Yep – coming to you live on Monday I’ll be on the show with Chris Green!
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=113873&cmd=tc
I “think” the show is on at 3pm EST. of course you can just listen to the replay.
I’m almost always on the chat during the Friday (and now Monday as well) chats. Love the “fun” of it all! And a break from thinking you are alone in this business.
In case you thought that (just maybe) Chris Green is NOT really “in the trenches” – scouting for great deals to sell on Amazon like we are… I have to share this with you:
I called Chris today – to chat for a few minutes (which turned into over an hour) and caught him shopping at TJ Maxx. He said he had a cart full and was trying to “guard” it with one hand while holding the phone with the other. LOL
Chris is a fountain of information and we just chatted away about our recent “finds”. You all must know by now that Chris is behind FBAPower and FBAScout. I use these tools every day. I have no idea what I would do if “poof” they went away. Of course – Chris assures me that he and his tools are not going anywhere. Thank goodness.
He is also a forum moderator over on the P.A.C. system. I hear that forum is fairly active… and I know he is giving good advice to all FBA sellers.
Did you know – I’m sure I’ve mentioned it – that he recently released his new book “Retail Arbitrage”. You can see it over on the right hand column – the one with the Big Dollar Sign in the shopping cart. That’s how I feel every time I go out scouting. $$$ in my cart!
I’ve been promising to do a full review of this Retail Arbitrage book… and I will. I have a few problems getting started with the review:
1. It’s a big BIG book – over 300 pages – and I’ll have to piecemeal the review so we all don’t get overwhelmed.
2. I’m not sure “I” should be reviewing during this time of “crunch” to shop/list/ship.
3. I’m not sure “you” need to have me review the book just yet. You should be shopping/listing/shipping as well.
Let me just say a few things right now about this book:
It’s expensive – most “information products” are not nearly this expensive.
It’s written by for those of you that are serious – by someone who is serious about this business. He won’t pull any punches about that. If you are going to pee-diddle around and sell on Amazon as a hobby… then this book Is Not For You!
This book IS the bible for selling on Amazon FBA. Of course – as I chatted with Chris (even today) he said “awww – I should have put ‘that’ in the book” – and – “oh yeah – that should have gone in as well.” We even chatted a bit about the fact that in 2012 he will need to do an “updated” version… because things are always changing in this business. Not nearly as much as things change on eBay… but change is happening as Amazon FBA grows. It’s just going to happen and we all need to keep up!
I’ve read elsewhere that others don’t understand why this book is so expensive and/or why should they buy this book when
a. you can find all the information for free.
b. why should they buy this book when they already know everything they need to know to be successful. NOTE- this from people who have never read the book and admit it. Geeesh.
You will not read through this book once and have a perfect plan for your own business. This book “teaches you how to fish” – it does not “give you the fish”. You (and I) must figure out our own Retail Arbitrage business plan.
After reading this book – you will know how to “think” about business and profit and margins and ROI (return on investment) and sourcing and competition and… and… and. Trust me… you have NOT read this somewhere else.
He does spend a bit of time sharing “why” he thinks you need FBAPower and FBAScout. It might feel like an advertisement (or a waste of time if you are already using these products like I do)… but I know (from talking with Chris) that this was important for him to include in the book. Not because he wanted to sell more of his services (well… of course he does to an extent) but – because it’s so much a part of the way he “talks” about this business.
Okay – so I’ll chat with you on Monday… 🙂
Today I had a busy scouting day (I swore I wasn’t going to shop this weekend)… I hit Big Lot’s, Tuesday Morning (which only had 2 things – no new stock), Marshall’s and Ross. I also hit the two Goodwill stores (it was 50% off day). I’m headed off to do more scouting again tomorrow – I may even head out of town (an hour away) to scout.
Hubby was a huge help today. Shlepped 11 boxes to the UPS store… and then we headed over the boarder for lunch with friends. After lunch (and back in the U.S.A) we stopped at the first Thrift Store.
GASP! I left my phone at home! How was I going to scout???? My trooper hubby said “Let’s just wing it”. So in we went. 2 carts later (laughing all the way to the bank we hope) – we loaded the car and headed for the ranch.
It was a bit liberating… I could just look at stuff and launch it into said shopping carts at will. I am so proud of my hubbins… he scouted a few “NIB” toys I missed. He’s getting better every time we go out.
After off-loading my treasures – we headed out again. 5 more hours of scouting and he was D.O.N.E. – he sat in the car while I scouted the last store. He “knows” when to stop and head for dinner/home/t.v. – It’s something I still need to learn. Chris Green (from above) also mentioned today – I needed to learn to “let it go – more deals will be waiting on another day”.
They both are still talking “Greek” to me… let a deal pass me by??? Not today!
I’m just saying…
“The money is made in the sourcing, not the shipping”… Always Be Sourcing!
p.s. In case you were wondering if this Amazon FBA “thing” was working for me – here is a screen capture of my latest FBA settlement (Oct 18th) payment:
Don’t ask me how much of it’s profit… I haven’t had time to take a breath – let alone figure profit.
Wow! Way to go scouting without the tools! I’d feel so at a loss I’d probably turn around and go home. So, did you scan them at home yet to see how you did winging it? And a BIG WOO HOO! on your latest payment!
Beth… I haven’t had time to scan in my Thrifting purchases yet. I’ve got to go out and “restock” some things from Walmart that have sold out. I’ll probably write another article about “My Luck Scouting Without FBAScout” soon. 🙂 It will be interesting to see how hubby and I did with “just intuition”.
Honestly, without having at lease *some* idea how much of that is profit, that picture means nothing. It’s truly awesome that Amazon sent you $2732 (unless you spent $2700 to get that).
Lisa – LOL – this is true.
It looks like I “made profit’ of $1400 ish. Nice! 🙂
Debra,
Great job! What bothers me is you made less than Amazon at the end of the day. Over 40% of the sales went to Amazon and I am not exactly sure for what. I guess that is the reason their stock is selling for over $200.00 a share. Maybe buying the stock and sitting on it would make you a whole lot more money with a lot less work.
When you look at those figures Ken… you must take into consideration that all my shipping costs and and refunds to customers are included in those “broad” figures. You really do have to understand the entire “fee/commission” schedule to understand how/why the profits hold up and I am making a good return for my time/money.
Debra,
Thanks for the response regarding your costs. One of the things that really drives me nuts with Amazon is they NEVER allow enough for the shipping costs. I am always out several dollars on what they give you credit for. Do you find the same to be true?