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Does it still make sense to sell N95 Masks?

VentureVoyager

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I have a contact to a trusted supplier who I believe might be a very good source of N95 masks:

Price per unit: $1.15,
Estimated air delivery cost: $0.10
Shipping time: Shipping: less than 5 business days
They have all certificates etc, it's a big company and I know people who did businesses with them before.

I also have Amazon seller/fba account with good ratings. So it looks like an opportunity.

My questions:
1) Is it allowed to sell these Masks on Amazon.com right now, in the US? I've heard that they blocked all accounts of people who tried to sell N95 mask in Europe (not sure if it's true?)

I'm finding contradicting news About amazon.com/ FBA in the US, anyone knows? I've heard they are not accepting new fulfilments and removing many pandemic related listings too

2) If Amazon is not an option, how would you go about it? I was thinking about setting up a dropshipping store. The shipping time is good.

There's a high demand, looks like maybe I could supply it and also help limit the spread to some extent. I'm not planning to sell them at gauged hardcore prices, just try to match other sellers.

What do you think?
I know it's a very time-limited side-hustle opportunity, but looks like fast action might generate some great results..
 
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MoneyDoc

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I have a contact to a trusted supplier who I believe might be a very good source of N95 masks:

Price per unit: $1.15,
Estimated air delivery cost: $0.10
Shipping time: Shipping: less than 5 business days
They have all certificates etc, it's a big company and I know people who did businesses with them before.

I also have Amazon seller/fba account with good ratings. So it looks like an opportunity.

My questions:
1) Is it allowed to sell these Masks on Amazon.com right now, in the US? I've heard that they blocked all accounts of people who tried to sell N95 mask in Europe (not sure if it's true?)

I'm finding contradicting news About amazon.com/ FBA in the US, anyone knows? I've heard they are not accepting new fulfilments and removing many pandemic related listings too

2) If Amazon is not an option, how would you go about it? I was thinking about setting up a dropshipping store. The shipping time is good.

There's a high demand, looks like maybe I could supply it and also help limit the spread to some extent. I'm not planning to sell them at gauged hardcore prices, just try to match other sellers.

What do you think?
I know it's a very time-limited side-hustle opportunity, but looks like fast action might generate some great results..
There's still A LOT of opportunity. Demand is crazy.

With that said, you cannot sell on amazon (any country) or eBay.

Set up your own store.
 

aminmo

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The problem with the second option (setting up your own store) is that you'll basically have no way to advertise the masks... unless you know how to get a lot of organic traffic, of course.

Facebook, along with many others (if they haven't implemented it already), are going to start banning any ads related to masks, hand sanitizers, surface disinfecting wipes, etc.

Even if you sell the masks at MSRP and aren't price gouging, you'll still get banned since FB's automated system will catch you in their crosshairs regardless of how legit you are. FB announced this morning that ad approval times will take longer since they're letting many of their ad content reviewers go home, so you'll basically be at the whim of FB's AI (which is known to be trigger happy on the bans).
 

VentureVoyager

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There's still A LOT of opportunity. Demand is crazy.

With that said, you cannot sell on amazon (any country) or eBay.

Set up your own store.

Thanks for the info!

I don't have much exprience and I'm thinking - what platform could I use to open it as fast as possible. Any tips?

And where would you advertise? Is it allowed on facebook? My friend told me it is, but then I've read some contradicting news:
 
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VentureVoyager

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@aminmo Thank you for the info. Do you know how it is with google, reddit etc? Or no idea?


Another idea that I have is to sell in bulk, directly to larger companies/buyers and act as an intermediary.
That, of course, it's a short lived biz idea, but might be very lucrative for some time and maybe also socially helpful.
 

MoneyDoc

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@aminmo Thank you for the info. Do you know how it is with google, reddit etc? Or no idea?


Another idea that I have is to sell in bulk, directly to larger companies/buyers and act as an intermediary.
That, of course, it's a short lived biz idea, but might be very lucrative for some time and maybe also socially helpful.
Where is the supplier? I might buy some from you.
 

VentureVoyager

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Where is the supplier? I might buy some from you.

China.
If retail is not an option, then I guess I would be focused on large wholesale orders.
My friends got their first order at 70k usd from a Polish customer, they will probably receive 30%
 
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MoneyDoc

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If retail is not an option, then I guess I would be focused on large wholesale orders.
My friends got their first order at 70k usd from a Polish customer, they will probably receive 30%
PM me.
 

biophase

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I have a contact to a trusted supplier who I believe might be a very good source of N95 masks:

Price per unit: $1.15,
Estimated air delivery cost: $0.10
Shipping time: Shipping: less than 5 business days
They have all certificates etc, it's a big company and I know people who did businesses with them before.

I also have Amazon seller/fba account with good ratings. So it looks like an opportunity.

My questions:
1) Is it allowed to sell these Masks on Amazon.com right now, in the US? I've heard that they blocked all accounts of people who tried to sell N95 mask in Europe (not sure if it's true?)

I'm finding contradicting news About amazon.com/ FBA in the US, anyone knows? I've heard they are not accepting new fulfilments and removing many pandemic related listings too

2) If Amazon is not an option, how would you go about it? I was thinking about setting up a dropshipping store. The shipping time is good.

