Private Label on Amazon

Private Labeling is all the rage on Amazon right now, so I posed a question about this topic to the FBA FlipSide Facebook group. I wanted to know who has jumped onto the PL ship and how it's going for them.

Everyday Donald Schaefer takes the time to motivate the group by post an inspirational quote. He is a successful seller who has steadily built his business, and has freely shared answers to questions. He jumped in right away with more information than could fit on a Facebook post, but kindly emailed me with his thoughts and opinions about private labeling. Here is our first guest blog post! Thanks Donald!

From the desk of Donald Schaefer:

Here is my take on Private Label:

I’m a big researcher. We took 3 paid Private Label courses. As far as we were concerned the money was well spent. We got our 1^st product into Amazon 4 weeks after completing the last course.

The Cons of Private Label

You really need some help before trying Private Label. It can save you a ton of money. The courses out there are not cheap. There is a lot to learn. You need I feel a minimum of $1,500 to start (after paying for a course). I feel there is a ton of good information on the web, but I would rather take a course from someone that is successful in doing it already. If you really want to do it right, then plan to spend around $3000. This covers your 1^st product and promotions. Beware that some of the research is downright boring, and it will take a lot of time and patience to learn the things you need to know about private labeling.

What I LOVE about Private Labeling

Because of the cost and research involved, the competition is a lot less then you have with regular FBA products. There is no race to the bottom to worry about because you always own the buy box.You are in charge of your own progress. The private label model is very scalable. The earning potential is awesome (if you do the promotions right). To an extent, you can control pricing. All you do is reorder your products when you start to run low. 

We started with our 1^st product on March 15^th of this year. It was in the Amazon warehouse then.

As of now with proper promotions we are averaging 7 or more sales a day, and expect to reach 10 to 15 by end of this month giving us around $1200 to $1500 a month NET profit. Now, rinse and repeat. Imagine if you had 3 products doing the same! 

How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2015. 

What are your Amazon FBA New Year Resolutions?

I'd like to thank Gregory Caremans for allowing me to post his article on the blog. I found it interesting, inspiring, and motivational. Think about how you can apply this thinking to your Amazon FBA business. At the end of the article, Gregory has graciously offered a coupon for my readers to his Udemy course. Read the article. Take the course. Make your resolutions. Move your business forward.

How to Keep your New Year’s Resolutions by Gregory Caremans

I’m pretty sure you’ve done it too, at one moment or another. Somewhere between the bubbles of Champagne slowly rising to the surface of your crystal glass. You assembled your courage and made a solemn vow to improve your life by changing that one thing standing between you and your future improved self. Then, three months later, you slowly realized how you failed miserably yet again to keep your promises. Your feelings of guilt started dancing a paso doble with your discouragement, as deep down inside you actually felt relieved that you didn’t have to fake it anymore and could drop the effort to make that change.

Sounds familiar? Good! that makes you a normal human being with some real life experience. Exactly the kind of person I was trying to reach with this post.

So why is it so hard to keep our New Year’s resolutions? Or any promise of change made to ourselves for that matter?

This actually has everything to do with how our brain is wired, and how it makes new connections. You see, the information in our brain follows a certain path. The thing is, the more we use a certain path, the stronger it becomes. It grows into some kind of super highway. Not only does the information travels easier and faster, but it becomes drawn to the most travelled road. If you wish to take the other path, you need to consciously override this autopilot, which demands quite some cognitive effort actually. This is what happens when we try to put in place new habits. Slowly, over time, as the old highway isn’t used that much anymore, it will downgrade to a smaller road, or even a small path. This means that as long as the old road is bigger than the new one, our first reaction will be to take the old one, making a mental effort to override that decision, and then take the new one.

so why don’t we just make that effort consistently until the balance has shifted? The tricky part has to do with the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. When we make a change based on intrinsic motivations, which vary for each of us based on our personality, it will be as simple as that: just consistently override the autopilot until a new habit is formed. the intrinsic joy of performing the new habit gives enough satisfaction and joy to stick to it.

