eCommerce Success - Three Years on the Fastlane Forum

[Jamie T]

Retailer will within one (1) hour of receipt on a 24/7 basis, confirm every Order file received by Walmart.com

This one is a very interesting one. I remember reading this and thinking.. "whaaa...?"

The other ones are really annoying too. haha

I'm still going to continue with this as planned. I wonder if reality is different from all the "rules."

The main one that I'm worried about is the one hour confirmation 24/7. Time will tell. Or, if there's anyone else out there already using Walmart/Jet, it'd be awesome if you can chime in here.

 

[Jamie T]

why did you switch to Shopify? I was considering switching to woocommerce because you get so much more control over the website.

It's funny because I originally started with WooCommerce to have that control. But after a while, I wanted something simpler and easier to make changes.

Dealing with WordPress and WooCommerce wasn't too fun of an experience. I figured that Shopify with a simple template would work better for the next chapter of my business.

It's also easier to work in Google Shopping (Adwords) with Shopify. They have an app that makes it quick and easy to get the products up and running.

 

[amp0193]

• I started using hotjar and realized the freelancer I hired for some SEO work was using a script to log time on Upwork.

hahaha what a shitbag!

Clever way to catch him in the act though!


I haven’t been following this thread but it looks like you’re kicking a$$. Following now, have a great 2019!

 

[Jamie T]

There’s a Google shopping thread on the inside btw.

Awesome, thanks! I'll check it out. I think there's a lot of room to grow with Google Shopping, at least for my market.

Clever way to catch him in the act though!

Haha, I wasn't planning on catching him in the act. He did decent work so I can't complain too much.

But, when I see the same mouse movements over and over again coming from the same location (where he's located), it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Makes me wonder how much time he actually spent working vs using the script/bot.

So, I can only think that I wasn't getting enough value for how much I was paying him. I decided to fire him a few weeks after I continued to monitor hotjar.

Hotjar has definitely given me some insight on how people use my website too. I actually a list of various things to update now. I'm working on finding another freelancer to do some edits on the website. Normally I'd do it, but my time is limited.

In case I missed it... how did the search go?

Funny that you brought this up! I actually just confirmed last night who I'll be using as another fulfillment center.

However, I did decide to stay located in Arizona for at least another year.

A few reasons on this:

1) I'm working on getting dual citizenship in Italy. Might take a year or so to get all the paperwork together.
2) I mentioned in an earlier post that I started another business with two other fastlaners who are also based in Arizona. We'll be giving more details/potential progress thread in the coming months. So stay tuned for that.

So, right now it makes sense to stay put and focus on growing some more. I do enjoy living in Arizona A LOT.

Walmart orders are trickling in little by little too. I'd say it was worth setting up.

No sales on Jet yet. There's some technical issues surrounding Jet that I've been pushing to the side (again, limited time).


A lot of my time recently has been on creating better processes for this business. Re-organized some of my freelancer's work and have been making tons of new training videos to make things more efficient.

Here's a perfect example: there were some tasks that I've been putting off for months just because they weren't exactly the highest priority compared to everything else. But, I started making training videos to then hand off to my freelancers. Almost all of that stuff got done within the first few weeks of doing this.

Many people say to hire as soon as you can. And, that you need to create processes (whether through software or people) to get your hands off of doing everything yourself. I'm now seeing how true that is.

Creating well written processes and high quality training videos that I can hand off to others have been a HUGE help as I focus on getting to the next level.

 

[GDalf]

Really cool story, congrats on the success! Can you talk a little more about those initial samples you bought? I'm trying to break into ecommerce but am still in the research phase and haven't narrowed down a specific niche/product. Any insight would be awesome!

 

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[GDalf]

I'm a strong believer in "taking action."

In the beginning, I spent three months reading the threads about importing here on the forum, read a few books on import/export, and researched many different markets/products until I decided on the product to start with.

Here was what my original plan was:

• Get to my first sale as fast as possible.
  
• Find a large market.
• Niche down within that market.
• Find a product that I thought I could make a profit on or break even (after all the shipping, eBay/PayPal fees, etc.)
  • The product had to be small - the size of my fist or two fists combined. This would allow for shipping costs to not be much of a concern.
  • The total cost had to be under $200 for my sample order. I didn't have much to work with back then. So naturally, that limited choices.
    
  • The product had to have some kind of demand. I knew people were buying that particular product. I'll admit that the demand for that first product wasn't that high. There were only a few sellers actually selling that product. At the time, I did compete on price which I don't recommend for the long term, but to get things started...why not? It worked. And, yes, I more than doubled my money in about a month.
• I did start by selling on eBay only.
• If I could successfully sell all 10 units, then I could figure out what to do after that.

