205 Comments (page 2)

Hey there! Great introduction into amazon FBA selling! I’m really thankful! I live abroad the USA. You talked about such a case in a couple of places. I still would like to know more about the shipping part. Is it worth it to send products from the supplier to my house and than from there to Amazon in the USA? It is clear to me, that after having prep and inspect service this wouldn’t be a problem anymore. But as a beginner and with the samples this isn’t yet possible. What would you recommend? Would love to hear your opinion. Regards BG

You have touched on the little details about starting amazon selling that most leave out. Kudos! 👍🏻

I am assuming the $340 start up cost only accounts for one batch of samples. Should we be getting samples from multiple suppliers to determine which is best? Or can we assume most products will be similar and it is more important to find the supplier we can develop the best relationship with and get the best prices from?

Kristina, when you negotiate with an Alibaba supplier they're not interested in a website or anything. They're interested in your business and they don't only sell to "Businesses". They will sell to anyone who can meet the minimum order quantity. Sometimes even if you don't meet the minimum order they will sell you a smaller order and credit you when you place the larger order with them. It's irrelevant if you have a website or not. :)

Alexey, we talked via email! :) But just in case anyone else has a problem similar to yours I would love to answer it. When you're listing a product on Amazon your main product is called your "Parent ASIN" and if you have variations to your parent product like color or size those are known as "child ASINS". They want to make sure that you know every single one of your product variations have a photo associated with the listing. Otherwise you won't be able to offer the variations in your product listing.

That's awesome thanks for reaching out to us! Good luck with everything in the future :) And if you ever need anything from us reach out and we'll see what we can do!

Berthold, thanks for reaching out. Glad you liked the post. So as a beginner Amazon seller, you want to send your products to your home. It might cost more and you might potentially lose money just to prove the concept. It doesn't always result in losing money but it's possible. The other thing you might want to do is pay the inspection company to pick up and do a quality inspection on your products for you. They would be willing to return anything that doesn't pass basic quality standards. I think it's worth it to send products to your place so you can learn the process first hand and see the products yourself before sending them to Amazon FBA.

Hey Lou, thank you so much! We are trying to give people as much information as possible!

Hey Jordan, Yes $340 accounts for a small order but it doesn't account for negotiation with suppliers over products. We recommend getting samples from 3 different suppliers. Generally most products will be similar but there is always a chance that one supplier will be better than another in a competitive market. So at the very least try 2 different suppliers. The relationship you develop with the supplier is very important and sometimes suppliers are terrible communicators so you have to find one that will have you feeling comfortable. There is no wrong answer when placing your first small order, the important thing is to take action and get rid of the products as fast as possible.

do you need to enter your drivers licence or scan in a bank statement?

This is actually a good topic to help those who are interested in E-commerce understand the actual process of selling in Amazon.

Hi thanks for this info. It should be really helpful however the videos are not working as it shows 500 internal server error. Would be great if those can be fixed.

I checked out the 90 launch plan to start a business and it looks interesting My question is I am based in Sydney Australia, does this apply to the Australian market. Using Amazon Australia as the base? thanks in advance

Question, if you are suppended from amazon,how do you get back on ? we are new and made a mistake with tracking codes..the problem is now fixed..however amazon wont talk to us..what can we do?

Hi, thank you so much for such a great and informative article. I was searching for this info and found it on your website. Keep up the good work.

Hi Will, This is really amazing and i plan to start amazon fba. got some questions; 1) Let’s say i am selling 100 units of 1 product, so i buy 100 barcodes and then ask my supplier to put it on the packaging ? 2) I talked to few albaba supplier and they say that they have send to amazon, but I don’t think they are aware about fba requirments, if i am using flexport, who should do the inspection ? 3) Also how about packaging ? will i ask my supplier to do the packaging and printing for me ? or you do it buy someone else. thank you

