AMAZON FBA - The Journey Begins

[Ayanle Farah]

What sucks about Amazon is the fact that it controls every single thing and can kill you within a second, but also the reward is greater.

I am in a group with several successful FBA sellers helping each other out, if you're interested in that. But the mentality that just because it gives instructions, you won't use something is stupid and also not read on it.

Use Junglescout for stats only, not research. Do research on your own otherwise you'll be having the same products as a dozen others. And do watch videos and learn, they're helpful. You'll have trial and error regardless if you read a book or get a course, there's way too many I encounter that are so confident in their product that I simply tell them to not go with it because by my experience and knowledge, I know what's good to sell.

Regardless, good luck with your journey. I hope you do study some of it.

You didn't read the rest of the thread where I decided I changed my mind about not researching, and thanks.

 

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[Ayanle Farah]

Wow.

I know it goes against commandment of Entry and Control, but I think it's possible to work around those, plenty others here have had success with it.

I don't see what's wrong with what I said.

 

[biophase]

I know it goes against commandment of Entry and Control, but I think it's possible to work around those, plenty others here have had success with it.

I don't see what's wrong with what I said.

It’s not because it goes against the commandment of entry. It’s because you are viewing selling on Amazon as a business instead of starting a business that includes Amazon as a sales channel. Huge difference.

 

[YoungPadawan]

I know it goes against commandment of Entry and Control, but I think it's possible to work around those, plenty others here have had success with it.

I don't see what's wrong with what I said.

Don't you have any bigger aspirations than being Amazon's peon?

You're building your business on a foundation of sand. If Amazon decides to jack up their rates (which they've begun doing) or if they decide they like your product so much that they decide to copy it and undercut you, you're screwed.

Build something that lasts. Something that you can feel safe to build upon and not worry that everything you have built be pulled out from under you.

If it can't stand on its own (or have the potential to stand on its own) don't build it.

 

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[Ayanle Farah]

It’s not because it goes against the commandment of entry. It’s because you are viewing selling on Amazon as a business instead of starting a business that includes Amazon as a sales channel. Huge difference.

I see, my thought process is starting on Amazon and then transitioning to an independent business that needs Amazon less and less, while you want me to have an independent business from the start.

Edit: You know what? I won't launch on Amazon I'll create my own site, let's do this.

 

[Ayanle Farah]

So I bought a domain name with Bluehost: Apexjungle.com but due to some bs rule I need to wait 120 hours before creating a separate hosting account for the new domain away from my primary hosting account.

Then I'll install wordpress and follow one of many youtube tutorials on "how to build an ecommerce website with wordpress 2018". That's the game plan for now.

Meanwhile I'll continue researching these topics.

Product Sourcing
Quality Control
Manufacturing Specs
Importing (including what testing is needed for your products, tariff rates, etc)
Freight forwarding and general logistics
Warehousing (at home, or third party, or Amazon's rules)
Amazon packaging and labeling requirements
Trademarking (if you want any brand protection)
Amazon PPC
Google Ads
Facebook Ads
Bing Ads
All other smaller advertising platforms
Brand following and social media
Branding and Labeling
Entity Creation
Taxation
Accounting
Lending

 

[Ayanle Farah]

So..I wanted to create a shared hosting account for the domain apexjungle.com but it cost money I wasn't ready to spend.

Instead I decided to transfer my domain from bluehost to hostgator, I did everything I read from Bluehost on steps before the transition, I talked with hostgator and was ready but somewhere in the steps I made a mistake and the domain got into a lock period of two months.

Not willing to wait two months before taking action, I went to hostgator, got a new domain "mythicjungle.com" and installed wordpress, all of the above happened yesterday.

Today I was finally ready to build my website when in the ecommerce tutorial on youtube the guy said to avoid Eig and Godaddy companies because of issues with uptime and speed aswell as problems with support.

A quick google search confirmed both bluehost and hostgator were owned by the same parent company, the youtuber also mentioned they charge you for installing SSL certificates, I looked and it seems hostgator offers it for free.

So I'm going back and forth whether I should stay with hostgator or not, I'm not ready to pay anymore money incase some bs happens with my new domain similar to bluehost if I want to transfer domain to new host.

This is where I'm at right now.

 

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[GSF]

So..I wanted to create a shared hosting account for the domain apexjungle.com but it cost money I wasn't ready to spend.

Instead I decided to transfer my domain from bluehost to hostgator, I did everything I read from Bluehost on steps before the transition, I talked with hostgator and was ready but somewhere in the steps I made a mistake and the domain got into a lock period of two months.

