Amazon
538: Seller Labs: Adapt, Transition, Scale, and Become Your Own Next Customer with Brandon Checketts
Brandon Checketts covers Ecommerce Entrepreneurship in this Marketer of the Day episode. Brandon Checketts explains how entrepreneurs can build valuable businesses by solving real problems, launching quickly, and becoming their own next customer. He created BookScouter in roughly two weeks after spotting a need for easier textbook price comparisons. The site began with affiliate commissions, including an early $4 sale, and gradually grew until it out-earned his other work. He then used the business to enter bookselling, expand into warehouse operations, and develop software for managing Amazon sales. That internal software eventually led to Seller Labs and Feedback Genius, which automates customer emails for Amazon merchants. Checketts also emphasizes reviewing profit-and-loss statements to decide when a business model should expand, change, or be abandoned.
Brandon Checketts has a knack for entrepreneurship. Having created several multi-million dollar companies, including his current project Seller Labs, he has become a leader in the e-commerce SaaS industry. Starting as a weekend project in 2007, he created Bookscouter.com, which has become an indispensable resource for college students and small book businesses alike, as well as being a highly profitable company.
His most recent venture, AO2 Management, Powered By Seller Labs, provides SaaS tools for thousands of Amazon merchants, especially the popular Feedback Genius messaging tool. The company has shown extraordinary growth in 2015, with its clients completing more than 1 billion dollars in Amazon transactions last year, and is recruiting talent from across the United States. With some of Athens, Georgia’s most talented developers, Seller Labs offers customers a unique product that can’t be matched.
Quotes:
“Find something that people will value, and find a way to provide value to your customers. You may not know exactly how to monetize it right now, but if it's valuable to them, you'll figure out how to monetize it along the way.” – Brandon Checketts
“A lot of times, people like to start a whole bunch of things but are very bad at finishing them.” - Brandon Checketts
“A lot of entrepreneurs don't understand or don't feel qualified to understand finances, but if you can look at a profit and loss statement, it can tell you how much money you're making or not making.” - Brandon Checketts
Takeaways:
04:54 Develop products by first becoming your own customer and solving your own business challenges.
12:26 Be ready to pivot your business when growth potential becomes limited in one area.
15:08 Build software tools that solve real problems and simplify complex tasks for your target market.
18:42 Use financial data and monthly profit/loss statements to make objective business decisions.
24:14 Start small and focus on providing clear value to customers, even if you're not sure how to make money initially.
Resources
- AO2 Management, Powered By Seller Labs (Amazon selling tools)
- Feedback Genius (Amazon feedback tool)
- Quantify (Inventory management tool)
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450: Amazon Analytics and Amazon Optimization: Do E-Commerce Right, Run Your Business on Systems, and Make Data-Driven Decisions with Reed Menssa
Reed Menssa covers Amazon Product Research in this Marketer of the Day episode. Reed Menssa explains how accurate Amazon data can reduce guesswork and help sellers make smarter decisions before investing in a product. Effective product research requires analyzing the broader keyword results page rather than comparing yourself with only one or two competing listings. Sellers need to understand sales volume, pricing, competition, reviews, positioning, and other signals across the market before deciding an opportunity is attractive. Menssa discusses tracking techniques that can provide more concrete sales information than relying exclusively on best seller rank estimates. Product indexing is equally important because a listing cannot generate search traffic for a keyword if Amazon has not indexed it appropriately. Systematic analysis also helps identify ways to differentiate a product instead of blindly copying successful competitors.
Reed Menssa from Advanced Amazon Consulting is a successful Amazon and online physical products seller who has developed many software tools and systems to help other Amazon sellers succeed. Reed's AZoptimizer and AZanalyzer software has produced profitable results for every type of seller and can be used for any skill level. He is an expert in his field and loves to share his knowledge and experience with others to help them succeed. Reed's software and consulting businesses help increase profits substantially for thousands of online sellers, every year.