1) You'd want to buy 1 UPC code for the 1 product you're selling. The only time you need the UPC code is when you're listing the product on Amazon (creating the product listing). After that, you need the FNSKU barcode (which Amazon will give you after you create your product listing). The FNSKU barcode can either be applied to the product/package via a sticker/label, or actually printed on the packaging itself (eliminating sticker/label costs). 2) I'd recommend using FBAInspection.com as a prep center. Your supplier will ship your inventory to their warehouse, and they will forward it into FBA (after making sure it's good to go). Use the Referral Code BROS at FBA Inspection (or tell them Will from StartupBros sent you) for a nice big discount on all services for LIFE ;) 3) Start out with simple, cheap packaging. Ask your supplier what different packaging options they offer, and choose from that (within FBA requirements, of course). After you're up and selling, you can come back and optimize packaging if you want. But packaging is not very important on Amazon - people are not buying because of packaging most of the time, and the packaging is often being torn apart and thrown away instantly. There's usually a better place to focus your time and dollars.

Thank you so much will. if i got you correctly, then all i have to do is buy 1 UPC, then list my product on amazon then after gettting the FNSKU barcode, i will ask my supplier to put it in my package. RIght ? also, i talked to flexport and they dont accept sole proprietorship, i mailed others too but no reply, could you suggest any alternatives ? and for alibaba, the samples getting bit costly, do you suggest sending product directly to amazon without checking sample ? there are many suppier with different price.

Hi, for shipments like small amounts, can we send directly to amazon warehouse from alibaba ? without using flexport or other ? coz small amounts woukd not require tax and all.

hank you will for your awesome information and tips. I am very new in this business, my question is, how can I take a picture of my product when it is supposed to be sent to amazon directly from manufacture in china ? how can I get my hand in the product before sending it in?

Very informative stuff on Amazon fba .

This question is general which most of use ask us related amazon sales.. Question: Amazon seems to be a little dead for me. I do only books and I've had slow days and slow months but this is ridiculous. I have days where sales appear to be dead !! I have a 2,000 inventory with FBA and another 100 books with Merchant. Only 3 books have been sold today. I have a reprice and my prices are either the lowest or the second lowest and good rankings. Pretty sure that isn't the problem. What's going on with Amazon ? I'm seeing this all over and I am experiencing it too. Any idea if things will go back to normal or is it just a slow month for me and other? But I wouldn't even consider this slow.. This is insane.. haha. Sorry for my complaining. I'm just a little worried as I've been doing this since March and it had never been this bad. What should they take action related this problem.. Thanks in advance

Well build presentation on "how to sell on amazon". Thank you for that, I've learned a ton of information. My question to you is if I am just starting and never sold anything on amazon before and decided to go with let's say plastic water bottles. As my initial purchase from supplier(s), do I order one specific size, one color, shape or get minimum quantity for each category?

Helo. Thank you for the article. selling as an individual, can I use "fullfilment by Amazon (Amazon FBA) "?

Yes, you absolutely can. You just have to create an FBA shipping plan and send the products into an FBA warehouse

This is the most comprehensive guide I’ve ever read on Amazon. Thanks and great work Will!

Glad you enjoyed it Chris!

Hi. Great info thanks. Had a question about having supplier shipping items directly to Amazon warehouse. Do you send supplier shipping label that you created on Amazon FBA? So Amazon knows it your items. And also do you have supplier label appropriate labels on items eg. bar codes, suffication , warning etc? Thanks

Thanks for reaching out :) I'd love to answer your questions. The first thing I would say is to be careful when having your supplier ship something directly into Amazon. It can work out fine but sometimes suppliers learn the process to sell on Amazon from you and then see the demand and end up doing the process themselves with your product. It's happened to sellers we work with. With that said though yes, you can send your supplier an email with the shipping labels Amazon gives you and they can place them on the boxes at the factories. Yes, you can also have your supplier to the barcodes and required warnings. Barcodes, in particular, you would need to buy yourself (they're cheap) and send it to them. Everything else they should have in their factories.

When do I have to make my business "legal" and how do I do it?

Hey Arlinda, If you are in the United States then the only thing you need to do is report your Amazon sales as income. Amazon creates a 1099-k form at the end of the year that you can use to report your earnings. As an American citizen, you are a sole proprietor and can file your taxes as a sole proprietor. When you generate enough income you can create an LLC if you want to and enjoy extra tax benefits. But to start just report your income with your 1099-k form from Amazon. You can also contact a tax professional and they would be able to walk you through all of it. There is no license or registration of a business necessary to sell on Amazon.