The thing with New Year’s resolutions, is that they usually are not linked to intrinsic motivators. worse, we often consciously link them to extrinsic motivators. We reward ourselves for the effort done. As good advice as that may sound, this is part of the problem, and here is why:
extrinsic motivators are by definition not sustainable and result driven. When you link your new behavior to a non-sustainable source of motivation, the motivation will have to be repeated over and over again, based on results. If, for whatever reason, you don’t achieve results, there is no motivator, the behavior will not get reinforced, which leads to massive quitting of the new behavior. Hence the failure of New Year’s resolutions.

I know by now, you don’t like anymore what you’re reading. If we can’t even reward ourselves for an effort done, because it ends up being counterproductive, isn’t that kind of sad? Only pain and no gain?

Don’t worry. The solution is actually much more fun than the extrinsic motivational one. Instead of linking the results of the behavior to an external motivator, what we really should be doing is linking the actual behavior (and not only the result) to an intrinsic motivator.

Let me give you an example. Let’s take hypothetical Suzanne who wants to loose weight. She goes to the Gym (which she hates) and everytime she looses one pound, she rewards herself by going shopping (the external motivator). If she doesn’t loose weight, there is no reward, and dropping out is lurking around the corner. So instead of linking the result (losing weight), she should link the activity (exercising) to something she loves.

How? Well that depends on the personality of hypothetical Suzanne. If she’s a social person, she could go to the gym with friends. If she likes music, she could exercise whilst listening to her favorite band. If she’s a competitive person, she could throw down challenges for herself. You get the idea.

This way, the activity itself becomes rewarding, and not only the result. Even if one week she doesn’t loose weight because of X or Y reason, she’s not punishing herself twice as with the extrinsic approach (no result and no reward). Linking your behavior to your intrinsic motivation makes it enjoyable and thus sustainable.

Happy 2015 everybody, make it a formidable year with lots of intrinsic motivation and joy!

Grab Gregory's Udemy course: Master Your Brain for only $29 (savings of 70%). 

Disclaimer: This is not an affiliate link. I have not taken the course (although I have signed up for it).

The Magic Sticker Removal Secret

Repricing Worksheet for December 15th to 18th

It's all about the buy box.

I've seen a number of graphs that indicate that December 15-18 traditionally brings the most sales to Amazon FBA sellers. In the spirit of selling through as much as possible during this peak time, I waited to reprice all low ranking products. The goal is to get the buy box at the most optimal time in order to increase the chance of taking a higher profit margin while selling thru.

I created a table to monitor selected items in my inventory over the next four days, so that I can reprice when the time is right. It's all a guessing game really, but armed with data the probability of making a sale at the price you want increases.

This is my table. You can either make one yourself, or get a pdf copy out of the files on The FBA Flip Side Facebook group.

Item / ASIN - In this column I wrote (in pencil) the item / ASIN, plus I wrote down my COGS, then I calculated the lowest I could go on the item and still make a dollar or two in profit and wrote it in red. I did this to save me time running it through the FBA calculator each time I look.

# in stock - the quantity that I have in stock
Rank - I am taking the temperature of my inventory each morning and evening, so I wrote the morning number at the top of the box in order to make room to write the evening number. I want to be able to reevaluate as I go.

# in line - I clicked on the Prime box, then counted how many sellers were in line ahead of me. I'm watching to see if I move up in line or not. This is significant because it's my best guess as to how long it will take for me to get within range of the buy box without cutting my price again.

Buy Box Price - I'm writing the current buy box price down, so that I can see how it changes each time I run through it again. My Price - I might adjust my price as I go, so I want to keep track of the changes.

# Seller / Quantity - Once I get within range of the buy box, I need to see how many of the item that each seller has in stock in order to estimate how soon I will get my turn and possibly sell out.

I designed this worksheet to help me get through the 4 days of the Prime buyer's holiday shopping explosion by maximizing my sales and moving my inventory out. 

Stages of Life as an Amazon FBA Third-Party Seller

When you stop learning you're dead.

Stage 1: Absorb and Process
You've decided to sell on Amazon, so now you have to learn how it all works and process the information. This stage can take 2-3 months to get a handle on things. Be patient. Read, listen, watch, learn and grow.

