Everything!
It’s easy for me to say “Start with books and toys” because they sell like hotcakes on Amazon. But – then you would want me to tell you “What Toys And Books” to buy? I can’t tell you that… for several reasons.
If you are reading this article a few months after it’s written “That Toy” may not be considered a buy. Also – I have no idea what price you can purchase “That Toy”.
I can find – on any given day – a “Good Buy” in any store I walk into. (within reason – I’m not going to be able to figure out some categories buying habits or sell in closed categories). Seriously – I made mistakes when I first started learning how to sell on Amazon and what to buy. Costly mistakes.
I make it a mission to “find that product” every time I go into any store. It might take just a few minutes or an hour or so. It’s like a treasure hunt. I’ve not had a day I didn’t walk out without a product to sell on Amazon (most times it’s a cart full).
I was in Sam’s Club last night (needed some groceries) and found a product that looks like the results will be about $39 in my pocket! That’s for ONE item. Plus – I have a little wiggle room to reprice if needed.
In the last few months – I’ve pulled (from the dark recesses of my over-filled brain) the education I have from the past. I – Yep little ‘ol me – have had plenty of past experience and education related to Retail:
- – I attended a private college in Southern California that focused on Retail Business Management.
- – I was a manager for several small (mom & pop)retail stores in my local area.
- – I was a manager for a large retail chain for years.
- – I owned my own local mom & pop retail store for several years.
- – I sold on eBay (back in the day) collectibles and my own products.
- – I’m a niche Internet Marketer (have been for over 5 years) and have websites all over the place that make money by recommending products (I’m an affiliate). I can also see (from sales reports) what types of products are selling “best” on Amazon. This is a bit of insider information that a lot of Amazon Sellers don’t have. 🙂
It hurts my head to learn and think – but I’ve been doing just that over the last 4 months. Yes – only 4 Months… and I’ve already hit the over $2,000 a month in sales mark – Twice!
I didn’t do this by following what someone “told me to buy”. (Well I did in some instances with Jordan’s FBAFinds.com – which has closed it’s doors for a while – you can sign up for notification of re-open which happens about once a month)
For instance – I recently figured out that I shouldn’t be sourcing books much for my own Amazon FBA business. It’s not that books aren’t perfect for selling on Amazon.com – but the shipping center that handles books is on the East Coast and I live on the West Coast. Shipping will kill my profits for sure.
I’m still going to sell books… but I need to follow two rules for myself:
- The books must be really high in profit.
- I need to save up for large shipments to get the lowest possible rate for my situation.
The same is true for over-sized products – these also all have to be shipped to the East Coast. grrrr I now source over-sized products only if they have high ROI (Return On Investment).
I made this mistake early on with bedding. I sent in comforters that I thought would be a good niche and got burned on the shipping. I still made a profit – but not enough to compensate me for my time.
I’ve spent hours – and hours researching and scouting. In fact – Scouting this weekend has worn me out. Yesterday was a 7 hour scouting trip… and the day before was over 8 hours… and the day before that was 6 hours.
Stick a fork in me – I’m Done!
p.s. I started selling on Amazon in May of 2011 with just a test of a few products and was blown away by my success right off the bat. – Of course – I’ve now had some failures to match up with the successful parts and I’ll be sharing all of that with you.
You can read about my journey so far in this 54 page report:
Click Here ==>>Amazon Arbitrage
Thanks so much GMa – you are one of my shining stars. 🙂