Amazon Physical Product Sales - Ask me Anything!

[stretch361]

I'm literally just sniffing around this whole concept, but to start off bare bones, how would I go about finding dropshippers? I'm only 19, so I'm not really big on buying wholesale to start off and losing money like that. I'd rather get to selling a product at a time, and building up my quantity, so how would i find a seller who will essentially ship the product for me?

No point in reinventing the wheel here. This is one of the better information guides I've seen: http://ecommerce.shopify.com/guides/dropshipping

 

[Gadsden]

What variables did you not calculate that ultimately resulted in a loss of profit? How are you making sure you don't make the same mistakes twice? 

 

[youtalkmedia]

I have a question that I have not seen on here yet.

As someone who has an item that they sell on their own, and sell wholesale, and would like sell wholesale to people who sell on amazon, what is the best way to have people sell if for you?

So say I have a product that I would like you to start selling through your Amazon store (saying Amazon here, but could be any store) what would you want me to offer you in order for you to pick it up and start selling it?

Would you want some advertising to the product, seo to the page, guest posts on blogs pointing to the product etc.

Thanks in advance,

 

[stretch361]

What variables did you not calculate that ultimately resulted in a loss of profit? How are you making sure you don't make the same mistakes twice? 

Our largest niche that we are in is an extremely seasonal business, and buying typically takes place 9 months in advance. When you are doing so, there are bound to be buying mistakes.

Probably the biggest variable that is extremely tough to calculate is what Amazon themselves are carrying. In this particular niche, Amazon would typically run out after the season, but would restock prior to the season. The variable is - there's no way to know what Amazon is going to carry going into the season.

The only way to really "hedge" this is to offset those seasonal items with items that are not nearly as seasonal. The other option is to manufacture the products yourself, which cuts Amazon out as competition.

 

[stretch361]

I have a question that I have not seen on here yet.

As someone who has an item that they sell on their own, and sell wholesale, and would like sell wholesale to people who sell on amazon, what is the best way to have people sell if for you?

So say I have a product that I would like you to start selling through your Amazon store (saying Amazon here, but could be any store) what would you want me to offer you in order for you to pick it up and start selling it?

Would you want some advertising to the product, seo to the page, guest posts on blogs pointing to the product etc.

Thanks in advance,

For any wholesaler, the biggest things I look for are:

- How knowledgeable are you about the product (the sales reps). When customers have questions, I want to know I'm going to get good answers.
- Awesome photography. Preferably more than one image.
- A sales video of the product.
- A descriptive product description.
- How quickly do you ship out?
- Do you offer volume discounts?

 

[dar1x]

I'm not personally into selling any physical items online, however your posts and answers are really informative and interesting even for someone who's not into that kind of a business.
Also, thumbs up for Sheldon on your avatar .

 

[stretch361]

I'm not personally into selling any physical items online, however your posts and answers are really informative and interesting even for someone who's not into that kind of a business.
Also, thumbs up for Sheldon on your avatar .

Yeah, a lot of things in physical product sales can be generalized across most other types of businesses. It's the same way no matter what type of business you are in. If you are a smart business person, you'll look outside of your business area. and still find absolute gold.

Thanks on the Sheldon kudos!

 

[jinsandy]

hey

was wondering if you thought about using amazons fulfillment for inventory management?

any good advice to start for people that never did the import game? i would love to PM you and pick at your brain over something ive been trying to setup.

 

[ArmoredMedia]

Hello,

I've been on BHW for a while (mainly a lurker), but I've been selling physical products for a long time on eBay, Amazon, and our own websites. Since late 2011 (2 years), my company has generated over $6.5 million in sales. Very few if anyone talks about selling physical products here on BHW.

This thread is mainly a response to a recent thread by Dan da Man. He had a very valuable thread that gave out a lot of great information, and I figured I would help.

Most of my expertise is on Amazon physical product sales. If you have any questions, I'll try to do my best to answer them in a timely manner!

You mentioned you PM'd Veyron your Amazon stats. May I have a look? Just interested to see, would be an inspirational boost

 

[stretch361]

hey

was wondering if you thought about using amazons fulfillment for inventory management?

any good advice to start for people that never did the import game? i would love to PM you and pick at your brain over something ive been trying to setup.

We've used Amazon FBA extensively. In fact, we used it so much, we had to write an internal program to help speed the process up. There are a LOT of things you have to follow when it comes to FBA - specifically when referring to labeling and poly bagging.