Stage 2: The Learning Curve
You're jumping in by scanning, listing, prepping, packing, and selling. You're making some money (or a lot of money), but you have a gazillion questions, and you're making mistakes left and right. Depending on how fast of a learner you are this stage can last 3 to 6 months (or longer).

Stage 3: The Testing Stage
You have a handle on the basics now, so you're testing theories from buying to pricing. You're trying out new categories, discovering new products, and finding little niches that makes it all worthwhile. This stage can last forever (because you can move into the next stages, yet still be in the testing stage).

Stage 4: The Lightbulb Stage
You're figuring things out, experiencing multiple a-ha moments, and reworking your plan. You get it now, but you also know that the game is ever changing and you should always strive to learn new things. This stage kicks in at different points for different people, but continues forever as long as you continue to learn and grown.

Stage 5: The Scale Up Stage
You might start this stage very early on, but the learning curve could be bigger if you scale up right out of the box. Most people take a hard look at their business, pay close attention to the date, then begin to formulate a plan to take their business to the next level. This is a forever repeatable stage.

Q4 is No More

Forget about the business outlook, be on the outlook for business.

-Paul J. Meyer

If you haven't experienced Q4 yet, but you've heard the hype to the point of ad nauseam, then you might have felt the sting of discouragement as October's slow sales passed you by. So what gives? Shouldn't your stuff be flying off the shelves at Amazon?

Business divides the year into four, three month quarters:
Q1 - January to March
Q2 - April to June
Q3 - July to September
Q4 - October to December

Stock up! Get ready! Bring on the Crockpots! Make a plan! Take action! Feed the beast! Q4! Q4! Q4!

We are all aware that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is where things really heat up, but shouldn't we see an uptick in sales on October 1st?

Well...no...

Because apparently Q4 isn't really Q4, but instead that time between mid November and the end of January. It doesn't really begin until Q4 is half over! And it continues through the first part of Q1! So why do we keep saying Q4?

Based on no authority whatsoever, I hereby declare that time between mid November and the end of January -

  TURN OF THE YEAR SALES EXPLOSION (TYSE). 

Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled shipment.  

The Never Ending Question

Mistakes are the proof that you are trying.

Once or twice a week in every Facebook group that I'm a member, I see the same, never ending question.

Why would a seller drop a price to rock bottom when the item has been selling like hot cakes at the higher price? Example: Item is ranked 2K, sells several times a day, is priced at $20, and another seller comes in and undercuts the price to $9. Why, oh, why, oh, why?

The Answer(s):

• The seller is new and doesn't understand the fee structure or how to price an item, and believes that they must be the lowest price.
• The seller bought the item for much cheaper than you bought the item (never question that because it's a complete waste of energy), and can make a healthy profit even with a lower price.
• The item isn't moving at the current price, so the seller lowers the price trying to find the sweet spot.
• The seller is willing to take a loss on a product in order to dump it.
• The seller is a high volume, low margin, fast turner (it's their business model).
• The seller's model is to always be the low price.
• The seller is trying to get the competition to give it up, so that they can dominate the listing.
• The seller doesn't understand the buy box.
• The seller is only interested in getting it sold fast and making a quick dollar.
• The seller is determined to dominate the buy box rather than share it.
• The seller needs to liquidate fast in order to create cash flow.
• The seller needs to move the item out in order to avoid long term storage fees.
• The seller is from overseas, and the lower margin is still big dollars for living in their economy.
• The seller made a pricing mistake.
• The seller didn't set their repricer up correctly, and caused a race to the bottom.

Remember:

• Some sellers use black hat tactics to drive out the competition. They don't care what you think. It's all about the bottom line.
• New sellers don't always do the math, or they don't understand the math. They end up with a low profit margin, or take a loss because they didn't do their due diligence prior to listing.
• The seller with the lowest cost of goods wins. They can lower the price and still make a healthy margin. 
• You may not agree with the mentality of other sellers, but in essence, there really isn't any thing you can do to change other people, so suck it up as part of doing business.

What can you do about it?

• Wait for the low cost sellers to sell out and for the price to rise back up.
• Lower your price just enough to share the buy box, but still make a healthy margin.
• Lower your price to match, sell out, and move on to another product.
• If the price drops significantly, then buy out the low priced seller, and send it back into FBA with your price (do NOT do this if you have a Prime account, or you will risk losing your Prime and seller account).
• Find complimentary products and create a new bundle.

