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Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

Jake

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I agree wholeheartedly with this. I owe infinite thanks to Kenric. Need to check out Vick's thread now.

Definitely will hit you up once I go back home to Bkk! :)
Sounds good bro. Let me know and we'll set something up.
 
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downpaymentblues

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For selling generic products on Amazon: Do you tend to create a new listing or do you add yourself to a existing product listing?

For example there are several listings for a generic product:
  • MONKEY MONKEY teaspoon set
  • teaspoons by HELLO SUNSHINE
  • BETTER LIVING teaspoons
  • ...
  • ...
It's the exact same product from the same factory, but 'branded' differently. As I understand, these are no traditional/big brands, just different sellers trying to make their listing appeal more professional.
More interestingly, some listings sell better for a higher price than others for a cheaper price. Should I just add my product to the best existing listing?

Obviously I have more control with an own product listing, but is the effort for a generic low-price product worth it?
Do you compete for a buybox on the same listing or compete for the highest product listing?
 

ZeroTo100

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Good Morning @biophase

I'm interested in entering Ecommerce as a way to build additional income. I retire in 8 years (I'm 32 with a pension job that I can collect for life at 40 with benefits) and have had some entrepreneurial success in the past running side businesses. I have stashed away enough money to invest in both inventory or building my own brand/products. I also own my own home already but I'd like to use the funds to buy more real estate. So, I'm really looking for an additional income model and I'm not really focusing on hitting the home-run. I just want to sell product(s) from my own site. Rinse/Repeat - build some income while building equitable web properties so that I can eventually invest in more real estate.

Anyway, as someone who is new to product sourcing and manufacturing, would you recommend I start my own brand selling physical products or start as a retailer and then introduce my own products and brand?

Also, have you ever had success selling your own digital products? If so, what was the experience like and what route do you prefer? I only ask about digital products because it may not be as hard to make the actual product.

Appreciate your thoughts...

Stevie

PS - I'm still trying to get through this long thread lol. Lots of good stuff here
 

mtn_baldy

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Bio - how often do you have to deal with Amazon's "control issues"?

I have to say, I've been selling on Amazon now for about 2 years and I'm not going to lie - I've been considering throwing my hands up at it. I'm ALWAYS fighting SOME sort of battle with Amazon over frivolous, silly things that are out of my control.

I have a product right now, for example, that was selling wonderfully for 1.5 years now. One of my first products. It has 132 reviews on it, 4.5 stars. The product is good - maybe not "great" but considering it was like my third product ever it's pretty spiffy. I actually got it selling really well recently with some refocused effort on it and what happens? A SINGLE complaint from ONE customer about it being 'inauthentic' and BOOM - listing locked. This is my own brand and I'm the only seller.

I call support, they say it's not within ther power to look into it, that I have to email some other department. So I email some other department - no responses. It's been over a month now. More support chats, no help. More emails - no response.

I deal with stuff like this regularly with Amazon. It seems there's no end to it. I put out one fire and another pops up a few weeks later. And I don't even have a ton of products and I run a fairly legit and high-customer-service business.

So do you deal with this often? Are you always fighting uphill battles with amazon support or am I just seriously unlucky with this?
"fairly legit"7376012_sma.jpg
 
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Paul Thomas

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This thread is amazing Bio, as I have just officially gotten into eCommerce myself: 1 question and it relates more specifically to Amazon.

I have a consumable product I want to sell at a certain size/quantity that costs me, for illustrative purposes, ~$5/unit. I'm going to sell this thing on Amazon for ~$20/unit, and assuming a total amazon fee of ~$6.75 (referral & fba), my GP/unit should be ~$8.25.

Now, to gain traction I want to run a promotion where I'll give away 50-100 units for sales/reviews/credibility. Instead of giving away the main unit that will sell, I can get the same exact product at a lower size/quantity for ~$2.90/unit and would rather give this variation away for obvious reasons. My question is if I run the promotion with the smaller quantity product, can I still attribute the sales/reviews to the same AMZ listing with the higher quantity product (and potentially the smaller quantity product)?

