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So you want to know the EXACT steps on how to import and sell products on Amazon? Here you go:

Longinus

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Out of the revenue, around $5-6k profit in the first 5 weeks. Went for a few months and then decreased. I decided to milk it and sell ownership rights to get into something else while also mentoring others. Bare in mind, while I may not know everything, I can tell a lot of things on Amazon in terms of what is a good and bad product. Now I am saving something that requires a little more and has less competition.

Like you said, either products that seem hard to do, technical, certifications etc. All these are barriers of entry. The more they are, the less people are going to get into the market because it "seems complicated" which rules out a lot of people. Those who get through these barriers and is able to sell usually is able to achieve success.

I am not perfect by any means but I do recommend that you don't use product research tools, they suck. Only use the stats extension to get an average x amount of sales, revenue etc. to understand whether this is a market you should get into.

Some ways you can research is first finding the inital first products, even if they're bad. Look at those who do FBA and are selling successful products, if that product is too competitve for your budget, take a look at their seller profile and see what they're selling. A seller will always want to sell good products. Don't look for trendy products, look for those who are already established and proven to have a constant source of income.

And then use the tool to run the numbers and take a look at those with a little less competition. There's more to it, I am not that good at explaining it in a forum post.

So if I understand well, you sold a product for some weeks until your price probably dropped?

You don't have to be a genius to do that, it's what 95% of the sellers are doing:

1/ source and import high selling product on Alibaba, go for the quick buck!
2/ sell for a slightly lower price
3/ PROFITS for a few weeks until your competitors lower their price as well
4/ sell remaining inventory at loss

You're not the Amazon-mentor I would choose.
 
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Minus9

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So if I understand well, you sold a product for some weeks until your price probably dropped?

You don't have to be a genius to do that, it's what 95% of the sellers are doing:

1/ source and import high selling product on Alibaba, go for the quick buck!
2/ sell for a slightly lower price
3/ PROFITS for a few weeks until your competitors lower their price as well
4/ sell remaining inventory at loss

You're not the Amazon-mentor I would choose.

No, I did the opposite. I raised the price once I dominated the market. I provided a better deal, differentiating myself from my competitors and still able to raise the price. There were people providing even a better deal then me in page 3-5 with a 50% lower price but I do things differently.

I already told you that when I lost ranking and reviews, the revenue naturally dropped as expected. I decided to milk it and sell ownership rights because I wasn't able to get any additional reviews. Took advantage of the situation.

I don't consider myself a "mentor" the same way you think, I am merely there to help others that are on the path of starting their journey. People suggest me the most common products sold on FBA and I know clearly the difference between a good product or bad product when I see one.

So to your question, no. I did not drop my price. When you sell on Amazon, there will always be things that are out of your control, you can lose it at any time. Whether they decide to suddenly close your listing, remove you as a seller, or simply remove your reviews and get you out of the first page, you're usually out of luck. Reason I didn't pursue the product again was simply because I knew with the new changes and algorithm, it would be hard to with that particular product.

Like I said, you don't know shit about me or how I do FBA. If you don't like that I mentor/help others that are in the same journey by giving them advice on what to do and not to do then get out of my face. I've helped people save a lot of money by not doing the mistakes they would otherwise have done without my guidance.

The value I bring my students are helping them, while I explain my reasons behind what I am saying to them so they get a clear understanding of why. They're thankful for it.

I simply gave some broad and simple advice above which can be further researched so they get an understanding and think differently when they approach products in the future. You see that already two-three individuals has responded to my inital comment and they wanted to know a little deeper in terms of the barriers, whether that was money, certifications etc. That opened some of their minds and they'll have it on the back head when doing research.

So anything else?
 

Longinus

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No, I did the opposite. I raised the price once I dominated the market. I provided a better deal, differentiating myself from my competitors and still able to raise the price. There were people providing even a better deal then me in page 3-5 with a 50% lower price but I do things differently.