Quotes:
“Data really drives this industry a lot. You should never be guessing, because that leads to uncomfortable situations where you have to then go back and try and figure those issues out.” – Reed Menssa
“I like to own my own thing. I like to be able to run it the way I want to run it, and I like not having to rely on someone else's good graces.” – Reed Menssa
“A lot of people have great ideas, but they don't know if it's actually going to sell or not, because they don't know where to look.” – Reed Menssa
Takeaways:
02:14 Accurate data is the backbone of successful Amazon selling, eliminating guesswork and reducing potential business risks.
12:13 Comprehensive product research means analyzing entire keyword pages, not just individual competitors, to understand market dynamics.
17:20 Using precise tracking methods like the 999 trick can provide real sales numbers, moving beyond unreliable best seller ranking estimates.
21:38 Amazon product indexing is critical - if you're not indexed for specific search terms, your product won't appear in relevant searches.
22:23 Successful business growth requires systematic approaches and informed decision-making, not random experimentation.
Visit AZAnalyzer to Claim Your Free Trial, Differentiation Worksheet & 30-Minute Skype Call
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:41 — 25.3MB) | Embed
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401: Jungle Scout: Search for Profitable Amazon FBA Selling Opportunities and Spy on Your Competition with Greg Mercer
Greg Mercer covers Amazon Product Research in this Marketer of the Day episode. Greg Mercer explains how data-driven product research can uncover profitable Amazon opportunities that sellers would never think of on their own. Jungle Scout helps sellers evaluate demand, competition, monthly unit sales, reviews, Amazon fees, margins, and listing quality before committing to inventory. Mercer suggests filtering for products selling hundreds of units monthly despite low review counts or weak listings. His bamboo marshmallow sticks emerged from research showing 500-plus monthly sales, fewer than 25 reviews, and ratings around three-and-a-half stars or less. Reading negative reviews revealed customers wanted longer sticks, leading him to create a 36-inch version with several small improvements. Product Tracker then helps monitor daily sales, inventory, rankings, trends, and seasonality before investing thousands of dollars.
Greg is the founder and CEO of Jungle Scout as well as a suite of other tools to empower Amazon sellers. When he's not working on the software side of things, he continues to manage and grow his physical product brands. Listen in as he explains what you need to do on Amazon in order to create the proper products, stay competitive and follow the trends in the fast-paced world of Fulfilled By Amazon e-commerce.
Quotes:
“What I learned is that a lot of people understand how good of an opportunity selling on Amazon is, but most don't know where to begin or what they should start selling.” – Greg Mercer
“Technology is awesome. Just 10 years ago, big companies were probably spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on market research studies, and now a normal dude can just go on Amazon, read bad reviews, and know exactly what's wrong with a product.” – Greg Mercer
“Most people go wrong on Amazon by choosing what they're going to sell based on emotions, gut reactions, or their passion.” – Greg Mercer
Takeaways:
04:04 Small improvements in product design can lead to significant market advantages and higher sales volumes.
07:36 Amazon's massive scale offers endless opportunities for sellers, even with increasing competition.
12:45 Successful product research involves analyzing competitor reviews, understanding customer pain points, and making strategic improvements.
17:34 Data-driven product selection trumps emotional or passion-based choices when entering the Amazon marketplace.
21:23 Tools like Jungle Scout can transform product research from a guessing game to a precise, data-backed strategy.
Resources
- JungleScout: Amazon Product Research Tool (Website)
- Million Dollar Case Study: Watch Greg Launch a Product in Europe (Site)
- Greg Mercer (Twitter)
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385: Sell on Amazon in Europe for More Traffic, More Sales, More Exposure and More Money with Marketplace Superhero Stephen Somers
Stephen Somers says that, when it comes to selling on Amazon FBA, you're leaving money on the table unless you're selling in Europe. You can mail inventory to the UK and enjoy listings in Amazon marketplaces like the UK, France, Italy, Spain. Stephen explains what you need to know about setting up your European business identity and VAT tax compliance.