You here the term thrown around, "take action," and I took the advice.

Why not narrow down your search to a small niche market, find a product (any product) that you think you can make a profit on or break even, and immediately find a supplier to get things moving?

There's lots of talk about making product improvements, avoiding "me-too" products, and being different in the market place. And, yes, I agree with all of those.

However, if you're starting out with only $200 and you want to start importing, then you're kind of stuck with either getting samples of a "me-too" product or finding a product in China that's not currently being marketed to the US (possible).

I figured that I'd rather just START importing and then figure out the rest later...product improvements, adding value, etc. *It's important to keep this in mind because you really do want your focus to be on value, not just money.

After you've already gone through the process of focusing on a specific market, determining a product to import, finding a supplier in China, communicating with the supplier, getting them to send you a small sample order after you pay them, receiving the order, taking pictures of the product, writing the copy for the product, listing the product on eBay, and ultimately...making your first sale...then, you just gained all of that experience for under $200.

Now, you already have some process in place. It'll be much easier to move forward whether you want to stay with importing small orders of very similar products already being sold in the market or if you're ready to place larger orders with product improvements, more value, and being unique.

And, who knows...maybe that first sample of products you import and sell will open a new door for you. Maybe you'll see the quality of the product and realize it can be so much better. Or, maybe you'll get feedback from customers telling you what they think.

Whatever happens, you'll at least gain a wealth of knowledge by getting the wheels turning. Much more than you can get with just reading about it.

Really awesome reply, thanks! Time to find that one (or a few) product(s)

 

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[ALC]

Every time i see Amazon resellers i'm afraid for them to have their account closed by Amazon, are you aware that this can happen ?

Are you selling your product principally from Amazon or your website ?

Do you focus on one market/industry or you're selling in different one at the same time ?

Thanks,
Alessio.

 

[Striver]

Walmart.com doesn't allow you to ship using Amazon FBA, so I'll have to see if there's a way to put Walmart on "vacation mode" when I'm traveling or hire someone to fulfill the orders when I'm away.

there are other fulfillment centers you can look into.

 

[Striver]

You're right!

That completely slipped my mind earlier. Thanks for bringing that up.

That'll be a fun project to figure out the details of using another fulfillment center.

In the coming months, I'll look into other fulfillment options. I plan to do some traveling this coming summer/fall.

Good! Looking forward to your findings!

 

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[ALC]

I understand your point. However, please try to understand my point when I say I'm not fully dependent on Amazon.

As I mentioned, my sales are spread across multiple sales channels. And, I'm actively working to spread them across even more sales channels.

Got your point !
Great work so far.

Please let us updated with Walmart and other plateform, i'm not in US but it's interesting to see how you would deal with these company as i would probably do this at one point too, in France.
Thanks,
Alessio.

 

[IGP]

Jumping in late on this thread.

First of all.. to be afraid to sell on Amazon because they might close your account down is to me an excuse to not start. Yes it could happen. Just deal with it.

Second, selling on Walmart is a nightmare. First, they have no notification method to tell you that you got an order. You have to literally log into your account everyday to see if you got an order. I use Shipstation and it pulls orders from Walmart.

BTW, I don't know how you even confirm an order. I've never done that for Walmart. I just see the order and ship it the next day. No complaints.

They keep shutting down my listings due to price. They want your price to be the lowest possible. They expect you to compete against yourself on Amazon and your website. So if you sell a product for $40 on your website and Amazon, it must be $40 on Walmart. However, they don't seem to understand that they are taking 15% and providing absolutely no service at all.

With Amazon they provide the box and shipping for let's say $8. With Walmart, I need to provide the box and labor and pay $8 shipping. So why should I be the same price as Amazon?

Also, the onboarding on Walmart is so bad, you have to make 2 samples orders to make sure that your account works. Then you cancel them. Guess what, a month later I get my report and the 2 cancelled orders went against my account. WTF?

I don't get many sales on Walmart, but I don't even try. I'm going to stop selling on there after the holidays.

Thanks @biophase This pretty much confirms what my gut was telling me.

You saved me a bunch of time and headaches as far as I can tell. I'm going to bow out.

 

[Jamie T]

Do you have an recommendations for a good SEO/Copy freelancer? I need to get my website reviewed to improve the copy.

I do all of the copy myself so I don't have anyone I can recommend. I'm pretty sure there's copywriting threads that might have people with more experience hiring out copywriting. @SinisterLex might be able to give a good recommendation.

I'll PM you the guy I use as a consultant/advisor for SEO. I used to do all of the SEO myself too.