I already told you that when I lost ranking and reviews, the revenue naturally dropped as expected. I decided to milk it and sell ownership rights because I wasn't able to get any additional reviews. Took advantage of the situation.

So you had a top notch product which dominated the market with good profit margins, but you lost rankings anyway? Why did you rank lower in the first place? Change of algorithm, really? Or were it the fake reviews that AMZ deleted?

Reason I didn't pursue the product again was simply because I knew with the new changes and algorithm, it would be hard to with that particular product.

Must be a great product that you were selling if you can't keep it up with new changes and algorithms. Please tell me more about how you recognize a good product.

You see that already two-three individuals has responded to my inital comment and they wanted to know a little deeper in terms of the barriers, whether that was money, certifications etc. That opened some of their minds and they'll have it on the back head when doing research.

LOL, "how to find products" is probably the most asked question on this forum. It's the carrot all Amazon gurus use to sell their bullshit FBA courses.

I just hope those people are clever enough not to take advice or share their product idea with a total newcomer who claims to have a shady short term success (if it even happened) who qualifies as mentor.
 

Minus9

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So you had a top notch product which dominated the market with good profit margins, but you lost rankings anyway? Why did you rank lower in the first place? Change of algorithm, really? Or were it the fake reviews that AMZ deleted?



Must be a great product that you were selling if you can't keep it up with new changes and algorithms. Please tell me more about how you recognize a good product.



LOL, "how to find products" is probably the most asked question on this forum. It's the carrot all Amazon gurus use to sell their bullshit FBA courses.

I just hope those people are clever enough not to take advice or share their product idea with a total newcomer who claims to have a shady short term success (if it even happened) who qualifies as mentor.

1. Most of the reviews on the product itself was paid for, like I probably mentioned somewhere on my posts. Change of algorithm? Not what I meant. I meant that they changed their algorithm in terms of the reviews, how they check them etc. And I lost my reviews WHICH affected my ranking.

2. A good product to sell doesn't mean it was good quality, I already told you that it was a good product to sell in terms of supply and demand and that it wasn't that good of quality hence me selling ownership rights.

3. I mostly help and assist people for free and if I do mentor, I do it relatively for a low price. You need to get your head out off your a$$ by making such claims. Am I selling anything here? No. Am I attempting to assist people here? Yes.

And there are multiple ways on finding a product, I usually approve/deny those that get to me and ask if it's a good product to sell. (To make it easier for you: Good product in my terms are = good to sell, good demand and enough competition for you to dominate and enter it, and getting a slice of the pie. After the changes, I recommend that good product aligns with good quality.)

I'm not going to bother responding to you more, you're a waste of my time.
 
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Kaizen502

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I simply gave some broad and simple advice above which can be further researched so they get an understanding and think differently when they approach products in the future. You see that already two-three individuals has responded to my inital comment and they wanted to know a little deeper in terms of the barriers, whether that was money, certifications etc. That opened some of their minds and they'll have it on the back head when doing research.

I hope you are not offended and call me names too. Your response was vague again. I have done my research and heard the advice of sourcing products with higher barriers of entry before and thought you might could give an example. Anyway, I won't ask more questions.

And there are multiple ways on finding a product, I usually approve/deny those that get to me and ask if it's a good product to sell. (To make it easier for you dumbfuck: Good product in my terms are = good to sell, good demand and enough competition for you to dominate and enter it, and getting a slice of the pie. After the changes, I recommend that good product aligns with good quality.)

I am not sure if it is really necessary to get verbally offensive if someone is asking you challenging questions. That is not just a waste of your time but makes you look bad. I think we should try to help and support each other instead.
 

Minus9

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I hope you are not offended and call me names too. Your response was vague again. I have done my research and heard the advice of sourcing products with higher barriers of entry before and thought you might could give an example. Anyway, I won't ask more questions.



I am not sure if it is really necessary to get verbally offensive if someone is asking you challenging questions. That is not just a waste of your time but makes you look bad. I think we should try to help and support each other instead.

