Well color me inspired - I had NO IDEA you could do this. I'm going to follow your advice and start taking action and trying to finally start my own business. I've wanted to for many years and have even tried a few times - but it's always just too much. Thank you for the case study!
59 Comments (page 1)
the hours are bad for the webinar
Go do it, Karine! So glad my story could inspire you!
Hi there excellent post! I'm wondering if running this kind of business is a lot of work (now that you have it up and running). Could you sit back and collect your earnings now, if you wanted to? Are you just continuing to grow for fun now? Interested.
This sounds stunning. The biggest problem is finding a product that gives you a return after shipping import tax and amazon fees?
Problem with this is overseas suppliers are catching on. There are several reports including on Reddit /r/FulfillmentbyAmazon that they are being pushed out by suppliers who are directly sourcing to Amazon. Hence cutting the middleman, which would be the author of this article. I expect to see this type of behavior to continue and eventually make this article a moot point.
Interesting thought Josh. Not sure if I agree 100%... I personally think we are going to see the entire retail sector of our economy disappear over the next 25-years, and I believe all those $'s are going online. The sheer growth of this market is going to make it a great pool to swim in for the forseeable future. Just my opinion, of course. From what I am seeing, the Western consumer is actually becoming less patient - which leads to them paying premiums for US-sellers. Chinese sellers may do decent on eBay, but only with mass-produced products. The retail economy is simply becoming more sophisticated - more segmented and personalized. It is not a zero-sum game - a rising tide raises all ships. Just make sure you're playing in the right pool :)
I wholeheartedly agree with you. There are many strong benefits of being a US side "eTailer", customer service is one example. And with a positive "can do" attitude willing to overcome any obstacle is what it will take. I think suppliers and customers alike will appreciate the effort. Maybe a topic of another article?
This is all well and good... but what's the average margin? ;)
In the section for month 2 I mention that our margin is around 40% all said and done. I'd maybe give it 35-40%.
Start digging into it for a while and products will start jumping out at you.
For the returns we're seeing the amount of work is surprisingly little. Except that we are trying to grow rapidly so we're always on the edge of chaos. I could sit back and rake it in, but if you're not growing, you're dying!
Hi Ben, Congrats on your business. Just wondering how do you get inventory from China to Amazon that quickly? If I'm not reading it wrongly, you have a new product and restock within a month time. Are you shipping them by air?
Hey Dr Ben, happy to have had a small part in your learning. I remember doing the episode with my buddy Spencer over at NichePursuits but don't remember any pitch for a course. Probably the only thing mentioned was our AmaSuite software - startupbros have a discount page up for their group for that software as well. In any case happy to hear you are on your way. Boo yah
Wondering if Dr. Ben has had problems with overseas suppliers and what advice he has to find good ones?
Great post! However, the one thing I would like to ask about is product liability insurance...were you required to obtain insurance by Amazon once your sales hit consistently over 10k month? And, if so, can you recommend where you purchased same? I am in my third month of 10k plus sales and am waiting for the email from Amazon about this (which has me a little worried) as I know nothing about this area and you rarely see it mentioned anywhere. Thank you.
Thank you Dr. Ben for writing this, And thank you Startup Bros for posting. Exactly what i needed to read right now. I love the gif immensely as that seems to be what i am mostly doing right now (learning and not doing). I work in 2 different hospitals and do 12-hour shifts. Time or "tired" is my excuse lately and this post just help me to see that those are just excuses. Thank you again. Motivation renewed.
The video among the article is an image instead of a real video mentioned, please check and relaunch the video with thanks!