What you shouldn't do:

• Moan, groan, and whine. It's a complete waste of energy.
• Go so deep on a product that you would lose your shirt if the price bottomed out.
• Depend on one product. Never. Ever. One product is NOT your bread and butter. It's great while it lasts, but don't ever count on a product to last forever.
• Use black hat tactics to drive out your competition. Always rise above such and build an ethical business. In the end, you will be glad that you did.
• Price below the low price and start a race to the bottom effectively killing all profit for all sellers. 

Due Diligence

Breathe.

This business is a living and breathing learning experience. There are always new challenges. Today, I faced a different kind of challenge.

I recently sent in a new product to FBA. They sold the day they hit the warehouse! I was excited, so I immediately sent in more, but before they arrived, the first batch had all been refunded. What is going on? One had been damaged in the warehouse, and yet, it had been sold, so I thought it must have been a mix-up of some kind. Then the others that I sent in were also refunded. This worried me, so I went and looked at the listing again to try and figure out why they were being returned.

148 feedback with 4 1/2 stars, so that wasn't the issue, but I noticed something odd...weight 10 lbs. Wait a minute! This item is ONE pound! Scroll back up. The title shows "6 x 1.1 lbs.". Does this mean that the listing is supposed to be for a quantity of SIX? Apparently so, but how confusing! And it doesn't say 6 pack anywhere on the listing -not the title, not the key features, and not the description. Now that I noticed this (which I must have missed the first time through), I recalled that I've seen multipacks listed this way more than once. You are NOT supposed to list it this way. The title should have said 6 Pack or Pack of 6. It should have also been repeated in the key features and description. Seller Central agreed with me.

One and a half hours, and 3 Seller Central employees later - 1) The listing has been changed to reflect the correct quantity. 2) A pending order was cancelled. 3) My performance metrics was saved from a negative impact.

Lesson of the Day: Do your due diligence before you list an item.

1. Check that the picture matches your item exactly. Same color. Same size. Same packaging. No differences whatsoever. (If it's a bad picture -not a pure white background or blurry -take a new picture and submit it to Seller Central).
2. Read the product title carefully. Make sure the title matches your product exactly. If the title is confusing or incorrectly written (as in my case above), then open a case with Seller Central and get it corrected before you list the item.
3. Check the key features and description to make sure it matches your product, is correctly written, and follows Amazon's guidelines.
4. Check the listed shipping weight to make sure that it's correct.

You can open a case and ask for appropriate corrections, but do NOT ask for a listing to be changed to reflect YOUR product if it is different from the listed product. That will mess up other sellers! For example, if you have a 2 pack, do NOT attempt to change a listing from a quantity of 1 to a quantity of 2. Either find a matching listing, or create a new listing.

It's so easy to get into a hurry and miss important details. SLOW DOWN. Read carefully. Do your due diligence and avoid the headache I had this morning. Fortunately, I was able to solve my problem. Unfortunately (due to the fact that groceries are not returnable), I am out the COGS for this product. Expensive lesson. Learn from my mistake.

A Cure for the FBA Blues

Today is a New Day

Yesterday, I had a bad case of FBA blues.

I've had a slow month.

Someone who has been at it as long as I've been at it is making a lot more money than me.

I don't have the money to go buy thousands of dollars worth of stuff as we head into Q4.

Everyone is doing better than me.

My sales suck.

Cry me a river.

Some days are just like that. 

But today is a new new day! 

I spent $125 on toys last night.

Amazon reimbursed be $128 for warehouse damaged products (I love it when Amazon buys my stuff).

I have some pending sales.

Peeps in my Facebook groups threw encouragement at me and made me feel better. THANK YOU.

Sometimes we just need that.

How to Cure the FBA Blues

1. Don't compare yourself to other sellers. Everyone is on a different journey.

2. Keep feeding the beast.

3. Take a break for a day and focus on something else (like yourself and your family).

4. Go sourcing (which = shopping without guilt).

5. Take a step back and reevaluate your progress. How far have you come?

6. Eat chocolate.

7. Find a new product to replenish.

8. Read a good book.

9. Focus on a new category or a new way to source.

10. Make a list of all of your victories.

How To Get Started On Amazon

Put one foot in front of the other.

