This document describes the Amazon selling case study of Chris Buckley. It details how he and his wife Helen started selling baby hand and foot casting kits on Amazon in 2017 as a side business. They began with 4 product offerings and saw steady sales growth from £1.3k in the first month to £21k in November. However, their Amazon seller account was suddenly closed in early December due to a bank account name issue. After resolving it, they were able to resume sales through the holiday season. Looking ahead, they plan to expand their product line, improve packaging instructions, and grow the business further.

1. Amazon Seller Case Study
Chris Buckley

2. My Background
38 years old, married with one child
I run a digital agency called Pixel Kicks
Never sold on Amazon before,
but in 2017 decided gave it a go -
thanks to this event

3. My wife Helen started a part-time business
in 2016, towards the end of her maternity
Helen makes castings of baby’s hands and
feet similar to the ones shown in the photo
We decided to try selling home casting kits
online, and Amazon was our first choice
1. The Idea

4. June 20172. Building the Products
Researched a few popular products
already on Amazon
Purchased competitor kits to see
how they were put together
Decided to create product bundles,
aiming to improve on what was
already available

5. We started selling just
4 products in the beginning
1 main product selling at £40
3 other products
ranging from £15 to £30
First 3 are bundles, last one is raw
material - “Chromatic Alginate”
3. Our initial offering
1 2
3 4

6. 4. Creating the Amazon Product Pages
Presentation important,
take great photos
Write clear & informative bullets &
descriptions, rich with keywords
Kept prices very competitive

7. 5. Buying Stock Source materials at the best
prices from different suppliers
Shipping materials too: boxes, labels, tape,
tape gun, resealable polybags & more
Purchase just enough stock
aiming to keep costs low
Used garage for assembly and
storage first before getting a
small industrial unit

8. Decided to use Prime as an
incentive for customers
Fast dispatch & automation
using our time efficiently on other things
than shipping & customer service
FBA learning curve: YouTube, blogs.
Advice - throw yourself right in!
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

9. Not expecting to make money
in the first few months
Amazon, Google and Facebook Ads
to drive traffic to our products
Build up reviews, ask friends &
family at first to get you started
Advertising & Reviews

10. First 5 Months Sales From £0 in June to nearly
£6k a month in October
£1.3k
£3.3k
£5.7k

11. Come November, we were taken by
surprise at the amount of orders
Couldn’t keep up with stock, had to
ship manually rather than FBA.
MyHermes became our best & worst
friend
Working non stop to keep up with
demand. Stressful but exciting time
The Christmas Rush

12. Early December account suddenly
closed without warning!
2 weeks of no sales, due to having
the wrong name on our bank
account
Emails, phone calls, forum posts...
Forced us to setup an Ebay store
...eggs in one basket?
CATASTROPHE!

13. The Calm after the Storm
Account reinstated early December,
managed to catch the rest of Christmas
Post-xmas, normality resumed and we
could breathe again
An action-packed 2017, now we’re
ready to move things on in 2018

14. Sales over Time Peak of £21k sales in Nov,
£6k/£7k post Christmas
£5.7k
£21k
£7k

15. New products
to increase our exposure
Improving instructions
to get better reviews
New photography
to make our products look
even more appealing
Improvements in 2018

16. Recruiting an apprentice
to enable us to do more
Create product videos
to help promote on social media
Building a solid company
Growing the Business

17. 1. Spend money & time on photography
2. Advertise
3. Build links to your product pages - improve your SEO.
Mummy blogs, competitions, influencers.
Top Three Takeaways

18. Thank You!