My concerning part is the debt you were in after 10 months (before having to take out a loan) so let’s do the math. You mentioned about a 35-40% profit margin, so let’s do 35% to be conservative in case you need to do advertising, etc. Month 1 profit: $1617 Month 2 profit: $4328 Month 3 profit: $6223 Month 4 profit: $7596 Month 5 profit: $10928 Month 6 profit: $18806 Month 7 profit: $18957 Month 8 profit: $24551 Month 9 profit: $28857 Month 10 profit: $36936 So after 10 months, you had a profit of $158,799. I understand you need to reinvest profits for new products and reinvest into products selling. But you reinvested about $178,000 into products in those first 10 months since you said after a $30,000 loan that you were now in debt $50,000, correct? Products from China are a fraction of what you sell them for on Amazon, so I’m not quite seeing how you were in debt after profiting $158k? So you were investing more money then you were making each month? And if you really want to step up your game and invest a huge inventory, even with that profit you still had to take out a loan. So from month to month you weren’t making any money unless you stop reinvesting? When you stop reinvesting you see a profit, but then in a few weeks or months you are out of products. So how can you do this without spending more money then you are making to see a profit but continue to grow your inventory? Please tell me where I am wrong here. It seems that even though you profited thousands of dollars each month, you were still losing money, and couldn’t quit your day job (which everyone else that wants you to invest in their course says you can). Not trying to be negative, but the concerning part for me is all the money you were making and still not having an ROI. Most people will just see revenue and not think profit, which is misleading in this post. Appreciate this case study and your input.
We ship a lot by express air (DHL, FEDEX) and air freight, which has a shipping time of 4-7 days usually. We try to do as much sea freight as possible, but it doesn't always work out.
Hey Chris, It wasn't you that pitched any thing. It might have been at the end of the episode or maybe I'm misremembering. In any case, I've learned a lot from you!
If we're looking on Alibaba, we look for suppliers with multiple years of being a "gold supplier". We try to use paypal for payments on initial orders as much as possible. Never western union. Quick response times are key when skyping or emailing. And look for a supplier who can offer you multiple products in your product line.
While technically a requirement as you mentioned by Amazon, it's not something that Amazon typically goes after sellers for. If they do, they'll ask you for proof of insurance within a certain time period of them asking you. My recommendation is to get quotes from a bunch of insurance companies as the quotes can be specific to the type of products you're selling. Also, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. If it seems cheap, it's probably not what you need?
Dr B. First...way to go! Im in the medical field as well ( critical care flight paramedic) for 20+ years now so I totally get the burn out thing. Im trying to do Amazon as well. You said start digging to find the product that gives you needed ROI. 1) where do you find this info? Do you look at the Amazon Top 100 and the head over to Alibaba after choosing something from the 100 or do you stay away from that and go w/a product that is..say..less competitive? 2) do you suggest selling something you're passionate about? I am trying desperately to get into the supplement (very competitive yes but also a billion dollar industry and I LOOVE it) biz but dont have the capital to private label just yet and re-selling someones else product doesnt appeal to me. 3) if i go to walmart, target etc how do i know which products are 'the" products to buy and re-sell? I mean, who has time to go thru allllll the items on Amazon and see what matches up to what's on sale at the brick and mortars? 4) Are you a "professional seller" or individual? thanks in advance!
Interesting read. Were most of your profits from products you have creatively invented and patented?
Hi Ben Thank you for your article. I was just wondering you mentioned that you had a lot of growth from cross selling as you launched new products. Are all of your products in the same category? Thanks Kerrie
Hi, Thank you for a great and inspiring article. I´m on my way of ordering from China and ship it to Amazon and I do have a question about shipping directly to Amazon since I´ve only shipped to my home in Sweden before. Could I just ask the supplier to arrange everything and trust that it arrives correctly to Amazon? Should I use some kind of shipping service for quality control? Thank you very much for helping, Ann
Another thing about the overseas 'retailers' on Amazon - they often don't pay attention to details, like proper US sizes, dimensions, etc. If you pay attention to those details, your returns will be minimal and your satisfaction score as a retailer will be better. These Chinese companies don't care about being accurate - they just want the sale. So their scores are lower. Me personally, I always look at the score of the retailer. Anything lower than a 95% doesn't get a sale from me, because it's usually cheap/crappy made products that I'll end up returning and I just don't have time for that.
how can I join you about this business I like it
Hey Mike, Thanks for the analysis. It looks like you're a real numbers guy! Both my partner and I are working full time jobs, so making extra side cash wasn't a big concern for us. We wanted to grow this BIG! Our plan the whole time was to not take any cash out of the business for AT LEAST a year in order to scale. In February we kinda caught up with our spending and we started to going into the black at a rate of 30-40k profit per month. Over the last 6 months, we reinvested about $125,000 in 2 new Amazon businesses. And we're looking at launching 2 new product lines with an initial cost of about $25,000 each. At our current revenue (about $150,000 per month) we would profit $60,000 per month if we stopped buying inventory and launching new products. But as you see, we're about growth. If you wanted to go more conservative, I'd consider only reinvesting 20% of profits. Ben
Mostly private label with small modifications to the initial designs.