Not willing to wait two months before taking action, I went to hostgator, got a new domain "mythicjungle.com" and installed wordpress, all of the above happened yesterday.

Today I was finally ready to build my website when in the ecommerce tutorial on youtube the guy said to avoid Eig and Godaddy companies because of issues with uptime and speed aswell as problems with support.

A quick google search confirmed both bluehost and hostgator were owned by the same parent company, the youtuber also mentioned they charge you for installing SSL certificates, I looked and it seems hostgator offers it for free.

So I'm going back and forth whether I should stay with hostgator or not, I'm not ready to pay anymore money incase some bs happens with my new domain similar to bluehost if I want to transfer domain to new host.

This is where I'm at right now.

Go with shopify, you'll be up and running in minutes, what you'll lose in paying the extra monthly fee with shopify you'll save in time and not having to mess about with Wordpress and hosting.

Also if you look around there's a unlimited free trial where you pay nothing until you've made 50 sales, if not they have the 14 day free trial as standard.

 

[Readerly]

I think a lot of people here have said some hard to swallow things but they come from the right place. They don't want another rookie to mess up and fail.

With that being said, I personally do FBA and did $30,000 in one month from my first product on Amazon (Q2) so I know FBA works and I fell in love with the business model when I realized I didn't have to fulfill orders which I had experience doing from past ventures which quite frankly sucked a$$. I do have to mention that I didn't source my product from China. I used junglescout, found my niche that was underserved, looked at the metrics to see how many sales people were doing, and then proceeded to call every manufacturer in america that could develop and source my product until one listened to what I had to say and give it a go. It helped I wasn't reinventing the wheel. In that way I differentiated myself from other gimmicky sellers selling the same thing on Amazon, which, by the way, can work as long as you have enough good reviews, quality products, and better copy. I don't even bat an eye at the chinese sellers because they tend to do alot of shady stuff with their reviews, their copy usually reads like a dictionary with grammatical errors, and it screams chinese which people are getting smarter and smarter and avoiding.

One nugget I can give you is to understand the bigger picture when you're selling your product. It's not always about making x% for every good you sell. Working with amazon's algorithm to place organically at the top, your first goal with your product is to get reviews to increase CTR and increase sales velocity. Period. Then, the organic sales will come naturally as long as everything else is good.


I say press on my friend, don't let naysayers discourage you from taking action. Just be careful in how you spend money because it quickly adds up and more often than not, you end up spending more than what you expected to get it going and cash flow is tricky with re-ordering stock and additional costs associated with advertising, etc.

Congrats on your FBA success. 30 grand in a month is impressive. Given how restrictive Amazon's terms of service are, how do you about getting reviews on a new product listing?

 

[LittleJohn]

So..I wanted to create a shared hosting account for the domain apexjungle.com but it cost money I wasn't ready to spend.

Instead I decided to transfer my domain from bluehost to hostgator, I did everything I read from Bluehost on steps before the transition, I talked with hostgator and was ready but somewhere in the steps I made a mistake and the domain got into a lock period of two months.

Not willing to wait two months before taking action, I went to hostgator, got a new domain "mythicjungle.com" and installed wordpress, all of the above happened yesterday.

Today I was finally ready to build my website when in the ecommerce tutorial on youtube the guy said to avoid Eig and Godaddy companies because of issues with uptime and speed aswell as problems with support.

A quick google search confirmed both bluehost and hostgator were owned by the same parent company, the youtuber also mentioned they charge you for installing SSL certificates, I looked and it seems hostgator offers it for free.

So I'm going back and forth whether I should stay with hostgator or not, I'm not ready to pay anymore money incase some bs happens with my new domain similar to bluehost if I want to transfer domain to new host.

This is where I'm at right now.

Hosting shouldn't cause you this much trouble man..this is a small thing that should t cause you much trouble. Kinda reminder ds me of "dropping dollars to pick up pennies".

 

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[tomycoleco]

What sucks about Amazon is the fact that it controls every single thing and can kill you within a second, but also the reward is greater.

I am in a group with several successful FBA sellers helping each other out, if you're interested in that. But the mentality that just because it gives instructions, you won't use something is stupid and also not read on it.

Use Junglescout for stats only, not research. Do research on your own otherwise you'll be having the same products as a dozen others. And do watch videos and learn, they're helpful. You'll have trial and error regardless if you read a book or get a course, there's way too many I encounter that are so confident in their product that I simply tell them to not go with it because by my experience and knowledge, I know what's good to sell.