Just imagine if you applied the "Rule of Five" and sold 5 products, in 5 countries, 5 units per day, at 5 dollars each. That totals $18,750 in 30 days or $225k in a year, so why wouldn't you list your products in multiple Amazon marketplaces? He also believes that your products should be B.E.S.T.: Boring, Established, Sustainable, and Tangible.
Quotes:
“We're not just sellers—we're investors. We're so painfully focused on the numbers because the numbers matter. I used to think they were boring, but when they started putting dollar signs, pound signs, and euro signs in front of them, it became really exciting.” – Stephen Somers
“The core of any business is taking a simple product, selling it over and over again at ever-decreasing costs. When you do that, you've got a formula for a powerful business.” – Stephen Somers
“We typically sell what we call B.E.S.T. products, which means they're boring, established, sustainable, and tangible.” – Stephen Somers
Takeaways:
09:51 Selling on Amazon in Europe offers massive untapped potential with less competition and a larger combined market than the United States.
19:50 Understanding local market nuances, including language and consumer behavior, is crucial for successful international selling.
22:16 Focus on "boring" products that are established, sustainable, and tangible instead of chasing trendy, short-lived items.
33:24 Always calculate your numbers carefully, prioritizing profit margins over total revenue.
38:48 The "Rule of Five" strategy can help entrepreneurs scale their business by selling five products in five countries, creating multiple small revenue streams.
Resources
- Marketplace Superheroes: Build a Global Amazon Business (Website)
- Muloot (Get Help Setting Up in Europe)
- KeywoodTool.io (Tool)
- Translated.net (Site)
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384: Splitly and Profit Peak: Split Test Your Amazon FBA Pricing, Images, and Product Listings with Andrew Browne
Andrew Browne is the co-founder of Splitly, which is a tool that allows you to split-test your Amazon Seller product listings. Listen in to hear as Andrew explains what Amazon selling is, what split testing is, how to use their tool to split test on Amazon, and what low hanging fruit to split test for amazing results.
Split testing on Amazon is essential for you and your business, since unlike Google, Amazon rewards increased sales with higher rankings. That means if you improve the conversion rate on your product's page, Amazon will reward you with a higher ranking and increased traffic to your FBA products.
Quotes:
“A big part of selling on Amazon is driving traffic and sales so you move up the search rankings. Amazon rewards you, and then you make more sales.” – Andrew Browne
“The hard part of split testing is actually coming up with the ideas—that's where the work comes in.” – Andrew Browne
“Always focus on what's most profitable. Always try to optimize your winners and get that extra few percent out of them.” – Andrew Browne
Takeaways:
04:33 Split testing on Amazon isn't just about changing things randomly, but about systematically improving your product listing with data-driven decisions.
05:53 Small changes in conversion rates can create massive compounding effects in your Amazon business, boosting both immediate profits and search rankings.
14:05 Amazon's search algorithm rewards sales performance differently than other platforms, making strategic optimization crucial for sellers.
18:20 Even if you're a new or small Amazon seller, split testing can help you incrementally improve your product listings with minimal risk.
23:16 Focus on testing your best-performing products with significant changes to get meaningful and faster results.
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291: Amazon Done-For-You: The Secret Sauce Behind Profitable FBA Brands with Brad DeGraw
Brad DeGraw from AZDoneForYou.com knows quite a bit about narrowing down the perfect product to sell on Amazon, how to negotiate with suppliers, market products and get reviews and sales. Listen in as he walks us through the process of getting samples, involving an inspection company, getting insurance, researching competitors, and creating images, titles, bullets, a description, and testing pricing. When selling on Amazon, be sure to notice customers' problems, fantasies, and desires to avoid becoming another "me-too" product.
Quotes:
“Find the problem or fantasy desire that exists in the marketplace. It doesn't have to match who you are—it just has to align with a proven model of success.” – Brad DeGraw
“Don't just talk about the product. Don’t make it too technical—talk about the benefits, how it enhances people’s lives, and how it makes them better.” – Brad DeGraw
“If you can save yourself time, money, and—most importantly—stress, do it. You can always get money back, and you always have another day, but minimizing the stress you're building in your life is what we really thrive on.” – Brad DeGraw
Takeaways:
02:14 Amazon is the new Walmart, offering entrepreneurs a chance to change their income level by selling the right product.