Just recently I decided to hire the SEO out because I re-launched my website using Shopify (I was using WooCommerce before). I can't recommend the new hire yet because we're still in the beginning stages with the new website and I'm not fully confident in recommending him yet until I see more of his work. He seems to be doing well so far though.

 

[NewManRising]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing. Keep posting your progress! It is inspiring!

 

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[Mr_Maravish]

I do all of the copy myself so I don't have anyone I can recommend. I'm pretty sure there's copywriting threads that might have people with more experience hiring out copywriting. @SinisterLex might be able to give a good recommendation.

I'll PM you the guy I use as a consultant/advisor for SEO. I used to do all of the SEO myself too.

Just recently I decided to hire the SEO out because I re-launched my website using Shopify (I was using WooCommerce before). I can't recommend the new hire yet because we're still in the beginning stages with the new website and I'm not fully confident in recommending him yet until I see more of his work. He seems to be doing well so far though.

Thanks, I'll check him out, curious, why did you switch to Shopify? I was considering switching to woocommerce because you get so much more control over the website.

 

[Mr_Maravish]

It's funny because I originally started with WooCommerce to have that control. But after a while, I wanted something simpler and easier to make changes.

Dealing with WordPress and WooCommerce wasn't too fun of an experience. I figured that Shopify with a simple template would work better for the next chapter of my business.

It's also easier to work in Google Shopping (Adwords) with Shopify. They have an app that makes it quick and easy to get the products up and running.

Hehe I just feel that the design I want can be accomplished so much easier. But you’re right, shopify does have the advantage that it allows you to simplify merging everything, like AdWords, different sales channels and so forth, out of curiosity what theme do you use?

 

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[Jamie T]

Hehe I just feel that the design I want can be accomplished so much easier.

It might be a good move for you haha.

out of curiosity what theme do you use?

I bought a theme from Themeforest and customized it quite a bit. The new design is a huge improvement from what I had in WooCoommerce too.

Look up Famiza on Themeforest.

 

[Jamie T]

egarding selling on amazon, do you have to play the keywords game to get your listings to be visible?
Sort of like selling on Etsy, where you need to constantly game the system (like SEO) and tweak the keywords so that when visitors search for <keyword>, your product will show on the 1st - 3rd page?

I'm not familiar with gaming the system. The keywords on my products are the same keywords I put on when I first made the listings.

Most of my products are on the first page. I dominate some of the categories so it's not much of a concern.

(unless amazon randomizes the product results each time so every seller has about the same amt of exposure)

No idea.

 

[IGP]

I've been invited to sell my products in Walmart/Jet marketplace... Do you anticipate a a lot of sales from them?

One thing I don't like is that I try to position my brand as "not sold in stores" ie. more upscale and unique.

So, I am hesitant to be lumped in with Walmart and the "lowest price possible" that they want you to push.

 

[ALC]

Yes, you give up control. Absolutely right, and people need to be aware of that.

But let's look at some figures:

Amazon accounts for 43% of ALL online revenue in the USA

Amazon accounts for 38% of holiday receipts in the USA (online or off, ALL holiday sales)

Amazon accounts for 53% of ALL online sales growth in the USA

Amazon accounts for 5% of ALL retail sales in the USA (online or off)

As many of the ecommerce guys and gals have stressed here many, many times...Amazon is a sales channel, nothing more.

The OP would be stupid to not sell on Amazon. Where else would he so easily get access to so much traffic??

Yes, the OP gives up control and it sounds like he's aware of that. But it's not an either/or proposition where Amazon should only be temporary because of lack of control.

You're right that he should exercise caution, but on the other hand having 100% control isn't possible with anything. Risk management and all that, ya know?

Thanks for your answer, and yes for sure Amazon is a great plateform to sell and i would propably do it too, but the videos saying that Amazon can close your account for no reason (that's what i saw) is what afraid me, and when it's your principal selling plateform, you're losing everything if it happen, but yeah i know risk management.

If he's aware of that, i don't have anything to say, i needed just some infomations and his opinion on Amazon as i'm interested by FBA here in France, because not a lot of people are interested by this, so a lot of work can be done.

 

[ALC]

You're welcome

This reminded me of a quote by Gary Halbert: "You're either going to be afraid and frozen, or, you're going to be scared and moving."

Personally, I'd rather be moving.

Always moving!
I'm myself trying to move, by launching a clothing brand in less than a month and trying to open an italian Espresso Bar concept, and then franchising it in the future, if my customers really want me to be somewhere else.

That's why i'm asking you these questions, because launching such a big thing (Espresso Bar > 300Keuros) with a big investment is what got me afraid too and i see many people going for Amazon and being successful with a small investment, so why not me!
We'll see.

