Selling on Amazon - the downside

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   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   Amazon is not selling its own unique products. I can look at Amazon.com and see hundreds of products that are available from retailers in Australia.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 7 years agoin reply to this

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         watergeekposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Tess, from my own experience, I would assume that South Africans are not the only ones reading your articles. People from the US and other countries read them also, do they not? And they can buy from Amazon. So your links will help them, as long as you advocate from personal experience with the product.

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   psycheskinnerposted 7 years ago

   There will still be things you already own or could easily access that are for sale on Amazon.  Paper, pens, cotton thread, beverages, medicines, shampoo... pretty much anything.  Not every example will be there, but I guarantee some are.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 7 years agoin reply to this

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         tritrainposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Even when selling an idea, you could reference a product, such as a book for further reading.  Especially if you enjoyed a version of the book yourself.
         
         I think there's a lot about South Africa that is unknown to much of the world, especially the US. 
         
         I know that one of the things that SA is particularly known for is sustainable agriculture.  I know I learn every time I read about it from SA's experience.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   I lived in Africa so I understand what you mean, but I was able to order books. Retailers don't insist on insurance. It was my risk if they went astray.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 7 years agoin reply to this

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         Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Tess, what I'm suggesting is that you pretend. If you have done thorough research and you're confident the product is the right one, and it's available on Amazon, then link to it and say why you think it's the best. Let HubPages prove you don't have personal experience of it! Of course they can't.
         
         What you can't do is pick a random example of that product.  There is little point in selecting a random example of the product anyway, because it probably won't sell.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   To put it bluntly, HubPages staff have no idea of the limitations of your location, and they can't prove whether you have used the product or not. If you give a solid review couched in personal terms, drawing on other sources outside Amazon,  you should be fine

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   tritrainposted 7 years ago

   That's weird.  When I was an Amazon seller I shipped everywhere, it seemed.  But you shouldn't have any problem being an Amazon Associate.  You can sign up for Australia, if you're not already.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   You're welcome

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   newbizmauposted 7 years ago

   I agree with Marisa. I had the hardest time trying to save an article I wrote a very long time ago on Squidoo. https://hubpages.com/living/compact-com … -guest-bed I changed the name from something more generic to Why I Love My Sert EZ Queen Bed , I also changed the picture from a picture of the bed to a picture that related to the mood of the review, a guy or guest laying on your sofa meant to descibe how it looks when guest come over and you don't have guest rooms. It wasn't until I changed the entire mood of the review to focus on all the reasons I don't like having guest sleep on the floor or my sofa that it was finally approved. It isn't the get right to the point review article I'm used to writing but I can live with it. I researched a while ago saw review pages that were doing well had to oversell the feeling of not having the item they are reviewing. While I still think it's over kill at least now I know what is working.

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   paperfacetsposted 7 years ago

   Tess,
   The bottom line is I also feel HPs cuts off our Amazon modules too fast. I have whole articles about a product and have the module edited out.
   And why?
   The links I do have get sales once in a while. A surprise and a happy moment. I still believe every cent counts for some people.
   So many on the forum say give new info, well, when I write about a product and used the product all the experience is new to me. That is the joy of writing to give others your experience or in some cases your "point of view". The cuts of Amazon links may not be thought out, because the editor may have not read your whole review and give the link a second thought.
   Is there a quota? If HPs see X number of Amazon links too many, time to cut some?
   People say it is easy to feature a Amazon link, but I had too many cut to have that opinion.

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   watergeekposted 7 years ago

   I've been confused about how HP handles Amazon links too, so I've been experimenting. Recently I rewrote a hub on how a person can ensure that they drink enough water every day. I submitted it to RemedyGrove with an Amazon capsule included and they accepted it. The product I advocated for was coconut water, which I had listed in the article as one of several healthy supplements to tap water.
   
   There's a particular brand of coconut water that I like---the only one I'll drink these days---and that's what I advocated for. Here is the description I wrote in the capsule:
   
   "Harmless Harvest is the best of all the brands I've tasted by far. When I was a kid we lived in Hawaii for a few years, where we drank coconut water straight from the shell. This brand tastes almost exactly like what I remember. It's the only store-bought coconut water I drink now."
   
   It's all true and there is no way I could have acquired this information from reviews on Amazon. Makes you want to check out the product, doesn't it? That's what I think HP is looking for.

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