08:13 Always aim for a minimum 300% markup when selecting products to sell on Amazon, with 5x markup being ideal.
11:09 Keep initial product orders small to minimize risk and allow quick improvements based on early customer feedback.
14:26 Outsource technical tasks like product listing and graphics creation to experts who can execute them more effectively.
22:58 Success in product creation comes from understanding customer problems, fantasies, and desires through careful review analysis.
Resources
- AZ Done For You (Website)
- Amazon Sherpa (Site)
- Freeeup (Outsourcing For Graphics)
- JungleScout (Website)
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286: How to Build Huge Product Lines on Amazon and Flip FBA Businesses with Sophie Howard
Sophie Howard from Aspiring Entrepreneurs sold one US Amazon account in mid 2016 for over 7-figures USD. She developed the Minimum Viable Brand for physical products to be sold online at premium prices and scale fast. She loves sourcing products from around the world, usually in places where no one else is looking.
Quotes:
“If you're not growing on Amazon, you're actually going backward because everyone else is chasing the people doing well.” – Sophie Howard
“I don't want to run an empire. I don't want an enormous team. I don't want to work 60-hour weeks. I want to pick my kids up from school and play every afternoon.” – Sophie Howard
“I'm really focused on profitability and having a smart, small, scalable system for these brands, then being able to sell them, and keeping my time focused on growing the businesses—not being too busy in the businesses.” – Sophie Howard
Takeaways:
04:05 Building multiple low-volume products across a brand is smarter than banking on a single high-selling product.
06:41 Amazon businesses are most valuable when they're built as scalable assets that can be sold, not just income generators.
18:27 Continuous learning and skill development are critical for staying ahead in the rapidly changing e-commerce landscape.
27:10 Successful e-commerce requires deep understanding of brand psychology, including color choices, packaging, and customer identity.
28:07 Sourcing unique products from less-competitive markets creates stronger brand differentiation and reduces direct competition.
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285: The Wholesale Formula: The Superior Alternative to Retail Arbitrage and Private Labeling on Amazon with Dan Meadors
Dan Meadors from The Wholesale Formula sells products on Amazon. But he wasn't satisfied with retail arbitrage (buying products at discount stores and selling them on Amazon) or private labeling (creating a branded physical product). Instead, Dan works with existing brands to get them more reach on Amazon.
He discusses his thought process (find products that Amazon doesn't sell themselves, sells 50-60 per month, and he'll start with a monthly volume of $500-$600 per month). Many times, Dan find some easy low hanging fruit and improves the product description, adds images and bullet points. He also looks for add-ons that complement that Amazon product.
Quotes:
“We started approaching it from the perspective of serving first, like we wanted to help our brands actually succeed on Amazonl.” – Dan Meadors
“Our value is not necessarily in selling products; our value is in better serving our manufacturers.” – Dan Meadors
“I went from being a person who traditionally had a job and basically had to build my life around that job to being able to do what I want.” – Dan Meadors
Takeaways:
08:14 Creating repeatable systems is more important than simply hiring more people when growing a business.
14:36 Finding untapped product niches on Amazon requires creative thinking and looking beyond mainstream brands.
19:35 Wholesale selling allows entrepreneurs to start with minimal upfront investment and scale systematically.
20:19 Improving product listings can significantly boost sales without massive marketing investments.
30:13 Building strong relationships with smaller brands creates mutual business growth opportunities.
Resources
- Free Report: "The Little Known Business Model We Used To Build a Multi-Million Dollar Company With Only $600" (Guide)
- The Wholesale Formula (Website)
- JungleScout
- SkratchLabs (Nutrition Drink For Bike Riders)
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Formula for an Easy Book on Amazon
The other day, I asked my subscribers about what they were working on and what they planned on accomplishing by "Friday" of that week...
A recurring theme is that people are either listing a bunch of things, possibly more than they'll realistically complete (sound familiar?) or it's a lot of different things -- sounds like lots of switching gears and putting out different fires... sound familiar?