The higher quantity product will sell at a higher margin and I believe has higher demand. But if I can attribute reviews/sales of the smaller unit to the overall listing with multiple sizes, I can sell on the higher margin product with the fact that there is a consumer savings per consumable unit. Only downside here is managing inventory across two different size products.

Apologies if there is something above you don't understand, if you need any clarifications please let me know.
 

Wisith

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Hey Kenric,

I'm in the final home stretch of sending my first mass production batch of widget into Amazon for FBA. I've researched and got conflicting answers so I hope you can shine some light on this issue:

I am selling an item that comes in 4 sizes. I should purchase 4 UPC codes, correct? I am looking at https://speedybarcodes.com/ since the codes are from GS1 and verified.

After getting the UPC codes, I need print out the FNSKU's since that's what Amazon uses to identify products. According to them, the FNSKU stickers should cover the UPC codes: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/fba-help/QRG/ItemLabels.pdf

I also hear that only UPC codes are needed, and you can register that as the actual FNSKU since it is a private label product.

I'm a bit confused here, would truly appreciate if you can give your input. Thanks :)
 

biophase

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Hey Kenric,

I'm in the final home stretch of sending my first mass production batch of widget into Amazon for FBA. I've researched and got conflicting answers so I hope you can shine some light on this issue:

I am selling an item that comes in 4 sizes. I should purchase 4 UPC codes, correct? I am looking at https://speedybarcodes.com/ since the codes are from GS1 and verified.

After getting the UPC codes, I need print out the FNSKU's since that's what Amazon uses to identify products. According to them, the FNSKU stickers should cover the UPC codes: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/fba-help/QRG/ItemLabels.pdf

I also hear that only UPC codes are needed, and you can register that as the actual FNSKU since it is a private label product.

I'm a bit confused here, would truly appreciate if you can give your input. Thanks :)

If you choose commingled inventory, then you only need your UPC barcode for your product. If you choose not commingled, then you need to have your FNSKU on your product and you don't need a UPC barcode on your product at all.

You need 1 UPC/FNSKU for each size.
 
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Wisith

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If you choose commingled inventory, then you only need your UPC barcode for your product. If you choose not commingled, then you need to have your FNSKU on your product and you don't need a UPC barcode on your product at all.

You need 1 UPC/FNSKU for each size.
Thanks for the quick reply. Here comes a stupid question...what are the pros/cons of commingled? It seems like commingled is the way to go then for private label, unless I'm not seeing all the angles.

Per Amazon:
..............................................................................................
Why Choose to Enable Stickerless, Commingled Inventory?
Stickerless, Commingled Inventory eliminates the need for you to place FBA labels on your eligible products. It also helps Amazon place units closer to customers, which helps to get your orders to customers faster.
...............................................................................................


My items come in plastic bags from the manufacturer who unfortunately does not do custom packaging. I went with Sticker Giant to get some stickers with my logo, instructions, and website made to make it more personalized. Even though I plan on going FBA, I am also going to launch a site that consumers can buy from directly, but will be sent from Amazon.



Also, what are your thoughts on Amazon Brand Registry? It would exempt you from all label requirements, correct?
 

biophase

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I would go non commingled and have my fnsku printed into my packaging. I've heard that your fnsku never changes. But I'm not sure because I'm doing commingled. Going commingled opens you up for counterfeiting if others send in under your UPC barcode.
 

Wisith

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I would go non commingled and have my fnsku printed into my packaging. I've heard that your fnsku never changes. But I'm not sure because I'm doing commingled. Going commingled opens you up for counterfeiting if others send in under your UPC barcode.
Thanks for your help, bud. On the list is to source a back up supplier in case this one bails out (that will be able to print custom packaging for me). Just sucks that I can't get printing done inhouse with them. Oh well, I can manually sticker on the FNSKU for the first batch to get the ball rolling at least.

Because you are doing commingled, aren't you afraid that others may try to counterfeit your stuff, given how much success you've had?
 
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biophase

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Thanks for your help, bud. On the list is to source a back up supplier in case this one bails out (that will be able to print custom packaging for me). Just sucks that I can't get printing done inhouse with them. Oh well, I can manually sticker on the FNSKU for the first batch to get the ball rolling at least.

