Is this reality check or am I facing the dessert of desertion?
Here's the Back story:
The product: pet consumable, customer would replenish about every 2 months.
I saw found this pet product in Asia last month, thought it solved a real need. I only found a 3 sellers selling this product on Amazon US, no where else. I ordered all 3 Competitor's product and discovered their Ingredients are horrible, branding is weak, pretty bad packaging. Competitor's Price Range $11 - $17
My Value Skews
- Much much better ingredients (think Beet Juice vs Red Dye 40 lol)
- Improve Branding & package design. ( I'm following RX Bar & Angry Orange Cleaner branding)
My idea was to start on Amazon with this product, then build a web store and use other private label pet products to increase the web store's AOV so I can afford to run ads on other platforms.
What I'v Done This Week
I already sunk about $1,850 total so far into this product
- Hired US Manufacturer just to help me redevelop this product $1,650
- Hired Designer $200 off Upwork for Labels & Marketing Materials $200
UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't calculate my margins before investing into this
Proposed Selling Price: $17 Per Unit
Manufacturing & Shipping Cost: $3.50 Per Unit
Amazon Fees & Fulfillment : $6.03 Per Unit
Amazon Ads Cost (based on Average ACOS 30% I googled): $5.10 Per Unit
Profit Margin: $2.37 Per Unit on 1st time purchase
I only set aside $10,000 to fund this business with $2.37 margins, I have no room to breath.
I think I am going insane. I end at the same spot for every product I evaluate. Low margins or High startup costs. What am I a missing here?
Here's the Back story:
The product: pet consumable, customer would replenish about every 2 months.
I saw found this pet product in Asia last month, thought it solved a real need. I only found a 3 sellers selling this product on Amazon US, no where else. I ordered all 3 Competitor's product and discovered their Ingredients are horrible, branding is weak, pretty bad packaging. Competitor's Price Range $11 - $17
My Value Skews
- Much much better ingredients (think Beet Juice vs Red Dye 40 lol)
- Improve Branding & package design. ( I'm following RX Bar & Angry Orange Cleaner branding)
My idea was to start on Amazon with this product, then build a web store and use other private label pet products to increase the web store's AOV so I can afford to run ads on other platforms.
What I'v Done This Week
I already sunk about $1,850 total so far into this product
- Hired US Manufacturer just to help me redevelop this product $1,650
- Hired Designer $200 off Upwork for Labels & Marketing Materials $200
UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't calculate my margins before investing into this

Proposed Selling Price: $17 Per Unit
Manufacturing & Shipping Cost: $3.50 Per Unit
Amazon Fees & Fulfillment : $6.03 Per Unit
Amazon Ads Cost (based on Average ACOS 30% I googled): $5.10 Per Unit
Profit Margin: $2.37 Per Unit on 1st time purchase
I only set aside $10,000 to fund this business with $2.37 margins, I have no room to breath.
I think I am going insane. I end at the same spot for every product I evaluate. Low margins or High startup costs. What am I a missing here?
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