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Is Amazon FBA dead in 2022 for starting a business?

Redwork

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For those coming behind years from now reading this, if you must have validation from others before you try / start / do, then entrepreneurship may not be for you.

Get started. Learn while doing. Answers appear as you put in the work.
Be ready to pivot. You may not end on the path you begin. That's the journey.
Thanks for saying this. Fear of failure is big but we never think hey we might just succeed. I am paralysed by it. The only way to move forward is to do and try.
 
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Redwork

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@Ywan love it! Amazing update!

Now, what will you accomplish in the next week to start / get going your Amazon FBA business.
I see a lot of talk / discussion / about to get started above. Is there something actionable THIS WEEK that has a tangible OUTCOME to getting the Amazon FBA business producing revenue THIS WEEK?????

Focus on the outcome.
Get it done.
You got this!
So supportive!
 
D

Deleted2BB3x9

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Amazon FBA isn't dead. Online shopping is growing every year. I started selling on amazon in 2014, then stopped, and now I am starting again in 2022. It's never too late.
 

Ywan

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@Ywan love it! Amazing update!

Now, what will you accomplish in the next week to start / get going your Amazon FBA business.
I see a lot of talk / discussion / about to get started above. Is there something actionable THIS WEEK that has a tangible OUTCOME to getting the Amazon FBA business producing revenue THIS WEEK?????

Focus on the outcome.
Get it done.
You got this!
Thank you for the support and words of encouragement. I really appreciate it.

If I want to produce revenue with FBA this week, I can start offering products from existing brands on Amazon and sell them. So I'm going to do that. It's not really sustainable in the long term, but I was planning to do that anyway to some extent to get a feel for FBA and collect data.
 
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Taktik

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By the way selling on a Shopify store is a completely different set of skills than selling on Amazon.

This is interesting.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit please? What skills do you need if you have a Shopify store and what skills do you need for Amazon?
Thanks.
 

NeoDialectic

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This is interesting.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit please? What skills do you need if you have a Shopify store and what skills do you need for Amazon?
Thanks.
To be successful with a shopify store, you have ALOT of different places you can derive traffic. You need a decent product, a decent website and from there on in you just have to figure out a way to drive traffic. This can be in basically unlimited ways.

To be successful on Amazon, your skillset is alot more focused on Amazon itself. You can technically bring traffic to your listing from outside of Amazon, but generally that is a rarer route. Generally, your traffic is from Amazon itself. So your insight about Amazon's advertising platform doesn't translate to Shopify. Your insight on getting good rankings on Amazon's search, doesn't translate to Search engines. etc..
 
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Two Dog

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Unfortunately, my notes are not in English and there are dozens of pages - so translating would be a lot of work.

But I can tell you some basic strategies underlying the different models. In the end, it just depends on the implementation and there are different implementation options for each strategy, so you can think about it yourself and then test it.
-Sell products from existing brands that are not yet on Amazon but where there is demand.
-Review mining -> what can be improved in products?
-Improve a product that sells regularly but is not a best seller and sell it at the same price or cheaper than everyone else - then repeat this process a hundred times.
-Try to collect data on Amazon (there are different ways to do that) and then use it to find niche products that no one is selling but there is a need for.
Thanks! Even that bit is helpful when you know pretty much zero. It gives me some directions to consider.
 
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Two Dog

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I've been thinking about posting the strategy on the forum to get feedback, because doubts have come up again.
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." ~ Mike Tyson

You'd probably benefit immensely from a different perspective on failing. Failing is mandatory to making progress. It's impossible for anyone - no matter what their previous experience or successes - to lay out a course of action that will always work. Here's the original version with some background: Strategic Planning: Moltke the Elder, Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, and Just a Little Mike Tyson

In your situation, think about posting something like "Tried AAA this week. It failed. Tried BBB this week. It failed. Tried CCC this week. It failed." A dozen of those posts will get you much further along than doubts or getting feedback on strategy. One of the dumbest things imaginable that school teaches is the idea that perfection is needed for advancement and that failing is reserved solely for dumb losers. That's completely a$$ backwards.

Failing *teaches* you how to be successful. My kids probably hear that in their sleep by now.
 

Ywan

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@Ywan love it! Amazing update!

Now, what will you accomplish in the next week to start / get going your Amazon FBA business.
I see a lot of talk / discussion / about to get started above. Is there something actionable THIS WEEK that has a tangible OUTCOME to getting the Amazon FBA business producing revenue THIS WEEK?????

Focus on the outcome.
Get it done.
You got this!

Time for an update.

Concerning the goal of trying to focus on an outcome that will produce revenue within a week for my amazon FBA business I failed.

I did not manage to get to that point. I have hit a mental barrier, so to speak, that comes up whenever things get serious. So I basically wasted a lot of time with things, that did not really get me any further along the way - action faking, as MJ calls it.

I did manage to contact four suppliers/producers none the less of which three have already answered me with a positive reply - I am allowed to sell their products on Amazon. (I will continue doing research to find more products.) The next step is to check the prices I can get and see, if I can make a profit with these products on Amazon. If there is any profit to be made, that exceeds one or two bucks, I will place an order.

This is not going to make me rich or anything, but I will break down my mental barriers brick by brick because I am just doing it. So then, when I finally find a product with a lot of potential, I have hopefully already done these things so many times, that I don't have any problems executing.

As I said somewhere, it's all about testing. Let's see, how things turn out. Maybe I'll fail again. That's just more data to adjust my approach and another step on the way to success.
 

