7 Things to do Before you Start Selling on Amazon FBA

7 Things to do Before you Start Selling on Amazon FBA

7 Things to do Before you Start Selling on Amazon FBA

Hi guys, Neil Waterhouse. In this video, I want to share with you seven things to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA. I was the host and founder of the four largest Ebay and Amazon groups in Australia. With over 6000 members. I get to see not just what is working best for us, but also, what is working best for the other full-time sellers and the groups.

The first thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA

The first thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA is be realistic with your financial position. And your previous experience selling online. Is Amazon FBA the best option for you now? There’s a lot of other options out there which require less than a hundred dollars. Now, you’re not going to make the award wage or more unless you’re going to spend many thousands of dollars on inventory. Whereas you can start with other strategies. For less than a hundred bucks and still make the award wage and greater.

Selling on Amazon FBA inherently requires capital

Selling on Amazon FBA inherently requires capital. As you need to pre-purchase inventory before it sells. And then ship it to an Amazon warehouse, so that when it does sell. Amazon can ship the items for you. After all, that is what FBA is short for. It’s an acronym for fulfillment by Amazon. Now time and time again over the years. I’ve had people come up to me telling me they want to build a full-time online business. So they can quit their day job. And they want to sell products either on Amazon FBA, Ebay, or their own website, or all three.

The four most popular ways these days to source products is importing from places

Bottom line is, the four most popular ways these days to source products is importing from places like China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, et cetera. Or source from places like thrift shops, garage sales, deceased estates, et cetera, or source from local retail stores, or dropshipping, where you get paid first, before you need to purchase inventory. Now, choosing between these four supply chains comes down to what sort of business you wish to own. Do you want to actively work in your business every day? Or do you want an automated business, which works without you?

Lifestyle’s always been number one

Now, personally, since I started selling online over 20 years ago. Lifestyle’s always been number one. For that reason, I like automation. Where I don’t need to spend, you know, my time driving around the countryside to garage sales, thrift stores. You know, deceased estates, et cetera, every week sourcing stock. My personal choice for the last 20 years is to use a combination of software and low-cost, outsourced, overseas virtual assistance. Which you can get part time or full-time from one dollar per hour.

I’m not going to go into outsourcing here as I’ve done it many times before

Now, I’m not going to go into outsourcing here as I’ve done it many times before. But I’ll put a link on the screen to a free course showing where you can get outsource staff from one dollar per hour. It’s rain now, so you know, you have the rain whenever the flies,. Unfortunately. Anyhow, yep, don’t get me wrong. Some people love going to garage sales, markets, thrift stores, deceased estates, et cetera, and that’s fine. We’re all different. There’s no right or wrong.

Important that you choose a model that suits your personality and your goals

It’s just important that you choose a model that suits your personality and your goals. Personally, I like to do new items, which are either imported or dropshipping. You know, where you get paid first, before you need to purchase the item. Now, if you’ve got the cash for importing. And you want to do importing, awesome. But if you don’t, then dropshipping is another option to consider. As you get paid first, before you need to purchase product.

Always cash flow positive

This means you’re always cash flow positive. Now I’m not going to go into dropshipping in this video. As I’ve done it a million times before as well. But again I’ll put a link on the screen to a free workshop. Now, when without going into all the numbers, on average, to make a thousand dollars profit per week, importing, most full-time importers selling on Amazon FBA or Ebay or their own website need to invest around $36,000 on inventory to make one thousand dollars profit per week. Again, that’s 36,000 on inventory to make one thousand dollars profit after all expenses per week. Now, if you don’t have that kind of cash available, or you simply don’t wish to spend that kind of cash, either start small and build up, or dropship.

The second thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA

The second thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA is to make yourself a cup of tea, grab a comfortable chair, and read Amazon’s terms of service. This is critical. Amazon has an attitude of take no prisoners, and with Amazon, if you don’t read the terms of service, there’s a very real chance you will get banned forever. If you’re already an Ebay seller, Amazon is a whole different animal. With Ebay, Ebay will very often give you a chance, you might get a defect, you might get a negative feedback, you know, you might get a warning.