There's a high demand, looks like maybe I could supply it and also help limit the spread to some extent. I'm not planning to sell them at gauged hardcore prices, just try to match other sellers.

What do you think?
I know it's a very time-limited side-hustle opportunity, but looks like fast action might generate some great results..

I don't think your price is for one offs. Lol

You need to buy 10000 to get that shipping price.

China has a ton of N95 masks as evidenced by 3 different suppliers that I already use contacting me 1-2 days ago saying that they had masks for sale.

I would not be importing them.

BTW, that price is pretty good compared to the 3 other quotes that I got.
 

VentureVoyager

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I don't think your price is for one offs. Lol
You need to buy 10000 to get that shipping price.
Of course the price won't apply if I order 2 masks. But why would anyone? They usually sell and people usually buy in boxes/in bulk. I want to sell in bigger quantities.

Anyway, there's no investment if I create a dropship store.

And yes, the quoted price starts from 10k orders but I could order a bit less too. It's doable.

China has a ton of N95 masks as evidenced by 3 different suppliers that I already use contacting me 1-2 days ago saying that they had masks for sale.
And what was the price that they quoted?
By the way, are these sources of tested quality? Do you know anyone who made business with them?
Because mine is.

And what's their shipping time?


I would not be importing them.
Why?

And by the way, I'm SURE there must be more ways of traffic generation than facebook, reddit and google.
native ads, push notifications etc.
Any ideas?
 
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Last edited:

biophase

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Of course the price won't apply if I order 2 masks. But why would anyone? They usually sell and people usually buy in boxes/in bulk. I want to sell in bigger quantities.

Anyway, there's no investment if I create a dropship store.

And yes, the quoted price starts from 10k orders but I could order a bit less too. It's doable.


And what was the price that they quoted?
By the way, are these sources of tested quality? Do you know anyone who made business with them?
Because mine is.

And what's their shipping time?



Why?

And by the way, I'm SURE there must be more ways of traffic generation than facebook, reddit and google.
native ads, push notifications etc.
Any ideas?

You said you were thinking about setting up a dropshipping store?

Do think you can just order 20? Ask them what the minimum they would ship you is? Probably 5000. How would that be dropship.

I wouldn't do it unless I'm good with getting stuck with 5000 masks.

I actually would do it to donate them to hospitals if I could get the price down to $0.50 or close.
 

biophase

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Update: let's make it supplier #5 to offer me masks!

Hi Kenric,

How are you? pls must take care of yourself, do not gather, wash hand frequently, stay at home,reduce outgoing. everything will getting better.fighting!

If you need mask, pls feel free to let me know.


Seriously, I use 8 different suppliers in China. 5 out of 8 have offered me masks. And none of them make anything remotely close to masks. Do you think there is a supply or demand problem with them in China?
 

Ronak

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Of course the price won't apply if I order 2 masks. But why would anyone? They usually sell and people usually buy in boxes/in bulk. I want to sell in bigger quantities.

Anyway, there's no investment if I create a dropship store.

And yes, the quoted price starts from 10k orders but I could order a bit less too. It's doable.


And what was the price that they quoted?
By the way, are these sources of tested quality? Do you know anyone who made business with them?
Because mine is.

And what's their shipping time?



Why?

And by the way, I'm SURE there must be more ways of traffic generation than facebook, reddit and google.
native ads, push notifications etc.
Any ideas?

Track down hospital admins and see if they have a need.
 
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rpeck90

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Buying masks now is a loser move.

People will be back to work in 2 weeks, thinking about buying shit for the super cheap vacations they're all planning to purchase. If you're going to try and make quick money, you need to be at least 2 months ahead of the curve.

If it were me, I would be looking at picking up higher level consumer products, designer labels etc.
 

Bobby_italy

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My dad wanted 200 masks for our workers and family... impossible to get them on Amazon, and every site is bullshit they literally just dropship off of aliexpress, I only found a box of 50 that would come in reasonable time, if I'm ordering from China may as well do it in bulk.

We're in talks with other local businesses(in Italy close to where the corona started spreading) to buy in bulk and donate it to hospitals and workers, notice that in ONE hospital there were 100 people from the medical staff contaminated... it's time to step up.

Also we would gladly buy it at an honest price from some reseller in Italy but they all got confiscated/sold.
 

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China.
If retail is not an option, then I guess I would be focused on large wholesale orders.
My friends got their first order at 70k usd from a Polish customer, they will probably receive 30%

Careful, I heard masks are being confiscated in PL because they don't have enough supplies themselves.
 
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Timmy C

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There's still A LOT of opportunity. Demand is crazy.

With that said, you cannot sell on amazon (any country) or eBay.

Set up your own store.

gonna be hard with your own store as well as google ads wont let you run ads for them, not where i am anyway.
 

InspireHD

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I read this article yesterday:


There are a few things I took away from it.

1. There is probably quite a lot of fraud out there so be careful what you’re buying. What happens when you sell a mask claiming to be N95 and it is a knockoff? What kind of liability are you undertaking? I don’t know enough about the masks to know if it’s easy to tell.

