FBA Business - a podcast by Michael Veazey

Today I want to share some of the realities of selling on Amazon and starting your own FBA business. This post will be part one of the journey.



First up, the downsides:

It Takes Longer Than Most People Say It Will, to Launch a Private Label Product

You’re looking at 6-9 months to turn an idea into a product on Amazon. Typically you’re working with manufacturers in China, and it takes time to send samples back and forth. Production times are slower; numbers are more significant. It’s not advisable to rush into Private Label. Take your time.



It Takes More Time Than Most People Say. If you want to get a private label product out in 5-10 hours a week, good luck. It is going to take you at least 10-15 hours a week. That’s only a couple hours a day, but juggling 10-15 hours a week on top of all the other daily responsibilities in your life could be tough.



It Often Takes More Money Too.You could start with £3,000, but I’d suggest at least £5,000. I know -  that’s a lot of money. If you don’t have that kind of capital, it’s ok. You can start with something like retail arbitrage or merch by Amazon with little to no capital investment at all.Just don't try to private label with an inadequate budget.

Your First Product May Not Take Off

This is a reality of the business in. Not all products sell. As long as you don’t spend all your money on that first product–which wouldn’t be advisable anyway–you’ll be okay.

The Biggest Markets aren’t Always the Best Markets

People get excited about all the high revenue numbers they see, especially in the USA. The truth is, if you’ve got a market that’s selling 40, 50 or even $60,000 per listing per month, you may need 20, 30, 40 or even $50,000 to launch into and compete in that market. High selling markets typically require more capital to get moving.

Amazon will Sometimes Take a Week to Sort Out What Should Take One Phone Call

It often seems you’ll spend a week or more dealing with a problem that would take an intelligent person five minutes to solve.

Seller Central Often Knows Less Than You Do..

That’s a reality of working with Amazon. They outsource their service, and many times the people on the other side of the phone know less about your problem than you do. This is why it’s so important to get help from people who genuinely know what they’re doing.



They Also Contradict One Another..Inconsistency is something you’re going to experience when working with Amazon. It’s not a tight-knit company. Many people are competing with each other for resources. It’s not going to be a consistent environment when you’re working with Seller Central.



Giant Facebook Groups Won’t Help You Solve Your Problems.This is obvious. There are a lot of myths and rumors when it comes to Amazon because they keep a lot of their information close to their chest. You need people who have the experience to help you.

You Can’t Market Your Way Out of a Poor Niche Product Selection

If you choose to sell baby wipes on Amazon, you’re in competition with Pampers, Huggies, and some HUGE brand names. You’re not going to be able to market your way out of it with good brand pictures, great bullet points and pay per click Amazon ads. These brands dominate the market. Their unit costs are incredibly low. They will beat you on the money every time.

But it’s not all bad. There are some considerable upsides to selling products on Amazon as well:

 

It’s Quicker to get Started Selling on Amazon Than Many People Say

I’m not talking about big runs of private label products. That’s slow. You can literally just pick up your iPhone, scan them into the seller app, and get the ball rolling. If you sell it FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon), you’ll have to learn the process of shipping it...

Further episodes of Amazing FBA Amazon and ECommerce Podcast, for Amazon Private Label Sellers, Shopify, Magento or Woocommerce business owners, and other e-commerce sellers and digital entrepreneurs.

Further podcasts by Michael Veazey

Website of Michael Veazey