Researching FBA and products, do I create a line around my niche or just start with one product?

[KeepGoin]

So today I started researching, I found someone selling the exact same product I was looking for at a competitive price through FBA. It all relates to a niche that I'm looking to compete in though. But this is literally his only item, 1000's of reviews and it's about 10 bucks. He branded it.

So what I'm asking is, for selling FBA is it recommended to start with one item by you guys? Do you brand at the start?

In the meantime I'm going to be reading the threads in this forum, will place an order this weekend. Had to type that out, I'm doing this even if it fails.

Thanks

 

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[4x4ord]

So today I started researching, I found someone selling the exact same product I was looking for at a competitive price through FBA. It all relates to a niche that I'm looking to compete in though. But this is literally his only item, 1000's of reviews and it's about 10 bucks. He branded it.

So what I'm asking is, for selling FBA is it recommended to start with one item by you guys? Do you brand at the start?

In the meantime I'm going to be reading the threads in this forum, will place an order this weekend. Had to type that out, I'm doing this even if it fails.

Thanks

I'm by no means and expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I started importing and selling in a niche a few months ago.

A few thoughts:
- One competitor in a niche that I'm looking at with 1000's of reviews (in a short time frame) would tell me that there's a market for that product.
- I wouldn't mess with a product for $10 through FBA. After you add in the FBA fees and Amazon's referral fee, there's not enough margin. You'll want a product that has potential to work up to a decent margin. In the $10 realm, there's not much to work with.
- Be sure to do ALL of the math, ie; product cost, shipping cost, shipping to FBA, Amazon fees, FBA fees, labels, packaging ect. It adds up really fast.
- It's ok to start with one product to learn the ropes. I wouldn't bother pushing on branding until you are looking at 1000 piece orders. You can't even think about justifying the cost of custom packaging until you get over 1000 pieces.
- It takes capital to grow a product, no matter how you look at it. If you spread your capital over several products, you'll have to buy smaller quantities. Smaller quantities make it very, very hard to keep your inventory in stock. Running out of inventory hurts your rankings, thus your sales, on Amazon.

Most importantly ... don't get discouraged. It's easy to do once you start really looking at the numbers. I would recommend finding a product that sells for $20-$100. Find something that will at least break even with sample quantity prices to start. As you learn your market and your niche, you'll be better educated to sniff out the product that have higher margins.

Another way to get better margins is to sell a multi pack of your product. I have a $6 product that had no margin. I'm receiving the product as singles from China, shrink wrapping 6 of them into a 6 pack and selling them for $29.99 for a 15-20% margin.

 

[KeepGoin]

I'm by no means and expert, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I started importing and selling in a niche a few months ago.

A few thoughts:
- One competitor in a niche that I'm looking at with 1000's of reviews (in a short time frame) would tell me that there's a market for that product.
- I wouldn't mess with a product for $10 through FBA. After you add in the FBA fees and Amazon's referral fee, there's not enough margin. You'll want a product that has potential to work up to a decent margin. In the $10 realm, there's not much to work with.
- Be sure to do ALL of the math, ie; product cost, shipping cost, shipping to FBA, Amazon fees, FBA fees, labels, packaging ect. It adds up really fast.
- It's ok to start with one product to learn the ropes. I wouldn't bother pushing on branding until you are looking at 1000 piece orders. You can't even think about justifying the cost of custom packaging until you get over 1000 pieces.
- It takes capital to grow a product, no matter how you look at it. If you spread your capital over several products, you'll have to buy smaller quantities. Smaller quantities make it very, very hard to keep your inventory in stock. Running out of inventory hurts your rankings, thus your sales, on Amazon.

Most importantly ... don't get discouraged. It's easy to do once you start really looking at the numbers. I would recommend finding a product that sells for $20-$100. Find something that will at least break even with sample quantity prices to start. As you learn your market and your niche, you'll be better educated to sniff out the product that have higher margins.

Another way to get better margins is to sell a multi pack of your product. I have a $6 product that had no margin. I'm receiving the product as singles from China, shrink wrapping 6 of them into a 6 pack and selling them for $29.99 for a 15-20% margin.

Just wanted to update you as I see you helping other members of this forum with a genuine interest. I took your advice and plan on bundling the product. What I did was order the other Amazon item I saw most frequently purchased with it. All the supplies are here outside of the other product that I will pair with it.

It's a very small step, but will be interesting to see if it fails or I break even. Another thing is I didn't realize how easily I am discouraged, for months I avoided even thinking about this after not being able to sell the initial item by itself on ebay. This will change with time, it must.

Thanks and hope you're doing well.