As a seller, it is really a must to understand everything from the beginning. Most especially now that the market is already congested and there are millions of competitors out there. For a consumer, it is very easy to use amazon, but for a seller there are really a lot of things to learn and to remember.Thank you very much for the helpful and detailed information.

Thanks for reading the article!

This is an extremely useful guides for beginners like me, but I did run into certain issues with Bar Codes Talk. I bought 5 UPC codes from them only to find out that they are all currently being used for someone else's product. Following the suggestion on barcodestalk.com, I reported the listings to Amazon and sent along my proof of purchase, but Amazon has been silent on the issue for several days. A quick Google search shows me that others have run into the same problem when purchasing UPC codes from this website (https://sellercentral.amazon.com/forums/t/upc-codes-were-used-by-other-seller/319083/5). I'm currently unable to create listings because of this, and when I did an estimate of what I would be shelling out to purchase codes from GS1, I'm extremely reluctant to proceed because of the price. How should this issue be resolved? Is GS1 the only good 100% guaranteed place to purchase barcodes?

Hey Thuy, thanks for reaching out to us! You're absolutely right that GS1 barcodes are extremely expensive and almost not worth it. We're working with Barcodes Talk and other vendors to see which ones can fix the issue for people. We update this post almost monthly and moving forward we're switching to https://www.snapupc.com/ This is an issue we're all trying to resolve and as we get more information we're going to keep updating everyone! Check out snapUPC.com We've been testing their UPC's and they work on our end. Please let me know if you have any more questions at all.

Hi Sara, maybe you've gotten your question answered by now but from watching other videos I've learned most manufacturers will send you a free sample when you make your order.

Hey Liz and Sara :) Most manufactures will send you a free sample if you ask for it. Something else cool that they can do is credit you back your sample purchase. So if your samples cost you $100 USD then on your next order they will discount you $100 USD. I hope that helps!

Hello! I’m from Canada, and with that comes taxes for basically everything. I’m evaluating the feasibility of something like this. Have you had experience with a Canadian seller? Are they swamped on import duties and taxes?

Hey Luka, we actually have a ton of Canadian sellers :) You will need a Canadian Business Number (Import/Export number), as well as a GST (Goods and Services Tax Number) in order to import into Canada and sell goods. If you are selling less than 30K per year in Canada, you may not need a GST number, but I am not sure of that... Your best bet is to phone the Revenue Canada Business Information Line - they can set you up with the proper numbers over the phone. If you do need to pay GST in Canada, then you will need to change your settings in Amazon so that Amazon will collect the GST and send it to you. Then you will need to file with the federal government and pay GST - if it isn't much, you will probably only have to file once/year. It's about a 5% import tax on the products that you import. If you import 20 products (for example) that 5% is spread across all of your products. So in Canada you do have to deal with extra import duties that the US doesn't have to but across an entire order the cost in small. If you were importing small quantities like 10 or so then it would be a problem in the long run. In the short term it would be an expense to test products but on larger orders your profit margin will increase.

Thank You will for your time/information and tips. I'm look forward to initiate the SELLING and see where it goes. I'll try to contact you personally if i succeed :)

Awesome to hear Leo, make sure you come back and ask all the questions you want!

Great post, I really appreciate all the step by step details. I do have a question about Unicorn Smasher. When I tried to download there is only a Pro version charging $49. Do you know of an alternate FREE option?

Hey Shawna, thanks for checking out the article! We can absolutely help you out with this. So if you search on google "unicorn smasher free chrome extension" you should see a link in the first position for the Chrome Web Store. You can install the Chrome extension and use it without buying it.

Will - simply thank you! As someone who's been selling on Amazon FBA for 2+ years now, this is easily the best guide I've found. Also very rare for me to read a blog post from start to finish, but you kept my attention. Bookmarking Virtuous Graphics and thanks for the coupon code.

Hey Joshua, thank you so much for the kind words! I appreciate you checking out the post. Virtuous Graphics is awesome, I personally love those guys. If you ever need anything don't be afraid to reach out :)

Really the best way I understand Amazon’s terms of services. However, there’s a nice restriction on product photo editing. Otherwise, this would obviously make things difficult for Amazon's seller. Here are the directions if you’d like to see for yourself: https://clippingpathindia.com/blogs/tips/4-important-tips-optimizing-amazon-product-images

Thanks for the resource Lisa!