Absolutely, I understand that. But when he twists what I am saying and starts talking bullshit for trying to assist somebody here, that's where I draw the line.

Also, in terms of product research, I always recommend a tool like Junglescout - the extension. Or Viral Launch. Just to get an idea of the stats. Look for any products, literally, any. Open the tool and look for the 'FBA' sellers. Click the product and then their profile, you'll find a lot of products that they may be selling with even lower competition.

When you get there, search the most broad keyword/relevant keyword related to that product and check the top-selling ones that aren't particularly using EBC (enhanced brand content - which is the images from "the manufacturers" or description) and see if you can provide a better deal in terms of value. Give them more for their money and they'll choose you.

There's different ways to find products but the best for me is actually just to find some products, write them up and then surf through sellers till I find something good.

Hopefully this helps. Have a good day.
 

Numchies

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Hey @Steven. I'd love to get in touch with you/have the possibility to do so in the future, however, I can't seem to acces your profile :/ Is there any other way to reach out to you? (Interested because I'm also from Austria and studying at uni)
 
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Pershing

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Hello Steven,
great thread, long reading but you were good at keeping me reading.

I strongly recommend to not sell on amazon, event if, FOR NOW, people can make good money.

Basically we are teaching amazon what and how to sell, and Bezos clearly said this in his book. They'll one day sell what you currently sell.

I'm from Italy and I import (not from China for now) products to sell to businesses, so big repeated orders.

Let me know if you want to know more. I have a proven strategy that I replicate everytime I spot a good product
 

garyfritz

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I'm from Italy and I import (not from China for now) products to sell to businesses, so big repeated orders.

Let me know if you want to know more. I have a proven strategy that I replicate everytime I spot a good product
I'm sure lots of people would be interested. Why not start a new thread?
 

Pershing

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John F.

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Thank you for sharing your experience with your first product release. This is going to provide a ton of value for me as I go through a similar journey. Much appreciated .
 

AF77

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“before, so I tried my best to hide my missing knowledge. Using @biophase “First email to new supplier”- template came in just handy to keep up my charade of the professional importer who runs a huge importing business. ”

I’ve been looking for this @biophase template for 20 minutes. Can you point me to it please?
 

rynor

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Admittedly, I didn't read the whole post because I'm about to leave, BUT I will say your consistency to the process is admirable. And quite frankly, that consistency is necessary for success.

In any case, it really re-energized me to get back to working on my own business.

Congratulations on your success so far and best of luck to you going forward!
 
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Walter Hay

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The OP has not posted in almost 2 years, but the post by @iceyblitz drew my attention to this thread again.

I recall thinking when first following the thread that although the well written and detailed progress outlined had clearly helped many readers, there was a big deficiency.

That was that Steven obviously relied heavily on what he had read in my AMA thread and the excellent long-running thread by Biophase, but as I have written elsewhere, such information as provided in posts are not sufficient to confidently launch into a new business venture. For example I sometimes post very helpful information but it only occupies about 1/20th of what I have written in my book. I can't post 10 pages.

In fact I have read many times on the forum the false idea that there is supposedly enough information on almost any subject available for free on the internet to make it possible for anyone to know what is required to start and run a business.

I revise my books every year because so many things change. That means that a lot of what you will find in early posts is not up to date. I am in the process of revision at present and I can tell you that for all three of my books I have copious notes regarding changes that I need to incorporate.

Many of you will be aware from what I wrote in my introductory post in my Marketplace Offer (Walter Hay's Business Books) that my importing book is available free of charge to subscribers to The Planet's #1 Amazon Seller Training Course (I get a small affiliate payment to compensate me for allowing the Proven Amazon Course to give away a copy of my book for free). Jim Cockrum is also continually updating that course. He does so several times a year.

A lot of mistakes could have been avoided if Steven had up to date knowledge of sourcing and importing, as well as how Amazon works.

Free information on the internet, even here on the Fastlane, can be obsolete or even plain wrong.

Ask questions on my AMA please, but remember that my answers sometimes have to be abbreviated.

Walter
 

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