Hey guys,
Calendar is already August. Q4 is nearly upon us.
The most important thing is the preparation for Q4. If you haven't already started, check out the replay of our YouTube video.
One of the key fumbles is not properly getting ready for Q4. Here's a list of the biggest mistakes sellers have made and I have made. Number 11 is the biggest one for me. Which one was the biggest one for you? I'm curious.
The 26 Biggest Q4 Mistakes:
1. Waiting too long to place final inventory orders and not targeting enough suppliers
When you're looking for new suppliers, "do me the favor start this now because if you do quality sourcing you will need 3 to 4 weeks, not because of you or the sourcing company, but because suppliers don't always answer and then you're negotiating left and right with them." Plus, don't look for 2 or 3suppliers, target to find 30 - you need options.
2. Not having samples ready by September and missing mass production deadlines
Your timeline needs to be tight. "When September hits you should be ready to have the samples on the table to look at them and say 'Hey okay the samples are okay, let's make those the golden samples and we're ready to hit mass production.'" Then, "if you still need stock for new products or existing ones early to mid-September you should place your mass production."
3. Relying solely on Amazon AWD without backup plans
AWD sounds great until Q4 hits. "AWD is very delayed especially in Q4 on two aspects - getting product into AWD takes super long in Q4 especially on the West Coast." And it gets worse - "once you have product in AWD and want to transfer it into FBA, keep in mind that in Q4 I've seen 21 to 29 days from when you process that order from AWD into FBA till it actually hits the shelves."
4. Not auditing SKUs or dropping unprofitable products (holding onto "losers")
This one hits hard, but it's necessary. "I'm dropping some of my products, first of all the ones that are really not profitable. It was painful to lose like 2,000 sales a month because I dropped off that one product - fast selling but not much margin. I'm just losing money on it. Focus on what brings money." Bottom line: "you got to cut some of the losers - some of them are in the red, they're not making money especially right now with the tariffs."
5. Underestimating working capital and cash flow needs
Q4 demands massive upfront investment. You need to "prepare your financial strategy, make sure you have enough working capital for the holiday season. A lot of people overlook this and the fact that you got to make sure you have enough cash flow to place these orders."
6. Not preparing PPC campaigns for 3x competition increases and holiday keywords
Your PPC strategy needs to shift for the holidays. "Start planning your PPC keywords like Christmas gift for grandmother - those are keywords that you can use and address."
7. Failing to scale customer service for holiday volume
More sales means more customer issues. "Failing to scale customer service for holiday volume - make sure you have enough team support either AI or VAs."
8. Missing critical promotional submission deadlines (Sept 7th cutoff)
Amazon has strict deadlines. "Missing the critical promotion deadlines Black Friday and Lightning Deals" - these submissions close early September.
9. Not updating listings for the holiday season (images, copy, gift ideas)
Your summer listings won't work in Q4. "If you keep the same listings over and over again from summertime, why should I buy them right now? Put packaging around it, put a ribbon around it - give them the idea that those are gifts." Plus, "Christmas themed listings, images, copy - think about quantity like multipacks. Copy is also one of the things that you can adjust not only the images."
10. Not accounting for shipping and customs delays or having a contingency plan
Shipping gets crazy in Q4. "You got to be aware that it may take longer times for delivery because everybody starts running. One of the ways that you could do is airship an initial stock - it's not only the sea time, it's the packing, loading, export, imports, customs that are all delayed."
11. Not building an inventory buffer or "out of stock stash"
Running out of stock kills your ranking. "Get yourself an inventory buffer so that you have enough stock. Start ordering always a few more units than what you would need - if you order 1,000 units make it 1,200 or 1,500 and then take those 200 and 500, put it in a separate room, close that door and lock it and don't ever be tempted to touch that until you may run out of stock."
12. Not utilizing FBM for special touches like gift wrapping or inserts
FBM gives you unique opportunities. "If you do FBM why not take the extra effort and do some gift wrapping? Pack it nicely, stand out from all the products. Make something special and put nice inserts in there, maybe even a greeting card."
