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Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

biophase

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Hey Bio, do you use a central software for inventory management across sales channels? Ebay, Amazon, website, etc. Or would you be able to recommend one?

I'm using the Shopify store's inventory system now. It's not the best and I'm looking for another way. I used to use a 3rd party company, but I think they charge around $1000/mo now and it just wasn't worth it to me.
 
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ApparentHorizon

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I'm using the Shopify store's inventory system now. It's not the best and I'm looking for another way. I used to use a 3rd party company, but I think they charge around $1000/mo now and it just wasn't worth it to me.

I tried Square and Shipstation, and I don't like either.

Square is missing basic features like multiple categories or good product variance control.

Shipstation is buggy at times, so I don't trust it to handle the inventory. I may give it another try if nothing else comes up.

I may use WooComm for multi-channel management, but plugin bloat is a concern.
 

FreedomFighter7

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@biophase - I'm new to MFL and have been briefing your posts. Forgive me as I don't know much about other than you are an authority for ecommerce and truly successful at it.

What I'd like to know is doing private label on Amazon a viable business model in 2020?

I have a trustworthy friend (known for 10 years) who has been doing supplements on Amazon for only 5 years and he is going to net about 2 million this year. He told me it's a lot harder to do than when he got started 5 years ago but there are a lot of people "supposedly" doing well (maybe not his numbers) with PL on Amazon. However I have another friend who has been struggling for years with his PL.

(I have a sales and marketing background and did PPC for 3 years pretty successful.)

Thanks in advance for your input. Blessings!
 

AnneC

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I tried Square and ShipStation...

I use Craftybase. It was originally designed for Etsy sellers, but it can also pull orders from Shopify and FBM Amazon.

It only pulls data. It will decrease the inventory count for each sale, but it will not change the available inventory count on your channels.

For the price, it suits my needs.
 
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kkompoti

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@biophase I would like to ask what is in your opinion the best ways for online marketing for a real product based niche ecommerce store?
 

biophase

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@biophase - I'm new to MFL and have been briefing your posts. Forgive me as I don't know much about other than you are an authority for ecommerce and truly successful at it.

What I'd like to know is doing private label on Amazon a viable business model in 2020?

I have a trustworthy friend (known for 10 years) who has been doing supplements on Amazon for only 5 years and he is going to net about 2 million this year. He told me it's a lot harder to do than when he got started 5 years ago but there are a lot of people "supposedly" doing well (maybe not his numbers) with PL on Amazon. However I have another friend who has been struggling for years with his PL.

(I have a sales and marketing background and did PPC for 3 years pretty successful.)

Thanks in advance for your input. Blessings!

There are a couple things here. Your friend #1 started back when it was easier. The fact that he's doing $2M net means that he is moving alot of product, probably has very good rankings and a nice selection of products. Friend #2 is struggling probably because he started a little later, selling less, not ranked as well and has less reviews.

It is definitely harder to do PL right now. You need alot of money to start and get ranked. However, with that said, I would bet that if friend #1 started over in 2020, he would probably be successful in a few years again.

So let me ask you, why is friend #2 struggling and friend #1 not? It can't be just because of timing. Why is your assessment of why they are so different?
 

AppMan

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OP: How do you protect your modified (improved ) product ? what if the manufacturer start selling it on Alibaba the next day ?
 
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Vadim26

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OP: How do you protect your modified (improved ) product ? what if the manufacturer start selling it on Alibaba the next day ?

This literally can be googled.
I think standard NNN would work in your case. I can share a template if you’d like for free.

I had a similar, but more specific question.

See my thread Here to read replies from more experienced people.
 
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FreedomFighter7

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There are a couple things here. Your friend #1 started back when it was easier. The fact that he's doing $2M net means that he is moving alot of product, probably has very good rankings and a nice selection of products. Friend #2 is struggling probably because he started a little later, selling less, not ranked as well and has less reviews.

It is definitely harder to do PL right now. You need alot of money to start and get ranked. However, with that said, I would bet that if friend #1 started over in 2020, he would probably be successful in a few years again.

So let me ask you, why is friend #2 struggling and friend #1 not? It can't be just because of timing. Why is your assessment of why they are so different?