I've noticed that a number of new folks are hitting the Facebook groups and asking, "How do I get started on Amazon?" 

Never fear! I'm writing a book on the subject. (Isn't everyone writing a book?)

Coming soon...STARTING POINT: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SELLING ON AMAZON

(It will be available on Kindle for an affordable price.) 

In the meantime, I will help you to get started by taking you through a few basic steps:

Step 1: Go to Amazon Seller Central and sign up for an account.

Step 2: Read / watch EVERYTHING in Seller Central. Bookmark important pages to remember and place them in a folder for easy access.

Step 3: You need to know what you can sell, and what you can't sell. Learn the open categories and their specific requirements. Learn the gated categories, so that you can avoid accidentally buying something that you're not approved to sell. Don't worry about gated categories for now. Get your feet wet with open categories first.

Step 4:Learn everything you can about properly packing your items for FBA.

Step 5: Learn about FBA fees. Bookmark the FBA Calculator, so that you can run your numbers before you buy. A good rule to follow in general is the 3x rule (1/3 cost, 1/3 fees, 1/3 profit).

Step 6: Bookmark FBA Cheat Sheets. The lower the ranking the faster an item is selling. Many sellers try to stay within 10%. You can input the ranking by category to determine the percentage. 

Step 7: Get your free apps! Amazon Seller is available for iPhone and android users. I also like Amazon Mobile (the app for shoppers).

Step 8: Choose a category. Choose a store. Choose a small section. Scan EVERYTHING in that section. Expect to find 1 winner out of 25-30 scans. Check how many FBA sellers are on an item. It depends on the category, but the least number of sellers the better.

Step 9: Start with small, lightweight, fully packaged items that require no more prep than placing the FBA label onto the item. Avoid creating a new listing or bundling for now. Get the basics down first! The other will come. 

Step 10: Go to Inventory>Add a Product. Input the UPC code (the number on the barcode on the product) to bring up the listings. Find the correct listing for your product (it must match exactly). Review the listing and determine your price (Smart pricing 101: Make your price an average of the 5 lowest prices. If there are not any FBA sellers, then do the same, but include the shipping amount that merchant fulfilled sellers charge into your average). Select the listing. Create a SKU (Smart SKUS 101: Make the first three letters of your SKU category specific in order to search for your items by category within your inventory. The rest of what you put into your SKU is up to you. SKUS are simply internal stock keeping units coded by you for your own informational purposes). Add your price. Only put the quantity if it's a multipack (Eg.: There are three of the same widgets in the pack). Click on the button that sends your inventory to FBA. Finish. (You don't need to add anything else).

Step 11: Add your item to a shipment. Each time you add an item, you'll select to add the item to the same shipment until you're done.

Step 12: Print off your FBA labels (you can use Avery 30 ups), and match the label to the product. Use the label to cover the UPC code. If the UPC code is larger than the label, then use a blank label as well. Pack your boxes, print off and attach your shipping labels to your box (I cover mine with clear packing tape to protect them from getting wet and smearing as recommended by UPS), and complete your shipment.

You will probably have a lot of questions the first time around. There are a number of posts on the blog here that will address your questions. You can also ask your questions in The FBA Flip Side Facebook group. 

Inspiration

Multiple Box Inventory Upload

I think I can. I think I can. I know I can. I know I can.

SEE THE UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR INVENTORY LAB USERS.

You've probably heard that Amazon wants sellers to upload a pack list when sending multiple boxes for one shipment. Oh fun!

Yes, I did it. I screamed and pulled my hair out and said inappropriate words, but I did figure out how to do it, and how to do it efficiently. At least for the moment.

Number 1. Try to get everything for a shipment in one box if at all possible. Not possible? See number 2. (I sort my items before packing in order to estimate what I need box wise).

