Amazon Wholesale Bundles Live Q&A with Kristin Ostrander of Mommy Income

As Kristin Ostrander of Mommy Income reminds us, we live in a one-click society. Bundling products on Amazon makes it easier for us sellers because we avoid extra Amazon fees, but it’s also better for the shopper who can suddenly purchase everything in one place. So if you’ve thought about dipping your toes into bundling but haven’t taken the plunge, bundling pro Kristin Ostrander is here to answer your questions live.

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A Poor Man’s Private Label

Why bundle? Think of bundling like a match made in heaven between wholesale and private label. You don’t have the high risk of other sellers hijacking your listing, but you’re also not reinventing the wheel and launching a product from scratch. While wholesale is wonderful as a low-risk Amazon moneymaker, bundling allows you to launch your own product without the hassle of private label, all while keeping the buy box to yourself.

So How Do You Bundle?

Is there a software that tells you what products should be sold together? Not quite. But it’s not exactly brain science either. When anyone’s diving into bundling for the first time, Kristin recommends taking a hot-button item that you’re already selling and figuring out what goes with it. Checking the “frequently purchased together” section on Amazon listings gives you clues on how to bundle as do customer reviews. Your customers will usually tell you what they want!

Don’t Price Yourself Short

Kristin’s advice: remember that Amazon customers value time over money. They’re willing to pay a bit more for fast delivery. So don’t be afraid to price on the high side. The rule of thumb is pricing bundles 20% higher than the cost of the single unit. Remember, you can always adjust your prices down the line.

Get Specific

When it comes to keywords, focus on specific keywords that the buyer would use. Avoid brands and think attributes (cute, wireless, durable, etc.). And don’t fill your space with fluff words. Simple is always better.

Backend search terms are also a tricky beast. Kristin says to add any words you haven’t used and try sites like Related Words for ideas. Misspellings of words are huge as are prefixes, suffixes, and names. You can test your search terms by adding random unrelated words and seeing if your listing shows up under that category.

Logistics

Again, Kristin recommends starting with a hot item you’re already selling and seeing what buyers are buying with it. You will be creating your own listing and you’ll need all UPCs that come with those products. With some products you won’t have a UPC, so you’ll need to fill out a GTIN exemption form. Here Amazon will ask for proof of your brand so have a logo (Kristin recommends hiring a cheap designer on Fiverr) and custom packaging. And that doesn’t mean a simple sticker on a box. You’ll need a professional-looking printed box or poly bag.

Listings

Bundling products with other wholesale brands can get confusing when it’s time to create a listing. According to Amazon, you’re supposed to brand your bundle according to the highest-priced item in the bundle. However, if that highest price item is a brand that’s not approved, you’re going to need to brand your bundle as your brand.

And while everyone thinks you have to bundle top brands for anything to sell, that’s a proven myth. Kristin says to aim for products that aren’t brand loyal to avoid Amazon hurdles. But if you’re selling multiple brands in one bundle, just remember to avoid brand confusion by specifically calling out the brands in the bullets.

& Legalities

Don’t be afraid of brands. As long as you’re operating legitimately and representing the brand the way the brand wants to be represented, you shouldn’t have any trouble. And if you do run into issues, you’ve got legal options. Kristin also recommends not buying UPC codes and always trademarking your name and registering your brand.

Overall

While bundling can sound like a big step forward, the steps are simpler than you’d think. Want more tips and training on all things bundling? Check out Kristin’s course here and get $50 off with the code TODD 50.

Happy selling everybody.

Resources From This Episode

Outline Of This Episode

[00:00:36] Todd’s introduction to this episode

[00:01:12] The benefits of bundling

[00:13:19] How to bundle

[00:14:42] Pricing for a profit

[00:17:40] All about keywords

[00:21:16] The logistics of bundling

[00:25:00] Creating a listing

[00:31:56] Backend search terms

[00:39:50] The legal legwork

[01:00:47] Todd’s closing thoughts on this episode

Transcript

Kristin (00:00:00):
It’s a one-click society and people want to just add. This why people love Amazon so much as they can just add it straight to the cart without having to price check. And, Oh, I want this item and this item and this one, and they frequently purchased these things together anyhow. So putting them all into a bundle really makes a lot of sense both for you and them, because it also helps you save on Amazon fees.

Announcer (00:00:20):
Welcome fellow entrepreneurs to the Amazon Seller School podcast, where we talk about Amazon wholesale and how you can use it to build an e-commerce empire, a side hustle or anything in between. And now your host Todd Welch.

Todd (00:00:36):
Today we have Kristin Ostrander with us from mommy income and she is an expert when it comes to bundles and creating bundles to sell on Amazon, which is an excellent way to get listings all to yourself. And it’s kind of like a little bit of private label but even better because you’re selling products that are already selling well. So Kristin, I appreciate you joining us. Why don’t you dive in and tell us a little bit more about bundles.

Kristin (00:01:12):
Certainly so well, thank you so much for having me, by the way. I really appreciate that. So I like to explain what wholesale bundles are in like, it’s I want to call it. It’s like poor man’s private label. So, you know, there’s a lot of people that, you know with bundling you know, it’s like the road between straight up wholesale and doing a lot of volume and things like that. And investing in the time and energy and money and usually imports that it comes from from private labels. So it’s kind of the match made in heaven between the two. It’s not you protect people, you protect your listings by not having a bunch of people hijack and jump on because you’re creating a new unique bundle in a listing, but also you’re using, you’re not reinventing the wheel by trying to create your own product.

Kristin (00:01:54):
It breaks through the marketplace with, with something that’s brand new. You’re actually just using products that you’re purchasing straight up from wholesale and creating what I consider a gift gift packs or accessory kits or any sort of kit kit or pack, or more than, than one item. So two to five items, I consider five items about the sweet spot between three and three and six items, but I’m not a multi-pack. So you’re not putting like three of the identical things together, but different things that are highly complimentary that just give the customer convenience and variety. So it’s kind of the match between your, straight up wholesale and then adding private label.

Todd (00:02:32):
Yep. And I do a little bit of bundles have a little bit of success. I want to add a lot more, especially after I’m interviewing you last time on the podcast and talking with you more. So I think it’s a really great way for people, like you said, to get started at not a lot of money and you can really launch your own product and have the buy box, all of yourself. I’m like wholesale, which is excellent as well. But a lot of times we’re competing with, you know, one, two, five, 10, 50 other sellers and in bundles, thankfully we don’t have to worry about that.

