Amazon selling - FBA

immuno

RFW wrote: »

You could do that but I can't see how you can make any money doing it. If it was a profitable item, either Amazon or the supplier would be selling it. In my opinion you'd need a lot of money behind you to be able to get stock sent into Amazon from a supplier and be able to earn anything on it. Amazon would mostly want products labelling with an ASIN, an Amazon barcode.

I sell about 60/40 my own designed and manufactured products and those sourced from wholesalers/manufacturers.

I'm now the confused one, you want to sell on Amazon but haven't any product in mind and don't know where it will be coming from?

I had a look at Jim Cockrum, whilst he may be somewhat helpful I often wonder why people who can earn millions on Amazon are selling their ideas rather than being too busy selling on Amazon. Although looking again he charges $1500/hour consulting so maybe I'm in the wrong business!

For some (free) advice, it seems like you're starting this all wrong. Follow something you know or like and see if you can source something to do with that. Maybe think of the last few things you bought and which were the hardest to source and you had the most trouble finding. Then see where the product came from and if you can source it.

I guess I was mostly thinking of finding a cheap product from say, China, and then sending it directly to Amazon and selling for a higher price. I hadn't thought of packing things myself, etc. For example, a makeup brush or something..

forgotmyname

You need to be careful, what if your stock turns out to me mostly faulty or gets a high return rate. Will Amazon charge you and dump the entire stock on your doorstep?

Buying sight unseen from China is risky. I order a fair bit from China and quality varies in the same batch.

Sometimes the items arrived individually boxed and other times just loose in a plastic bag.

Will his course give you anything extra that a little googling wont give you for free?

Spend a month googling all the "free" info and compile it into an ebook and sell that. Works for some.

immuno

forgotmyname wrote: »

You need to be careful, what if your stock turns out to me mostly faulty or gets a high return rate. Will Amazon charge you and dump the entire stock on your doorstep?

Buying sight unseen from China is risky. I order a fair bit from China and quality varies in the same batch.

Sometimes the items arrived individually boxed and other times just loose in a plastic bag.

Will his course give you anything extra that a little googling wont give you for free?

Spend a month googling all the "free" info and compile it into an ebook and sell that. Works for some.

Thanks. Well, I was actually thinking of writing a few e-books as well!

RFW

immuno wrote: »

I guess I was mostly thinking of finding a cheap product from say, China, and then sending it directly to Amazon and selling for a higher price. I hadn't thought of packing things myself, etc. For example, a makeup brush or something..

You may strike it lucky but I genuinely can't see how anyone with a small amount of cash (ie under £10k) to spend can earn money importing straight from China and sending to Amazon.


Find an item from China and you'll find a hundred Chinese sellers selling the item including postage for much less than you'll be able to earn a profit on.

It may be possible to find items in China and get them packed there, thus creating your own product.

There's also import duty to consider, if you're sending straight to Amazon you'll need to have prepaid import duty otherwise Amazon will just refuse it.

RFW

soolin wrote: »

I'm pleased that you have posted on this thread as Amazon FBA is not something I know much about, and I am always interested to hear about other venues and options. My initial post, post 2 in this thread asked OP about her items as I had just assumed that she was already selling and was just looking to update it to be a little more 'hands off'.

If you're a small company selling stuff it's probably the only way to expand quickly without employing a lot of staff. There are some independent fulfillment centres that you can use with Ebay but that adds an extra layer of things going wrong. Amazon FBA actually takes one layer away, as they handle the delivery and all the customer service too.

immuno

RFW wrote: »

You may strike it lucky but I genuinely can't see how anyone with a small amount of cash (ie under £10k) to spend can earn money importing straight from China and sending to Amazon.


Find an item from China and you'll find a hundred Chinese sellers selling the item including postage for much less than you'll be able to earn a profit on.

It may be possible to find items in China and get them packed there, thus creating your own product.

There's also import duty to consider, if you're sending straight to Amazon you'll need to have prepaid import duty otherwise Amazon will just refuse it.

I guess I was mostly thinking of getting the product packed in China, as well as private labelling.

Do you think it'd be a better idea to write a few Kindle books instead?! That market seems to be pretty saturated as well.

soolin

immuno wrote: »

I guess I was mostly thinking of getting the product packed in China, as well as private labelling.

Do you think it'd be a better idea to write a few Kindle books instead?! That market seems to be pretty saturated as well.

Getting stuff packed to your specifications and shipped properly to Amazon could be done, depends on how much contact you already have with an export manager. You'd need a way of supplying them with your branded packaging, paying for shipping, duties VAT etc and then setting up a system where they can use a system to get them shipped exactly as Amazon require. You said you had no product in mind, but do you currently have any trade agreement or association with a company that you could explore? Also do you currently have any business registration, registered for VAT (obviously dependant on turnover) etc?

As for kindle books, it would have to be something good if you want people to pay for it, so do you have an area of expertise that you know will sell?

ballisticbrian

Sounds like a recipe for disaster!




Saw an item on a Chinese site I'd been looking for for about 5 years - and I had even had a go at making my own. Contacted the manufacturer and told them I need to get the price down to about £1 an item - they weren't interested. 6 weeks later they are all over banggood and ebay for £1.12 an item!


I think the biggest problem you have is thinking that any of this is going to be easy.

immuno

soolin wrote: »

Getting stuff packed to your specifications and shipped properly to Amazon could be done, depends on how much contact you already have with an export manager. You'd need a way of supplying them with your branded packaging, paying for shipping, duties VAT etc and then setting up a system where they can use a system to get them shipped exactly as Amazon require. You said you had no product in mind, but do you currently have any trade agreement or association with a company that you could explore? Also do you currently have any business registration, registered for VAT (obviously dependant on turnover) etc?

As for kindle books, it would have to be something good if you want people to pay for it, so do you have an area of expertise that you know will sell?

Thanks.

Regarding Kindle books, it'd be health related.

soolin

immuno wrote: »

Thanks.

Regarding Kindle books, it'd be health related.

If its something unique that might sell then it's worth a try. remember though not to give medical advice or advocate any strange practices unless you have a strong insurance behind you in case anyone follows advice and becomes ill and sues.