Because you are doing commingled, aren't you afraid that others may try to counterfeit your stuff, given how much success you've had?

I should switch, but all my products already have the UPC barcode on them and I'm not sure what it takes to switch over since I have so much inventory at Amazon right now.
 

Wisith

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I just got a reply back from SpeedyBarCodes. I was under the impression that everyone just buys those cheap upc barcodes out there, I saw some on eBay for ridiculously cheap.

What are your thoughts on this new implementation from Amazon, Kenric?

This is their reply below. I'm posting from mobile so apologies for not being able to quote properly.

................................

Are there any stores (retailers) that will not accept barcode numbers sold by SpeedyBarcodes.com or any other barcode reseller?
Yes, certain retailers require that you supply a certificate directly from GS1. There are a few stores that require a GS1 certificate in your name. The majority of the companies do not require a certificate from GS1. As a matter of fact, we only found a few that do require a Certificate from GS1 which include, but not limited to, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Macy’s, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Costco, Fred Meyer, Bloomingdale’s and *Amazon. If that is the case, then the only place you can buy your barcodes from is the company GS1. If you are working with any stores that participate in the EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) program then you must buy your barcodes from the company GS1.
It is your responsibility to check with your reseller to find out what their barcode requirements are before you make your purchase. Be sure to read Speedy Barcode’s Return Policy.
If you are required to purchase your barcodes from GS1, you can still have us create the UPC or EAN barcode artwork that you need, to have case codes created, and to have labels printed.

*Amazon has recently updated their company policy and put a barcode ownership verification process in place. At this time, Amazon is using GS1’s GEPIR database as the sole means of verification. We have contacted Amazon to let them know that the database they are using is not current and does not reflect correct ownership information for all of the barcode numbers GS1 has listed, but as per an email from them, they have no plans to change their process. At this time, you have no choice but to obtain barcodes from GS1 if you want to list your products on Amazon.
If your retailer does require a GS1 Certificate, then you must purchase your Barcodes directly from GS1.


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TC119

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Hi all,

For Shopify users,

Did you have to obtain a sales tax permit when you were getting your first orders? USA
 
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ZCP

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Any tips on how to forecast inventory so that you balance the issue of having too much stock and not having any stock at all? Most orders from China seem to take anywhere between 2-4 weeks.

Do you just use excel and your best guestimates or is there a method here?
Here is some initial info..... Google Univ for the rest!
https://www.allbusiness.com/how-to-forecast-inventory-needs-12365224-1.html

There are also some forecasting functions in excel. We built an inventory / order calculator in excel based on previous and predicted sales volumes. When we update our inventory numbers it tells us what to send to FBA and what to order from suppliers.
 

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I see that you are sourcing your own products and carrying inventory. Have you ever thought about drop shipping? Use the same techniques to identify the product, but instead of carrying inventory have the supplier do the shipping? Yes you lose your price advantage potentially unless you find a niche product or unless you reach the wholesale threshold. But it gives you so much more time to sell, promote and look for more products to sell. No shipping headache and solid products. I have come across a drop ship partner that has a list of over 100 verified drop shippers and nearly a million products to choose from. I went the sourcing/alibaba route and had a little success, but for how much work I put into it , I decided it wasn't worth it and started down the drop ship route. Anyways just throwing it out there.

Jeremy
Owner of an ecommerce website with 12,000 + products (drop shipped)
 

Wisith

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Hi all,

For Shopify users,

Did you have to obtain a sales tax permit when you were getting your first orders? USA
No.


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biophase

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I see that you are sourcing your own products and carrying inventory. Have you ever thought about drop shipping? Use the same techniques to identify the product, but instead of carrying inventory have the supplier do the shipping? Yes you lose your price advantage potentially unless you find a niche product or unless you reach the wholesale threshold. But it gives you so much more time to sell, promote and look for more products to sell. No shipping headache and solid products. I have come across a drop ship partner that has a list of over 100 verified drop shippers and nearly a million products to choose from. I went the sourcing/alibaba route and had a little success, but for how much work I put into it , I decided it wasn't worth it and started down the drop ship route. Anyways just throwing it out there.