13. Stopping sales and marketing efforts too early before or after Christmas
Don't quit too early. "Don't stop don't stop like four or five days before Christmas because people think it may not arrive. People do shop until the last day and they continue shopping afterwards because on Boxing Day people end up on the couch sitting in front of the TV scrolling on their phone with $300 gift cards from Amazon for Christmas."
14. Not preparing for an increase in returns
More sales means more headaches. "More sales also means more returns and if you're not prepared for this, all of a sudden the pile adds up. Be prepared that you may need the help of an apprentice or a student worker."
15. Using Amazon FBA as a storage center for untested products
Don't send everything to FBA at once. "A lot of new sellers make that huge mistake where they made a thousand units of a product and go right away send the 1,000 units into Amazon FBA without even knowing if this is going to sell or not. Amazon FBA is not a distribution center - Amazon FBA is meant for product that comes in and goes out to customers."
16. Not properly calculating or understanding all applicable duties and tariffs
Hidden costs kill profits. "A lot of people have made that mistake where they're not really calculating their duties properly and they realize once they import the product it cost me a dollar more than I anticipated and that's where half of your margin is. Don't forget there are additional tariffs that came on this year that are around 30%."
17. Missing Amazon's strict inventory deadlines or using Amazon Partner Carriers when past deadlines
Timing is everything with Amazon. "I would say by October 1st make sure your product is in the US. If you're off by it do not use Amazon partner carriers because Amazon partner carriers could take up to four weeks till it actually gets received sometimes in Q4."
18. Not actively monitoring shipment arrival times and Amazon appointments
Don't assume everything goes smoothly. "Are your shipments arriving on time? Have you missed or pushed Amazon appointments? Always keep that in mind, be on top of it with your trucker that you're still on schedule, everything is going smoothly."
19. Not reviewing historical Q4 data to forecast demand and placing orders blindly
Use your data. "Review the Q4 product demand from last year. Don't just blindly place an order - look at how many units you sold in Q4 last year if you have the historical and then make an estimate, a forecast. Make an educated decision not just like a blind guess when placing orders."
20. Not negotiating pricing or payment terms with suppliers
You have more power than you think. "The pricing right now is a golden time to negotiate because of the tariffs. You can get zero down 100%, you can even get net 30 net 60 - all of these things are negotiable so these are ways to open up more capital for your cash flow."
21. Not monitoring production and shipping schedules after placing orders
Don't set it and forget it. "A lot of people make this mistake - they just place the order, they assume everything is going to go according to plan but in the real world stuff happens. You have to monitor to make sure there aren't delays - check in on the supplier basically on WeChat like every week."
22. Ignoring or not paying attention to conversion rate
Your conversion rate tells you everything. "One of the key things that I see a lot of people ignoring is your conversion rate - are you paying attention to your conversion rate and especially benchmark it against the category conversion rate of your product? If your conversion rate is lower definitely you have to look at ways to improve that."
23. Not coordinating PPC campaigns with inventory levels
Your marketing and inventory need to talk. "Your marketing, your PPC and your inventory - they're the right hand and the left hand, they have to talk to each other. A lot of times the right hand's not talking to the left hand - they're spending all the money on PPC but the inventory is running out of stock - that's not going to make sense, you're just going to burn money."
24. Launching new products too late in Q4
October is your cutoff. "October is the absolute deadline to launch products - any later than that it's too late."
25. Not planning and placing orders in advance for Chinese New Year impacts
Don't forget about Chinese New Year. "After Q4 pay attention to Chinese New Year. You have to place your orders basically at the end of October and November - these are the orders for after Q4."
26. Not optimizing pricing for Q4 (raising prices when demand is high)
Take advantage of holiday demand. "A lot of times in Q4 people you can actually price higher - people are in frenzy mode, they're opening up their wallets. When your competitor runs out of inventory, when your competitor goes out of stock make sure you take advantage of that - that's when your price can go higher."
By the way, I'm hosting a small Q4 7 Figure Accelerator for 6 and 7 figure sellers. If you want accountability to improve your profits and navigate Q4, you can join and get more details with the link below.
Doors close August 5, Tuesday night at 11:59PM Pacific. We start next week.
Talk soon,
Gary
PS: Which mistake was the biggest for you? I'm curious what you did about it.