Any items above 0.5lbs that you expect to have any volume on (assuming they are not oversize), it's a must to use FBA. FBA's pick / pack fees are less than you'll pay for shipping alone. Oversize items are a little more dicey. You have to do some calculations to figure out break even points on Oversize items.

On the import stuff - I'm not a good resource for that. I've done minimal importing. Almost everything we sell is purchased from domestic wholesalers.

 

[stretch361]

You mentioned you PM'd Veyron your Amazon stats. May I have a look? Just interested to see, would be an inspirational boost

Sorry, I'm not up to giving that info out anymore. I only did it at the beginning because I didn't have much "credibility" for people to believe me. I think the value people are receiving from this thread should easily show the credibility.

If you want some inspiration, take a look at the Inc 5000 list. http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2013

We were on that list this year. And immediately got bombarded with sales pitches from companies to buy plaques, awards, shirts, you name it. We were in the top 50 in the retail sector on that list.

 

[NightGeist]

Your answers have been very informative and I appreciate the time you've put here in answering our questions. Compared to what you're making I feel like I'm about to ask some stupid questions, but if you take your time answering them then I would really appreciate it.

I'm about to start my own online store selling physical items on my website. Research on niche/products/competition is done and I'm quite capable on making websites and using SEO. My questions are as follow:

Due to low start up funds I'm planning to start offering only 2 items in the beginning (with more on the way later on), do you think people will be put off by the low amount of selection in the beginning? Or will I have to play the numbers game? I only need to sell 100 items a month to start making a decent living, on search terms that are in the thousands so I'm sure I can manage with traffic with SEO. It's just the public's impression I'm worried about with the limited selection in the beginning.

Also, right now I'm doing research on a good system to process paypal payments. Do you just recommend one of the options Paypal shopping cart gives me or is there one you found to be superior to others.

Sorry in advance if I sound like a total noob. Thanks for your time.

 

[stretch361]

Your answers have been very informative and I appreciate the time you've put here in answering our questions. Compared to what you're making I feel like I'm about to ask some stupid questions, but if you take your time answering them then I would really appreciate it.

I'm about to start my own online store selling physical items on my website. Research on niche/products/competition is done and I'm quite capable on making websites and using SEO. My questions are as follow:

Due to low start up funds I'm planning to start offering only 2 items in the beginning (with more on the way later on), do you think people will be put off by the low amount of selection in the beginning? Or will I have to play the numbers game? I only need to sell 100 items a month to start making a decent living, on search terms that are in the thousands so I'm sure I can manage with traffic with SEO. It's just the public's impression I'm worried about with the limited selection in the beginning.

Also, right now I'm doing research on a good system to process paypal payments. Do you just recommend one of the options Paypal shopping cart gives me or is there one you found to be superior to others.

Sorry in advance if I sound like a total noob. Thanks for your time.

It's all good. People have to start somewhere!

People aren't put off by selection if it's exactly what they are looking for. Make up for your lack of product by putting a lot of information on the site. I've seen MANY sites have minimal amount of products, sometimes only selling one. Think of infomercial products - they only have one product on their site, and they sell like mad.

We've used Paypal Payments Pro. It's $30 / mo, but allows you to take all credit card payments on your website without people knowing you are using paypal for it. Makes the site look much more professional. Otherwise you'll need to go with some sort of merchant acct / gateway system, which is a mess.

 

[NightGeist]

It's all good. People have to start somewhere!

People aren't put off by selection if it's exactly what they are looking for. Make up for your lack of product by putting a lot of information on the site. I've seen MANY sites have minimal amount of products, sometimes only selling one. Think of infomercial products - they only have one product on their site, and they sell like mad.

We've used Paypal Payments Pro. It's $30 / mo, but allows you to take all credit card payments on your website without people knowing you are using paypal for it. Makes the site look much more professional. Otherwise you'll need to go with some sort of merchant acct / gateway system, which is a mess.

Thanks for your info. You have no idea how much time and money you have probably saved me haha. I wish you the best for your business!

 

[jinsandy]

im going to bump this since there is great value in this thread. What do you think is a safe amount of inventory to start off with?

fuck, i hate asking questions that have so many "depends" but ya, what advice would you give someone today to start off selling on amazon and ebay?

 

[stretch361]

im going to bump this since there is great value in this thread. What do you think is a safe amount of inventory to start off with?

fuck, i hate asking questions that have so many "depends" but ya, what advice would you give someone today to start off selling on amazon and ebay?

