Amazon’s small business marketplace saw massive growth in 2018, here’s how to shop safely

While Amazon has expanded its offerings in a variety of categories over the last year, it has seen a huge growth among its small business marketplace. In fact, a new press release this morning states that more than 50,000 “small and medium” businesses exceed $500,000 in sales last year. As well, Amazon is sharing that companies selling over $1-million worth of goods in 2018 increased by 20% year over year.

So what does that mean for you, the consumer? The good news is there are more ways than ever to buy your favorite goods on Amazon. The bad news? It’s more important than ever to shop with precaution, as the marketplace has been flooded with unauthorized resellers. Head below for more details and a few tips for keeping yourself safe on Amazon.

Small business sales explode on Amazon in 2018

Amazon’s marketplace is both a thing of beauty but also confusing at times to navigate. It’s allowed millions of users to open up shop and use the ever-expanding platform as a way to increase sales. Years ago Amazon introduced its Launchpad storefront, which delivered a place for new products to be showcased. More recently it’s been the home to an exclusive partnership with Shark Tank.

Prime shipping and various other perks make Amazon an attractive place to purchase from third-party stores and manufacturers. While buying direct or from other retailers may result in higher shipping minimums, Amazon has an inherent advantage that enables more visibility for smaller brands.

Today’s numbers from Amazon confirm these notions. Here are a few notable stats:

• Nearly 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses sold more than $100,000 in Amazon’s stores in 2018.
• More than 50,000 small and medium-sized businesses exceeded $500,000 in sales in our stores in 2018.
• The number of small and medium-sized businesses eclipsing $1 million in sales in Amazon’s stores worldwide grew by 20 percent in 2018.
• Small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. using Fulfillment by Amazon more than doubled their export sales.

Shopping Amazon’s marketplace safely

With Amazon’s rapidly growing marketplace offering more sellers than ever before, it’s imperative that shoppers do their homework before purchasing. A large part of what we do here at 9to5Toys centers around doing that work for readers. Along with providing historical pricing for every deal, we also do our best to relay statistics about any third-party brands.

Well-known brands like Aukey and Anker have established themselves as trustworthy. But up-and-coming sellers require a bit more attention. You’ll notice that on many of our deals we also share seller feedback statistics in addition to product ratings. Ideally, you want any third-party sellers to have a 95% or greater positive feedback score from thousands of consumers. Anything less opens yourself up to potential issues with shipping, product quality and more. We pride ourselves here at 9to5Toys on knowing when to skip a supposed deal in the best interest of our readers. With Amazon’s marketplace growing at a rapid rate, it’s imperative that we, and our readers, do the homework before pressing the purchase button.

Source: Amazon

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