Top 4 Reasons Amazon Sellers Quit (& how to fix each)

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From thousands of conversations with frustrated sellers, here are the top reasons Amazon sellers fail, quit, and drop out.

Video: Why Amazon sellers fail – with solutions for each one

A short walk through the Amazon seller graveyard

I started this site in 2012 to be the resource I wish I had when I got started in 2007. Since then, between this site, doing a few courses and webinars, and running several online arbitrage tools; I’ve interacted with thousands of Amazon sellers. Most of the time, people reach out because they want help.

So, when it comes to frustrated sellers looking to quit Amazon, I’ve heard it all.

Here’s just the Primary folder from just one of my inboxes:

Every reason people quit Amazon is solvable

Excluding existential obstacles like having your account banned, all the common reasons sellers abandon the business come down to:

1. solvable issues
2. with readily available resources to help

For example: Are you having issues finding inventory sources (spoiler – that’s #2)? There’s tons of resources on this subject. And I’ll make it easy and give you some links at the bottom.

So that’s the point of this article: Giving any seller thinking about quitting the resources they need to power through.

Honestly, the #1 reason people quit isn’t even on this list

I wanted this list to be specific and actionable, so my “top 4” doesn’t include the real “number one reason people quit”…

Here it is:

“Not aligning expectations to reality.”

Pretty boring, isn’t it? Who wants to read a whole article about how important it is to “be realistic”? No one. That’s why it’s not in the Top 4. But it needs to be addressed.

This “real #1 reason” takes many forms, like:

1. Abandoning the sign up process when Amazon asks for address verification.
2. Dropping out after their first sale when they see how big Amazon’s cut of the sale is.
3. Panicking when inventory doesn’t sell after a couple weeks.

None of these represent a defect in the business model – it’s merely new sellers imposing their expectations on the business without realizing their expectations are inaccurate.

So the most important hurdle to clear in becoming (and remaining) an Amazon seller is to align expectations to reality.

1. Expect a few hoops to get your account approved.
2. Understand Amazon fees.
3. Understand how Amazon Sales Rank works.

None of this is hard, but it does require surrendering to reality – not what you expected or hoped it would be.

One you’ve cleared that hurdle, the rest is just mechanics (that’s what we’re talking about next…)

(Bonus: Another more abstract one that didn’t make this list is “getting discouraged by comparing yourself to various people on YouTube and in Facebook groups.” Measuring yourself by comparison to others (who may or may not be revealing all the details of their success or lack thereof) is a road to ruin. Don’t do it.)

So here they are: From conversations with bazillions of sellers: The top 4 reasons people quit Amazon:

#1 Buying the wrong kind of inventory

This is when sellers quit because:

1. Their inventory isn’t selling fast enough.
2. They buy inventory that is simply unprofitable (and they never should have bought to begin with)

Inventory that is slow to sell: When this happens, it should rarely catch you by surprise. Assuming you’re using an app like Scoutly, you’ll know the average Amazon sales rank before you buy. This will rarely lead you astray.

If you find yourself consistently be confused as to why your inventory isn’t selling faster, that can only mean you’ve failed to adequately understand Amazon Sales Rank (aka “best seller rank” or “BSR”).

Inventory that isn’t profitable: As they say, “you make your money when you buy.” You should already know your rough profits before you ever purchase an item to resell. Things can change between buying and the time something sellers, but if you’re consistently losing money on inventory (or selling for well below what you expect), that’s easily solvable by doing better math before you acquire that inventory.

#2: Not diversifying their sources

This is when sellers quit because:

1. They cling to their first few inventory sources, and panic when they dry up.
2. They stop exploring new sources, and their existing sources don’t supply enough inventory.

This is the (extremely common) complaint that “there aren’t enough sources in my area” or “all the good inventory is taken.”

I’ll say this: If you live in a populated area, this is not a real problem. Between hitting the streets and/or picking up the phone and/or emailing people persistently, this is very solvable in a very short amount of time.

If you live in a rural area, this is more legitimate, but rarely something that can’t be solved by ruthless cold outreach to potential sources (and, of course, also hitting the streets. Or dirt roads, as it were.)

The issue of where to find profitable inventory to resell is not a lack of inventory issue, it’s a lack of creativity and persistence.

This world is drowning in cheap things people want to get rid of.

#3: Pricing: too high, too low or not repricing at all

This is when sellers quit because:

1. They don’t reprice their inventory.
2. They price their inventory too high (and don’t get sales)
3. They price their inventory too low (and don’t have sufficient profits)

This is quietly the most serious (and common) of the Top 4.

Reckless pricing practices are rampant, and neglecting repricing equally so.

The majority of time I talk to sellers who are experiencing slow sales, I find that either:

1. They’re pricing in a way that insures no profits.
2. They’re pricing in a way that insures no sales.
3. They’re not repricing at all.

Pricing is a personal thing. Rather than copy another seller’s pricing formula, it’s vastly better to absorb the principles of good pricing, and apply those using your own formula.

Repricing is NOT a personal thing. You should be repricing your inventory daily.

A flawed assumption that many sellers who quit have is that if inventory isn’t selling, it’s somehow a flaw in the business model. As though people suddenly “stopped buying things on Amazon.” In reality, it’s usually a flaw in their pricing or repricing.

All pricing issues are are very easy to resolve.

#4: Not knowing how to spot value.

This is when sellers quit because:

1. They falsely believe there is non-existent inventory at their existing sources.
2. They falsely believe there is insufficient inventory at their existing sources.

This is an issue that only affects sellers practicing the “single sourcing” (aka “cherry picking”) model (versus the wholesale or bulk buying model, where this shouldn’t be a concern).

Many sellers visit multiple sources on many occasions, and either don’t find anything profitable, or barely find anything. Then they declare “all the good books are taken” (or whatever inventory they’re looking for), and quit.

This is always going to be one of two things (the first one is by far the most common):

1. Not knowing how to spot value: When they encounter a large volume of potential inventory, they don’t know how to identify the items that are likely to be profitable and focus on those. So instead, they flounder, focus on the wrong items, and get discouraged.
2. Not knowing how to read scanning app data: They are encountering profitable items, but are misreading the data on their app.

The problem is almost never that “other sellers got all the good stuff.”

How to solve each problem

How to solve buying the wrong kind of inventory

Two (free) resources from this site:

1. Understanding sales rank for books (article + video)
2. How to price (article + video)

How to solve a lack of inventory sources

One free guide, one paid:

1. Top 5 overlooked book sources (PDF)
2. Book Sourcing Secrets (course)

How to solve pricing issues

One free resource, one paid tool:

1. How to price (article + video)
2. NeuroPrice (repricer made by me personally – starts at $17/month)

How to solve not knowing how to spot value

Three free resources:

1. The 4 Laws of Value
2. The 12 Most Profitable Book Categories
3. How to read scouting app data

(to go deeper – pay attention to what articles are suggested at the bottom of these two, and read those also).

Recap: Everything to know so you don’t quit Amazon

Dialing in these things will solve most reasons people fail at Amazon selling:

1. How to spot profitable inventory
2. How to price + reprice
3. Having diverse inventory sources
4. How to buy profitable inventory that will sell

-Peter Valley

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