Number 2. Once you hit approve, then go to each shipment, and download one packing slip at a time. Copy / paste into a spreadsheet (or try to right-click and see if you can get it to save as a spreadsheet). Remove unnecessary columns (like condition and SKU). Don't forget to title the spreadsheet with the shipping information.

Number 3. Build new columns to the right (make a column for each box that you think you will need for the shipment), and name them "Box 1", "Box 2", and so forth.

Number 4. Print your spreadsheets with gridlines. Pack one shipment at a time. Number your boxes (it can be a small mark on the inside of the lid). Use a pencil to tally mark on your spreadsheet (in the numbered box column) with how many of each item that you put into a box. This way you can adjust your shipment easily. Just erase and remark your tallys.

Number 5. Once your shipment it packed, then enter the number you have for each item in the correct column. Save.

Number 6. Finish your shipment as usual (weight, measurement, except charges), and upload the spreadsheet. That's it. Really.

It takes a little extra time, but I will say that it does force you to double check that you have everything packed correctly in your boxes. Just be sure to create your spreadsheet after you approve the shipment, but before you start packing the boxes.

INVENTORY LAB USERS / 30 up USERS:  After you create your shipments, go to Seller Central to finish. Go to each shipment one at a time. There is a big yellow button that says you can edit quantities. Click on it. Scroll down the page a bit and print your 30 ups for just that shipment. Once you finish packing one box, and see that you still have inventory to pack a second box, go back to Seller Central, download your packing list, and make a spreadsheet. Then use your labels to put in your counts for Box 2. The rest of the items are already in Box 1, so all you have to do is put the numbers in the column! This makes it even easier, and since your labels indicate how many you have in a shipment, you won't make a mistake.

Dymo Users: You can still print off 30 up labels onto a sheet of paper and use it as a count sheet. 

Creating Your FBA SKU

Your next move is up to you.

When you list your products on Amazon, you have the option of inputting a SKU. A SKU is a stock keeping unit for an item. It's an internal number that only has meaning to the seller. You can use numbers and letters in your SKU.

You can embed information in your SKU by creating your own code. You might want your SKU to show category, source, expiration date, purchase date, price, or any number of things that will help you to manage your inventory.

Here is a really cool trick that will help you to sort your inventory in seller central by category. Assign each category three letters.

Examples:

GRO - grocery
TYS - toys
BYB - baby
BEA - beauty
HPC - health and personal care
LAG - lawn and garden

I think you get the idea. Now for the best part. Put the category letters at the beginning of your SKU for each product. If you have a box of crackers your SKU would begin GRO.

Go to Inventory and type GRO in the search box for active inventory. All of your groceries that are in your inventory will show up on your list. You can do the same thing under inactive inventory (now you can see if you've run out of anything that you want to replenish). See the awesomeness in this?  I thought you would.

One thing that you should know: you can't change a SKU, so if you replenish an item relist it through "Add a Product" so that you can create a new SKU for the product. This is a great way to figure out to keep track of replenishables and see how many items that you have in stock in a particular category. 

FBA Laser Focus

Build your business one day at a time.

It's so easy to get wrapped up in many online opportunities, ways to source product, and categories. Going wide requires you to spread your eggs, and it's a smart thing to do, but what happens when we get overwhelmed by all of the information out there?

Every self-proclaimed guru who has made a name for themselves and built a tribe has come out with the latest and greatest information product to help YOU take YOUR business to the next level! Right?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

You could spend a small fortune (actually, you could spend an enormous amount of money considering some of the prices people want for their ebooks and courses) filling your head with more information than you can process. After the money is spent, you walk away feeling pulled in so many different directions that you're head is spinning. Then you post in a Facebook group and get the advice to read someone else's latest and greatest gazillion dollar ebook.

Think of all of that inventory you could have bought with the money you spent!

So should we toss away all information product opportunities, search out free information, network in groups, and learn through trial and error?

Yes.

And no.

There isn't any point in repeating other people's mistakes, so we can learn from those who have gone before us. BUT (and this is a BIG BUT), we need to laser focus our efforts.

I've been thinking a lot about this because I want to do it all too, and it's making me feel scatterbrained. What if we focused on one area of our business at a time? Let's get that down pat before we move on. During our laser focus we will only read, watch, listen to information that addresses our focus objective. We won't allow the best course since sliced bread to take over the logical part of our brain. Bookmark it for the future and stay on track.