Kristin (00:03:10):
Yeah. That’s the great part about creating your own bundle and having it be, you know in the wholesale bundle system, talking about setting it apart, you know, you’re not just kind of randomly slapping a few things together, hoping it works, but you’re, you’re creating your own you know, niche in the marketplace to whatever category that you’re in and just allowing people to kind of it’s a one-click society and people want to just add it is why people love Amazon so much as they can just add it straight to the cart without having to price check it, Oh, I want this item and this item and this one, and they frequently purchased these things together. Anyhow. So putting them all into a bundle really makes a lot of sense both for you and them, because it also helps you save on Amazon fees when you’re selling individual wholesale items. All the margins can be pretty thin. And so you’ve got to really watch your numbers when, but when you’re adding them all to a kid or a gift set or an accessory pack of some sort, then you’re paying one fee to Amazon instead of the multiple fees for multiple items. Yeah,

Todd (00:04:05):
Absolutely. And I will make sure to put the link to our full interview, where we talked about bundling and the bundle wholesale bundle system. So we don’t have to go over everything here, but if people want to dive into it and they can listen to that full episode. And then also just everybody knows I’m not looking away. I’ve got chat up over here and another video stream over here that I’m watching, but in the comments or in the description, we also have a promo code for $50 off the wholesale bundle system that Kristin has which is a complete course that walks you through how to do all this stuff. And so if you’re interested in that, you can click that down below and use that promo code Todd50 to pick that up. What’s your price on that? Currently

Kristin (00:04:59):
The price is four 97, so this will save you $50. And it’s really there’s been some new updates in the past several months. So we’ve added to that and we also have something that’s a custom packaging. That’s one of the things about bundling that is kind of new to Amazon in the last year and a half or so, is that they’re asking if you bundle to put your items in, you know, you’re creating your own what I consider a bundle brand. So it’s not like you’re creating a brand necessarily for a water bottle or for a yoga mat or something like that, but you’re creating your own brand. And that’s kind of what sets you apart from Amazon hijackers and things like that is it, if you just have a yoga mat in a water bottle that anyone can purchase from any wholesale supplier that as long as they have the identical items, they can indeed hijack your listing and jump on it.

Kristin (00:05:46):
And you’ve done all the bundle work and all the research and the listing for them to just hop right on. And so creating a bundle brand, it’s very simple. I know sometimes it sounds really overwhelming, but it can be as simple as an acronym of the letters of your name and you put that on a packaging and then that really sets you apart because your hijackers don’t have your exact packaging and your brand name on it, therefore they cannot sell under your listing. So that’s also the custom packaging training is also included with the wholesale bundle system as an added bonus.

Todd (00:06:16):
Perfect. Yeah. And that having that extra branding in there is really important to, because I’ll admit it, I’m guilty of you know, I look for bundles for products that I am selling and I jump on them if there’s nothing special. So having something special can make it so that I can’t get on there.

Kristin (00:06:35):
Well, and that, there’s no shame in that, you know, we’ve all jumped on you know, wholesale listings or even retail, arbitrage listings, and then even bundles that don’t have any sort of brand protection or anything like that on it. So that’s always, you know, there, there’s no shame in that. Of course, if there’s money to be made and someone else has already done the hard work of putting everything together, as long as you have the identical items. And of course, why not? I say, never leave profit on the table. If you find something that’s worthy of jumping on you know, just be nice play nice Jack up the price. Don’t take it down.

Todd (00:07:07):
Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So we’ve got a, quite a few people that are watching live here now. A couple of questions so far, so if you have any questions the only way we can answer them is if you throw it in the chat. So I’m not a hundred percent sure where it’s going to show up, depending on if you’re on desktop or mobile, it might be down below or over to the side. But click on the chat and throw your question in there. So let’s go ahead and dive into this first question here from Gallo. And he asks, can you elaborate on the buy box rotation and the new algorithm? So this is a little bit more of a general Amazon wholesale kind of question, but Kristin, do you want to take it?

Kristin (00:08:01):
I think I’ll let you, I think I’ll let you take the buy box question.

Todd (00:08:04):
Okay. Sounds good. So the buy box is really funky right now, ever since, Oh, I don’t know. It might’ve started in like October, perhaps. Maybe September, it might’ve been, but it’s been a while now. A lot of us thought it was a bug for a while where people would get like stuck in the buy box. And even if you lower the price a little bit like a penny or two pennies lower, like we’re used to, you still wouldn’t get the buy box. And Amazon has still not really said anything about it. The only thing they’ve said is that it’s not a bug. The buy box is working as intended. So, you know, basically we can just go off of educated guesses as to what is happening. And it seems like there’s several different things. Obviously still price plays a role. If you go significantly cheaper, you know, like 50 cents, 75 cents a dollar cheaper than the person in the buy box, you will grab that buy box usually regardless of everything else.

Todd (00:09:04):
But what they’re also taking into account is that your seller feedback is definitely taken into account because the more seller feedback you have, the more Amazon knows that you are trustworthy and you’re doing a good job. And so they want to protect themselves and make sure that the seller is doing good. So that is some small piece of it. The more seller feedback and the more positive, the better the more inventory you have as well is a big one. So if you’re going up against someone who has a thousand units of a product and you have 10, then it’s going to be a lot harder for you to get the buy box, because one, maybe your inventory is not spread out as much. And two Amazon is just going to trust that person potentially with the more inventory. And so they’re going to get the buy box more often than anybody else. Other than that, it’s really hard to say exactly what else is going into the buy box, but those are the two big ones that I’ve seen that play a role. Have you seen that?

Kristin (00:10:18):
I did notice that. Yeah, I did notice too with the buy box, that location has something to do with it. And so when what, what has been filtered in, you know, from sources have picked all over the place in different experts have been talking about the location of the items. So if you send in say several case packs of something and they go to a distribution center and they’re showing, and we’ve, we’ve done a test on this East coast, West coast, kind of a test where I had a friend in California say, okay, well, what’s in the buy box who is in the buy box for you with this item at this moment. And she told me what, who was in the buy box at that time? And then I asked another friend who lives in the Connecticut area, who is in the buy box at that time for what you have, and apparently that where wherever they distribute your items equally over the different warehouses and fulfillment centers, they are going to show the buy box to the person that’s closest to them so that they can pick the inventory that’s closest to them so that they can meet their delivery requirements.

Kristin (00:11:17):
So sometimes if, if you’re getting a lot of California buyers, but most of your stock might be in Dallas Fort worth or a different, you know, East coast, a warehouse that they’ve distributed, they try to equally distribute it, but you know, it doesn’t always happen that way. Then they’re really trying to get that item to that customer as fast as possible. So the person that’s in the buy box to me has nothing to do with price. It has more to do with location and the speed of delivery. And so that’s Amazon biggest snafu right now is a speed of delivery. And so they want to get people, their items in the two days promised otherwise they have to start refunding and all the different things. And so that might have something to do with it. So don’t kick yourself or lower your price to the point where you’re losing money, just because you’re not in the buy box at the moment, because maybe in the middle of the night, Amazon will re we’ll show it to somebody who’s closer to your inventory and you will make sales. If there’s a significant difference, I might reach out to Amazon and just ask them why there’s such a percentage of difference. If you’re maybe only sharing the buy box with one other person, you should have a good, a good 60, 40 going on. At least if you see a little bit of a significant decline, then of course you can reach out and ask them, but you’ll probably get the same canned answer. We always get. Hi the buy box is just fine. We don’t know why you’re having problems.