Hi Will, Thanks for the fantastic article. I am grateful for running into it! I had a question in regards to packaging... The biggest obstacle to me seems to be the packaging. Please correct me if I am wrong...but whether I get my products from the clearance bin at Target or from a supplier on Alibaba, it seems I need to package them in very specific packaging in order for Amazon to accept them. Is this correct? For example, if I ordered 500 key chains from Alibaba, I could NOT just put them in a box and send them to Amazon, correct? I would need to get them into some kind of individual packaging? The same would go for a clearance item I may have found at a retail store? Please let me know if I am not understanding this correctly. Creating or finding my own packaging seems like it would be an obstacle. And having a supplier on Alibaba do it seems risky...since I could get them and they could not be accepted by Amazon. Also, what if something I buy from retailer only has a tag and no box or plastic wrap? Thanks for any insight. It's been my main hold up on jumping in.

Hey Mark, Thanks for checking out the article and asking questions :) 1. Packaging for products from target. This is known retail arbitrage and if you're finding products from retail stores then whatever packaging they're in at the store is the packaging you send them into Amazon with. You can take all of the products you find. Put them in one big box and send them in. There's no problem with that at all. The end customer would expect it to be in the original retail packaging. I would recommend removing the clearance sticker and any pricing sticker before sending it in. Let's say it's something like a candle that doesn't have packaging. You need to package it safely with paper and bubble wrap and send it into Amazon. Things get denied mostly because they're mislabeled. For example a 4 book set that isn't labeled "sold as a unit". 2. If you buy 500 keychains on alibaba for example, you can pay like 0.10 cents for Amazon to package them in small plastic bags or however they would like. Amazon removes a lot of the friction when it comes to packaging because they know people don't like doing it. So as long as you pay them, they will pretty much do everything. So if you wanted to you can order the keychains, get them to your house, create the Amazon listing (fulfilled by merchant), create a shipping plan on Amazon, and send all of them in one big box. Your shipping plan will tell Amazon you're selling the keychains individually and there will be options when you're creating your shipping plans to tell Amazon you would like them to package the keychains for an added cost. Once you prove the product will sell and decide to import more I would recommend finding your own packaging solution and send them into Amazon packaged. For the time being Amazon will package your products for you if you want them to.

How do I start my business from Malaysia ?

You can start your business the same way you would in the US. Follow the guide and take everything one step at a time. Is there something specific you want to know? I would love to help.

When I clicked on the workbook link, a workbook popped up that was different from the one in your video. How do I get the one from your video?

Kindly guide, How can i open amazon account as amazon don't work in pakistan..

This article is amazing! please don't stop doing what you've done up until now. keep it up this article you wrote is a great help!

how can i deliver my products from pakistan if i have started selling on amazon

This incredibly useful, thank you for this. I have a question, I'm from Dominican Republic I have my products on small warehouse in New Jersey, If I want to ship the product myself when somebody purchased from Amazon, What is the process to get this done? I know I can use USPS services, any advice on how to do this ? Thanks, Oscar

Thanks for checking out the article Nathan! If you need anything at all please let us know :)

Is purchasing with a credit card on Alibaba a good idea?

I have a question, do I need to assume double shipping cost when I send my order from China to FBA inspection, and from FBA inspection to Amazon?

Hey Will, I saw one comment where you advised not to send your product from the manufacturer (in China) to Amazon's warehouse directly for fear that they will steal your system for themselves. Is this still a concern? What would you recommend to avoid this? Sending to inspection? Sending to yourself first?

Hey, yes purchasing with a credit card is one of the safest options when you're buying products on Alibaba. If there is something fraudulent the credit card company will protect you and file a dispute with Alibaba on your behalf. Alibaba will also be able to file a dispute with the manufacturer on your behalf. And you have the added benefit of not losing any of your own money while the issue is getting resolved, if something should happen.

