What Nobody Tells You About Selling on Amazon

Everyone talks about the dream of Amazon success. You hear all the positive stories about how Amazon Sellers make money on Amazon and how easy it is to get started.

The ugly truth? Selling on Amazon starts easy, sure. But the minute you start generating serious Amazon sales and gain momentum, you’re going to hit some major turbulence. The first, and often most devastating, punch is usually a deactivated listing.

Video Overview:

The Heartbreak of a Deactivated Listing

Imagine you’re finally hitting those sweet sales goals. You’re thinking, “I’m making a ton of money, everything’s lined up.” Then, you check your product page and there it is: that cute, but absolutely infuriating, dog icon. Your listing has been deactivated.

This usually happens because of brutal competitive pressure, and let’s be honest, it’s primarily coming from overseas sellers. As soon as you light up the sales charts, a flood of Chinese competitors sees your success and attempts to undercut you. They launch cheaper, often far inferior, versions of your product.

How to Identify and Beat Your Competition

To survive, you need to know exactly who you’re fighting. Using a robust tool like AMZ Scout (or a similar product research tool) is essential because it lets you check the seller’s country of origin.

If you search for products in categories like “forearm trainer” or “forearm workout,” you’ll quickly notice that almost every single seller is straight from China. When a category is completely dominated by overseas competition, you need to steer clear. You want a niche where it’s genuinely difficult or overly complex for foreign competitors to enter. If you are struggling with initial product selection, a proven Amazon Consultant can guide your strategy (check out our strategy consultation page). That early product decision is everything.

Competitor Attacks, Fake Reviews, and How to Fight Back

Deactivated listings are just the start. If you settle into a profitable niche that doesn’t have many incumbent competitors, the existing players might target you directly. I’ve seen this happen countless times: competitors get petty and literally pay friends or family to leave a wave of fake, one-star reviews on your product.

This is the price of doing business on Amazon. You have to fight back and get those fraudulent reviews removed. When these issues hit, don’t try to handle them alone. Working with an experienced Amazon Expert isn’t just a suggestion—it’s non-negotiable. We at EHP Consulting Group provide Amazon Expert Help selling on Amazon through full account management, helping you handle these low-blow tactics (you can learn more about our comprehensive services and how we handle Amazon Fakes and ensure counterfeit removal on Amazon here).

To proactively protect your brand from fraudulent sellers attempting to Remove Fakes, you should immediately explore enrolling in the Amazon Brand Registry.

Essential Tools for Smart Product Research

When you do your product research, mixing free and paid tools gives you the best defense.

AMZ Scout for Raw Data

The real power of a tool like AMZ Scout is the raw sales data it gives you. The AI extension can show you exactly how much money your competitors are pulling in per month. Even better, its product database lets you filter results by the country of origin, which is crucial for identifying niches with fewer Chinese sellers.

The Shield of Regulations and Compliance

This is one of the single most effective ways to slam the door on competition. Hunt for niches where strict compliance is mandatory.

Think about products that require legal approval, like home pesticides or children’s goods such as infant walkers. A US-based seller is almost always going to be the manufacturer here, because overseas sellers often don’t bother with the complex regulatory hurdles required by the U.S. government. For detailed guidance, consult the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for general use product certification requirements.

These are the niches a seasoned Amazon sales expert or Florida Amazon Consultant will tell you to focus on. They’re simply too hard for quick copycats to undercut you with 40 low-quality listings. We can even help you navigate regulatory hurdles specific to the area, offering specialized Florida Amazon Help and expertise.

Finding High-Margin Niches and Combating Fakes

It’s no secret: Amazon keeps hiking up its fees. To stay ahead, you have to be intimately familiar with the official Amazon FBA and selling fee structure, as detailed on the Sell on Amazon Pricing Page. To counter these rising costs, your product needs to have a healthy, high profit margin.

But yes, it is still possible to crush it on Amazon. Look at a niche like an educational crochet kit that actually teaches you how to crochet. Successful US-based brands win because their English instructions are perfect. When a foreign competitor tries to jump in, their poorly translated guides sink their reviews. This focus on quality control is what separates the winners from the losers and helps to Stop Fake Products on Amazon.

If quality instructions or specific safety certifications are the key, lean into that advantage. It’s all about looking at the sellers, the data, and focusing on your strengths. If you need help turning that quality into visibility, our team provides expert Amazon PPC Expert and Amazon advertising Expert services (you can contact us directly).

Maximize Compliance with Amazon’s Free Tools

Did you know Amazon offers free, game-changing tools right inside Seller Central? If you have an Amazon Seller Central account, you should be using the Self-Assessment Tool.

Go to Seller Central and navigate to Catalog > Add Products.
Look for Compliance References and the Compliance Self Assessment tool.

This is your checkpoint to ensure no products are restricted and to determine what certifications you need upfront. If a product requires certification, it becomes infinitely harder for competitors to match you. Supplying Amazon with the correct documentation upfront is a massive strategic advantage. If you are serious about protecting your brand’s intellectual property, you can also look into the Amazon IP Accelerator program to expedite trademark registration.

Your Amazon Journey Starts with Logic, Not Emotion

It takes research, dedication, and time, but once you truly learn Amazon—who your competitors are and how the system works—it clicks, and it becomes much easier.

Always use a checklist for product and manufacturer research. Your product choices must be logically good, not just emotionally good. The data always has to back up your gut feeling.

If you are an Amazon seller who needs help to drive Amazon sales or require an Amazon counterfeit removal expert to Remove Amazon Fakes from your listings, we are here to help.

The EHP Consulting Group team offers full account management, helping you with everything from inventory and dealing with Seller Support to narrowing down product options for a higher chance of success. That’s the end goal for all of us.

Ready to secure your product and your success? Contact the Amazon Experts at EHP Consulting Group today to schedule a call with one of our Amazon Consultants.