Jeremy
Owner of an ecommerce website with 12,000 + products (drop shipped)

Hi Jeremy,

I just don't see how you can compete by dropshipping. You have no advantage in any way. You lose any pricing advantage, shipping and fulfillment advantage and you cannot control inventory. Those dropshipping companies out there like WWB or others are not worth it. You should never pay to get access to a dropshipping company's list. Most of the time, the prices you pay for products are higher than retail sale prices on Amazon. Also, they never treat your order first. What happens if they have 100 in stock, and over the weekend a bunch of random stores sell 150 units. Which stores' orders do they ship? Which stores will they inform that they are out of stock?

There's just no good long term business by building a 100% dropshipping website. It is not a business model that I would rely on.
 

biophase

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Bio, I am fortunate to have a little bit of capital to invest into FBA. Would you do anything different or target different niches perhaps if capital wasn't limited to a few K? Or more so how would you use a greater capital base to skew your chances of success? My thoughts would be to possibly sell a large number initially at a loss or break-even to move rank or target items to import that initially cost more (barrier to entry), may sell less but also hopefully less competition.

Any thoughts? Of course providing a great product that adds value is key.

I would concentrate on one product. Get a product with not much AMZ seller competition. There are so many out there. They aren't sexy, but they will make money.
 

biophase

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Hi @biophase ,

could you please write a list or marketing resources you use at the moment?
I started my e-Commerce store 3 months ago and have the following:

- Adwords, keeping bids quite low at the moment as was costing me too much per click, need to optimise. Also need to start some proper work on SEO as I am currently nowhere near first pages.
- Facebook, growing well.
- Instagram, just started, purchased a robot to help me with automation.
- Twitter, opened account but haven't started actively yet. Will start soon and will use same robot as for Instagram to help me with automation.
- Amazon advertising, will start as soon as Amazon approves my request in the Beauty/Health section, but they are being a pain.

I want to focus on the 5 above, but I would like to compare against what you are doing for marketing and hear what is performing better for you in 2016.

Thank you :)

Remember my stores are different from yours. They already rank on the 1st page of Google. So I don't use alot of marketing anymore, it's mostly organic. I actually dont use any of what you listed except Amazon PPC.

I think your list of 5 look fine.
 
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biophase

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Any tips on how to forecast inventory so that you balance the issue of having too much stock and not having any stock at all? Most orders from China seem to take anywhere between 2-4 weeks.

Do you just use excel and your best guestimates or is there a method here?

This is a never ending battle. One year I order too little and the next year I order too much. Sometimes one product is on fire in 2014 and dead in 2015 and awesome in 2016.

I solved this problem via brute force, I over order all the time because I can afford to. I have the capital and warehouse space to hold inventory for many months. My inventory does not go bad or out of style. My orders from China take 12-16 weeks, so I have to plan alot better. If I could get something in 2-4 weeks, I'd never run out of stock.
 

biophase

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For selling generic products on Amazon: Do you tend to create a new listing or do you add yourself to a existing product listing?

For example there are several listings for a generic product:
  • MONKEY MONKEY teaspoon set
  • teaspoons by HELLO SUNSHINE
  • BETTER LIVING teaspoons
  • ...
  • ...
It's the exact same product from the same factory, but 'branded' differently. As I understand, these are no traditional/big brands, just different sellers trying to make their listing appeal more professional.
More interestingly, some listings sell better for a higher price than others for a cheaper price. Should I just add my product to the best existing listing?

Obviously I have more control with an own product listing, but is the effort for a generic low-price product worth it?
Do you compete for a buybox on the same listing or compete for the highest product listing?

I always create my own listing.

But if you are selling generic, there's no reason to create you own listing because others will hop onto it afterwards and take it over.
 

biophase

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Anyway, as someone who is new to product sourcing and manufacturing, would you recommend I start my own brand selling physical products or start as a retailer and then introduce my own products and brand?

Also, have you ever had success selling your own digital products? If so, what was the experience like and what route do you prefer? I only ask about digital products because it may not be as hard to make the actual product.

I have never sold digital products and have no experience in that.

I would start with your own branded product on Amazon. But you can compliment that with your own ecommerce store that has your branded product and some other people's products on the store (maybe even dropship). The purpose of your own store is to make your brand look more legit by having your product sold in more places than just Amazon.
 