@biophase - friend #1
  1. There are a couple things here. Your friend #1 started back when it was easier. The fact that he's doing $2M net means that he is moving alot of product, probably has very good rankings and a nice selection of products. Friend #2 is struggling probably because he started a little later, selling less, not ranked as well and has less reviews.

It is definitely harder to do PL right now. You need alot of money to start and get ranked. However, with that said, I would bet that if friend #1 started over in 2020, he would probably be successful in a few years again.

So let me ask you, why is friend #2 struggling and friend #1 not? It can't be just because of timing. Why is your assessment of why they are so different?

@biophase

friend #1 - I believe he is successful because o f the following:

  1. Work ethic - I know for certain really works. He puts it in and moves. That I do know of him.
  2. Supplements - We all know that's where the big money is at.
  3. Reviews - I know he did pay for them to get the product off the ground.
  4. Luck - He admitted this himself that there is some involved like timing, etc.
He told me, "You have to willing to spend money, work like hell, and have a little luck. I didn't know I was going into the most competitive niche which is supplements but glad I did fall into it."

I know my friends product and has thousands of reviews almost 5 stars. I seen his entire line and it's amazing.

friend #2 - I believe he is UNsuccessful because o f the following:

  1. Lack of work ethic - He does "work" but very distracted with many other things that takes himself away from moving the needle in his business. He admits this himself
  2. Paralysis of analysis - This friend is one of the smartest people I know BUT over analyzes the hell out of everything before he makes decisions from picking the color of something to the name of the product.
  3. His niche? He sells or trying to sell sports tape. I can't imagine sports tape has the same demand as supplements.
  4. Reviews - He won't pay for reviews because he's afraid he will lose his Amazon account. He also has a friend that is netting a few million per year that paid for reviews when he was establishing his brand. My friend told me, if you can't get reviews, it's hard as ever to get a product launched. He is exploring some grey hat techniques to obtain reviews.
  5. Lack of luck?
What's your verdict? Is doing PL on Amazon a viable business model in 2020? Is obtaining reviews to win customer trust possible doing it "legitimately"?
 
G

Guest24480

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What's your verdict? Is doing PL on Amazon a viable business model in 2020? Is obtaining reviews to win customer trust possible doing it "legitimately"?
Viable? Maybe. But why do it the easy-hard way when you can do it the hard-easy way and get better results?

 

FreedomFighter7

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@biophase - friend #1


@biophase

friend #1 - I believe he is successful because o f the following:

  1. Work ethic - I know for certain really works. He puts it in and moves. That I do know of him.
  2. Supplements - We all know that's where the big money is at.
  3. Reviews - I know he did pay for them to get the product off the ground.
  4. Luck - He admitted this himself that there is some involved like timing, etc.
He told me, "You have to willing to spend money, work like hell, and have a little luck. I didn't know I was going into the most competitive niche which is supplements but glad I did fall into it."

I know my friends product and has thousands of reviews almost 5 stars. I seen his entire line and it's amazing.

friend #2 - I believe he is UNsuccessful because o f the following:

  1. Lack of work ethic - He does "work" but very distracted with many other things that takes himself away from moving the needle in his business. He admits this himself
  2. Paralysis of analysis - This friend is one of the smartest people I know BUT over analyzes the hell out of everything before he makes decisions from picking the color of something to the name of the product.
  3. His niche? He sells or trying to sell sports tape. I can't imagine sports tape has the same demand as supplements.
  4. Reviews - He won't pay for reviews because he's afraid he will lose his Amazon account. He also has a friend that is netting a few million per year that paid for reviews when he was establishing his brand. My friend told me, if you can't get reviews, it's hard as ever to get a product launched. He is exploring some grey hat techniques to obtain reviews.
  5. Lack of luck?
What's your verdict? Is doing PL on Amazon a viable business model in 2020? Is obtaining reviews to win customer trust possible doing it "legitimately"?


@biophase - Did you see the above post answering your questions?
 
