I 💖 Amazon Because...
Well, first we have to take a step back in time.
We used to have bricks and mortar shops, two on separate occasions, tucked away on the High Street.
The second premises was quite large for a "Mum and Dad" type of store which had my workshop and stock room in the back. It worked very well for us for some time with Alan minding the shop and me beavering away in the background. Our customers were great, we were in a small town so we had a large number of regulars who would linger and chat about everyday issues etc. But like many small towns the independent shops were dwindling away due to many factors too numerous to discuss here.
Behold My Retail Empire.
But the major factor was always rent and rates. Time to tackle the "Elephant In The Room".
AMAZON FEES
People moan about the commission and fees you have to pay on each sale, roughly 15% - LOOK AT THE ADVANTAGES!
- No rent or council business rates - which are an absolute rip-off!
- Open 24 hours 365 days of the year.
- Part of the largest on-line marketplace.
- Millions of potential footfall, anyone anywhere in the world can browse your store.
- You don't have to make sales or supervise browsers. Set up your store and have a nap!
- No cleaning or building maintainance.
- No insurance payments
- No credit card rental and comission.
- Not paying two licence fees for background music.
The list goes on and on, I would say that High Street Retail costs would easily exceed 20 -25% of turnover for a small business with no online presence. Now Amazon and all of it's advantages don't look so bad! Plus the high standard that Amazon demand of it's "Sellers" stops you from being lazy. Customer service is as important to Amazon as it is to me and this means that customers can buy with absolute confidence.
The buyer is their top priority bar none!
But the main advantage is that you manage your Amazon store. If you have a bricks and mortar store it manages you.
About five years ago I reverted back to being solely a "Cottage Industry". Working from home requires discipline and yes, I'm still working on that. But my time is more my own and the running costs are significantly less so I take that as a win win situation. I know this would not work for everyone but for now it makes me happy. 😀
Now what about eBay?
