Amazon FBA business
"If you had to start all over with only $300 what steps would you take?"
I found this question from the facebook group. Many of the Amazon FBA experts recommended not to start into the business.
I also agree with other sellers.
Can I start the Amazon FBA business at $300?
Yes, you can! But, you may lose all your money in a few days. Of course, Amazon will start to charge extra fees for tons of things. You may end up spending more than your budget, $300 if you fail.
(If it's a private label product)
On the other hand, it's possible to be successful selling on Amazon if you find the perfect products, great images on your sales page, and all correct keywords.
I found products that are constantly selling without running PPC. One of them is a pretty cheap buying price product so that I can make decent profits. And, another one I am constantly selling is the expansive purchase product which is no other sellers are trying to sell on Amazon.
Both products, I don't run PPC. All I need is to check the listing to make sure I have my Buy Now button and send the products to the Amazon FBA when it's running out of inventory.
It was not easy to find these products.
I tried to sell so many different products, but most of them are not that great selling numbers without running PPC.
Here are some you should know before starting the Amazon FBA
Amazon fees: The business owners usually start the Amazon FBA business, hoping to make some great sales. And, they begin to struggle and get upset with Amazon fees. They usually have their stores and storage. All private label products they are selling at their stores should be popular and trendy.
They think about the display of the products for their buyers to find popular products easily in-store. When they make sales, they get profits.
When these business owners start Amazon business, they would complain about the Amazon storage fees, ranking factors, giveaways, reviews, and very small profits. Their physical stores and Amazon FBA are a totally different business model.
If you try to sell popular products which other sellers are already selling on Amazon, you may need to compete for prices, increasing more coupons, and giveaways to make your listing visible.
I have been working at the grocery store as a designer; I had to create ads every week. Each week, I received a price sheet that has organized the products profit margins. So, I can make a design which products are deeply discounted.
Did you know that the biggest grocery stores' profit margins are around .1~$5 per each product selling? Of course, not all products, but the most of daily products are that low.
Small profits are not a big issue.
When I find 20 different products that are selling 3 or more every day and have $5 pure profit per each product, 20x3x5, $300 earn each day. $9000 for a month earn.
This is my goal, and I am still actively testing many different products on the market.
Software: Software is not a must, but highly recommended for finding keywords and use them to your sales page. To me to research on products, to find keywords, running PPC, follow up emails to customers, check product ranking, protecting buy now buttons, and checking my listings are indexed keywords. With all these, I use the Helium10 software.
Buying Products from Alibaba or 1688 sites: You can easily use the Alibaba.com to find the products easily. Most of them will offer less than 100 units to buy. I highly suggest finding the product that is lightweight, not easy to break, and less than $1 per product.
- Let's say, you purchase 50 units for $50 and $50 for shipping. $100
- Helium10 software for researching keywords and follow up emails for your customers and so many features to use. $90
- Amazon fees. $40 + @
- Amazon FBA product preparation, barcode sticker and polybag. Around $35
- Listing main image background remove. It's required to remove background to a pure white for 1 main image. You can find who does it for you at Fiverr.com. $5
- Running PPC. $10 + @
For the first month, your spending is around $280+@
Yes, you can start your Amazon FBA business at $300, but this budget will burn out quickly.
Again let's go back to the question, "If you had to start all over with only $300 what steps would you take?"
If you still want to try the Amazon business, this is what I will do.
I will visit the Walmart clearance section, and find good products and buy. Resell them to the Amazon.
With the Amazon, all you need is to find already ranked identical product listing and add mine with the lowest price I can sell. When I make sales, I send the product to the customers' addresses. Or, you can send the products to Amazon to start the FBA with small quantity products.
If you want to do a Dropship with Amazon works during the Christmas season, but after holidays, people prefer the Prime to purchase.
Amazon business is more likely to need the cash flow. If you can spend around $1000 for trying the Amazon business, I will highly suggest starting it. But, at $300 to start? I will say no.
Then, what would be the other suggestions for you? Maybe eBay? Your own website to do a dropship?
I will make articles about them soon. Make sure to subscribe to my email list.