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MoneyDoc

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Hey @biophase what is the multiple for eCommerce sites nowadays? Finding a wide range of numbers...
 

biophase

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My comments in brackets.

friend #1 - I believe he is successful because o f the following:
  1. Work ethic - I know for certain really works. He puts it in and moves. That I do know of him. (I agree)
  2. Supplements - We all know that's where the big money is at. (Disagree, this is an excuse for someone else not being successful)
  3. Reviews - I know he did pay for them to get the product off the ground. (You can still do this)
  4. Luck - He admitted this himself that there is some involved like timing, etc. (Getting in early definitely has its advantages)
friend #2 - I believe he is UNsuccessful because of the following:
  1. Lack of work ethic - He does "work" but very distracted with many other things that takes himself away from moving the needle in his business. He admits this himself (I agree)
  2. Paralysis of analysis - This friend is one of the smartest people I know BUT over analyzes the hell out of everything before he makes decisions from picking the color of something to the name of the product. (This is probably an excuse to not put in effort)
  3. His niche? He sells or trying to sell sports tape. I can't imagine sports tape has the same demand as supplements. (Probably not the same, but I bet there are still people making six figures doing it, so I view this as an excuse)
  4. Reviews - He won't pay for reviews because he's afraid he will lose his Amazon account. He also has a friend that is netting a few million per year that paid for reviews when he was establishing his brand. My friend told me, if you can't get reviews, it's hard as ever to get a product launched. He is exploring some grey hat techniques to obtain reviews. (I think you can go either way on this)
  5. Lack of luck? (An excuse)
----------

Give friend #1 the same product as friend #2 and he will probably outsell him in a couple months.

Basically it comes down to friend #2 has bad work ethic. Take an experienced, hard working AMZ seller and give him the same product and I bet he outsells friend #2 within 3 months.
 

biophase

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Hey @biophase what is the multiple for eCommerce sites nowadays? Finding a wide range of numbers...

For businesses asking $100k and below, I think it is around 2x to 3x depending on if you are only on Amazon or have your own website.

The multiples increase as your revenues increase, going probably up to 4x for $1M+ profit businesses.
 
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Yoluu

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Alot has changed since my Ask me about Ecommerce AMA from 2012, so I thought I'd do an updated AMA as some of the answers in the previous thread are now outdated. The online marketplace has shifted greatly in the past couple years. Some examples of what has changed:
  • Google Shopping is now at the top of your search results, so ranking #1 for a specific term is not as valuable as before. I don't do anymore SEO.
  • Big box stores like Amazon, Walmart and Target now dominate the results whereas before smaller niche stores did.
  • Amazon is now the place to be in Ecommerce.
  • A huge shift has happened from dropshipping to importing and branding.
So go ahead and ask away!

You created your own brand? Am I right? Are you registered? I am asking because some ecommerce sellers register while some not. When is the best time to register? When you get first sales or later? How much money did you need for the beginning to start? Do you think service based website without a product is a good idea? How and where you advertise? How to generate first traffic before openning a website?
 

Walter Hay

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For businesses asking $100k and below, I think it is around 2x to 3x depending on if you are only on Amazon or have your own website.

The multiples increase as your revenues increase, going probably up to 4x for $1M+ profit businesses.
It can also depend on the nature of the business, and how deep are the pockets of the buyer. When I sold my successful industrial chemical business, I had no trouble getting 4X.

The buyer did not even attempt to bargain. He was in a JV with a huge merchant bank. They examined the history of the business, both financial and growth factors, together with the obvious potential for future growth and accepted my asking price without quibbling.

The sad part of the story is that the incompetent buyer just wanted glory and spent time and money on his new international lifestyle instead of maintaining the 20 year history of customer service. As a result my baby died quickly at his hands.

Walter
 

21elnegocio

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Question for all ecommerce experts, I dont know much about this field. But I want to start learning, ecommerce can play a huge role in my industry. I have home owners , real estate investors, real estate agents data (names, phone numbers, emails)


The thing is I want to learn what I can sell to them?

Is there a tool or website where you can research what do a specific pool of people consume?
 
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ADayattheRoxbury

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I do use Amazon PPC, but it is a supplement to organic growth. The current Amazon formula that most people are using right now is:
1) Use giveaways to get reviews
2) get 25+ reviews
3) Amazon PPC to get sales and boost search rankings
4) Sell organically

I just saw this company giveaway at least 200 products because they went from zero to reviews to 70 to 150 to 220 in the span of 4 days. Now they are at 320 reviews. So they had to have given away at least $2000 in product. Personally I think it was too fast, but now they are sitting at #6, so it works.

I know some people running Google PPC direct to their Amazon listings and they say it converts well.