I have great news... with a little bit of focus (and following a system) you can get all those money making tasks of yours done. The secret is to do things QUICKLY that way all the little
"must-do" things in your business don't pile up...
And how's this for speed? Everyone needs a book, whether it's to land clients, sell products, land joint venture partners, etc. and everyone "thinks" it's "supposed" to be "hard" and take
6 months, 12 months, 24 months... Well... how about 12 hours?
That's right... just a few weeks ago, I woke up at around 6AM with an idea for a book... within 30 minutes, I was speaking it out, and less than an hour later, it was done... a 30 page,
9000 word book...
I took the afternoon off and saw that Amazon gave the "okay" on the published book around 6PM that evening...
So it's possible to do things fast... and... did you know that publishing a book (Kindle and physical) is completely free? Amazon just takes a cut... click here to check out the whole story:
Free PDF download...
Your Book Made Easy: How We Went from "Idea" to Published Book in Under 12 Hours
129: Book Launch Strategies and Self-Publishing with Angela Ford
Angela Ford tells us about online marketing and social media, and how she was able to use those skills to self-publishing market her fiction novels using Instagram, Facebook groups, contests, book tours, and more.
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127: Go From Idea to Finished Physical Product with Filip Valica
Filip Valica from The Product Startup is a mechanical engineer who runs a podcast where he interviews small business owners and Shark Tank winners about Do It Yourself product development. He discusses the path you need to take to go from an idea for a physical product, to selling it in a marketplace. (Test your idea quickly, make a prototype, validate the market, iterate, etc.) He also touches on different ways to make money with physical products, from Amazon FBA, to selling on your own website, tweaking existing products from suppliers, and even licensing.
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095: Tim Jensen Explains Amazon Retail Arbitrage
Today's Sponsor: Dropship CEO Amazon Selling Course
(Feedback Patrol tool included)
Tim Jensen is one of our favorite Dropship CEO students. He and his wife in Onalaska, Wisconsin sell $1,000 of inventory through Amazon from retail arbitrage (scanning in items at discount stores and mailing them in) with no employees, from their living room and one-stall garage:
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Part 1: Big Picture (long term with Amazon)
- invest in inventory
- scale: invest the profits that come back in
- inventory turnover: sell frequently (30-90 days after purchase, or dump what's not selling)
- outsource some tasks: receipts, taxes, payroll
Part 2: Flexibility
- sell evergreen items
- Use CamelCamelCamel.com to see if Amazon is selling the item you want to sell (so you can avoid it)
Part 3: Pay Attention to Detail
- make sure your UPC code matches the listing
- follow the rules, there is no flying under the radar
- supply and demand: people pay higher prices for convenience
Terms Tim Uses
- inventory: the items you're selling
- supplies: tape, boxes, etc.
- sourcing: where your items are coming from
- UPC: barcode
- SKU: stock keeping unit
- FBA: Fulfilled By Amazon
- MF: Merchant Fulfilled
- prep: bubble wrap, packing, labeling, etc.
- RA: retail arbitrage
- OA: online arbitrage
- wholesale: purchase items in bulk
- PL: private label (your own brand name)
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079: The Seven (Kindle and CreateSpace) Books That Should Be Building Your Internet Marketing Business
Let's talk today about "business card" books to build your business. You should get your best ideas down, and re-use (even sometimes repeating yourself) your best content, especially in the form of digital and physical books. Amazon lets you publish an unlimited number books, so you might as well make the most of it.
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- Marketer of the Week: Jeff Mills (be the salesman -- best salesman for an app creator but he didn't even make the product)
- Quote of the Week: "When you focus on problems, you'll have more problems. When you focus on possibilities, you'll have more opportunities." -- Unknown
- Catchphrase of the week: "Don't live life with one foot on the brake." Comfort zone, money zone. Nobody likes a backseat driver.
- Thought of the week: What if you just put 10 minutes a day into that goal? Put aside $10 a day to build your business? Read just 1 page from a book per day?