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biophase

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Now, to gain traction I want to run a promotion where I'll give away 50-100 units for sales/reviews/credibility. Instead of giving away the main unit that will sell, I can get the same exact product at a lower size/quantity for ~$2.90/unit and would rather give this variation away for obvious reasons. My question is if I run the promotion with the smaller quantity product, can I still attribute the sales/reviews to the same AMZ listing with the higher quantity product (and potentially the smaller quantity product)?

First of all, I'd find another strategy instead of giveaways. But it you must, I'd give away the product that you want to sell. Why giveaway a cheaper version? You will have reviews and photos of this cheaper product in your reviews.

You are trying to save yourself, $2.10 x 100 = $210, by starting off your business in a slightly shady way.

My strategy would be to just get the right product into FBA and sell the shit out of it. No freebie giveaways. Your product should be able to stand on its own and sell on its own.
 

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Hey Kenric,

Have you had any bad experience with Amazon?

My product uses a very small battery to power it. I tried to list them on AmaZon last week and got a message saying it has to go through Haz Mat review. I called Amazon and was told it should take 4 days max. 4 business days went by and I called again. Even giving the call number, I got transferred several times. No one knew what they were talking about. Finally I was told to upload an MSDS, which I did. I was told I would be approved within 4 days. This was Monday.

I was going to launch my site and dropship via FBA but I went ahead and launch my site anyway and sending out items myself as they sell.

It's frustrating because my product is nothing new. It's an improved version of stuff already on Amazon, down to the battery.


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Hi Jeremy,

I just don't see how you can compete by dropshipping. You have no advantage in any way. You lose any pricing advantage, shipping and fulfillment advantage and you cannot control inventory. Those dropshipping companies out there like WWB or others are not worth it. You should never pay to get access to a dropshipping company's list. Most of the time, the prices you pay for products are higher than retail sale prices on Amazon. Also, they never treat your order first. What happens if they have 100 in stock, and over the weekend a bunch of random stores sell 150 units. Which stores' orders do they ship? Which stores will they inform that they are out of stock?

There's just no good long term business by building a 100% dropshipping website. It is not a business model that I would rely on.

Hi Biophase!

I appreciate your comments and concern on my business model and agree to an extent with what you are saying. You described the old way of drop shipping perfectly. That is not 100% the case. Let me explain.

To clarify: I didn't pay a company for a list of drop ship vendors, I pay a company monthly to update my daily inventory levels, ship my products with my logo, update my products listing descriptions and photos. The list is FREE on their site, including every single product by vendor and the price of the product. So you can easily google the product and see if you have a price advantage or unique/niche product etc. Check demand, google trends, etc. All the same analysis you would do for sourcing a product from China/oversees, but a whole lot easier and faster. So you can find a single product from the 1 million for free and once you do, this company can help you with the daily updates and turnkey website. I am sure if you do not want the daily/hourly update and manage yourself, you can probably pay a one time fee or contact that vendor outside of the service. This is all stated upfront on all the vendors. It is really informative and detailed and FREE.

Treating your order first:
they treat orders as FIFO (first In, first out), because inventory is updated hourly (for the top vendors, daily for the others). I believe majority are hourly updated and I have not had a problem yet. Since my inventory is updated hourly, Shopify will mark the product as out of stock and will not allow the consumer to add to their cart.

As far as price advantage: the current drop shipper I use gives me a few options on getting the price down. 1) Buy it down for $500/year 2) Sell $5k worth, gets me to wholesale price 3) Sell $2,500k worth, gets me to wholesale + 2%. So there are ways to get your price advantage and the wholesale price from my drop shipper is sometimes lower than amazon or 1% over. Very close and considering that people would be buying from a more legit ecommerce site and not an individual on Amazon may sway a few your way.

Apologize for misspells or the grammar...

Cheers,
Jeremy
 
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Wisith

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Hey Kenric,

Since you're moving huge numbers, have you ever thought about selling to businesses or distributors directly?

I'm still a small fish but I was looking at that avenue as a potential route.

Thanks!