Yeah, most of our products are in the same category and we have multiple products serving a specific market. So lot's of opportunity for cross selling.
We use an fba prep service on all our products. I don't like the potential problems that could arise by shipping direct to Amazon.
try ecomdocs.com/ricecakes
Thank you so much for helping, Ann
Dr. Ben, You are true inspiration to us all. I've always said if you want something done give it to a busy man or woman. Keep up the fire! Robert Guillot
Definitely a great result from selling physical product for you.
Thanks for the insights another awesome article. Keep killin it!
Thanks for sharing! Out of curiosity, what if I'm based in Asia? Am I still able to use Amazon FBA?
Hi Dr Ben, Which FBA prep service would you recommend? Does this complicate the tax issue at all? Thanks
Kathy, There's an entire blog post on this site on how to find the right product. I've been working on it for a couple of weeks off and on and haven't found the right one. I am going to start selling on EBay because it's much easier to get started. For me personally I have to start with a product that I'm passionate about otherwise I just won't have the motivation to keep going. I also want to use my first product to begin to develop a brand so again the passion thing comes into the equation. I have had a super difficult time choosing the product because every one I come up with is already on EBay and Amazon and very competitively priced. I've also noticed that there seem to be a lot of products listed that have little or no sales making me think the most important thing to getting started is very careful product selection. I'd be interested to hear how you're getting on.
Well is there a certain percentage in price difference you wanna look for when you are looking for items for RA as a rule of thumb?
Man, I love a good rapid growth story. I like it even more because it's a "let's see how this goes" story. Congrats Dr. on the successful venture and thanks for sharing the keys. Well, have to go start a new business. That gif that appears twice is pretty effective.
Great story, I just started my amazon business and this just gave me a boost of confidence and motivation. Which FBA prep service do you use? and in the beginning of a product launch I am having a lot of trouble getting reviews for a product, any advice on how I can get more reviews? thanks a lot!
Thanks a lot for this article, it is a really great resource. I feel like there is one section where you took a leap that I would really like to know more. I just don't understand how you buy a quantity of 40 katanas at a price that you can make money off of. Everything on alibaba and such is always in the 500 or 1000 minimum order quantity range, meaning you have to spend thousands of dollars on your first product, which I think is probably the biggest hurdle for most people to try their first product. Thank you!
wait, so what did you sell?
So you ship your products directly to Amazon FBA? How does that work exactly? Do you have to do any extra steps that involve packing or putting labels on?
wow it's amazing and inspirational .
Hello DR. BEN, Your great and inspiring article motivates others, who are really interested to Make Money Online. Right now I don't have any plan to sell any Physical product on Amazon, yes I do have a Blog, which I started one year and seven months ago and after launching it within 5-7 months, it started to make $400-$500 and after a year of launching it, it is Making around US $1000 Monthly. I'm quite happy for it. Thanks for sharing your Success to launch ecommerce Business.
thats a top secret sellers will not tell
Hey Ben, This is well inspiring and detailed. Before I jump in to "Actions", I've got one concern for you. I'm from Sri Lanka (The small country you will find underneath India :D) and is this whole process possible here too? Thank you and good Luck!
Hi... Excellent Work, Thanks For Sharing Good Information
Thanks for checking out the article!
That was a quick start! Lucky you!
Thanks for checking out the article :)
Well done.Thanks for sharing. Question? May I give product away and have people review it on Amazon or do they have to buy it on Amazon to give a review,Thank you
Right now, asking for reviews by giving away products is against Amazon terms of service. But if the customer buys the product then they can leave a review.
Hey Dr Ben! I would like to thank you for this amazing content, the way you have mentioned every key point is very helpful and easy to understand and motivates people to start a business. Stats and updates of an online business, nobody wants to share but you did it for your users: Thanks man
Hey Abu, thank you for reaching out and reading the article! We love Dr.Ben and he's such a bad ass