Todd (00:12:31):
Yep. Pretty much. And that’s where inventory really does come into play. Because again, if you have a thousand units, Amazon can spread those units across the United States. A lot more where if you only have 10, they’re probably just going to keep them in one location and you’re going to get the buy box. And when someone is near that location, more likely you know, in fact, I use the repricer sellersnap.io, and it is smart enough to know that there’s multiple buy boxes, right? Depending on where you are in the country. And so I have lots of products where I will get the sale at two, three, four, $5 more than if I go and look at what the buy box is showing me, because it’s getting me the buy box in different areas around the country and getting me those sales.

Kristin (00:13:19):
Awesome. There’s some really good bundle questions here in the YouTube chat. Let me answer this one. How do you determine what people are buying together? Is there some sort of software that makes the task easier? No. There’s not necessarily a software that makes the task easier. I think there’s a couple of people that fiddle around with some Chrome extensions and things like that. But the basic thing you want to be able to see there’s many ways to check what people are buying together. Number one is the frequently purchased together section of the Amazon listing. So if you go to a specific product, I always tell people if you’re just getting into bundles, go, what has been your best seller over the past three months? Even if it was a retail arbitrage item that you kind of bought and sold out of it, look at those items and what else people were buying among them.

Kristin (00:14:03):
It could be accessories. It could be multiple colors or styles of something. I know that I recently saw a table covers tablecloth for the holidays and someone who bought one also bought two other types of the same size, but different colors. So looking at their frequently purchased together, but that is not always the case. Another case would be to read reviews on your top selling item because your customers will tell you exactly what they want within that. So they’ll tell you, Oh, I wish this came with this, or I wish this game with this, or can you sell it in a pack or things like that. And so taking clues from customers that are there would be super helpful to do that.

Todd (00:14:42):
All right. We’ve got another question here from Noel. She asks, how do you go about deciding how much do you price your bundle? Do you do any keyword research with this strategy? PBC

Kristin (00:14:55):
One at a time. Okay. So how do you decide to price your bundle? First of all, people are remembering what platform you’re on and when you’re on Amazon you’re having a different customer base than you would say, Ebay or Walmart or some other places. I’m not saying Amazon shoppers aren’t savvy. Of course we all are like to be savvy shoppers, but honestly what’s most important to your Amazon customer is time versus money. So most of them will generally pay a bit of a premium for something that they want because they know they can get delivered in two days. They don’t have to hunt for it at stores. And if you’re putting it in a bundle, you’re already saving your customer time because you’ve put together three things, four things, five things that they’re already buying anyway. So if you think about, you know, those table covers that we talked about a minute ago that person’s already not shopping around for all those things.

Kristin (00:15:45):
You’re giving them a variety pack as it is. Maybe it’s a seasonal variety pack of table covers. You know, maybe they have multiple parties. I don’t know. That’s the, that’s the thing. So making sure that you do not have to price your items at the items that the single unit items are selling for. So each of those table covers say it’s a three pack and you put three different colors in there. Each of them might be selling for $15 by itself. So you do not have to price your item at $45 or below. Now you can, as a strategy to try and get a little bit more visibility to your listing, or just, you know, if you’re making the margin that you want to make, you certainly can do that, but your customers are also pay a premium and say, thank you with their dollar bills.

Kristin (00:16:27):
When you add a bundle together, that’s something that they don’t have to shop around for. So my rule of thumb is to always start 20% higher than maybe the single unit items start for us self work. And then you can adjust your price going on. I had a client what was working with, and she built this amazing bundle. They’re called beat the boredom boxes. So if you guys want to go check out, beat the boredom box, they are fantastic. And but she, as she was doing that, she realized she was selling through very quickly. And I was like, you have to raise your price. And of course she raised her price by, I want to say, you know, 10 or 12%. And she was selling out at that price. I’m like, raise the price again. So you can always go up and down remembering your bundled price.

Kristin (00:17:07):
Isn’t set in stone. But a lot of times when people are choosing their bundle components, they feel like they can’t make money on if they sell it at the same price as the other things. And the reality is you don’t have to because your giveyour customers are going to pay you for that convenience fee for you bundling it. And it arriving all in the same box. So the rule of thumb is about 20% high and then pay attention to your numbers and see what your sell through rate is. And if it’s not moving, of course you can always lower price, but I always say check keyword in indexing first. The next question was about keywords?

Todd (00:17:40):
She says, do you do any keyword research with the strategy?

Kristin (00:17:45):
Oh, of course, but everything I do is based on keyword. And so doing the keyword research, I, my favorite tool to use is a merchant words and mommy income people get a significant fund discount from merchant words. So make sure you check out merchant words. If you’re not familiar with that, you can also use services like helium 10 or whatever service you might have. Usually we’ll have some sort of keyword research plan. I prefer merchant words for keyword research specifically because the numbers are very straightforward. So there’s a 12 step process in the wholesale bundle system. This is the framework that we use, and this is the framework I created and use. And this is the entire thing is based on your research and whether or not you know, your item has the proper ear, your bundle items have the proper supply and demand and what kind of components you want to put in there.

Kristin (00:18:34):
There’s even a, one of the steps is actually you know, investing and calculating and setting your price. And there’s a whole, all kinds of things to help you with that. But the key words are the most important thing. And I tend to pride myself on non PPC listing and organic and starting right out of the gate of busting into a niche or a specific product line that I’ve combined things together. And organically getting the searches before you have to put PPC on them. If you’re doing proper keyword research, you’ll have to spend very, very little if nothing at all on PPC, I don’t actually even put PPC on my listings unless they’re not performing at all within the first 30 days. So yeah, I bite my nails for 30 days, but oftentimes when my items, my bundles hit the warehouse they’re selling within a day or two, as soon as Amazon picks up on those keywords and like, Oh, this is it. And so I tend to wear that as a badge of honor that I don’t have to spend a ton on PPC in order to get these listings to move.

Todd (00:19:35):
Very nice. Yeah. That, that is awesome because that’s not something you can do with private label, not even a little bit. So if you can get a product selling without running any PPC or launching or anything, so you don’t do any kind of like early reviewer program or vine program to get reviews?