Is There a Book in You?
Check out Robert's Amazon AuthorCentral page.
- Book of your best blog posts (rate them to narrow down the best ones)
- Interview book (get yourself out there and get a handle on scheduling)
- Big idea book: things that don't fit into a paid course but are also too valuable to just give away
- Get the catchphrase or sound byte out there so you can say you said it first
Here Are My Seven Books That I Use as a Business Card
- List book: 100 Time Savers
- Interview book: Secret Conversations with Internet Millionaires
- Strategy book: Double Agent Marketing
- Concept book: Membership Cube
- Webinar book: Sell with Amazon FBA
- Tutorial book: Setup a Point & Click Website
- Year-end book: Internet Marketing on Crack
You can (and should) join our Make a Product book publishing course to discover how to publish your own book in 58 minutes.
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Secret Amazon Income
Many of the things you buy on Amazon aren't sold by Amazon. They're either mailed from regular sellers just like you (kind of like eBay but faster and more civilized), and even many times if you get an item with that 2-day "Prime" shipping, it mails out of Amazon's warehouse but the item (crackers, light bulbs, computer monitor) is "owned" by someone else (anyone can be an Amazon seller)
How To Make Your First Sale Online
Register an Amazon seller account, find an old book in your house you won't use anymore, "list" that book for sale (you can type any UPC code into what you want to list) for 0.01 plus 4.99 shipping.
If it doesn't sell, no harm done, if it does sell, Amazon gives you a label, you put this in a small box, make a dollar or two profit
1000 per Month Formula
Go into your local Walmart, Kmart, BigLots, Costco, Sam's Club, scan barcodes with the iPhone app until you find something that sells for 3x on Amazon compared to the "discount" price at this store. Tell Amazon what items you're sending in and what price you're charging (you'll match the lowest) price -- you'll outsell most other sellers because they're shipping from home with "slow" shipping... your stuff will be sent out of Amazon's warehouse.
Once it's on its way to Amazon your job is done, Amazon takes the orders, mails out the items, and sends you money...
Private Labeling
Find a decent selling item (we have criteria and it's usually not something on the 1st or 2nd page)... find their supplier in China (easy to do when you click around), get some samples, create your own listing for this product, buy a SMALL order from them and get them to mail it into Amazon's warehouse. Make your first few sales, run Amazon ads and get reviews... replenish your inventory... pretty simple.
Simple UNLESS you get stuck in this or that Amazon screen, or mess up your ads, product listing, choose the wrong product, or get a bunch of inventory you can't sell and lost money on... you want to avoid this by instead following the instructions in our Dropship CEO course...
For example, if you're outside the US, there's an easy way to get started with Amazon and it involves getting a US bank account (which you can do even if you're not in the US)...
What you do with this information and your own results are up to you. But this is a method of selling that doesn't require your own website, list, or joint ventures and it actually scales unlike most internet businesses...
Free Quickstart Report - Free Video Training
Join the "Dropship CEO" Training Course
Unlike "those" PowerPoint courses or slow-paced courses, we actually set this all up in front of you and get you to do it as well, including lots of goodies like our "feedback getting" software (boosts your Amazon ranking) which no one else has. And it closes in just a couple days, so I'm looking forward to you joining it TODAY.
039: Scanning, Thrifting, Sourcing & Private Labeling (Using Fulfilled by Amazon FBA Seller Dropshipping)
Check out today's Robert Plank Show (podcast) where we talk about making money using Amazon... no, I'm not talking about Amazon's affiliate program, Kindle, CreateSpace, or WebStores... this is their Amazon Seller Central program or Fulfilled by Amazon where you can sell any item they have in their catalog (such as books or cookware) OR create your own "gadget" that you buy for pennies and sell for tens of dollars all day long...
Productivity Corner
Those four things you completed today, how much money did they make you?