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Hi Biophase, first and foremost thank you for all the value you have provided not only in this thread but all throughout this forum, since i'm not a techy kind of guy, the good old fashioned business of buying and selling goods is something i know i can wrap my head around so i'm ready to take the plunge in the ecommerce world!

i have some questions if you would kindly answer,

1) what is your process like when looking for new products? with so many millions of products to choose from it has become quite overwhelming, i don't even know where to begin. What is your thinking process behind finding a new product, or what questions can i ask myself to narrow down my search. I know this sounds stupid but this is probably my biggest hurdle, i am quite a creative guy so thinking of new changes to make to a product isn't a problem, it's just actually finding a product to start with when faced with millions of choices.

2) if you had to choose a concrete number,how many sellers is too much competition? and how many sellers do you aim for when choosing to enter a market or not? what's your personal threshold? do you even have one?

3) as a first time seller, realistically how much should i have saved for my first product taking into consideration sample orders, moulds and changes,moq's of 200-500, shipping, ppc and other ads, i.e facebook etc I know it will largely depend on how much my product costs on alibaba, but if you had to give a ball park estimate on how much would cover it. (probably a stupid question lol)

4) should i finance this with personal savings until i find a product that sells well, then move to credit cards to finance and purchase larger orders, and also to begin with purchase small orders then ramp it up on each order once it starts selling or jump straight in and order the full moq if samples sell quickly?

5) you say its important to focus on building a brand, so would you advise sticking to one niche rather than having a store selling multiple products in multiple niches, or could you have different amazon accounts dedicated to different niches, is that something you do?

6) have you ever ordered a sample that you have made changes to and its arrived not how you expected it to turn out or they have got it completely wrong. How would you deal with this? do the factories still charge you if its not up to expectations. Would they charge you again for the extra changes to make it right?

7) do you decide what changes to make to a product once you get the physical stock order sample or decide what changes to make just by looking at the stock photo of the item online?

8) would you say your strategy is looking for products that sell lets say 50< a month but then adding lots of those type of products to your inventory, rather than looking for that perfect 1-3 products that sell thousands?

any advice would be great, you da' man!!

Regards
 

LightHouse

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Hey Kenric,

Have you had any bad experience with Amazon?

My product uses a very small battery to power it. I tried to list them on AmaZon last week and got a message saying it has to go through Haz Mat review. I called Amazon and was told it should take 4 days max. 4 business days went by and I called again. Even giving the call number, I got transferred several times. No one knew what they were talking about. Finally I was told to upload an MSDS, which I did. I was told I would be approved within 4 days. This was Monday.

I was going to launch my site and dropship via FBA but I went ahead and launch my site anyway and sending out items myself as they sell.

It's frustrating because my product is nothing new. It's an improved version of stuff already on Amazon, down to the battery.


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You need to send an MSDS ave also there is a form you need to fill out. This is standard for anything that includes lithium and other batteries for insurance proposes at their warehouses. Once you send both those sheets in, it takes a few days, but they will not notify you. The only way to find out is trying to send in inventory and see if it lets you.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
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Wisith

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You need to send an MSDS ave also there is a form you need to fill out. This is standard for anything that includes lithium and other batteries for insurance proposes at their warehouses. Once you send both those sheets in, it takes a few days, but they will not notify you. The only way to find out is trying to send in inventory and see if it lets you.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Thanks for this, brother.

Amazon still has the worst customer service to me.

I signed back onto my account today, and looked at the "Manage FBA Shipments" tab. It looks different. It actually shows the amount of fee Amazon will take. I can also continue to work on my shipment. Just need to go home and enter the dimensions and weight of the boxes being sent.

I called Amazon today as well to see what happened. The customer rep who took my call reassured me that I would get an email once I am approved. I told her that the page looks different, certain areas were grayed out prior, but now they are not. She then said "Oh OK, you can try to check out then and see if it works" :dead::dead::dead:
 
Apr 22, 2016
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Hi,

I'm having trouble with my PPC ads, and click fraud from a competitor. I don;t have any proof, but all signs point to this. My ads should definitely be converting better, and as soon as i started getting sales initially, they dropped off, and now my budget gets used up with absolutely no sales.

Any advice about PPC click fraud on Amazon?
 

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