Kristin (00:19:55):
None, none whatsoever. What I like to do to get my listings moving is really focusing on specific direct keywords. I think many people think that because you have X amount of space that you need to fill that space with every single word and phrase that you can possibly imagine. But what I’ve learned over time is that simple is better. And if you’re literally selling, you know, describing your items and the size shape attributes, you know how many times I see a listing on Amazon, it does not have the measurements of the product that’s there, especially a furniture item. Like if that’s you please stop doing that, Oh, I’m putting, putting measurements and putting your attributes in. Those are the things that people are searching for. And specifically when it comes to keywords, using the buyer words, we all like to use these fun, fancy words when really your customers are typing in cute tablecloth for Christmas, they’re not necessarily typing in, you know, the, the entire, you know, title that you would want them to type in. There’d be maybe just browsing. So think like a buyer and write your listing, like a buyer.

Todd (00:21:03):
Yup. A hundred percent very frustrating when you’re trying to buy something. It doesn’t give you the information that you need for sure. So always put as much as possible in there. All right. Next question, here from wicked, I missed the first part of the chat. Sorry. If you led with this, how do you create a bundle on Amazon? Is it the same process for wholesale and private label sellers?

Kristin (00:21:31):
I don’t think it is. I mean, some people would say so because you do have to create your own listing when you create your product, but first but for, for a very beginner bundler, I would definitely start with something in your store that you’ve already sold and take a look at what that looks like and see what else people are buying with that item. Is it accessories or is it just, you know, multi-pack whatever, and then figure out, you know, the sourcing of those products and where you can maybe get them as a test run. If you don’t open the wholesale account with those suppliers, then maybe you do a test run of maybe say six bundles or so where you put together your items there, but you will be creating your own listing. And when you create your own listing for a bundle, you’re not able to use any of the UPC that come on, those products and some products, some people create their own item that goes inside of that.

Kristin (00:22:20):
I have some clients who make handmade, handmade, some things with those things, don’t have UPC. So then you have to go to your GTI and exemption and fill that out. And in order to get your brand approved, now the item could be branded all with one item, but you still don’t have an extra UPC to list with that brand name, say, it’s all I’m just going to use Nike, just because it’s easy. So well-known brand, everybody knows, but if you’re creating a Nike bundle, say of three pairs of Nike socks and they were all Nike socks, but those socks are all sold individually. You cannot use one of the UPC on those individual socks in order to sell that bundle. So you’re going to need a UPC. Well, good luck getting Nike to get you your own UPC code, to list theirs on Amazon.

Kristin (00:23:04):
So then you would have to request the GTI and exemption, and don’t do this for Nike because you won’t get approved. I’m just using this like as a brand example. So you’d have to go to use the GTA and exemption form. And that’s because your item does not have, because it’s handmade homemade, or you’re putting something together as a bundle, you’re creating a brand new product listing according to Amazon. So because of that bundle, they’re going to ask you for proof of the brand. So if you’re saying my, my bundle brand is Kristin’s favorite things, it’s not really, but that’s what we use. So Kristin’s favorite things is now a brand. So I want to create my brand and I’m going to put Kristin’s favorite things along with the cute logo that I had somebody on Fiverr make for me. And I’m going to put that on my packaging and then show Amazon, this comes in a completely new box.

Kristin (00:23:49):
This is Christine’s favorite things brand. I do not have to have UPC codes to get my brand approved on Amazon, but you do have to have your own custom packaging and their major rule about the custom packaging is that it can’t be a stamp or a sticker on a box. They want you to print something so that you’re professional enough to have a brand that you’ve had printed, whether it’s a printed polybag or it’s a printed box of some sort that has your makeup brand on it. Yes. You can make up your own brand, make sure nobody else has it taken someplace. And then you can get your GCI and exemption for your category in your bundle brand, and then you are free to sell those items in a bundle under your Wendell brand. So that’s kind of the short answer of how you kind of do that, but it is very much creating your own listing and that’s on purpose because you don’t want other people to be hijacking your listings and all of your hard work.

Todd (00:24:44):
Yep. So it’s, it’s pretty much like a combination. You’re creating a brand new listing, like private label, but you’re finding your products like you would in the wholesale world and then putting them together to create your own product. Perfect. All right. So we’ve got the next question here from Amir. If I bundle my branded product with other wholesale brands, then what will we write in the brand option during listing creation?

Kristin (00:25:14):
So according to Amazon’s rules, you’re supposed to brand your bundle according to the highest priced item in the bundle. However, if your highest priced item in the bundle is not a brand that is approved, or you can get a GTI and exemption for you’re going to need your brand, your bundle as your brand. So here’s the biggest myth MythBusters here about the bundling is that everyone seems to think you have to bundle top brand name items together in order for somebody to find your item. When nine out of 10 times when people are searching for items that are, I don’t mean generic, I just need, I was like your HTMI cord or office supplies, or, you know, things like that. People buy every single day all the time, and they’re not necessarily typing in the actual brand of that item.

Kristin (00:26:07):
So I like to tell people to aim at things that don’t, that aren’t what I consider brand loyal. So of course, somebody who’s going to search for Nike, you know, shoes or Air Jordans, or, you know, something like that when they’re looking for that specific brand. But when you’re searching for cute throw pillows for your couch or your table covers, or your HTMI cords or chargers, or, you know, things like that, you’re generally not typing in a brand you’re typing in attributes of an item. So making sure that if your bundle brand is under Kristin’s favorite things, and yet you’re selling a couple of different branded items within that, that’s p erfectly okay. According to Amazon’s rules, as long as the customer understands that there’s no brand confusion. So if you have your items and you have three different branded items within your you know, spa gift set, and you’re including a couple of branded lotions or things like that, and you need to make sure that you’re listing that particular item in your bullet points that says, this is this kind of lotion, this, is, this kind of lotion.

Kristin (00:27:06):
This is so that each individual item is called out in your bullet points. So the customer understands what branded items are getting and what they’re not. I tend to steer clear of granted items in general because I’ve done so much better without them doing different home decor products and things like that. So it’s so it’s one of the things that just to pay attention to when it comes to branded items, is that when you’re bundling, take a look at things that are a little less branded and more generic so that you can, and when I say generic, I just mean, you know, something that people aren’t brand loyal to. They’re just typing in the search in Amazon there’s millions and millions and millions of products. And I, it’s just easier to do it that way. If you do it with branded items, it’s possible, it’s just more difficult because Amazon’s going to give you a couple of different error codes that you have to work through, and that might take you some time to get through those hurdles.

Todd (00:28:02):
All right, perfect. And he has another question here, kind of add on to that. If I’m already selling a product of the brand, do I need to get permission from the brand to create the bundle listing?

Kristin (00:28:17):
As long as it’s not a restricted brand or they don’t you know, they don’t allow Amazon sellers for whatever reason. Your results may vary on that. So there’s some vendors that don’t allow third-party sellers at all and bundling is no exception. So if, if they don’t allow third party sellers on Amazon, or they have, you know, what we’ve incurred, I just got back from the Dallas market center of Dallas home and gift show from the wholesalers and met with many vendors. And they there’s some that absolutely do not allow any third party, Amazon sellers at all. So don’t try to backdoor their brand and try to get it into your bundle without their permission. However if it’s not a restricted brand on Amazon and they don’t have any rules about whether or not you can list on Amazon, then certainly you can put it in a bundle.

