22 CommentsIf you’ve been an Amazon seller or even just an Amazon customer, you’re likely familiar with Amazon’s own private label brands, most notably Amazon Basics. As a customer, shopping from an Amazon private label brand can help you save money on your favorite products, which are typically priced much lower than the leading brand.
But for sellers, an Amazon Basic brand in your niche, selling similar or identical products, can definitely be a cause for concern.
Should you be worried as a seller about Amazon selling a similar product as yours? Keep on reading to learn more about Amazon Basics and their other private label brands and how to navigate this as a seller.
- What is Amazon Basics?
- How Amazon’s private label brands impact Amazon sellers
- How to compete against Amazon Basics and other Amazon brands
What is Amazon Basics?
Amazon Basics (often stylized as AmazonBasics) is Amazon’s original private label brand that was launched in 2009. The brand offers many products, including home goods, electronics, travel, office supplies, and much more.
Amazon Basics products are typically sold at a lower price than name-brand products, but they are still known to be of high quality.
On top of Amazon Basics, Amazon has over 100 other private label brands with tens of thousands of different product offerings.
How Amazon’s private label brands impact Amazon sellers
Seeing how many different brands and products Amazon offers under its own brands is definitely concerning. Especially considering how affordable its products are compared to those of notable brands.
As you can see from the example above, a 20-pack of Amazon Basics batteries is half the price of Duracell’s 24-pack!
Here are some ways Amazon’s private label brands can impact a seller’s business:
- Increased competition. The fact is, no matter where you are selling your products, you will experience competition, even if it is from Amazon itself. As an entrepreneur, you need to get used to other brands fighting to take sales from you. Focus on ways to improve your brand and products.
- Reduced visibility. Amazon’s private label brands often appear higher in search results than other third-party brands. This can make it difficult for Amazon sellers to get their products seen by potential customers.
- Lower prices. Amazon’s products are priced notoriously lower than other brands’ it is competing with (as you can see in the screenshot above). Amazon is a massive company that can order large quantities with the lowest possible COGS for its products, which not every seller, especially small sellers, can achieve.
READ MORE | Amazon Seller Pricing Strategy – How to Price a Product
How to compete against Amazon Basics and other Amazon brands
Now just because Amazon may be your competitor does not mean their product will automatically be the best seller or the best quality. Sellers need to stay focused on their business and ensure they’re offering the best products possible.
Let’s review how Amazon sellers can compete with an Amazon private label brand.
- Focus on niche products. Amazon’s private label brands don’t offer every product that’s available on Amazon. There are still opportunities for Amazon sellers to sell unique products that Amazon doesn’t offer.
- Use Jungle Scout’s many product research tools to discover niche products to offer on Amazon.
- Create beautiful listings. Sure, Amazon may be in your niche, but it doesn’t mean their listings are better than yours. Show your potential customers why they should purchase from your brand by creating high-quality images, infographics, unique product videos, and eye-catching A+ Content. Check out our listing optimization guide for more tips.
- Unique branding. Even if you’re selling a product that’s also available from Amazon’s private label brand, you can still differentiate your product by branding your product in a unique, memorable way versus offering a generic product. This will help customers remember your product and choose it over Amazon’s private label brand.
- Amazon Advertising. Amazon offers many effective ways to advertise your products, especially if your brand is enrolled in Brand Registry. Take advantage of these tools as ways to get your products in front of your potential customers.
- Market your products. Don’t just rely on Amazon PPC or for Amazon to show your products to customers, you need to market your products to customers outside of Amazon. This can be done through social media, email marketing, or paid advertising through Facebook or Google.
Does your brand compete with Amazon Basics?
If you find that Amazon is a competing brand for one of your products, do not fear! Follow the advice we laid out in this article to ensure your brand and listings are the best they can be.
In ecommerce, there will always be competition, you just need to learn how to adapt and overcome any obstacles you encounter.
Do you have any more questions about Amazon Basics or about selling on Amazon? Let us know in the comments.
Explore new product opportunities with Jungle Scout and start making money on Amazon!
22 comments on “What Is Amazon Basics? 2024 Guide for FBA Sellers”
Stumbled on this masterpiece while searching Amazon FBA. This is the best post I have read so far. Will definitely read again to digest every piece of information. I want to start Amazon FBA, can you put me through? Is there a course I can optin and learn from?
Thank you so much for sharing an informative blog post. Your insight and knowledge are invaluable.
After I originally commented I seem to have
clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every
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Perhaps there is a means you are able to remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something that helped me.
Cheers!
[…] at it. This level of marketplace leverage might have some drawbacks—their line of basic goods often contains mass-produced and cheaper variations of equivalent products from other retailers. However, all of this basically states that Amazon has […]
What’s the thought about selling an item, as a PL, that “Ships from and is sold by Amazon.com”, with no other competition, but is not part of the Amazon Basics brand? Is there a reason there are no other vendors? Does Amazon do anything to “dissuade” this? (it’s non-tech, FWIW)
Hi JS team!
I appreciate your constant optimism, it’s so refreshing to see that “the sky is not falling” as far as the Amazon Private Label game. Thanks for all the knowledge you all share!
Certainly 🙂 I’m glad you’re enjoying it! In my opinion, a positive mindset and outlook is important to have in order to be successful in any business venture!
There is an error in the headline. The expansion referenced in major news outlets over the past two weeks was actually NOT about AmazonBasics but was rather about Amazon’s other PL brand forays, including about 7 different clothing brands. AMZ’s expansion is into other PL brands, not AmazonBasics.
That is a fair point, that the articles were focused on private label brands in general, not AmazonBasics. We’ve edited the headline to clarify, thanks Billy.
Great content as always! Very informative and substantive! When are Junglescout t-shirts coming out? 😀
Should we start selling JS shirts on Amazon? 😉
why is jungle stix out of stock for 2 weeks already?
Hi David, unfortunately we ran out of inventory! More inventory is arriving via ocean freight, we will hopefully be up and running very shortly.
Great article! That video was hilarious. 😀
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Great article, Greg.
Just an aside, and I’m sure you would have figured this out on your own through the research process, but for any newbies looking for a short cut — that hair catcher is patented.
Hey Laura,
Good point to always do due diligence to see what’s patented and can’t be sold as a private label! Seems like it may be more relevant to some of the weirder products out there…
Greg, your article is really interesting. My business partner and I are about to launch our first few products on Amazon in the UK and have found jungle scout and all your articles a huge help. We don’t concern ourselves too much about this prospect as Amazon still needs to make money from us! And whenever we reaserch product lines we don’t seem to have too much competition from Amazon on the type of products we plan on selling. Thanks for all your help and advice Greg. Elizabeth and Natalie
Elizabeth,
Sounds like you have uncovered some good product ideas that have demand and limited competition (from Amazon). Good luck in your journey, keep us posted on the path to success!
Great article Greg! As an Amazon seller myself (1M+/year) it is shocking to me how every blog post you make is something that was either a major worry for me at some point, a topic currently on my mind or something relevant to me in the near future I had not even thought about !
This is all to say these blog posts are great valuable reads!
I whole-heartedly agree with the message in this article. Keep on moving and it will be harder for the giant that is Amazon to squash you. If you are worried about Amazon or any competition stepping into your niche than you need to expand your niche. This was always true and will always be true.
Amazon’s announcement should work as a reminder of this and not as news to you!
Hey Steven,
I think you are spot-on. selling on Amazon is a microcosm for business in general. You have to constantly be aware of market conditions and externalities, and adjust accordingly. The expansion of AmazonBasics may be particularly unsettling for people who got complacent with their business/niche.