- Don't compare your insides to the outsides of others (your "behind the scenes" vs. their "highlight reel") and beware of someone who never shares their struggles & roadblocks (the most interesting part)
- Have an abundance mindset, not scarcity (be careful about bitterness & jealousy) -- there's room for all of us to make money
- Cycle through 4DT, accountability partner, calendar, countdown timer, Camtasia babysitter
Feature Presentation (Amazon FBA)
Yes, private labeling with Amazon FBA still works if you live outside the United States because you can send your shipping label to your supplier and they can mail directly into Amazon's warehouse...
- Your first sale: list a $0.01 used book plus shipping as a Merchant Fulfilled item
- Scanning & thrifting: Visit Kmart, BigLots, Walmart, Costco with the special iPhone app and find something listed on Amazon for 3x what you pay, send shipments in (Fulfilled by Amazon)
- Sourcing/private labeling: find their supplier, get UPC code, samples, break even on sales while you grow the ads and reviews, then increase the price for a profit
- CLOSING THOUGHTS: If people are making things too complicated for you, they haven't achieved mastery
Join Dropship CEO Right Now to Claim the Autopilot Amazon Income You've Always Wanted and Deserved
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030: Three Proven Internet Business Models That Make Money (Amazon FBA, Fixed-Term Membership Sites, and Facebook Fan Pages)
Please listen to the latest Robert Plank Show podcast right away to discover three easy money making methods using the Internet:
- Amazon FBA training: Dropship CEO
- Fixed-Term Membership Sites: Membership Cube
- Facebook Fan Pages: Setup a Membership Site
Like the Robert Plank Show on Facebook
Can you please leave a comment below and tell me: what is your favorite way of making money online? (it doesn't have to be one of the methods listed in today's show)
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Amazon FBA Seller Income: The Secrets of Retail Arbitrage and Private Label Sourcing That “They” Don’t Want You to Know
There's this thing called the Amazon Seller program that I've been using for the past 30 days to make a "side income." As an internet marketer, it's super important to have multiple streams of income...
- There are only so many people in your niche to buy your products
- There are only so many people willing to join your monthly program
- There are only so many people who will use your software
- Only so many people are the "right fit" for your coaching program and so on...
Let's go mass-market. Amazon Seller is different from their Kindle program (digital books), CreateSpace (physical books), and WAY different than their affiliate program (promote Amazon products for 5%) so let's not get it confused with that...
This is a lot like eBay minus the "auction" and "bidding" part of it. You say I have THIS for sale at THIS price. You can usually just add yourself as a seller on one of their existing products. For example, you have a copy of the Four Hour Work Week around the house (as I had several copies), you list it in New or Used condition with the price you want to sell it for (shipping is added on).
When it sells, Amazon emails you and says... here is the shipping label to print out, put that item you just sold into a box and mail it.
Heck, the FIRST time we looked into the Amazon Seller program was to sell physical copies of our home study courses. Because technically, you could combine a printed manual and DVD set in a cardboard box, buy your own UPC code for $1.99 and sell a physical product (in a box) of your course as an Amazon product. But let's not get too off-track with the possibilities...
Many people have been able to turn this Amazon Seller method into a full time income (you can scale it to the point where your items sit in Amazon's warehouse and they handle the shipping as things are sold). You can get your own physical products private labeled (outsourced)...
What "They" Tell You
I'm not in the business of trash talking any other internet marketers, but the DANGER is that over the past few months I've seen one marketer tell you to sell supplements using Amazon's program... I wouldn't do this without a quality control process and without a lawyer...
Another marketer claims to make $100,000 per month when I heard around the grapevine he spends $100,000 per month on ads... so he's breaking even in order to get that screenshot to then sell you a course on "how he did it"... not good.
And still another marketer pitched a course showing a so-called "Amazon listing" of a product he had created. A couple problems: one, I searched his company name and product name on Amazon, no results. Another issue is the listing he showed had a 3D DRAWING (computer rendering) of the item that was selling instead of the item that was selling. When was the last time you saw something on Amazon with a cartoon instead of a picture of the real product? You don't. It's against Amazon's rules...