Hey Tom, we've updated the workbook and made massive improvements since that video was shot. We're updating the video with the new workbook in the next 24 hours :)

Hey Fahad, Pakistan is not on the list eligible to sell on Amazon. But if you wanted to sell on Amazon you can open a bank account in a country where you can sell on Amazon, have a mailing address in that country and then a credit card to have connected to your account.

You can use FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) and then use a company like FBA inspection where they can help you send your products from Pakistan to Amazon warehouses.

Hey Oscar, I want to help you out the best I can. Can you clarify, are you sending products from NJ or the Dominican Republic?

No Esteban. You only pay for the shipping from you to Amazon FBA. Amazon covers the shipping cost from their warehouses to your customer.

Hey Tyler, yea I would stay away from teaching your Chinese supplier to sell on Amazon. There are two options. 1. Send the products from your house and learn the process. 2. Use a company like FBA Inspection to pick up the products from your Chinese supplier and they can prep it to send to Amazon warehouses.

When you purchase your UPC code do you apply it to all of your stock or just to the box when shipping to amazon

Hey Martin, so when you buy a barcode (UPC code) it's because you want to create a new product listing from scratch. After you create the product listing and select "Fulfillment by Amazon" you create something called a shipping plan. That means you tell the Amazon warehouses what you're going to send to them. Afterwards you print out a new set of barcodes that are called FNSKU's. You take those and place them on your Amazon box when shipping to Amazon. I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Thank you so much for your time and for the information! This was the best article I found so far. Thank you so much!

Hey Cathy, thank you so much for reaching out and reading the article! I hope it helps you out and you find all the answers you need. I would love to help you out more if you need it, feel free to email me will@startupbros(dot)com.

Any limitation of individual Account? i, mean monthly selling quantity or can change the Individual Account to Professional Account ?

There's no selling limitation on an individual selling account but it can get expensive because Amazon charges $1 per unit sold. So if you sell more than 40 units it will cost more than the $39.99 per month a professional account costs. You need to keep that in mind but you can always upgrade any time.

Hi, if fabric sourced with all required certificates and product I make in US , can I see it on Amazon?

Hey Jami, thanks for reaching out and for reading the article! I need some more clarification on the questions. In Amazon you generally don't see manufacturer information on the products. But there is a technical information section where you can put quality and product information for the customer to see. If you need more help please let me know and keep asking more questions if I didn't answer your questions correctly.

How much does the warehouse cost for the storage of our products?

How do I transfer my goods to the Amazon for storage?

Hey Dawn, thank you for reading the article and reaching out! There's a section in the article that talks about creating a shipping plan. The only way to send products into Amazon warehouses is to create a shipping plan from Amazon seller central and enter the information of the exact number of products you're sending into the warehouse. Once you complete the shipping plan you will get "FNSKU" barcodes that you can print out and tape them on the box or boxes that have your products. Please let me know if that makes sense or if you have any more questions.

Hey Dawn, it depends. But these are the general numbers to keep in mind ($6.90 per cubic foot or a $0.15 per-unit) depending which one is greater.

Hello read your article its really very helpful my question is this if i have some products in hand i have purchased from some company. Then what should be my next step i only have to ship that to amazon or i need to buy bar code

Hey Manahil, thanks for reaching out and reading the article! Those two steps work together. With a product in hand you need a bar code to create the Amazon listing. When you create the listing make sure to choose fulfilled by merchant and then create a shipping plan. After you create the shipping plan and send the products into Amazon switch your product listing to fulfilled by Amazon and it will go live one your package arrives at the Amazon warehouse.

Thank you Will! This is by far the most comprehensive info about Amazon! I just made an Amazon seller's account. Now I'm on the first phase of product research! Definitely will use FBA inspection for prepping and shipping and will inform that it is through you I know about them. Keep up the great work Will! You are one of the best!

Hey Mae, thank you so much for reaching out and reading the article. I wrote the article with you in mind, a hard working person that takes an incredible amount of action. Please let me know if you need any help at all or if you have any questions.

Hello, So you definitely need a credit card, not a business debit card?

Hey Patrice, yes you're correct. A credit card and not a business debit account.

When do you create the Amazon listing? After you receive your test order of 100? Or when you have your 100 piece test order at your house? Or when you place the test order? Need your guidance.