Amazon is take no prisoners

But, you know, Amazon, Amazon is take no prisoners. They’ll suspend your account, and it can be very hard to get that suspension ever reversed. For this reason, take the time to read Amazon’s terms of service before you list your first item. Now, this leads to the third thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA, and that is diversification. If you’ve got products to sell, why not sell them on Amazon FBA, as well as Ebay, as well as your own website? Every marketplace has its own audience. The more marketplaces you sell on, the higher your revenue. Diversification is key with any business.

The fourth thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA

The fourth thing to do before you start selling on Amazon FBA is put in an exit strategy straight away, right at the beginning. Thirty years ago, when I started importing, my accountant told me to put in an exit strategy, but it took years before it finally clicked as to why. Years later, I discovered there’s a much, much better reason. If you wish to sell your business, you have to make your business run and grow completely without you. Otherwise, you’re not going to get top dollar for it. But this is the awesome thing.

If you build your business so it runs completely without you

If you build your business so it runs completely without you, and grows completely without you, bingo. You now have a life. Have a business that gives you time and money. You have a life so you can enjoy your weekdays doing exactly what you want to do. Seriously, take the time to do this. We’re all only on this planet a very short amount of time, and every day that we’re not making the most out of every day, is just a waste. None of us will ever get those days back.

The fifth thing to do before start selling on Amazon FBA

The fifth thing to do before start selling on Amazon FBA is get some experience selling on Amazon FBM. FBM is an acronym for fulfillment by merchant. In other words, fulfillment by you. With FBM, when you sell items on Amazon, you ship the items yourself, just like Ebay, you know, have a look around your house for some items to sell, you know, for practice. Most people have got some stuff lying around collecting dust.

Most full-time sellers, started by selling used items

This gives you terrific experience. You can read and read and read, but there’s no better experience than getting your hands dirty by listing and selling items yourself. Just remember though, you know, you’re not going to be listing this stuff forever. It’s just at the beginning to get some experience. Learn the task, and then outsource it to a virtual assistant from one dollar per hour. Other great places to get stock while you’re learning is retail stores, especially when they have sales. Again, this is not for long term, this is just so you can learn.

Use apps like Egrow to search how much items are selling for on Amazon

You can use apps like Egrow to search how much items are selling for on Amazon, and then compare those prices to how much the shops are selling for, when they’ve got those items on sale. You can even put the app, or the apps, on your phone, and then scan the items at shopping centers to see which items have profit. If you want to know more about that strategy, I’ve got another free course called How to Make $4000 Profit per Week Selling on Ebay and Amazon, I’ll put a link on the screen.

The sixth thing to do is download the Amazon app or the Amazon seller app onto your phone

Now, the sixth thing to do is download the Amazon app or the Amazon seller app onto your phone. That way, you can always monitor your sales, your messages, and also, if you’re looking at a supply, you can also use the app to research how much items are selling for, as well as how often they sell. And also, calculate how much profit they make per sale. The seven thing, or the seventh I should say, seventh thing to do, before you start selling on Amazon FBA is be patient with yourself. It’s all about baby steps.

If your goal is to sell on Amazon FBA, you will 100% succeed if you’re patient with yourself

If your goal is to sell on Amazon FBA, you will 100% succeed if you’re patient with yourself. Most people overestimate what they can do in the short term. Oh, we’ve got a storm coming, better get wrapping this up quick. There’s lightning just there. But anyway, most people overestimate what they can do in the short term. But they way underestimate what they can do in a longer term. Nobody masters this overnight. Just like building a Lego set, it’s all about baby steps, one brick at a time, or one step at a time.

The only difference between people that succeed at building an Amazon FBA business

The only difference between people that succeed at building an Amazon FBA business is exactly the same as to why people succeed at building a Lego set. You’ve just got to keep doing the baby steps until it’s finished. Or another way of putting it, to win the game, you just need to stay in the game long enough to win the game. Now, once you’ve got these steps I’ve just gone through in place, the next step is to start selling on Amazon FBA. And, here’s a link to a free Amazon FBA course. That’s all for this week, please scroll on down and leave me a comment below, I want you there. Make sure you hit the subscribe button for more Ebay and Amazon hints and tips. Until next week, list more, sell more, this is Neil Waterhouse.

This might also be interesting for you:

Beginner’s Guide to Starting an eBay Business – Step by Step Guide – Part 2

How To Find eBay Buyers Phone Numbers

eBay Best Selling Items

============================================================

For Screenshot: Click here