 

[Mr_Maravish]

Do you have an recommendations for a good SEO/Copy freelancer? I need to get my website reviewed to improve the copy.

 

[Xeon]

Regarding selling on amazon, do you have to play the keywords game to get your listings to be visible?
Sort of like selling on Etsy, where you need to constantly game the system (like SEO) and tweak the keywords so that when visitors search for <keyword>, your product will show on the 1st - 3rd page?

Otherwise, in an ocean of countless products of the same type, your products may show up on page 48927.
E.g, I search for "baby toys" and I see "365,306" results

(unless amazon randomizes the product results each time so every seller has about the same amt of exposure)

 

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[Daytraderz]

Tomorrow I'll be making my second guest speaking appearance for a college class. As I wrote the outline for what I'm going to talk about, I realized that there are many lessons, good and bad, that others can learn from here at the forum too.

On October 25th, it'll be my three year anniversary here at the Fastlane forum. I've learned a lot over the years and am still learning every single day.

The Fastlane is a real thing and if you keep working at it, you'll get where you want to go.


Just over a year ago, I was standing on the pier of a beach in sunny in Florida. I looked out over the sea and had the vision of where my life is now. The next day, I'd start my drive across the US to relocate to, even sunnier, Phoenix, Arizona.

Back then, I could see where I'd be living, the view I'd have from my apartment (mountains), and the life I'd be living. All of which I decided.

It's been just over two years since my last 9-5 job. And no, there's no going back.


My primary income source is my eCommerce business that I started with $160 back in June 2015.

After following the advice given in the thread, "Addicted to Passive Income Deposits," on the Inside, I imported my first sample of 10 products from China. More than doubled my money. And, scaled from there.

Here's a quick list of some of the things I've already done:

• I built a brand.
• I currently have just under 70 active SKUs.
  
• I sell primarily through my website, eBay, and Amazon (US and CA)
• September was my best month in sales since I started. I even had a record day in sales while I was vacationing in Florida. The business runs no matter where I am.
  
• I outsource some of the workload to two freelancers I hired in the Philippines (combined weekly hours range from 40-60 hours a week).
  
• I just recently applied for a trademark in the US. It should be approved soon. I'm considering doing the same in Canada soon.
• I just accepted a $20,000 loan from Amazon lending to grow my business. This is the first time that I'm taking on debt to expand, but believe it is necessary at this point. Previously, growth was funded by business profits only.
  
• I just got accepted on Walmart.com (I submitted my application back in March. It took 7 months before getting approved) and Jet.com. I'm working on setting up a partner account to get my products uploaded to those two sites. I decided to go with GeekSeller.

I plan on posting my thoughts, accomplishments, and failures here in the thread. I'll probably jump around from past to present. There's a lot to cover.

If you have any questions, then feel free to ask. I'll do my best to explain things from my experience.

I'll definitely add different things I do in the business to give you an idea of what works for me...and what doesn't.

Congrats on your accomplishments, friend! I was wondering if you could assist me in siphering through some things. I am looking to create my eCommerce website through square space and was wondering if you could give me some pointers or a rundown of how proccessing payments works. I understand that I need a shopping cart, a paypal account, but what else? This is somewhat stunting my development at the moment and need all the help I can get.

 

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[Andy Black]

Great thread. Great progress and really well documented. Thanks for sharing and taking time to answer people’s questions.

There’s a Google shopping thread on the inside btw.

 

[Striver]

Funny that you brought this up! I actually just confirmed last night who I'll be using as another fulfillment center.

However, I did decide to stay located in Arizona for at least another year.

A few reasons on this:

1) I'm working on getting dual citizenship in Italy. Might take a year or so to get all the paperwork together.
2) I mentioned in an earlier post that I started another business with two other fastlaners who are also based in Arizona. We'll be giving more details/potential progress thread in the coming months. So stay tuned for that.

So, right now it makes sense to stay put and focus on growing some more. I do enjoy living in Arizona A LOT.

Great timing! haha

 

[Duane]

Awesome to see one of the guys I met in the beginning of my journey killing it.

Looking forward to seeing your future posts, lots of good info here.

 

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[ALC]

Why prevent others (and yourself) from having a better life just because you don't want to give up control?

Because you're fully dependent from Amazon and your income depend of this website. But TBH Amazon is so useful to sell product, dropshipping is a great asset and that's what got me interested. But i think it's a short term way of making money and it's not solid at all, hope you got my point.

 

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[Striver]

You're right!

That completely slipped my mind earlier. Thanks for bringing that up.

That'll be a fun project to figure out the details of using another fulfillment center.

In the coming months, I'll look into other fulfillment options. I plan to do some traveling this coming summer/fall.

In case I missed it... how did the search go?

 

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