ZCP

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@Ywan so WHEN will WHAT be done?

I see a lot of excuses. How bad do you really want this? Maybe it isn't for you?

If you really want this ...... Post daily. What WILL you do WHEN.
If not for you .... move on and take the stress machine off.

Make a decision. Call the ball. Be real.
 
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Greg Black

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This is interesting.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit please? What skills do you need if you have a Shopify store and what skills do you need for Amazon?
Thanks.
On Amazon, you have a ready pool of buyers, looking to spend money. Your job is to put great well positioned and targeted products in their way.

On Shopify, you are doing so much more, you have to drive traffic, convert that traffic, build a brand, manage fulfilment, do you own customer service, manage returns, the list goes on. Plus people have never heard of your company or brand, so there are trust issues. Your conversion on Shopify will likely be 1-1.5% on Amazon it should be 10 times that, 10-15%.

Conversion and trust is not an issue on Amazon as they have the Amazon protection, often they are prime members and they know payments are secure, they know when the product will turn up and it will turn up fast, plus if there is an issue they can easily return it and get a refund.
 

Rinzler

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I somewhat apologize for bringing this thread from the dead, but OP have you considered or looked into Retail Arbitrage using FBA at all? Much simpler than trying to scout for products off Chinese sites and as long as you're using the proper software / tools to conduct research, you can get up and running with a relatively smaller investment than going private label or focusing on one product.

The goal is to cast a wide net of "winning products" and see what does well and what doesn't. At first you will be "gated" (blocked) from selling in certain categories or selling certain brands, but I've seen several people scale their FBA business in the course of 3-6 months and unlock said categories or brands once they have a record of sales. This is what ultimately separates your store from the thousands of other people starting from the ground up who probably quit well before their first major ungate.

I'm assuming you've moved on to the next shiny object but after reading this thread I felt compelled to share since this is something I've been studying for a few months while I get my initial investment together.

As others have mentioned, it's a business. Retail / Online Arbitrage using FBA will have to be treated as such in order for worthwhile results to come in. But there's plenty of free information out there on where to begin and if you're 100% dialed in and ready to make a move I can point you in the direction of the group I've been learning from.

For what it's worth, you're going to find a lot of fluffy BS on YouTube and Twitter about RA or OA but again, if you're at all interested or haven't thought of this particular model for FBA, please consider looking into it before giving up entirely.

Sincerely,

Perpetual Shiny Object Chaser for the last 6 years!
 

nicstechcorner

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I somewhat apologize for bringing this thread from the dead, but OP have you considered or looked into Retail Arbitrage using FBA at all? Much simpler than trying to scout for products off Chinese sites and as long as you're using the proper software / tools to conduct research, you can get up and running with a relatively smaller investment than going private label or focusing on one product.

The goal is to cast a wide net of "winning products" and see what does well and what doesn't. At first you will be "gated" (blocked) from selling in certain categories or selling certain brands, but I've seen several people scale their FBA business in the course of 3-6 months and unlock said categories or brands once they have a record of sales. This is what ultimately separates your store from the thousands of other people starting from the ground up who probably quit well before their first major ungate.

I'm assuming you've moved on to the next shiny object but after reading this thread I felt compelled to share since this is something I've been studying for a few months while I get my initial investment together.

As others have mentioned, it's a business. Retail / Online Arbitrage using FBA will have to be treated as such in order for worthwhile results to come in. But there's plenty of free information out there on where to begin and if you're 100% dialed in and ready to make a move I can point you in the direction of the group I've been learning from.

For what it's worth, you're going to find a lot of fluffy BS on YouTube and Twitter about RA or OA but again, if you're at all interested or haven't thought of this particular model for FBA, please consider looking into it before giving up entirely.

Sincerely,

Perpetual Shiny Object Chaser for the last 6 years!
Yes i have found this path & just started on it in the last month… I am doing more Online Arbitrage, but when at store I look as well… definitely money to be made out there, just have to put in the time & work to learn… I sent my first FBA shipment in, honestly I don’t think I will make much, will be happy to get most of my initial investment back.. but I wanted to see the whole process through… I sent in June 14 & it looks like it will take until July 12, for things to get to & receiving & processing items… again I did a small shipment but wanted to get going.. just START that is the biggest thing… no right or wrong, just learn from whatever you do. GOD Luck to you ALL! :cool:
 
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Rinzler

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Yes i have found this path & just started on it in the last month… I am doing more Online Arbitrage, but when at store I look as well… definitely money to be made out there, just have to put in the time & work to learn… I sent my first FBA shipment in, honestly I don’t think I will make much, will be happy to get most of my initial investment back.. but I wanted to see the whole process through… I sent in June 14 & it looks like it will take until July 12, for things to get to & receiving & processing items… again I did a small shipment but wanted to get going.. just START that is the biggest thing… no right or wrong, just learn from whatever you do. GOD Luck to you ALL! :cool:

Glad to hear you decided to go for it and it's working out so far! I like the idea of Online Arbitrage a lot more than Retail since I live in a really congested area. For me its hardly worth the time traveling to the stores to hunt down deals, but occasionally you can find some strong items.

With so many different extensions and tools to use for RA/OA its surprisingly "easy" to get up and running. It's all about casting that wide net and actively researching potential winners. (But I dislike that this model doesn't give us any control and we're 100% at the mercy of Amazon. The earlier you set yourself up to withstand any sudden changes, the better)

I hope you find continued success with your store!
 

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