Are you doing Amazon FBAEbayShopify?
I answered a guy yesterday who asked "Is it possible to build a site like Amazon here at wa?"
I did answer the guy, and I see my answer very much culminate in what I have learned so far from many different sources now.
I think maybe more people should read this, so I make a blog of my answer to this guy.
I`ll tell you some about selling on Amazon/EBay
If you use Amazon FBA (or EBay for that matter) you won't be making much money, almost every small home business fails horribly there.
These platforms are more made for manufacturers and wholesalers which sell there now, it is profit-driven sites, and the audience you meet there are bargain-hunters comparing prices.
This small home business programs they made are really just another scam.
Amazon can without telling you why gate your product or even your entire brand if they want to, that means they just tell you that you are not allowed to sell your products anymore.
The second you release a product that sells, Amazon will notice it, and they will immediately look for other/bigger suppliers/manufacturers that can sell them the product cheaper, (and they will get it cheaper than you) to then sell the product themselves undercutting you.
In addition to this, every little slimeball on Amazon will also try to copy your product and sell it cheaper.
The competition is fierce on these platforms and as a home business owner this is not where you want to be, the era of selling stuff on Amazon or EBay is passed, we missed the golden years there, in the beginning, it was great and many people made a lot of money.
The only once making money now are mainly just the big suppliers and Amazon itself.
You just can't compete with them or on their own platform.
The only way to go!
The only way to go is to have an independent site on a good Domain, make your own site, make it rank on the first page in Google (aka learn SEO), build up a brand and learn how to market your products / drive traffic to your site and keep all your profits yourself instead of being a slave for Amazon working for pennies on the dollar.
(Branding is NOT slapping some stickers on a bad China product, if you think so I recommend you study it some more)
You should start out with pure dropshipping as it won't cost you much and you don't have to keep an inventory.
As your business (hopefully) grows you should shift to bulk buying when your profits are big enough to allow you to do so, and using an independent fulfillment center.
By then, you will know roughly how many items of the things you sell you need to order also.
(A fulfillment center not selling anything, not a sales platform, and you will get much better prices bulk-buying than dropshipping, but you need money first.)
Yes, there are lots of those, its not only Amazon that does this FBA for you, warehousing, repackaging, branding ++ and it's actually so cheap using them (They get shipping very cheap and passes that savings on to you) that the cost amount to about the same as you pay for shipping when dropshipping.
So if you charge for shipping (as you always should) you will essentially get a big warehouse with guys working for you for free.
There is one other thing you should know, never mix dropshipping and bulk buying. You either do the one or the other.
The reason for this is delivery, if someone buys let say 2 items from you, one dropshipped and one bought in bulk...what will happen? Your customer will be charged for 2 different shipping, so that just won't work.
Good luck & please stay away from Amazon.
Recent Comments
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I agree 100% with what you said about Amazon and even Ebay. I notice YouTube is full of people trying to tout FBA and Ebay programs. But the only person getting rich are the course creators. As it is almost impossible to make enough profits.
Which is why I love affiliate marketing as there is no overhead with unlimited earning potential.
Pamela
Don`t get me going on "Kevin David`s Master Ninjaclass"....
26 year old dude, posing in big mansions and always in front or in a Lamborghini...he haven`t earned a decent buck in his life I think, just scamming people to believe its "easy" to sell on Amazon.
(he takes 1500$ for his "ninjaclass")
It appears you have some experience in this area. Interesting perspective you bring to the table. I never considered how Amazon might try undercutting small businesses to get similar products for cheaper, though I should have figured. They are in business to make money after all.
What other services do you suggest using, if not Amazon?
Thank you for your insight!
Take care, Shannon
I suggest using very few services really.
When you start your company if you are serious you should get some legal help starting it..you will also need someone to manage paper/tax, etc for you, so its a good way to start out with that person.
There are many that do this, that Malta guy I wrote about earlier recommended these: https://www.mycorporation.com/ but might be better finding someone close you can actually meet and talk to in person.
Then it's just hacking away with SEO, building Brand, learning to drive traffic, marketing etc...(what we learn here)
(Don`t waste your money on expensive ads and stuff)
Your goal is to use as little money as possible starting out, but still doing it right.
When you have grown and can buy in bulk, find a fulfillment center close to where you sell or live.
Both Whole-Bulk sellers and fulfillment centers are always situated around cities because they need the infrastructure as railroads etc.
If you can find a bulk seller that is also close to a fulfillment center + some legal help...that's all you need.
(If you do it well, its no kidding that you need to be on the first page of Google)
* And remember. this isn't a race, it will take time, effort, dedication and some money before you get rolling.
I want to add also that if you start a business, don`t let it reflect on what you are selling, choose something standard.
Like I am planning to call my business "Andersen Enterprise LLC"
This won`t show anywhere really than in your privacy policy, on the bill and some places that won`t matter for a customer.
It is HydroShopper that will be my Company/Brand, but if I want to do something else, well, I can under the same business name.
So the Domain name defines your Company name, while the business name is just a name for legal purposes really.
(If I name it "Andersen Hydroponics" or "HydroShopper" I am stuck with that, I can`t open a guitar shop too f.ex, it would seem weird with bills coming from Andersen Hydroponics then)
Thanks for your input. I haven't considered going into dropshipping but all good things to know.
For years I actually worked in the accounting field doing books and taxes for several businesses so I won't have the need to hire anyone for those purposes.
It sounds like you have a good idea on where you're going. I look forward to seeing your success stories :)
Take care, Shannon
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Interesting post.
I agree with the point about having your own brand, and your own site that ranks well, this is my long term goal, and I mean long term. I have been working on WA since Jan 2019 and I am slowly building my site.
Regards eBay - I also agree assuming you are talking about new products that are widely available from many sellers, here in the UK we have supposedly UK based sellers who sell items REALLY cheaply and ship from China. UK sellers of the same products are hugely up against it.
However, with eBay if you have a niche for Vintage, second hand, quirky items it can work BUT you have to be different and stand out.
I really enjoyed reading your thought provoking post.
Thank you.
Mike
Exactly why I said "mainly just the big suppliers..." cause there is ofc a small percent of small home businesses making it quite alright, but I think as you say that they are probably pretty quirky and stand out in some way.
New hyped up products = loss for the small once.
(and they could have made alot more money anyhow, moving away from these platforms, if they can drive traffic to their products there they can anywhere)