Four Real Ways to Do It
Let's not allow a few dishonest marketers ruin it. There are tons of people making money as Amazon Sellers and you personally deserve to be in that category. The point is there are a couple of marketers who are sharing bad knowledge and let's not let that ruin our day. There are two ways to make money as an Amazon Seller:
- Retail arbitrage: pick up items with a certain criteria from discount stores (scan using a smartphone app) like Walmart, BigLots, Costco, sell them at a profit from Amazon (add yourself as a seller in an existing Amazon listing)
- Product sourcing: get your own wine bottle opener, water bottle, LED flashlight, vegetable peeler, muffin making pan, etc. created for pennies and sell on Amazon (create your own Amazon listing of a brand new product)
Those are the two strategies, and there are also two different ways you can ship items on Amazon:
- Fulfilled by Merchant: you don't send anything directly into Amazon, you just list it as your inventory. When it sells, you print the shipping label yourself and mail out to each customer
- Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA): you send your items in a big box to Amazon, they sit in Amazon's warehouse and you're done. When a sale comes in, Amazon mails it out themselves using prime shipping
You can do both... have some of your inventory on-hand and more in Amazon's warehouse. The point is there are four ways total:
- Retail arbitrage + fulfilled by merchant: Great if you want to try this thing out, find a used book around the house, price it at a penny, make a dollar or two profit from shipping
- Retail arbitrage + fulfilled by Amazon: My preferred way to do it, pick up a ton of SPECIFIC items from discount stores (like 20 water bottles that showed to have a HUGE seller ranking plus a huge profit margin), mail them all to Amazon in a box so I don't have to print 20 different shipping labels when those items sell
- Product sourcing + fulfilled by merchant: you could get, for example, a whistle or jump rope or foam roller made... have them ship samples directly to you, or even get that first shipment of 100 or 500 right to you. When the orders come in, YOU label and package and mail these items out so you don't have to wait 1 week period for Amazon to process your inventory
- Product sourcing + fulfilled by Amazon: this is where the big bucks are made. Have your product sourcer ship your items directly to Amazon's warehouse (this is the method Lance used in our Dropship CEO course while I was playing around with retail arbitrage)
Lance and I have a course where we show us doing this called Dropship CEO, and to my knowledge (I don't look TOO closely at competitors) -- NO ONE combines both. Retrail arbitrage to get started, then product sourcing to ramp it up and scale.
SOLUTION: Start With Retail Arbitrage, Then Add Product Sourcing
What also surprised me is that several of the students inside that course realized they wanted to stop for a while and focus just on retail arbitrage... build that up and then switch over to product sourcing once they became tired of it. I think that's a WAY better way to get started than jumping right into the product sourcing part of it.
And not to toot my own horn, but Dropship CEO course (showing BOTH retail arbitrage and product soucing with Amazon) is available to you instantly, right now. No 8 or 10 weeks of drip fed content, no theory, no padding. I want you to get started on this FAST instead of waiting a couple of months to make your first dollar (which would be the case if it was drip-fed).
Does Amazon take a small fee out of every item you sell? Of course. But so would eBay or PayPal. That's called the cost of doing business.
Paid Amazon Ads: Huge Goldmine
There are also lots of hidden Amazon Seller opportunities "the others" skipped over for some reason. For example, Amazon has a paid advertising network that's better for marketers than Google or Facebook. The very first day we advertised on it, Lance sent me a screenshot that showed 3 dollars profit for every 1 dollar spent.
I've ramped up my retail arbitrage too. I literally do it in 1 hour per week. I rush in while I'm already out and usually on my way home from something else, I load up the cart and usually buy out the store's inventory of that item. I tell the cashier not to bother bagging my items, just scan and go. I load up a shipping box (re-used from previous Amazon purchases) and I even tell UPS to come by and pick up the full boxes from me. No more trips to the post office.
Let's not get bogged down on technical details or get ourselves confused here.
Amazon is a great way for anyone to make money. Whether you're looking for a side income, replacement income, or you want your kid to pay for their own college education (as Lance is doing with his daughter). Someone in your house should be doing this and I want to show you how inside our Dropship CEO Amazon course, so click right now.
