I just switched jobs and I’m totally stuck here. I used to sell electronics—super simple stuff, just variations like color or storage capacity. Now I’m in furniture, selling spring mattresses (FBM) in the $150-$200 range. The listing’s a few years old, and it actually sold decently back in the day… until the company messed up the product images. They used gel mattress pics instead of spring, and by the time we noticed, it was too late. Now the listing’s rank is in the gutter, and the profit? It’s laughable.

Here’s the deal right now:

  • Our price is $199, but without ads, I’m only making $10-$12 per unit. Storage fees are killing me—they’re eating up almost all the margin.

  • The sizes that used to sell well are almost out of stock. All we have left are the slow movers, which is why I’m panicking.

  • We’re doing about 8 orders a day, mostly the 14-inch Queen. But our inventory is stacked with 12-inch Queen, 14-inch Queen, and 14-inch King—so the stuff that’s selling isn’t what we have the most of.

  • I can run Lightning Deals, but they’d be a loss. Margins are so thin, I’d be in the red the second I hit “launch.”

  • Ads? I have to watch every penny. If I spend even a little more, I’m losing money. It’s a no-win.

And don’t even get me started on the variations. Mattresses have different thicknesses (10", 12", 14") and sizes (Twin, Full, Queen, King)—that’s over a dozen child ASINs under one parent. In electronics, I just had to worry about color or memory. This is a whole different beast, and I’m fumbling through it.

The ad struggle is real, too—and what worked for electronics is failing here. I used to start with broad match root keywords, but that’s a disaster for mattresses. For example, I’ll target “Queen mattress” thinking it’s safe, but the ad will show for 12-inch when I’m selling 14-inch, or vice versa. It’s all over the place.

Right now, I’m running auto campaigns plus manual broad root keywords. Budget per campaign? Only $5-$10 a day. Half the time, the budget burns through without a single order, and I can’t spot any patterns. If I raise the budget, same result—no sales, just more wasted money. My colleague says to keep budgets low to avoid losses, but that feels like I’m just treading water and getting nowhere.

I have a few questions for anyone who’s been in this spot—please, any insights would help. I’m really stuck:

  1. Match type for large products like furniture: Should I avoid broad match entirely? Would phrase or exact be better? And should I focus on long-tail terms like “14 inch queen mattress” instead of just root words? I feel like broad is too all-over-the-place.

  2. Focus on the hot size: The market’s crazy for 12-inch Queen (super high demand), but we have more 14-inch Queen inventory—and that’s what’s actually selling for us. Should I run ads for 12-inch Queen to chase that demand, and maybe raise the price on 14-inch to push customers to the 12? Or would that backfire?

  3. Clearance dilemma: Margins are too low to cut prices or run deals. Is the only option to keep ads at $5-$10 a day and hope for slow organic sales? Or is there a smarter way to clear inventory without losing my shirt?

Thanks so much—seriously. I’m new to furniture, and this is way more complicated than I thought. Any advice would be a lifesaver.