Does Amazon FBA work?

[Preety_India]

@diamondpenguin hmm to be extremely honest, I don't think this is good.. Plus I don't want you to spend any money, 1500 is a bit too much in my opinion. 

This looks like a rabbit hole. 

I can't think of a job that you can do right now other than sales but I know this much that in your area due to covid, it must be really difficult to find a job like on the outside, like a physical job.. 

I'm seriously confused but there must be a way for you to start. 

Keep me posted. Let's see what can be done. 

 

[Preety_India]

@datamonster you need to understand that he is a student. He can't give money when he needs money. 

He is probably anxious about spending that. 

[Preety_India]

Just now, datamonster said:

If you're serious about it and are aware that FBA is a real business that requires strategy, marketing, law, accounting, taxes, supply management, customer support, etc., and you don't expect it to be a get-rich-quick scheme, it's a great opportunity to start a business selling your own, physical products with very little entry costs.

Definitely suitable for students. Just don't expect it to be easy. It's really hard getting to a top rating and position on Amazon.

That's why it could easily go down the drain 

It's like sighing up for X factor auditions. 

High hopes, little chances. 

 

[Preety_India]

4 minutes ago, datamonster said:

But if you are, and you have little cash to start with right now, FBA can be a great opportunity.

To be fair, this FBA thing is constantly giving me an MLM vibe, if you know what I mean 

Like spend money, little capital, you'll do better if you work hard, it's difficult though, but you can do it... 

These are the same things I've heard over and over in MLM groups. 

I worked for an MLM, because I was heavily into sales 6 years ago, and needless to say I quit it because it's not everyone's cup of tea. 

They keep telling you that it's not for the lazy ones. 

It's like endlessly chasing rainbows. 

I'm reading this whole thread and this thing of dropshipping is constantly giving me MLM vibes. 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Preety_India

[Preety_India]

@datamonster  I  know these things aren't cheap. 

Fingers crossed on this one. 

I think the OP(diamond penguin) should ask other students if it worked for them, please don't take blind decisions. 

Can fuck up your career early on. 

 

[Preety_India]

2 minutes ago, datamonster said:

Agree! It can be great, but you should make sure you really understand what you are getting yourself into.

Yep totally. 

[Consept]

I do Amazon FBA, have been for a few years now. In my opinion is 100% possible to get a strategy that works for you even now when its supposedly saturated. Amazon has its drawbacks of course but to have such access to markets across the world I dont think has ever been done in history, on top of that you can outsource massive chunks of your business to them, warehousing, shipping etc Its a great opportunity honestly. 

The problem people have is that they treat it as a quick money thing or just dont give it the respect they would say a bricks and morter business. You have to understand this is a real thing so its not gonna be easy and its not a matter of just pumping money in and getting a return. 

Personally i do Wholesale, i buy from auctions and some Online Arbitrage. Ive never done Private Label, which was basically a gold mine a few years ago but with all the restrictions on reviews and gurus selling courses has become much harder to do anyway. I started on ebay where i got my head around the idea of hunting out good deals and selling on but Amazon really expanded things to a new level. I would recommend starting on ebay as well and also looking at Online arbitrage to start, you can use a software called Tactical Arbitrage if youre in the states to help find deals. Theres also a site called Bstock supply that auction returns and different bulk lots. 

Regarding money to start, i started on ebay with £500 and was making about £1000 a month profit after about 6 months. Ive had ups and downs but overall its been generally steady, i havent had another job for years now. So £1500 is fine to get started with if you spend it right, there isnt much risk with Arbitrage because worse case you just sell it for a slight loss, you wont lose all your money, but either way see it as a learning experience, if you make a mistake it wont be the end of the world and youll learn from it. 

But good luck, ive got a podcast about fba in my sig if youre interested or if you need any help just drop me a message. 

[Preety_India]

@Consept that's awesome. I have a question. What about those people for whom it doesn't work, do they end up losing a lot of money? 

[ShaharA]

It works but you need at least 3,000$ to start if you are serious.

 I have a successful FBA store on Amazon and it took me some time the make it work, I lot some money before I  began to earn something,

[Consept]

1 hour ago, Preety_India said:

@Consept that's awesome. I have a question. What about those people for whom it doesn't work, do they end up losing a lot of money? 

Thanks, like i said just depends on the model you use, if you private label you could lose some money, if you do arbitrage or wholesale you can always sell what you bought for cost if things dont go as planned so the risk i quite low in that case 

[diamondpenguin]

On 1/27/2021 at 0:11 AM, Preety_India said:

@diamondpenguin hmm to be extremely honest, I don't think this is good.. Plus I don't want you to spend any money, 1500 is a bit too much in my opinion. 

This looks like a rabbit hole. 

I can't think of a job that you can do right now other than sales but I know this much that in your area due to covid, it must be really difficult to find a job like on the outside, like a physical job.. 

I'm seriously confused but there must be a way for you to start. 

Keep me posted. Let's see what can be done. 

 

Yea your definitely right. I don't think it would be a great option after doing more research especially since the seller is at the mercy of amazon and could get taken down at any time. Along with that the marketing is a really tough gauntlet to run. Thanks for the help and everything, it's a really cherishing surprise. It was probably a viable option around 5 years ago but now it looks like it's way too competitive and over saturated. 

Edited February 1, 2021 by diamondpenguin

[Preety_India]

2 minutes ago, diamondpenguin said:

Yea your definitely right. I don't think it would be a great option after doing more research especially since the seller is at the mercy of amazon and could get taken down at any time. Along with that the marketing is a really tough gauntlet to run. Thanks for the help and everything, it's a really cherishing surprise. It was probably a viable option around 5 years ago but now it looks like it's way too competitive and over saturated. 

Agree. 

[Consept]

7 hours ago, diamondpenguin said:

Yea your definitely right. I don't think it would be a great option after doing more research especially since the seller is at the mercy of amazon and could get taken down at any time. Along with that the marketing is a really tough gauntlet to run. Thanks for the help and everything, it's a really cherishing surprise. It was probably a viable option around 5 years ago but now it looks like it's way too competitive and over saturated. 

I wouldnt agree that its completely saturated i think there are a lot of opportunities still around to make money from fba. You have to look at fba as just an outsourcing tool, rather than just some way to make money in of itself. If you think, 20 years ago if you wanted to start a physical store, it would cost a lot to get premises, you still have to do marketing, you have to have some kind of distribution system etc. Or if you wanted to bring your own product to market you would have to get a purchaser to buy it for a chain of shops or youd have to try to get on tv to market it and countless other things. 

The point with fba is you get all of that in one location, you get one of the most visited sites in the world to put products on, you get all logistics, some marketing, distribution, storage, all of this is handled for you. Obviously there is a cost but its a lot easier to manage than it wouldve been previously. 

I came across this guy called Brock Johnson, who has a course on Amazon, i havent gone through it myself but it looks as comprehensive as you can get, and its $39 or $1 a week with no upsells, ive never seen a course that cheap and detailed. So if anyone is interested, i have my own free podcast in my sig, but i would also recommend giving this guys a go, even if you just try it for a week for the $1. Im not an affiliate or anything like that, just genuinely recommending the course -  https://get.thelastamazoncourse.com/sign-up/&_ga=2.226546589.1671258942.1612191635-43966540.1612191635