Amazon Brand Exit Planning | Seller Selling & Buying Guide

With the rise of Amazon, many brands have opted to sell their products on the platform in order to reach a wider audience.

However, for those business owners who are considering exiting the Amazon marketplace, it’s important to be aware of the various steps that must be taken in order to ensure a successful exit.

This article will provide an overview of the key steps involved.

Consider Getting Help First

For many Amazon business owners, the decision to sell a brand or begin the exit process is a last resort that comes from frustration due to product listings that aren’t performing as expected or desired.

If this sounds like you, you’ve landed on the right page, as we have numerous contacts within the industry that can connect you with potential buyers – and we are also looking to acquire business of our own, so firing off a contact us email is a great place to start.

It also might be worth contacting us about Amazon marketing services first though – we specialise in the following:

  • Amazon on page optimisation that will result in your product listings ranking highly and converting well
  • Amazon product photography that will highlight the benefits of your product effectively
  • Issue resolutions including resolving problems with listings or accounts
  • Organic ranking campaigns that work every time, boosting your listing to the top 5 results in the Amazon search.
  • Brand management services that can remove the time investment into your Amazon account entirely while growing your business reliably and effectively

If any of these service sound helpful to you or you’re looking for more information, consider contacting us with your unique concerns.

If you’ve considered this type of help to get your Amazon business back on track, but want to continue the exit process anyway, just keep reading:

Preparing your Amazon Brand for Sale / Exit

Preparing your Amazon brand for sale / exit is an important step in the process of exiting the Amazon marketplace. The first step is to review and update all product and pricing information so that it accurately reflects the current market. Take the time to research similar products and their prices to ensure you are competitively priced. It’s also a good idea to create a comprehensive listing of all products

This guide provides an easy-to-follow plan that will help make the process of exiting your Amazon FBA business an easier experience. We will provide you with tips and resources such as strategies on how to maximize revenue, financial advice when it comes to selling, legal information if needed, as well as asset protection so you can avoid any issues that might come up during the transition period. We also encourage consulting sessions so that all questions or concerns regarding exiting the business are addressed prior to taking any action. Ultimately, when following our step-by-step guide, it will be possible for any merchant to find success when completely transitioning out of their Amazon FBA business.

Consider the most suitable way to sell your Amazon business

When looking to sell an Amazon FBA business, there are a few routes to consider. The most popular options are using a marketplace, auction, broker, or direct sale.

Marketplaces and auctions allow you to list your business online and wait for potential buyers – they can be great if you’re willing to handle the selling process yourself – but they also attract additional fees.

Brokers offer a more direct service that typically comes with additional costs.

Lastly, direct sales allow sellers to keep their profits intact without dealing with third-party middle-men costs or sales fees. This is the best option for sellers looking to make maximum profits on their sale without any of the hassle of extra paperwork and processes associated with marketplace and auction services, although it of course takes significantly more work to actually find a buyer to sell directly to.

By partnering with marketplaces and brokers while also helping to facilitate direct sales and even buying Amazon brands ourselves, AmazonSEOConsultant covers all of the bases for you, giving you the easiest and most comprehensive way to exit your Amazon business.

Consider increasing the value of your business before putting it up for sale

The value of your business should not be underestimated when it comes to getting ready for sale. Taking the time to ensure that your business is seen in the best possible light will make it more likely that you will receive a good rate when it comes to selling.

There are several strategies which can be employed when increasing the value of your Amazon FBA business.

Firstly, acquiring more organic traffic and working towards achieving higher sales rankings by leveraging marketing techniques such as SEO and paid advertising campaigns can prove very fruitful. Having a stable revenue base with consistent growth is also beneficial; maintaining past returns over years has an impact on the buyer’s decision, showing them both security and stability in their purchase. Investing in important software to speed up operations or automation – anything from inventory management tools to product transport solutions – all go a long way towards increasing value too.

People recognize value, so put extra effort into demonstrating how well established and profitable your Amazon FBA business truly is!

Take care of problems before exiting

When it comes to running a successful Amazon store, navigating various problems is part and parcel of the job. Managing such difficulties before exiting your business, however, is vital if you want your company and brand to have a clean start. From listing suspensions to hijackers trying to steal your hard-earned sales, take care of any oversight or complications well in advance of decisioning to move on.

Honesty is always the best policy when it comes informing all parties of any issues that may arise during transition. For example, if a mistake was made that you’re unable to rectify yourself, make sure that potential buyers and new owners are aware issues prevention from the outset. Doing so will allow them time determine whether or not they’ expert teams can fix it or even averting taking ownership at all if necessary. Hiding such things will only serve as counterproductive in the long run.