2. This company ramped up production from 250,000 to 1 million PER DAY. There is crazy demand with orders coming in for 100, 200, 300 million PER DAY that they can’t fulfill.

3. 3M is ramping up production as well and already contracted with the government to produce 35 million a month.
 

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The problem with the second option (setting up your own store) is that you'll basically have no way to advertise the masks... unless you know how to get a lot of organic traffic, of course.

You'll have NO WAY to advertise? None at all?

What about calling companies that may need them and speaking to management?

You trapped yourself in an internet box.

Facebook, along with many others (if they haven't implemented it already), are going to start banning any ads related to masks, hand sanitizers, surface disinfecting wipes, etc.

And? This stops you from ever selling a single mask because of something Facebook did?

Again, another box. Think OUTSIDE the box man. Sounds like you broke the commandment of control before you ever even got started!
 
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Ing

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My dad wanted 200 masks for our workers and family... impossible to get them on Amazon, and every site is bullshit they literally just dropship off of aliexpress, I only found a box of 50 that would come in reasonable time, if I'm ordering from China may as well do it in bulk.

We're in talks with other local businesses(in Italy close to where the corona started spreading) to buy in bulk and donate it to hospitals and workers, notice that in ONE hospital there were 100 people from the medical staff contaminated... it's time to step up.

Also we would gladly buy it at an honest price from some reseller in Italy but they all got confiscated/sold.
I still got 60 ffp2 masks left. PM me your adress and I ll send them for free On monday!
 

aminmo

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You'll have NO WAY to advertise? None at all?

What about calling companies that may need them and speaking to management?

You trapped yourself in an internet box.



And? This stops you from ever selling a single mask because of something Facebook did?

Again, another box. Think OUTSIDE the box man. Sounds like you broke the commandment of control before you ever even got started!

There's no way to advertise them in the context of how the OP wants to sell them. In their original post, they basically asked how to set up a store to sell the items (he even asked if he should set up a dropshipping store). In this context, there's no way to advertise using online platforms.

And it's not just Facebook that's cracking down on advertising masks, it's virtually every platform out there.

Once again, this is in the context of what the OP wanted to do (either list it on Amazon or use a dropshipping store).

Yes, he can call companies and do direct sales, but this isn't what I was talking about when I mentioned advertising. Also, we're going through a weird phase in the world right now and the commandment of control isn't something that people have the luxury to think about.

And how did I break the commandment of control? Where did I say that I only advertise with Facebook for my own business? Am I the one trying to sell these masks? I was just giving the OP a heads up that he'll have a tough time using online ad platforms (considering he's asking this question here, he's prob not the type that can handle cold calls and will rely on easier methods of generating sales).
 
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Buying masks now is a loser move.

People will be back to work in 2 weeks, thinking about buying shit for the super cheap vacations they're all planning to purchase. If you're going to try and make quick money, you need to be at least 2 months ahead of the curve.

If it were me, I would be looking at picking up higher level consumer products, designer labels etc.

Naw. It's not gonna be two weeks. Will be closer to 2-3 months. Look at the China trajectory. We're not doing the same protocol they are. Going to be F*cked.
 
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Naw. It's not gonna be two weeks. Will be closer to 2-3 months. Look at the China trajectory. We're not doing the same protocol they are. Going to be F*cked.

Agree with this. Took China 2 months - was it? - to get back on track...

I live in Montreal. Schools and many other institutions are closed now until Mar 27 inclusive.

I bet this will be extended.
 
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If there's no way to advertise on facebook, amazon or whatever, maybe think of a referral cashback bonus for customers who share the link to your store with their friends. I know some friends (the ones that take the current situation seriously) are often asking where to buy masks. I think even without a referral your store can get quite some word of mouth advertisement.
 

VentureVoyager

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Just to make it clear, I wasn't gonna limit myself to the dropshipping store idea and/or Amazon. Those were just first things that came to my mind, obviously, especially AMZ.

But I would rather move large quantities, take big orders and act as an intermediary.

If you have more interesting ideas, I would be glad to hear them.

Suppose you have a good source and you want to sell them to make side money and actually help people by meeting the demand. What are your first steps?
 
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gfDSwY3.png
 

Ing

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If you have N95 masks in EU: its not allowed to sell them to private customers.

But its allowed now to sell to hospitals and other similar establishments! By government.
 

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If you have N95 masks in EU: its not allowed to sell them to private customers.

But its allowed now to sell to hospitals and other similar establishments! By government.
I'm not sure about the masks but a friend of mine (his family) has a big "cleaning products" company, and there's no way they can keep up with the LOCAL request from hospitals and other public workplaces.
They're literally working 15 hours per day and they should get help from the military but it hasn't come yet.
 
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Why is this wrong?

6,600 people WILLINGLY PAID $375. That pretty well proves demand. Whatever price he purchased them for is irrelevant. You know what the markup on regular health care blood work is???
 

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My friend is currently selling masks B2B. Your supplier has good prices and the delivery time is short. I would suggest you cold call / cold email any business that might be interested and close larger orders (500+ masks at once). Thats how my friend is doing it at least.
 

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