For example, I've been selling groceries for some time now. I know that there is a lot more to discover and learn in this one category. If I laser focus on groceries, and ignore my desire to jump on toys or baby items, then perhaps I can learn and grow in this area and make it as prosperous as possible. Once I have a good system in place, then I can move onto another focus objective.

That doesn't mean I have to pass up the $10 appliance that screams at me from a clearance table that I can flip for $50. It just means that I will spend the majority of my time staying laser focused on my objective.

In summary...
Laser focus on one objective.
Read, listen, watch information that's focused on your objective.
Build and streamline one area of focus at a time.
Don't let the latest and greatest idea distract you!

Multiple Streams of Income

Find happiness in the details.

I thought I'd take a little break from focusing solely on FBA, and discuss multiple streams of income. FBA is an amazing opportunity, but it's important to not put all of your eggs in one basket. Here are some additional income paths that you could explore:

eBay
Perhaps you've been there, done eBay. This platform has changed over the years, and has gone from auction driven to "buy it now" domination (although auctions are still viable). It's a great place to clear out your clutter, raise sourcing funds for FBA, and sell items that are duds on Amazon, but have a market on eBay. Other selling platforms that you should explore are Ecrater and Bonanza.

Etsy
Crafy folks please apply. If you love to handcraft various items, then Etsy is a great platform. You can also sell crafting supplies and vintage items on Etsy. You might want to check out Artfire as well.

Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT)
If you're a teacher or former teacher, you really need to check out TPT. It's the world's greatest open marketplace for teachers to buy and sell downloadable classroom materials. You probably have files and files of worksheets, units, and other classroom resources that you've created. Cutesy them up and load them to TPT. I would appreciate it if you used my referral link.

Udemy
Do you dream of creating your own course complete with videos, reading materials, and more? Udemy is a great platform for you to share your knowledge on virtually any topic. Put your expertise to the test and start building your course today.

CreateSpace & Kindle Direct Publishing
It's time to dust off that manuscript, polish it up, and self-publish. Self-publishing no longer carries the stigmatism it once did. As the publishing industry has gone topsy-turvy, new and successful authors have found their home on both the CreateSpace (paperbacks) & KDP (Kindle) platforms. Both platforms are owned and operated by Amazon. If you need guidance in formatting your book for KDP, please check out my book: Do It Yourself: Format a Simple MS Word Document for Kindle. Other publishing platforms that I recommend are Lulu, Smashwords, and Payloadz.

Cafe Press & Zazzle
A little bit of graphic design ability can go a long way on sites like Cafe Press & Zazzle. Use your creative energy to create designs on t-shirts, mugs, hats, and many more products.

Fiverr
Need to make a quick five bucks? Fiverr is the place to pimp your skills. Look around and think of a niche that you could fill. There are opportunities on Fiverr to kick your earnings up a notch with add on services. It's worth checking out.

I think FBA is the greatest thing since chocolate was sweetened with sugar, but I also like to make sure that I have multiple streams of income flowing into my bank account. Once you have one platform on near autopilot, then you could explore another one and begin spreading your basket of eggs.

Condition Notes on Amazon

Every step forward is a step toward your dream.

Did you know that you're only supposed to use the condition notes box to describe the condition of used items? You're not supposed to use it for new items.

Yet, sellers use this box all the time. The following is a common sighting on Amazon:

Eligible for FREE Super Saving Shipping! Fast Amazon shipping plus a hassle free return policy mean your satisfaction is guaranteed! Tracking number provided in your Amazon account with every order. Item is brand new.

Recently third-party sellers have received warnings from Amazon to clean up the condition notes boxes, and they were given 24 hours to make it happen or else risk losing their account! Removing condition notes requires that you go into each listing and remove the notes. It's very time consuming. If you have condition notes on new items, then it would behoove you to get on this task asap.

You don't want to get caught up in an Amazon cleaning spree. 

Another important thing to note is that NEW means gift giving condition. You're not supposed to say, "This is unopened, never used, but the box is torn, or a widget is missing." This could get you into hot water with ZON. It's either new, or it's used, but it's not new with a "but".