Kristin (00:29:04):
You don’t have to ask every single vendor for permission to be able to do that as long as you’re representing their brand, the way that you ought to. So if you’re creating a, if you have a branded item in your book, in your listing, and that brand is particular about their brand, and they want to make sure that it’s called out and they police it heavily, I’ll give you an example. One of those would be like white mountain puzzles. So white mountain puzzles is very, they have a restricted brand on Amazon, and they’re very particular about how their brand is represented and they don’t want people, you know, you know, you need permission to list their items. And if they saw that you had their brand in your bundle and it wasn’t called out in the way it should be, they would be after you. And so I’m making sure, you know, kind of the rules of the vendors that you’re looking at and how you’re representing their brand in such a way that you’re not trying to skirt around the rules, do everything on the up and up because you’re not risking your account that way.

Todd (00:29:58):
Absolutely. All right. The next question here from Tycoon he says if English is my second language, creating the listing might be an issue. Will your course help him in any way with creating the listing?

Kristin (00:30:17):
So there’s a whole listing creation document and template in the wholesale bundle system. It’s in module three and in module three, there’s an entire you know, we talk all about how to create your listing and how to use the proper listing tactics and how to get your keywords and everything else. There’s a bit of creative license there as well, because you have to be able to fill in the gaps. You know we’re not writing listings for you. You have to kind of use your product and use your best judgment to that. But the, the, the, we have included transcripts and video where you can slow it down or speed it up and use closed captioning to be able to learn the whole process. If English is your second language, we have many international customers and listeners that really appreciate the step-by-step video that, that we give in the wholesale bundle system. So give it a try and see what you think. And the transcripts I find are very helpful as well, because if you’re struggling to understand, then you can read and reread the transcripts of each video.

Todd (00:31:20):
Yep. And Grammarly is really helpful as well. It’s a free service that you can just paste in whatever you’re going to use for your content. And it does a pretty decent job of making sure it’s proper English and your grammar is correct. So definitely check that out as well. All right. This one from Kristin stone, can you give an example of the types of words to add to the back end search term bar? I always struggle with what goes there since I’ve used the top keywords in the title description and keywords already.

Kristin (00:31:56):
Okay. So the, the thing about the backend search terms would be anything that you already haven’t used and it’s not spamming, but it’s also something that you can there’s mixed reviews. Of course Amazon’s algorithm is always changing. And so what we said six months ago might not actually apply. Now. It might reapply back in six months from now, but as of now Amazon is, as you’re not supposed to repeat words and phrases in the search terms, because they’re already supposed to be picking up on those. But if you’re finding yourself falling short with your search terms in the backend, then feel free to put more of those to repeat those phrases again. Now don’t use any commas. Don’t use anything that Amazon is just picking up on individual words, but another place to, to use those words and where I like to use mostly in the search terms in the back end is related words.

Kristin (00:32:50):
So if you go to related words.org, sometimes there’s words that you may not think of that other people from other regions, other States, other cultures are calling things. And, you know, a purse is the perfect example of this because some parts of the world, some parts of our country, even a purse is also a handbag is also a satchel is also a shoulder bag. So they’re called so many different things and going to related words that org and looking up the stuff or any other, you know, kind of keyword related type things, because those might not be your direct keywords, but they’re your indirect words that are related. Also do this with your attributes. So if your item is red, it could also be Crimson. It could be cranberry, it could be candy, Apple, red, there’s so many shades of red that, you know putting it in perspective of using some more of those descriptive words to be able to relate closely to it.

Kristin (00:33:46):
So I’m thinking about if you’re trying to fill up the backend search terms, making sure that they’re extremely relevant to your listing. So if it’s red and you would call it red, but some other people might call it maroon, burgundy, all the different variations of certain words. So wood is also a specific type of woods. So is it maple? Is it pine? Is it so being very specific and also help you in the backend search terms and filling in the gaps, if you feel like you’ve included absolutely everything already in the front end, and there’s no extra backend search terms, then those are the words that I would put in there the most. And you can also repeat your phrases that you might have let the lesser phrases that you’re trying to rank for in those specific keywords. I also like to put in, I know this is kind of a weird strategy, but it’s also just the index checker is some random index checking word.

Kristin (00:34:42):
And just, I mean, you can take it out later on, but as you you’re indexing, so you could put something that’s completely off the wall, like dump truck into your listing of table covers and just see if you’re ranking for that particular word, meaning Amazon is indeed reading your listing and their algorithms are picking up on even dump truck as one of your keywords. So that’s a way to also just double check your extra indexing just to make sure. So that’s always kind of a little tricky. You can go back in and delete it after a while, but just making sure that you’ve looked at it

Todd (00:35:16):
Those types of things. Nice. That’s a, that’s a good tip. And I dunno if you mentioned it misspellings of the words, it’s always an option. Yeah.

Kristin (00:35:28):
One of the things that I was thinking too is, you know, like the alternative spelling, so things, especially if you have some sort of artists name or something like, like the name Kerry for example, is spelled so many different ways. K a R I K E R I K E R R I E. And if someone knows the name is Kerry grant, but they don’t know how to spell Kerry in that way, then they’re going to search whatever familiar Kerry that they’re looking for. And you want to make sure that you’re kind of getting in there as well. You don’t have to pluralize anything, but ing’s or suffixes or prefixes are not picked up by a singular or plural. So you want to if you’re using the word theme then themed with ed is also something to add into your listing because Amazon will not automatically do that, but they will automatically do a plural. So making sure that you’re using run running running will not be automatically added. So making sure that you’re kind of covering all the different prefixes and suffixes as well in your search terms.

Todd (00:36:31):
Yeah. And sometimes you’d be really surprised. Misspellings I use a tool called scope from seller labs. I believe it is. And sometimes the, the misspellings of words is pretty crazy. So you want to kind of look some of that stuff up and include some of those more common misspellings. And as you, I believe you mentioned in the beginning, but I think you can reiterate it, make sure not to repeat the keywords. So you would, you wouldn’t do red bag leather bag blue bag because you don’t need bag three times. So you could just do red, blue leather bag and it would pick up on any combination of those keys,

Kristin (00:37:11):
Right? Yeah. D definitely don’t want to continue repeating the same exact words over and over, but sometimes the phrasing also helps. That even was a tip I received from helium 10, as far as getting something to index. And if you’re not getting something to index, especially for the, some of the major words, then you want to make sure that you’re putting the phrases in multiple places like the bullets and the description, and perhaps the back end, just to make sure that it’s indexing for those particular things. So testing your listing is always a great idea.

Todd (00:37:42):
Yep, absolutely. Right here from Noel, do you use poly bags for packaging of these bundles?