Are giveaways through amazon or a service like BzzAgent?
 

23Infinity

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Yes, sample seems pretty good, had their factory name (same as Alibaba) name and all. My concern is that the demand for this product is somewhat lower in the winter months, and that by the time it finishes production and is launch ready, it'll already be September its going to be a lower demand season, although demand still exists as it can be used indoors.

I guess if I went ahead I could build some reviews and try and lay the foundation for stronger spring sales, but not sure if it's the best use of my capital given that I could launch a different product as well, although I have enough capital for two.



Got it, thanks Walter, I guess paying 30% deposit and using a good inspection service would be the safer way to proceed if i did. I was considering Bureau Veritas (common to see on Alibaba)


Wanted to provide an update here to my question from months ago. The supplier turned out to be legit/trust-able, a few production hiccups, but the product is ranking very well on Amazon, great feedback and dominating the niche with around 20-22 sales/day in the slower winter months, about 30 days after launch. Very excited for the coming spring and especially high demand summer months, think I can 10-20x the sales by then (fingers crossed). Happy with the results given it's only my second FBA product.

Thanks @biophase and @Walter Hay for your help again via this thread, I know a lot of us here ask questions and might disappear after, so wanted to provide this update as your help to all of us makes a real difference!
 
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Daedalus

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Hey there,

My main business is in affiliate marketing. Essentially, I sell a rather basic product in the health & beauty niche at volume through affiliates. This model has done very well for me but is a huge headache, unsustainable, and isn't creating a real brand with an exponential growth curve.

I've tried 2x at an FBA-Only business. Both were in the health & beauty nice and both failed. I got in when it was no longer possible to buy reviewers through services like AMZBlast (drop me a PM if this kind of thing is still possible and I'm just unaware). I was doing supplements, which are a bit of a commodity, necessitating very low pricing. At $10-20 price points, there was simply no room to PPC effectively and get the brand exposure. The businesses made a bit of money, but I am looking for HIGH volume to replace what my affiliate business does, so I can finally quit it.

The new business I am launching is in the beauty niche but will focus mainly on driving paid traffic to sales on my own custom (not Shopify) website. However, Amazon will be a sales channel and I would like to ask about the structure here. I'll make a thread for the rest of the business in the INSIDERS section later.

I have around 10 SKUs with price points ranging from $30-80. There are several small bundle options around $150 and a large bundle in the mid $200s. This is a luxury beauty brand with very high quality packaging, fully designed by a firm out of Montreal, not cutting any corners.

The COGS of each SKU is around $5 all-in. I am buying at high volume and luckily this niche has low production cost while having the potential to still charge high prices due to great marketing and branding.

Funny enough, this was roughly the same COGS as my FBA supplement business that could only charge $10-20 per unit.

It seems like Amazon commissions are usually 15% of the gross revenue. So a single product at $30 has $9.50 in COGS and Amazon commission. I'll be using FBM to start, since I have all my stuff at a fulfillment house and I expect my website to be the main sales channel. So I have about $20.50 to play with to break even (shipping/fulfillment will be maybe $2, so really a little less). I hope that this time that is enough margin to do some PPC.

On the most expensive $80 individual product, we have $5 COGS and $12 amazon commission for $63 of margin to break even.

On a $150 small bundle we have $15 COGS and $22.50 Amazon commission for $112.50 of margin to break even.

On the flagship big bundle at $230 or so we have $25 COGS and $34.50 in Amazon commission for $170.50 of margin to break even.

Is this set up properly to have margins that can support PPC? I have learned my lesson on slim margins with commodity products that can't be branded in an elevated manner.

The listings will have many professional product and lifestyle photos and the listing itself will feature lots of images and infographics.

My email service will send out review requests.

I will have 10 people I know do the initial review push before I start PPC. Is there a way to generate additional reviews by paying? Not talking about those facebook groups where you either get scammed by a Bangladeshi or get 3 reviews from a couple strangers.

Is there anything I am overlooking here in order to have success on Amazon specifically? Of course, the product itself works great and is absolutely awesome with endless marketing hooks, a copywriter's dream.
 