Hey Laura, thank you so much for reading the post. So you generally want to finish the listing once you have your products ready to be shipped out. But as you place the order, you can start the listing, write the descriptions and start thinking of images you want to use. Since you are going to be selling the products from your house make sure to select fulfilled by merchant. You don't want the listing published until you have the packages ready to go.

Would I be better off searching for companies that are verified to buy from? On Alibaba site there are companies that have been there for over a year that is verified. I'm not comfortable buy through Western Union or MoneyGram or PayPal. So do you think it is ok for me to order a product from a verified company with my debit card?

Great article. Also Increase Conversions of your Amazon listing with Enhanced Brand Content! Why Amazon EBC? Not only it looks neat & more attractive, it can increase conversions to up 10%. From August 2017 now Amazon A+/EBC pages are visible on mobile too. It’s obvious that the biggest online retailer is shifting its strategy towards enhanced brand content!

Hi, it is my first time to watch and know all the above information to be Amazon FBA , my question is I live in Canada can I still be Amazon FBA and should I follow the same steps as USA or it is different? and if I started how long do I need to start officially be Amazon FBA, and what is the average cost from A to Z ?

This is a very in-depth guide. Well laid out post with tons of information. I have heard of many horror stories about selling FBA on Amazon. Why are there so many comments in their seller central forum about the problems? I just read a review for a program that eliminates the need to set an eCommerce site without using Amazon. Do you think that can be done? Have you heard of this https://appsforincome.com/kibo-code-review/ ? Thank you again for a great guide on selling amazon FBA.

Hi Will, This is by far the most comprehensive step by step guide about Amazon! Thank! I'm helping my brother to start selling on Amazon as individual. My brother is not a US citizen, he lives in France, and would like to sell internationally using FBA services. You mentioned that an EIN may be obtained by filing IRS Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. What should he mention when filling lines 7a and 7b of the form? 8a he will check 'NO' For 9a he selects 'Sole proprietor' and fills 'N/A' in the SSN field? What about line 10? does he select other? If yes what is he supposed to write in the 'specify' field? Does he needs to fill any other form? Thanks!

This was great! I have a few questions specifically can I put my own brand on a product China produces, can I customize it like a lipstick pallet or a health shake? What are risks/ rewards. How about EBay? I would be a new Amazon seller how do I get then boost my ratings?

Nice Article. Helps a lot.

Hi Will, I would like to sell electrical items such as immersion heaters, tubular heater as I have many other products and want to sell on amazon.com. I am located in India. I would like to register as Professional. Have following questions - 1. Is there any quantity limiatation to send good to Amazon storage? 2. I know there is $39.00 monthly fee for keeping goods at amazon storage. In this fee can we sell only one item or multiple items? Are there any hidden cost or additional cost do we need to pay? 3. Suppose in any month items does not get sold do we still need to pay full monthly fee to amazon? 4. If the sell increases on amazon.com, does Amazon inform us ti send additional goods? Thanks again for your help.

Hi Will. Thank you for making this. What about VAT and duty tax? I live in the Czech Republic, and any import from out of the EU over 150euros is subject to 21percent VAT + duty tax (which depends on the product). I believe I will also have to register for and pay VAT as a seller if I choose to use the FBA center in the CZR (adding another expense and having to file reports monthly). I'm curious as to why you didn't mention VAT and duty tax in your article, AND is there any resource that you would recommend checking out (website, article, person, etc..) that is more Europe-friendly? I may be mistaken, but I think your article was written with US residents in mind. Thank you so much again for the info and in advance for your answer.

Great article! Would you say most of this information still applies going into 2021 or what practices or strategies have signifigantly changed?

Great write-up. Very informative.

THATS AMAZING Article it helped me alot thank you now i am trying to make my first listing and they keep on saing me "Amazon must approve your brand before you can use it to list products. Brands should be registered through Brand Registry" could you tell me how to solve that?

Hello, what kind of webstie do you recommend to have together with your FBA wholesale business? I'm looking to greate a company oriented website just to back up my business with or is it better to creat a e-commerce oriented website that showcase & "sell" products from your wholesale suppliers?