Kristin (00:37:50):
So it depends on what you’re bundling. I know that using packing, I’m trying to get my example here. I always have one in my drawer. I’ve fallen over before. So sometimes you can use things like this. So this is mommy income’s branded poly bag. And if your items fit in a poly bag and you can have it branded like this, that’s always a great idea to be able to do that. Mommy and com.com/sticker mule, and you’ll get $10 free. This is where I got this printed from. They came in about seven days. So if this lends itself to the bundle that you’re creating that absolutely yes. Go with a polybag. But the other side of that is also protecting of your items. Amazon is not careful. Ups is not careful. And the post office is not careful with your items. So making sure that it’s going to actually pass a test for the drop test or anything else that’s in it.

Kristin (00:38:43):
So if it doesn’t lend itself to a actual polybag, then I would definitely use a box. And there’s plenty of box companies that can create your packaging for you. I know that I did it in about an hour with the logo that I had, and it was able to get some custom boxes made and complete the order and things like that. And they don’t have to be expensive if you’re going to be selling a very big, large item, they’re going to get a little bit more costly there, but smaller boxes. You can also have. You can also just bundle them in regular boxes if you’re not doing like a bundle brand and you don’t have to have your own branding on anything like that. If you’re just bundling something, that’s kind of generic and Amazon’s on asking you for branding information and things like that, then you know, a regular polybag or a regular box from, you know, you line or the box three, or even wherever people are buying them on Amazon or whatever the case may be for that might be something. So make sure that you check that out.

Todd (00:39:40):
Yes. And I use sticker mule to have some bags made for myself, and it was super smooth and slick, really easy to do so I definitely would recommend them.

Todd (00:39:50):
All right. So next question here from, Idean, hopefully I’m saying that, right. Hey, I’m wondering when you should be afraid of selling a certain brand in the cologne category. I have authorized distributors selling me these brands and I practiced the wholesale model. So should he be afraid of selling, branded cologne is the question.

Kristin (00:40:17):
So I’m not sure about that particular category. I’ve never sold anything in Colombia. If you are an authorized distributor or if you’re been authorized to sell, then Amazon should be able to approve that for you. No problem. So making sure that, like, if they ask you for invoices that you have your legitimate invoices, you shouldn’t have a problem at all. With that, the, the thing about a bundling is if you’re not bundling the same exact brand and you have mixed brands, making sure that you have invoices for all those things for authenticity purposes. But I’m thinking about, you know, like if you would do like a gift basket say for like men’s cologne and you’ve got one particular brand of cologne in there, but you’re also using some other branded items to kind of make this man gift set or whatever it is that you’re making, then certainly that would be allowed because you have your, your authorization already.

Kristin (00:41:07):
So you wouldn’t need to have to go through the hoops on that. And then your brand, your bundle brand could actually be, you know, your name or whatever bundle you came up with. So if I was doing that for women’s perfume, for example, I would do Kristin’s favorite things or Kristin’s gift baskets. And then in the gift basket, I might have, you know, the Calvin Klein, you know, perfume, but I also might have lotion that’s made from a different company and, you know, all these different spa things together. And so then the actual brand would my brand, but then I’m using these items within that. And as long as there’s proof of authenticity coming down the supply chain used to be fine. If you’re, if you’re if it’s a very high end brand, I would just make sure that your authenticity is, you know, open up and that you have all of your duckies in a row when it comes to that.

Todd (00:41:54):
Yeah, a hundred percent in. And just because you’re buying from a distributor does not necessarily mean that the brand will be happy that you’re selling. So if you’re selling the individual products and you’re not getting any kind of IP infringement complaints or people upset with you, you’ll probably be fine with the bundle. But you know, it’s one of those things that sometimes you just have to test and see what happens. If, if they say they don’t want you doing that, then you’re going to have to clear out as the product and you know, find something else. But the good thing is if you have those legit invoices, you shouldn’t have any trouble clearing IP complaints and all that good stuff.

Todd (00:42:34):
From Maricel. If I’m approved for a G 10 exemption in groceries, do I still need to buy a UPC code?

Kristin (00:42:46):
No, that’s the great thing about GCI of exemption is if you’re getting a DTI and exemption is with a specific brand or a specific category, they used to do it category wide. And now sometimes it’s actually by ASIN. So it just depends on what particular category your ASIN your in It will depend. I mean, some categories they do ASIN level GTI, ENS but then there’s mostly category GCIN so if you already have a GTI and for the grocery category, you should be able to list under your GCI. And when it picks the product ID, when you’re putting your listing in, you picked GTI N and you should be all set with that. So usually it’s kind of a one and done. Once you get your exemption approval, then you’re able to just continue listing with those particular things.

Todd (00:43:31):
Yep. A hundred percent. And Idian just has a couple other questions here that I can answer real quick. He’s afraid that if he buys the product and then sends it in the warehouse, that Amazon is not going to let them sell it. If you’re approved to sell a product, you can add all those individual products and you create the bundle. You shouldn’t have any problem to get the product live on Amazon. After the fact, the brand could come and say, Hey, we don’t like this. We want you to take it down. So that’s possible if you’re using big brand names, that’s why one thing Kristin Kiersten or Kristin mentioned earlier was that try to use products that don’t have really recognizable brand names. But odds are idian and you’ll be fine. Just be cautious. And if it happens, have your invoices ready, you should be good. And then the second part of his question was how much information should he give his VA’s when they’re looking for products for him like EIN number addresses, count informations and things like that. So maybe you want to talk to that Kristin, how much information do you give your employees?

Kristin (00:44:45):
Certainly. So if you’re hiring a VA, first of all, all of the trust is in the vetting process and making sure that you’re vetting them properly and that, you know, giving them some other tasks to do that you would trust them to do without giving them some personal information. But the reality is if you’re going to have them opening wholesale accounts for you and placing orders or downloading catalogs to double-check prices and things like that, you’re either going to have to have them give you the information to fill it out, and then you can share their either your login with them. That is the number one way to be protected. You share we use last pass a lot, and we have last passed that up. And it’s all the password sharing. So that if I was sharing something with my VA, I don’t have to share the actual password.

Kristin (00:45:26):
They would just have a copy. It would be able to log them in without them knowing the actual password. So they would have access to say that vendor, that catalog in order to be able to place an order or to look at the fees or the listings or the prices, but they wouldn’t be able to maybe change your password or even access it. So using something like last pass, they have a free version. And I think their paid version is like $12 for the year. So you can always get lastpass or some other password protected type things. So you can share that. I would, at first, you know, have them find the wholesales for you. You can open the account quickly and give them all the information and I fill out the applications. And then once you get a login for the site, you can then send that over to your VA using last pass and they would be able, they wouldn’t have access to all of your information. I would definitely keep that guarded. Then if you’re wanting them to use your Amazon account, you can always do the user permissions where then you can select what they can do and can’t do within your Amazon account. So that’s always helpful to be able to do that with your VA’s as well.