Regardless, good luck with your journey. I hope you do study some of it.

Hello,
I am still pretty fresh and new to this forum but very dedicated and motivated. I would love to join a group of people who have experience with amazon fba. I am from Frankfurt Germany and would kindly like to ask you if I could join this group of yours you just mentioned here. I am sure that sharing our ideas, motivations and experiences is a great way for motivation and success and being in a tight international network is always good ?
Does your group do skype sessions or how does it exactly operate and do you mind me joining you ?

Best Regards

 

[Ayanle Farah]

Hosting shouldn't cause you this much trouble man..this is a small thing that should t cause you much trouble. Kinda reminder ds me of "dropping dollars to pick up pennies".

If I only registered my domain with the right hosting from the start none of this would be happening, now I know better.

 

[Ayanle Farah]

Go with shopify, you'll be up and running in minutes, what you'll lose in paying the extra monthly fee with shopify you'll save in time and not having to mess about with Wordpress and hosting.

Also if you look around there's a unlimited free trial where you pay nothing until you've made 50 sales, if not they have the 14 day free trial as standard.

A monthly fee sounds horrible, money is already kind of tight, I'd rather learn to have my own personal website anyway, it will benefit me more in the long run.

 

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[Lionhearted]

And this isn’t to knock anyone’s drive... but you have to forge a new path. Anyone can travel down the beaten path, that’s why it doesn’t pay. The one that pays is the one that didn’t exist before. You come out machetes in hand and make a new path for people to use.

Reminds me or drop shipping...

OFF-TOPIC - In the FASTLANE! On my way to become a BILLIONAIRE Dropshipping! You Can Too!! Exact Steps!

You can always spot the "pioneers" they are the ones with all the arrows in their backs! Don't EVER be a first mover but instead be a fast follower. Great article on this and something I have heard from many successful people. Steve Blank Why Pioneers Have Arrows In Their Backs Astute fast-followers recognize that part of Customer Discovery is learning from the first-mover by looking at the arrows in their backs. Then avoiding them. BTW this requires research to learn. Learn from the "first movers" and be an educated "fast follower".

 

[Ayanle Farah]

I looked again, these bastards at hostgator claim free SSL certificate in their sales page but charge you for it once you've bought their package, I'm going to ask for a refund if possible, don't want their hosting or the site, to hell with it.

 

[Ayanle Farah]

My account got cancelled and I think I'll get a refund after I receive an email in the next 24 hours.

I made a bunch of dumb decision lately but tbh I prefer this over staying on the sidelines and never starting because I'm overthinking everything.

 

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[jcvlds]

Bro, the dumb decision is in fretting over a commoditized service like HOSTING. That makes absolutely no impact on your bottom line, your ability to reach prospects or customers, etc.

People above have told you better solutions and you seem to be so heads down on finding the perfect hosting provider because you think it will make the difference in your business. Sure, it feels like you are progressing, but it really isn’t doing anything.

Btw, I have bluehost and got a free SSL, so don’t know why you didn’t stay with them if all you wanted was a free SSL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[biophase]

What’s the website for again? Selling, ecommerce right?

You are definitely doing it the hard way, what do you save $15 a month?

 

[Ayanle Farah]

Bro, the dumb decision is in fretting over a commoditized service like HOSTING. That makes absolutely no impact on your bottom line, your ability to reach prospects or customers, etc.

People above have told you better solutions and you seem to be so heads down on finding the perfect hosting provider because you think it will make the difference in your business. Sure, it feels like you are progressing, but it really isn’t doing anything.

Btw, I have bluehost and got a free SSL, so don’t know why you didn’t stay with them if all you wanted was a free SSL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a domain on bluehost named Ayanlefarah.com, on that same hosting account I bought Apexjungle.com, I wanted it to have its own separate account but it cost more than I was willing to spend, instead I wanted to transfer that domain and it got locked for two months.

If I made a separate account from the start and bought the domain there none of this would've happened.

What’s the website for again? Selling, ecommerce right?

You are definitely doing it the hard way, what do you save $15 a month?

Hey man, money is kind of tight right now, I don't want to spend if not absolutely necessary, I'm studying too and that alone is draining my wallet.

