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Does it still make sense to sell N95 Masks?

AgainstAllOdds

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My friend and I imported around 2,000 masks. Had a couple friends from here introduce me to their supplier.

Price was $1.09 per mask. Landed was $1.34.

We sold 2,000 in a day @ $3 each.

The market price was $7 to $10 when we pulled the trigger. We weren't in it for the money, as much as the challenge and to bring the market price down and see how many people we could help. Price was set at $3 to cover our risk and provide a small reward that we could reinvest if the market needed it.

We made a little over $3,000 in a day (lined up the sales ahead of time), and now have some masks left over.

I won't be ordering more. My expectation is that in two weeks the market will start to see competition and the prices will come down.

Made a lot of people happy. No complaints. Would do again.
 
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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.
 

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?
 

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.
 

GravyBoat

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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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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).
 

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.
 

AgainstAllOdds

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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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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.
 

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.
 

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!
 

S.Y.

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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.
 
Last edited:

GravyBoat

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gfDSwY3.png


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???
 

PizzaOnTheRoof

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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.
Two weeks? Not a chance.

I like Trump, but his Easter comment was just lip service to the market.
 
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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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Longinus

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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.
 

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.
 

Bobby_italy

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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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MHP368

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you know what might be hot for the next month or so? , if you can get hold of those ozone cleaners for cpaps or some kind of tiny oven (apparently n95 masks can be sterilized @ about 150 farenheit for 20 minutes or so for reuse)

Might be catching a falling knife on that one though if everyones bulking up production anyway.

I personally have a washable n99 with replaceable filters and the wifes making masks for the coworkers at this point.
 
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Sethamus

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Is there a specific list (not generalized) of what Amazon is not allowing for new listings and advertisements? I have thought of a few items I want to check out that are related, but nothing to do with mask or cleaners.
 

Equilibrium

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info as I have some friends in the Amazon space.
Amazon is banning any listings that are related to masks if the price is above normal sale price.
They must also clearly state the NIOSH air filtration rating.

However. I would sell directly to hospitals. Right now hospitals are the ones who need masks dearly.
sell them at a non-douche price and they will most likely sell out as quickly as you can order them.
Every single hospital is in need of masks.
 

AgainstAllOdds

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@AgainstAllOdds thank you for your advice, so you think the opportunity off selling masks is over ?

China is expecting a second wave - so they put huge limitations on PPE exports as of April 1st. The only products that can be exported are those that have Chinese and American certifications. Very few companies have that - and the few that do are operating as a cartel to skyrocket prices.

Outside of the U.S. I don't know.
 

ARMAT

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Don`t be concentrated on short time and easy money. Use you priceful energy on
setting up solid and long term businesses.
 

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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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.
 

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