Todd (00:46:31):
Yep, absolutely. And it’s all about the trust. You know, I give them all of that information. Last pass is really good, like you mentioned. So I agree a hundred percent with all of that. Let’s see, we’ve got, Amir. Is customized packaging of bundle compulsory. If a bundle has three brands, then which brand name will display on customized packaging. So I think we already answered that you’re creating your own packaging and putting your own brand name on the bundle. So you’re not using the brand name of the products inside the bundle,

Kristin (00:47:14):
Correct? Yeah. The brand name that you would name under that now, according to Amazon’s bundle rules. Now this is where we kind of roll our eyes and just, you know, take, take, take one for the team here because Amazon’s bundle rules and their rules for listing GTN. And some other things are very contradictory. So they will tell you, you must list the bundle with the high, the highest value of the item. So if you have three items and one of them is worth $20 and the other two are worth $5 a piece, then they’re going to say, this bundle is branded under the highest priced item in the bundle. However, when you try to list your bundle under that brand from Amazon, they’re going to ask you for a UPC, which you don’t have. And so then they kind of do, it’s like this circle of craziest, like this hamster wheel.

Kristin (00:48:02):
So their alternative, the alternative to that is to create your own bundle brand. So that would be something like this. So I’m going to sell three items. Maybe they’re branded by three different things, but my bundle brand is mommy income or Kristin’s favorite things. And then I’m going to list that bundle under my brand. And then within the listing is as long as it’s not a restricted brand, you can name the brands of items. So if it’s, you know, a Disney item along with a couple other things, you’re able to list that brand as this item is branded by this person because you’re putting kids gift sets together. So your overall you’re selling a gift pack, but then within that, you might have some branded products within it. So your branding is really going to be your own brand to be able to say, okay, now you’re creating your own. So listings and it’s going to be under your brand and then listing your products within that in the listing.

Todd (00:48:55):
Yep. And Brandon had that same question. So hopefully that answered that for you, Brandon. Kristin stone, I bought a ton of UPC codes from nationwide and they still work just fine. Do you recommend I keep using them?

Kristin (00:49:14):
No. And here’s why, so I know that that’s a pain I have about 1,012 UPC codes. I bought years ago that I can no longer use it. Here’s the problem. You, they might let you through the door with that UPC code that you bought, but the major problem comes in. If you ever need to update that listing, including keywords. So if you decide that listing that you just listed with your nationwide UPC code, it, you know, that belongs to someone else at some other time and you wouldn’t go in to go list that item. And then you’re going to tweak it somehow. Maybe you’re going to maybe if something was discontinued in your bundle or your packaging, and then you have to kind of update the listing or you want to update the keywords or the bullet points, or you just want a fresh enough listing with new images.

Kristin (00:49:58):
The problem comes in when you, then they say, Oh, this listing, it gives you a five, six, six, five area code because the listing doesn’t match the UPC code that the brand is registered to. And now they want proof. So now they’re going to say, send me a picture of the product with this UPC code on it. And then we will approve your changes to your listing. And then when you don’t have that proof, you can’t change the listing and you lose all momentum on the listing and they might even take it down. So I haven’t had them take it down, but before we were brand registered, before we started creating bundles under our own brand, we used to do that. This was years ago, buying UPC codes and just using whatever one we had. I mean, I had a whole list of them. And then we figured out the problem as they started changing UPC rules and GS1 certified rules and things like that.

Kristin (00:50:46):
Here’s the biggest trick if you really want to purchase UPC codes. And you want to just use those instead of, you’re still gonna have to have some sort of proof on the box with it, but you don’t have to buy them from GS one us, you can buy them from GS1.UK. And it would be because of that, there it’s about $150 for a thousand UPC code. You don’t have to pay. And then they’re GSN certified. So they’re actually not UPC codes, they’re EAN codes from the UK, but Amazon still accepts those as a product, a form of product ID. So if you don’t necessarily want to go through all that rigmarole of the, you know, the different things, you might be able to get through the door with your EAN codes, which are GS1 certified, and they’re, you know, a legit, there’s more legit proof on there.

Kristin (00:51:32):
And then you would go into GS1.UK, and you would register the name of your bundle, the name of the brand that it’s under, whatever you create it to be. And that the AAN code can then be cross-checked by Amazon. And they’ll say, Oh, this listing matches this EIN number that’s registered with GS1, it’s a go. So at that point you would be a lot more above board and it doesn’t have to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy UPC codes every single year and in try to use the mouse. So that is kind of the alternative the cheaper alternative, but it’s still GTI and exemptions are cheaper and faster. If you get some custom packaging made, again, sticker meals, turnaround time on something like this is about a week. If you want custom boxes made you can always get a sample box to get your GCIN certified JTI and approved by Amazon by getting your box made, and then having, you know, like your manufacturer information on the back, which is yourself and your own brand and the brand you’re creating. And then that will get your GTI approved. And then you could wait to order mass quantities of your box when you’re ready to start shipping those things in.

Todd (00:52:43):
Yep, absolutely. All right, perfect. So we’re coming up on an hour here, so I’m gonna cut the questioning off here with Eddie Sy who is the last person who posted the questions. So we’ll keep on going down.

Todd (00:52:58):
Sharon asked and I’m not a hundred percent on the question, but she, what she wrote is when you create a bundle of the same item and same size in different flavor, he wrote favor, but I think he means flavor. For example, do you have to create a new ASEN and how will the customer find it? So I think it’s a question about creating variations,

Kristin (00:53:23):
So, okay. So creating variations as far as bundle packs are crazy. I mean, like more clarification of that. So, okay. Let me see. When you create a bundle of the same item in the same size and different flavors, for example, do you have to create a new AC? Okay. So, Oh, now I get it. So, so with that it’s, if you do a variation was saying, it depends on the category. So if you’re able to create a variation listing and say, you’re doing granola bars, and you’ve got like a variety pack of, you know, the fruit flavors over here and the variety pack with like some chocolate chip and peanut butter and things like that over here you can create a variation listing for that, and they can still be bundles in separate variations. I actually do that quite a bit. I’ve also done a lot of variation listings that we’re starting, we’re starting to do more variation listings.

Kristin (00:54:10):
I’m a data nerd. So it’s really hard for me to do variations because I want exact data on exact bundles selling rather than, you know, an overall sales rank for the whole bundle. But then you’ve got small, medium, large then which one’s selling the best. So I’ve always tended to separate them, but for time and things like that, I’m going to try to do small, medium, large on the same listing. It’s just going to depend on the category that you’re in. I did wanna answer one more question here. As far a Brandon had asked, do your trademark, your name and then apply for brand registry for your bundles. I a hundred percent highly recommend that. Yes, indeed. I have done that. I have done that. I’m working on my second trademark as we speak. I think that that is the, that is the Holy grail of being on Amazon with number one, without dealing with a ton of hijackers, but also they give you so much more protection.

