. If I understood well in one of your previous answers, it is the supplier who is supposed to provide necessary documentation for Amazon, right? Do I still need to do some laboratory tests of these products beside that? Thanks in advance for your reply!
You are correct! The manufacturer should have also performed tests so you don’t have to.
Thanks! This was so helpful. I was drawn to the example of the friend of yours who ended up just selling raw ingredients. Was that a gated process then in cosmetics. I’m considering this along with whether I should introduce my own line on Amazon. But I do have a love for promoting raw ingredients and can’t tell what the requirements would be?
Raw materials don’t have the same requirements as cosmetic finished products!
Thanks for this article! I’m interested in selling established beauty/skincare products that I would but from a whole seller through Amazon FBA. Do I still need to have the products tested? Where do you find the FDA Orange number?
Orange book # only apply to drugs, not cosmetics. In your case it would be the manufacturer who needs to test the products, not you nor the whole seller.
hello,
Very helpful article. I made my own brand of anti aging serums and tried to list them on amazon but they have made me so stressed and confused with all the paper work they are asking eventhough i sent everything they asked – now i tried to make a shopify store which has so far costed me over $500 to get help in setting it up as i am a little old school with online selling (not a little, a LOT ) from thier so called shopify experts and it still looks terrible to me. with no visitors or sales for over 2 months . I have over 1000 units in stock , beautiful packaging and quality but i have no idea how to market/sell them on line as i had my mind on amazon and have been very disapointed with listing them. I made an etsy account as well – there i sold 2 and the buyers were in USA which i had to send them from Australia which costed me double of the actual product costed me (loss in other words) but i didnt want to disapoint them and i was so excited in actually getting a sale.
Very disapointed with online selling 🙁
Eve, everything can be learned. Send me an email with your store address. I’ll see what I can do to help.
for products already created and I just add my logo… what is needed?
It depends on the product. Usually you only need a MSDS and COA which are provided by the manufacturer.
Hi Luisa,
Thank you so much for the great article – it definitely helped me to understand how things work.
I want to buy large bulk of cosmetic face pack/masks from South Korea and import/sell it in the UK.
In this case, I’m presuming that the original manufacturer would have provided the lab testing results which I will receive from the wholesale supplier. Do I need to provide/generate anything in particular especially considering that I will have to import this?
I’m not familiar with UK, but I believe everything you need about the products must be provided by the manufacturer.
Hi Luisa,
Thanks so much for the information! I’m looking to sell products through a wholesale company instead of creating a brand. Is it difficult to gain approval on Amazon? I have been selling retail products I found on sale on eBay for the the last year to gain some experience but wish to reach a larger market.
Hi Nicole, the process is the same.
Very helpful article. Tinking to start my own cosmetic brand and also sell on Amazon. Great Information!
Thank you!
Hi Luisa,
Thank you so much for great information! I am thinking of starting my skin care brand and I have checked some manufactures as well. Should I started first doing the legal process first to creat my company and get my permit or license? All manufactures mostly want to work with business that have registered company not individual.
Not necessarily. the manufacturer has no business in knowing whether you have already established a company or not. As long as you pay, it shouldn’t matter.