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Hi @biophase ,

I would appreciate your view on the following. I am selling a table lamp that is mainly for kids but can also be used by adults. It is rechargeable. As of now it does not come with a USB wall (charging) adapter. I am thinking about including a wall adapter, but I don't know whether it is worth it. Most people already have such a charger for their phones, so they can use that or their laptop USB port for example. Most competitors do not include a wall adapter, only 1 does.
* Ideally I would test whether adding the charges gives more profit. But I have noticed that my total sales differ from week to week already, so it seems like I can not test whether it will lead to more sales.
* A good wall adapter would cost me around 0.7-1 USD. My product comes in different sizes and the selling price ranges from 27 to 38 euro's, depending on the size.

Can you give any advice on how to find out whether adding the adapter will lead to more profit? If testing it is not possible, what would your opinion be on whether it is a good idea to add it? Does it make sense or would most people not care about it. I could ask people via facebook ads, but I don't know whether it will be a good test that way.

Thank you.
 

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I do not do patent searches. None of my products are patented. They are very general products that anyone can sell. For example, if you wanted to make a different spoon, it is highly unlikely that a spoon is patented and even more unlikely that the specific change you are making is patented.
Hi Biophase,

Why is it so that the spoon is not patented if i may ask ? Like wouldn't it be very profitable to patent a spoon?
 

fastlanedoll

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Hi Biophase,

Why is it so that the spoon is not patented if i may ask ? Like wouldn't it be very profitable to patent a spoon?

If what I read is correct, it's one thing to patent it, but if someone was to copy it, it'll be extremely $$ (and difficult) to successfully sue them for it.

It just serves as a warning.
 
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MaxKhalus

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Alot has changed since my Ask me about Ecommerce AMA from 2012, so I thought I'd do an updated AMA as some of the answers in the previous thread are now outdated. The online marketplace has shifted greatly in the past couple years. Some examples of what has changed:
  • Google Shopping is now at the top of your search results, so ranking #1 for a specific term is not as valuable as before. I don't do anymore SEO.
  • Big box stores like Amazon, Walmart and Target now dominate the results whereas before smaller niche stores did.
  • Amazon is now the place to be in Ecommerce.
  • A huge shift has happened from dropshipping to importing and branding.
So go ahead and ask away!
Alot has changed since my Ask me about Ecommerce AMA from 2012, so I thought I'd do an updated AMA as some of the answers in the previous thread are now outdated. The online marketplace has shifted greatly in the past couple years. Some examples of what has changed:
  • Google Shopping is now at the top of your search results, so ranking #1 for a specific term is not as valuable as before. I don't do anymore SEO.
  • Big box stores like Amazon, Walmart and Target now dominate the results whereas before smaller niche stores did.
  • Amazon is now the place to be in Ecommerce.
  • A huge shift has happened from dropshipping to importing and branding.
So go ahead and ask away!
If America goes in quarantine, will ecom businesses still deliver?
 
D

Deleted78083

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Thanks for the value man. Don't you think will come a time when suppliers will become aware of all the money dropshippers make and hence start to sell their products directly to the end customer, cutting off the dropshipper? How do you diffuse that risk?
 
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biophase

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Thanks for the value man. Don't you think will come a time when suppliers will become aware of all the money dropshippers make and hence start to sell their products directly to the end customer, cutting off the dropshipper? How do you diffuse that risk?

They are already doing that. you should look at that as an eventual certainty rather than a risk.
That's why you shouldn't dropship as your permanent business plan.
 

Vadim26

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They are already doing that. you should look at that as an eventual certainty rather than a risk.
That's why you shouldn't dropship as your permanent business plan.

I will play a devil's advocate here.

Google's definition of drop-shipping is: to move (goods) from the manufacturer directly to the retailer without going through the usual distribution channels.

Well, isn't it what most online businesses nowadays are doing, anyway?

What steps would you take now to establish yourself as a real business rather than drop-shipping?

* add value (design a better quality product);
* build copy-proof supply chain (parts of the product made in different places);
* heavy branding;
* build a huge online presence to dominate the niche you are in.

I still doubt how any of these can prevent the factory that's making a product for you to sell your own product.

OR some multi-billion corporation come and slay it all together.


My understanding of drop-shipping is being a middle man in the supply chain with adding zero-value.
Are you not drop-shipping any more, if you are providing value and offer 2-day FREE shipping? lol

Care to share your strategy/outlook on this?
 
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