Kristin (00:54:57):
They give you so much more leeway. You can put when you have brand registry, you can put videos on your listings. You can put so much more on there and they give you direct brand analytics. They give you direct competitors. They give you stuff that you pay for, like on helium 10 and stuff like that for free on Amazon when you have brand registry. And so when you’re looking at all your analytics and you’re able to add brands and what’s your brand registered, and you have your account, you can register multiple brands with Amazon, as long as you have that trademark. So I have a training on that as well in, in mommy income for applying, for, and starting your trademark and things like that. If you want to do it yourself, I’ve done done it myself a couple of times.

Kristin (00:55:37):
And a couple of times I’ve had to invoke the lawyer because I’m not one and don’t understand all the legal ease. And I actually prefer the lawyer route. Now that I’ve done both someone was approved, do it yourself by myself and the other one, a couple other ones. I’ve had to have a lawyers input because the US government is finicky about trademarks and making sure that you’ve got all the duckies in a row, but yes, I, a hundred percent highly recommend that the IP accelerator program that Amazon has, I think they might’ve put it on hold, but they do have a way, if you go to IP accelerator, they have approved lawyers and firms that they use to get your trademark approved. Our personal best that we’ve dealt with. A lot of my clients is ideal legal. They’ve gotten people to get trademarks started and brand registry started on Amazon for less than a thousand bucks, which I think is a screaming deal. And so making sure that you pay attention to that, we also have a trademark lawyer coming up on our podcast episodes in a couple of months. So stay tuned for that as well. Cause there’s lots of great information in that episode.

Todd (00:56:39):
Yup. A hundred percent. And I actually registered my own brand name myself. So it’s definitely something you can do yourself if you’re comfortable doing that. You know, having a lawyer is definitely beneficial, so you don’t mess something up, but it’s not too hard, definitely highly recommended as well. Let’s see, ideon says I’m not trying to make a bundle, just selling their individual products and that was on the clone stuff. So yeah, again, they’re really, all you can do is just send the products in and see what happens. Once you’re approved and you’re good you could get an IP complaint, but if you have that paperwork that even from a distributor, you should be fine and getting that cleared and then you have to decide if you want to still sell it or not. Usually I just clearance out and, and move on to the next product.

Todd (00:57:28):
All right, let’s see from Eddie Sy can you list the main things we need when making a bundle in order to stay compliant with Amazon? Something like a example, one UPC listing, metadata, title description, et cetera. All right. Can we bundle up any brand? How do we know which brands to stay away from bundles must be the same category. So lots of different questions there. Anything you want to take there?

Kristin (00:57:59):
Of course. So, you know, first things first, you don’t have to have a UPC. You can have a GTI and exemption for the category. So making sure that you have that when you go to file GTI and exemption they are going to ask you for your custom packaging. And so that’s where the bundle brand comes in. And guys don’t be labor. This don’t overthink it too much. It’s not like you’ve got to sit down for four weeks and create a crazy brand. I mean, your brand could literally be Kristin’s favorite things. I mean, really don’t choose that cause that’s silly. But like, if you’re it’s your name and you could be, you know, it could be Todd’s creations, Todd’s creation, gift baskets, or Todd’s running accessories. I know you do some fishing stuff. So it’s like, it could be Todd’s fishing, supply and company, whatever it is.

Kristin (00:58:42):
And having someone on Fiverr create you a very basic logo and then having that printed on a box, not, not a sticker, but like actually printed on something and have your bundle items be inside of that. Sending Amazon pictures, not of a prototype, either an actual, you hold it and they want to hold. They want you to hold it in your hand or have it be taken picture of a real thing they want, they don’t want your digital image that you just had a mock-up made and you really aren’t legit. So that’s just something that you need in order to start bundling. You can bundle multiple brands again. I would be careful of that because there’s not a grandiose list that Amazon puts that says you may not create listings for these things. It’s just, you’ll get the error code. If you attempt to put in a brand that’s restricted or is not allowed.

Kristin (00:59:31):
So unfortunately I don’t have a list to give you to say, stay away from these, but chances are, if it’s a household name and it’s very, very well, excuse me, well known in the marketplace, you might want to steer clear of some of those items unless, you know, for sure you can get an account with them and they say Amazon’s allowed. But generally speaking stick with more items that are not necessarily, you know, things like, you know, your, your office chair. I mean, what’s the brand of your office chair right now. I bet most of you guys, unless you’re like super Uber excited about your office chair. I have no idea what brand this office chair is. It’s just an office chair and I just like it. So that’s kind of what I mean by that. If you’re bundling an office chair with one of those, like see-through Rowley pads that go underneath it, so you don’t mess up your carpet or your hardwood floor, a bundle right there.

Kristin (01:00:18):
But you don’t ha you don’t know the brand of that. It doesn’t really matter that much to most people. So it’s just more about the attributes and the features. So try to focus more on the attributes and features rather than trying to pick something that has some major name brand that you’re going to have to fight Amazon over in order to get it listed. It’s just not worth the energy to try to get, you know, kick not kicked off of Amazon, but fighting with them about trying to list the branded items when you know, you’re really not supposed to in those specific brands or categories.

Todd (01:00:47):
Absolutely. All right. Perfect. Kristin, we are running a little bit over an hour here so we can wrap it up there. Now, again, like we mentioned in the beginning, if anybody wants to dive into this a lot more and take your course we have a link in the description for this video. If you’re listening to this later on a podcast, you can just go to amazonseller.school/bundles, and that will take you right to the page as well. And the promo code is Todd T O D D 50. And that’ll get you $50 off the course that a Kristin has. And several of the people who have listened to my podcast have purchased it, and they all have really good things to say so highly recommended if you want to dig into this even deeper.

Kristin (01:01:38):
And if you guys have any more questions, feel, feel free to reach out to me at admin@mommyincome.com and be happy to answer any questions you have about the program or what’s it, what it entails. But it’s really an awesome way with the 12 step, you know, framework here of leading you through all the product research and how to all the questions that you kind of asked here. Most of them, if not, all of them are already covered in the course with video, video modules and things. So Todd, thank you so much for having me again on your show. This has been super fun and I can’t even believe it’s been an hour. It’s been so fast.

Todd (01:02:10):
I know it flies by when you’re answering these questions. It’s a lot of fun. So yeah, and I will try to answer any questions that in the comments as well. But best if it’s a bundle question, just email Kristin, we’ll put that email address in the show notes as well. So, all right. Perfect. Well, I appreciate this Christian and or Kristin. It’s been a, an excellent time.

Announcer (01:02:37):
This has been another episode of the Amazon Seller School podcast. Thanks for listening fellow entrepreneur and always remember success is yours. If you take it.

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