 

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[Lionhearted]

Win and grow. There is no failure except the failure to learn. Commit 100% anything less will lead to quitting.
I will do it. I will get it done and I will not stop until I DIE.
You need to go through a "SUCK phase" before you learn enough to not SUCK at it. I like your "take action" attitude but do yourself a HUGE favor and get at least one recent book on doing FBA on "Amazon" and don't just read it, STUDY it. Investing in yourself is the most valuable investment you can make. For under $20.00 you can buy a book that will save you $1000's of dollars (Good investment). BTW I recommend STUDYING BOTH of MJ's books FIRST! Looking at your rank here I do not see that you have read either book. Hello???? I want to go to China but I don't care to buy a map. Think about it? Buy the map please. Your time is the most valuable asset you have, invest it wisely. I wish you the all the best.

 

[Ayanle Farah]

Win and grow. There is no failure except the failure to learn. Commit 100% anything less will lead to quitting.
I will do it. I will get it done and I will not stop until I DIE.
You need to go through a "SUCK phase" before you learn enough to not SUCK at it. I like your "take action" attitude but do yourself a HUGE favor and get at least one recent book on doing FBA on "Amazon" and don't just read it, STUDY it. Investing in yourself is the most valuable investment you can make. For under $20.00 you can buy a book that will save you $1000's of dollars (Good investment). BTW I recommend STUDYING BOTH of MJ's books FIRST! Looking at your rank here I do not see that you have read either book. Hello???? I want to go to China but I don't care to buy a map. Think about it? Buy the map please. Your time is the most valuable asset you have, invest it wisely. I wish you the all the best.

Well if it isn't the most cliche post I ever read on here...for real though I appreciate it and I do get your point.

I've read TMF a long time ago, I go back to it every once in a while and flip through pages to read something great. I've recently bought unscripted , going through that aswell.

My favorite part of TMF remains the bit where MJ talks about your choice tree and how your life can easily get pulled in a direction you'll regret by making bad choices and being reckless.

 

[biophase]

Hey man, money is kind of tight right now, I don't want to spend if not absolutely necessary, I'm studying too and that alone is draining my wallet.

How much is hosting?
How much is Woocommerce and the plugins that you will need?
How will you afford the product you are selling?

 

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[Ayanle Farah]

How much is hosting?
How much is Woocommerce and the plugins that you will need?
How will you afford the product you are selling?

I paid $206 for hostgator, the plugins I'll use for my site are all free I think.

I'll figure something out for my products, maybe sell things I don't need like ps4 and whatnot, maybe do freelancing.

 

[biophase]

I paid $206 for hostgator, the plugins I'll use for my site are all free I think.

I'll figure something out for my products, maybe sell things I don't need like ps4 and whatnot, maybe do freelancing.

WTF? Seriously? I thought you were short on funds and you paid $200 for what? Hosting and a domain?

How about $7 for a domain on namecheap and $30 a month for Shopify? You are out $37 after 1 month.

I don't understand your decision making process. Why shell out $200 if you could have done the same for $37?

I thought you were going to say $3.99/mo for hosting, which is what I would have done if I was going ultra cheap-a$$.

 

[Almantas]

"Redundant Post"

 

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[Almantas]

 

[Ayanle Farah]

WTF? Seriously? I thought you were short on funds and you paid $200 for what? Hosting and a domain?

How about $7 for a domain on namecheap and $30 a month for Shopify? You are out $37 after 1 month.

I don't understand your decision making process. Why shell out $200 if you could have done the same for $37?

I thought you were going to say $3.99/mo for hosting, which is what I would have done if I was going ultra cheap-a$$.

Yes, for hosting and the domain aswell as some other stuff to do with site security. Well I never looked at shopify untill after I did this.

Once I get my refund(hopefully), I'll use shopify.

 

[Ayanle Farah]

Btw, I have bluehost and got a free SSL, so don’t know why you didn’t stay with them if all you wanted was a free SSL.

Bluehost doesn't have a free SSL, I just checked.

 

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[biophase]

Yes, for hosting and the domain aswell as some other stuff to do with site security. Well I never looked at shopify untill after I did this.

Once I get my refund(hopefully), I'll use shopify.

What’s even more telling is that you don’t even know what you bought. It’s not even that you never looked into Shopify.

But you didn’t do any research at all. I’m curious as to how you care to the conclusion that purchasing the $200 worth was the right way to go. What was your rationale behind it?

 

[Ayanle Farah]

What’s even more telling is that you don’t even know what you bought. It’s not even that you never looked into Shopify.

But you didn’t do any research at all. I’m curious as to how you care to the conclusion that purchasing the $200 worth was the right way to go. What was your rationale behind it?

It was an impulsive decision for the most part when my bluehost domain got locked, I wanted to get into this ecommerce business as soon as possible and wasn't going to wait anymore so I made the purchase, if I knew there was a cheaper alternative I would've taken it.