How Important is Amazon Best Seller Rank?

Amazon Best Seller Rank or BSR is one of the metrics that sets Amazon apart from other marketplaces.  With the BSR, you are able to see who is selling more units than the competition.  The BSR changes throughout the day based on how many units that product is selling compared to the other products in the category or sub category.  However, some sellers put the wrong focus on the BSR.  In many circumstances, BSR is meaningless......this would be when sellers say they "want to lower their BSR."  This statement is pointless in most cases.  Unless you are THE best seller (BSR 1), or one of the top 100 best sellers, customers could not care less about that metric.   In actuality, what you want to do is "increase your SALES."   BSR is only a metric that tells you how your sales are compared to others...it shouldnt be the target...SALES should be your target. 

When is BSR important?  BSR does have importance.  For example, its the way that Helium 10 is able to give sales estimates on products using the Chrome Extension tool Xray.  Also, as mentioned, if you are the top seller of a category or keyword you will usually get a nice badge that some customers look for.   In addition, its great to use as a way to compare yourself to competitors.   If your sales go down, you might not need to be scared.....as long as your BSR stays steady, which is an indication that the entire niche is down, but you still are selling better than your competitors.  At the same time, if your sales go UP, you should temper your enthusiasm if your BSR is getting worse, because it means that your sales are going up at a rate LESS than your competitors!