Find the Right Buyer

When it comes to exiting your business, getting the right buyer is of critical importance. The goal should be to ensure that the future of the business and its brand remain in safe and capable hands, so it’s important to invest time into researching potential buyers and picking one who meets your high standards. If you want your brand to experience growth during an ownership transition, make sure that the new owners have got a great track record for scaling brands in the past. They should also have a clear strategy for succeeding with your business in particular and be able to efficiently take decisions that will result in favourable outcomes.

Take into account factors such as financial stability, industry contacts, financial statements, type of business, leadership style, location of headquarters and any plans they may have when executing their vision for your business following acquisition. Asking lots of questions related to the selling process can benefit both parties involved greatly; there are plenty of experienced buyers out there who perfectly fit the ideal description so make sure you choose someone who values all aspects that are important to you and match them with an appropriate offer or proposal before sealing the deal.

Think About Timing

When it comes to planning an exit strategy for your Amazon FBA business, timing is essential. This means that the best time to exit is when your business is performing well and you’re experiencing a positive trend in sales.

Doing this will allow you to get the most out of your sale as buyers tend to favour successful businesses which give them a higher potential return on their investment. On the other hand, if sales are slowing down or decreasing, then the value of your business may be affected accordingly. In these cases it may still be possible to find buyers but they’ll likely expect a discount or lower price due to the associated risks, so it may be a better investment of time to improve rankings and sales before selling.

Overall, it’s important that any sale agreement meets both parties’ needs and objectives so they can walk away from it feeling like they have received value for their investment. Negotiations should be structured so that everyone wins in some way; otherwise both parties might end up feeling dissatisfied with how things worked out between them. If done correctly, an exit strategy should make a profit for all involved and enable you to move onto new types of businesses or opportunities without losing out financially.

Remove any products that don’t perform well

Identifying products that may not be selling can be challenging, as there are a variety of factors that could impact their performance. Whether it is the market demand, competition, product quality or pricing – understanding why something isn’t selling is key to increasing your sales. However, in some cases, no amount of effort can turn a low-seller into a profit driver. In these scenarios, it’s best to take action and cut ties with those non-selling products.

Removing low-performing items from inventory allows companies to focus on the products that drive value and ultimately become more profitable. Furthermore, ridding your store of dead stock helps prevent cash flow issues and prevents further loss on goods that have no potential for sales growth. Saying goodbye to these underperforming products will allow you to reallocate resources and focus on items that move quickly off shelves – meaning better returns in the long run.

Increase Your Margins

Having good margins is crucial for any Amazon FBA seller. By increasing your margins, you can benefit from a larger percentage of your revenue staying in the pockets of your business instead of going back out to suppliers and other costs. Not only do higher margins make your exit more profitable, but they also benefit your business by increasing the number of sales you can make. This means that each sale has more potential to bring in larger profits if there are higher margins involved. Of course, more importantly, the higher your margins, the higher your selling price if and when you do decide to cease Amazon business operations.

Good margins can be achieved by carefully managing various aspects such as product prices and cost control measures like negotiating better terms with suppliers or optimizing storage costs. Investing in automation tools and research trends are also helpful in boosting efficiency and improving pricing strategies. Additionally, being strategic with promotional activities such as offering discounts during peak seasons can help reduce overall expenses while still having high-margin products for sale. Ultimately, having a strategy that considers all types of expenses is key to success here because it will ensure that you sell goods while still making a profit off each transaction.

Reliable Financial Statements are Key

One of the most important things you can do if you’re selling an Amazon FBA business is ensure your financial statements are as accurate as possible. Buyers are going to look at your numbers to determine how much they’ll offer for the sale. Messy books aren’t likely to get them the information they need, so having up-to-date and accurate records are essential for generating an exit price that will reflect the true value of your business.

We understand that knowing how much you make is not only essential for tax reasons but also vital in determining how much your business is worth in today’s market – which is why we consider reliable financial statements fundamental for buy-side businesses looking to invest in Amazon FBA businesses.

Conclusion

Hopefully this guide tells you everything you need to know about how to exit the Amazon business.

If this isn’t the case and you still need help, consider contacting us!

With the most reliable product ranking services to scale your business, industry contacts to help sell your account, and collaborations with the biggest marketplaces in the world, we are sure to be able to help you get the maximum profit from your business.

Are you looking to understand your Amazon profits more and make running your Amazon business easy? Check out our Sellerboard review to learn more about the in depth profit tracking Amazon dashboard that gives you EXACT daily profit breakdowns for your products and business – including exact fees & COGS, returns, and more, plus a wide range of other features including email review request management, PPC management and more.

 

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Article by

Thomas Buckland

Owner & Founder

Tom Buckland is an Amazon marketing consultant owning multiple digital brands. Originally starting in the SEO industry in 2009 creating Ghost Marketing, Tom moved his focus to Amazon and developing Amazon brands and helping others profit and rank on Amazon.

Now into 2023 Tom works with multiple Amazon brands and Ecom stores to develop their Amazon strategy, and help them rank and optimise products.

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