Don't risk your account over these seemingly minor matters because they are not minor, and they do matter.

Running the Numbers

You cannot help others if you don't take care of yourself first. 

No one would ever accuse me of being a numbers person. Math is not my thing, but if you hand me a calculator, and tell me the formula, I can figure a few things out.

If you want to know your profit in dollars:

Price - Fees - COGS = Profit
*This does not include storage, supplies, or inbound shipping. It's easier to take these numbers off of your totals rather than on individual items.
Example:
Price $18.99
Fees $6.21
COGS $6.78
Profit $6.00

If you want to know your ROI percentage (profit margin):

Profit divided by COGS x 100 = %

Example:
Profit  $8.53
COGS $4.00
=213% ROI

COGS - cost of goods sold
ROI - return on investment

Random FBA Notes & Thoughts

Our thoughts create our reality.

Random FBA Notes & Thoughts:

1. If you've been using balloons to replace air pillows, please STOP NOW. I asked seller central about this practice (after hearing that someone got a policy warning), and this was their response: Balloons are not acceptable as they do not protect the product from the damage and hence results in damaged goods received in the Shipment.

2. There are lots of unofficial lists floating around of products that have been restricted, yet on those same lists are products that other sellers have sent in without issue. I think it's safe to say that anything that could be potentially hazmat, high end brands like Coach (even accessories like key chains), liquids (over 4 oz in glass containers are not allowed FBA), powders (anything with phosphate -even food items), and glass could cause you problems, so proceed with caution.

As Q4 gears up, there are a few toy items that you simply need to avoid: Disney Frozen (all products were FROZEN by Amazon without special approval), Rainbow Loom, and Discovery Toys. Some sellers have had Hello Kitty items restricted while others have sold them without issue. It's a toss! Amazon doesn't have an official list which is part of the problem, so I've learned that if you're in doubt, ASK seller central. Get their answer in writing! If a toy is super popular, and could possibly have counterfeits running around, then you need to be cautious.

3. Source outside of the box -big box stores that is. Look local. Think about places that might have items you can source that people wouldn't typically think to look there. Do you have a chain of stores that is specific to your state or region? What about mom and pop shops? Do you live in the city? Take a country sourcing trip. Do you live in the country? Go into the city for a day or two. Get out of your comfort shopping zone, and look for the unexpected in the places least hunted. Think of it like one big giant Easter egg hunt! Where might those valuable eggs be hidden?

4. Get a handle on your numbers. Get your focus on. Set goals. (Note to self).

5. Set a sourcing budget. Plan what / where / how. Focus on one type of sourcing at a time (category, store, online, niche, bundles, multipacks, fast turns, long tails, ect.). For example, I've been focused mainly on toys this week. Next week, I will probably focus on replens, but I also have some bundles I want to explore, so I might take a week just to focus on that. There are so many ways to go about this that it helps to focus on one at a time and rotate. Keep adding baskets for your multicolored eggs.

FBA Quick Tip of the Week

You are the inventor of your destiny.

Here is a quick tip for all of you FBA sellers out there:

Go through your inventory, and if you have anything priced $30-34.99, then change your price to $35.00. I was just looking at something I sold for $35.00. I have one more left, and I noticed that there are two sellers priced below me: one at $34.99 and one at $34.94.

What's wrong with this picture? Why did mine sell even thought it's priced higher?

FREE SHIPPING! Non Prime members get free shipping when their purchases equal $35.00 or more. Pricing right under $35 is leaving customers to other sellers! Swoop in and do your repricing. Thirty-five is the magic number.

Walmart Savings Catcher

Pennies add up to dollars.

Catch a little savings from your Walmart trips. Set up a free Walmart Savings Catcher account, and begin entering your receipts each time you shop.

It's so simple! If a local competitor has a lower price, then Walmart will give you the difference in the form of a gift card. Don't expect to get big bucks back however, let your little savings add up to a decent amount, then redeem your gift card. Buy products for FBA, and double or triple your savings!

You can also download the Savings Catcher app from Google Play or Apple App Store. Scan your receipt on the way out the door! A moments effort adds up.