Hah...yes, that is definitely a "depends" answer. Here's the factors you should be asking yourself:

- If you are using credit cards as a way to fund, figure out a level you are 'comfortable' with. Your goal should be to make sure you can sell everything off BEFORE the credit card payment is due. If all you feel comfortable with is $200, buy $200 worth of stuff and get started.
- As far as the number of units to buy, its all a matter of the strategy. You could go the 'thrift' strategy, and go to thrift stores, garage sales, and closeout areas of big box stores to buy whatever you can make money on. Since this strategy really isn't scalable, it should be a 'startup strategy' to get your feet wet, and to get some working capital. Once you have working capital, buy the MOQ (minimum order quantity) from whatever supplier you choose for products. In some cases, it may be cases of 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, etc.
- When you are starting an ecommerce store, the number of items and niche factor are a big deal for branding purposes. They can make or break a customer from buying from you. On amazon and ebay, selection and niche doesn't matter for branding purposes. Amazon and eBay are the brand - not you. So in reality, you can pick and choose whatever you feel like selling. Just start off with SOMETHING, even if it's just one SKU.

 

[jinsandy]

Hah...yes, that is definitely a "depends" answer. Here's the factors you should be asking yourself:

- If you are using credit cards as a way to fund, figure out a level you are 'comfortable' with. Your goal should be to make sure you can sell everything off BEFORE the credit card payment is due. If all you feel comfortable with is $200, buy $200 worth of stuff and get started.
- As far as the number of units to buy, its all a matter of the strategy. You could go the 'thrift' strategy, and go to thrift stores, garage sales, and closeout areas of big box stores to buy whatever you can make money on. Since this strategy really isn't scalable, it should be a 'startup strategy' to get your feet wet, and to get some working capital. Once you have working capital, buy the MOQ (minimum order quantity) from whatever supplier you choose for products. In some cases, it may be cases of 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, etc.
- When you are starting an ecommerce store, the number of items and niche factor are a big deal for branding purposes. They can make or break a customer from buying from you. On amazon and ebay, selection and niche doesn't matter for branding purposes. Amazon and eBay are the brand - not you. So in reality, you can pick and choose whatever you feel like selling. Just start off with SOMETHING, even if it's just one SKU.

ok, that makes sense. I guess the 500$ question would be: how can you determine the velocity of an item for sale (i guess this is similar to competitive intelligence for items you dont have yet)? obviously you want to resell your MOQ as quickly as possible to avoid money sitting in inventory.

how do you price products relative to the competition? or do you just add a simple margin on top of your product price?


thanks for the knowledge you are sharing btw!

 

[Harold Finch]

Hello,

I've been on BHW for a while (mainly a lurker), but I've been selling physical products for a long time on eBay, Amazon, and our own websites. Since late 2011 (2 years), my company has generated over $6.5 million in sales. Very few if anyone talks about selling physical products here on BHW.

This thread is mainly a response to a recent thread by Dan da Man. He had a very valuable thread that gave out a lot of great information, and I figured I would help.

Most of my expertise is on Amazon physical product sales. If you have any questions, I'll try to do my best to answer them in a timely manner!

I know that stretch's business is based off of selling Halloween costumes/props just to let everyone know. You're welcome

 

[youtalkmedia]

I am just wondering how you would find people who promote your competitors products. If i would like to get into contact with them, and offer them a bonus to start promoting mine, how would i go around doing that?

Thanks in advance,
Adrian

 

[stretch361]

ok, that makes sense. I guess the 500$ question would be: how can you determine the velocity of an item for sale (i guess this is similar to competitive intelligence for items you dont have yet)? obviously you want to resell your MOQ as quickly as possible to avoid money sitting in inventory.

how do you price products relative to the competition? or do you just add a simple margin on top of your product price?


thanks for the knowledge you are sharing btw!

Really, it's impossible to know. You can make educated guesses based on sales rank. On some listings, you can also take a snapshot of the stock the buy box seller has..then go back a day or two later and take a look at the stock level again. That should give you a relative idea of how many sell per day. You can also make some educated guesses based on the search volume in google for some of the keywords driving traffic to Amazon.

There's many models you can use on this. If you want the highest volume possible, you have to match or beat the buy box price. You can also put a simple margin number on top of what you want. Just keep in mind, if you don't compete on price, your volume will be much lower.