Handmade on Amazon Review – How I really feel

I’ve been selling on Handmade on Amazon for two years. Previously, I was selling as a professional account on Amazon – purchasing and using UPC codes for each of my products. It’s been an… interesting ride with Handmade. How do I really feel about it? Here’s my honest Handmade on Amazon review. Scroll to the bottom for the YouTube video where I go into a little more depth of my amazon handmade experience.

UPC Mess on Amazon

I was thrilled when I found out about Handmade because the professional account I had on Amazon didn’t make sense for me to me to use at the time. I sell vinyl decals in multiple sizes and colors. That means I have at least 100 variations on most of my designs. Each of those variations require a UPC code – which costs money. It’s not a lot of money – but still. Then you have to list each size and color on Amazon with it’s unique UPC. And it’s a really big pain in the you-know-what. I was taking my top designs, colors, and sizes and listing those on Amazon. The process was ridiculous.

On top of the UPC code issue and the pain to list an item, you have a $39.99 fee, plus other selling fees. The sales were slow and I had better hope for Amazon.

Applying to Handmade on Amazon

One day in mid January 2018, I received an email from Amazon telling me that I was invited to apply to Handmade on Amazon. I was absolutely thrilled and applied right away. That was my first mistake.

Etsy was SO easy to sign up with. With Handmade, you have to submit an application and see if you’ve been accepted. So Handmade was definitely much more trickier. I received an email saying that my application had been denied. Seriously?! My products were perfect for this program! I immediately inquired to why it was rejected and was told:

After checking on the status of your application, it looks like we need some additional information regarding the products you’re trying to sell. We also have many great categories where your business may thrive so we encourage you to check out our other selling options on Amazon.

Ugh. I thought I had done a really amazing job applying. I guess not.

A couple months later, I had the opportunity to apply again. When I first applied, I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t truly let my business shine. You see, on the application, they want you to:

– Clearly tell us how you make your products step by step

– Write out each step in the process including info on your materials and tools

– Include additional pictures

– Add a video, if you have one available

In other words, they want you to be legit.

In my second application, I put forth the effort similar to having a job interview for the job of my dreams. I talked about my schooling, my experience and how long I’ve been making and selling decals online, the software programs I used, the machines I used to make my products. Being detailed oriented was important.

Handmade also wants pictures of your studio/office/space where you create. Normally, my office looks like it just got hit by a tornado (a term my dad used to always say about my room ha!). So I cleaned it up and made it look extremely professional, clean, and picture-worthy. I took pictures of my office, of the process, of my shipping supplies, etc. There was NO way they would think I wasn’t legit.

Approval

Unfortunately, I can’t remember how long it took to get my approval email, but it wasn’t long. Maybe a couple of days and I received an email that I was approved. I was so ecstatic! After approval, I created my Artisan Profile and we got to work listing our designs – complete with ALL of our sizes and colors. The fee structure changed too – I no longer had a $39.99 professional account fee, which was nice. But they do charge 15% referral fee on every transaction.

Of this Handmade on Amazon review, I do want to share that it is more expensive to sell on Handmade than other more successful platforms like Etsy. However, being able to not deal with the UPC and multiple variation mess – Handmade is more ideal for my products.

Amazon’s Platform

Handmade on Amazon is more like a program for sellers than a separate space. Handmade items are found in Amazon searches, just like other Amazon products. And when you review orders, fulfill orders, view reports, and message customers; it’s the exact same as if you were a “normal” seller on Amazon. It is convenient that I didn’t have to learn a new platform.

However, with that being said, Amazon’s listing process is not the best user experience. It is better with the Handmade options vs the UPC options. It is not an easy experience. Especially when comparing to Etsy’s listing process.

Fulfilling on Amazon is simple. It is easy to find orders, see what size and color the customer ordered, and print shipping labels. But again, I prefer Etsy’s shipping process over Amazon.

Finding your stats on Amazon (and knowing how to interpret them) is not simple. It is hard to see and find any sales stats, product stats, traffic stats, etc. When I do my finances, Amazon is the worst of all platforms I sell on to get my financial reports.

Customers

Amazon customers are different. I’m an Amazon Prime customer and shop frequently on their platform and I love it. But I don’t love being a seller.

You see, Amazon has conditioned their customers to know that they are #1. And they are. However, this creates problems with sellers that customers may not realize.

For example, returning on Amazon is super simple and easy. You click on any reason to return an item and you’re used to getting your money back quickly and easily. For a Handmade seller, this hurts. This hurts because we are generally lower-volume businesses. So every dollar counts.

Customers will submit for a refund and expect to get it. My policies do not allow for refunds unless there is an issue on my part or they want to exchange for something else. Any other problems require photos for our examination. If a return is approved, the customer pays for that label.

On Amazon, I’ve had more customers asking for refunds or returns than any other platform combined. It’s the weirdest thing. I get maybe 1-2 of these requests on Etsy, another 1-2 on eBay for the ENTIRE YEAR. But about 1 a month on Amazon.

When I’ve tried to communicate with the customers for these return or refund requests, they are very demanding, rude, and short. Rarely do they answer my questions. I end up eating that sale profit and it would have been better that they didn’t buy from my shop at all.

With all of that being said, the one good thing about Amazon is that there is minimal customer engagment with a seller. On Etsy, I am getting messages constantly from customers. Those messages take a lot of time out of my day to answer them (and I’m happy to!), however it does hurt my workflow. I only ever hear from a customer on Amazon if they want a return, refund, or if they have a customization request.

Customization

Another part of my Handmade on Amazon review is that Handmade does not have an easy customization tool. There is no custom order link to create quickly. Therefor, I do not offer customization on my Amazon store. I do not even sell my customizable products at all (like family name decals). While there is a way for customers to enter information, I’ve found that Amazon customers are not used to communicating with sellers. If a question arises that a seller needs to ask a customer, most do not respond. Obviously, this creates a problem with fulfilling the order and causes delays.

Ratings & Review

Ratings and reviews are even more important Etsy’s. Here’s why:

When a listing is created on Amazon, you select your lead-time that you require to create your product. My lead time is 1-3 business days to create the product. If you do not ship your product within that lead time that you specify, Amazon tracks that late-shipment rate. In the event that you are consistency late on shipping products, your late-shipment rate goes up. After so long, Amazon will terminate your account.

So if you are needing any information from a customer on Amazon that isn’t replying to you – you’ll need to cancel the order completely or you could risk being terminated.

On Etsy, 20% of my customers leave a review. On Amazon, I get 1%. That’s a huge difference of people leaving reviews! It’s sad that customers are more likely to write negative reviews than positive ones. My reviews are mostly positive, but I don’t have a perfect record. (4.4 stars out of 5)

Handmade on Amazon Review Conclusion

Obviously, I am still selling on Handmade on Amazon. The profits are still there. Buyers still come. And that’s the main reason why I stay.

I do not like their platform or customer behaviors – such as demands on refunds, minimal communication on problems, or not leaving reviews.

I do like the minimal communication overall. Amazon is another platform to get products seen and purchased in an online world.

To end, my Handmade on Amazon review conclusion is that if I started a business from scratch to sell products online, Handmade on Amazon will be included on my sites to sell on. Etsy would be my first choice, however.

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