If you're interested in making money online, then selling physical products on Amazon could be a great business opportunity for you.
In this blog post, Stephen Somers from Marketplace SuperHeroes is going to walk you through the potential of selling on Amazon, how to get started, what products, to sell, how much you can expect to earn, and everything in between!
He's left no stone unturned. Stephen, the floor is yours!
Thanks, Jitendra! Wow, where do I even start?Well look, I'll keep things short and to the point - that way you can get the information you need and decide if this is something you'd like to pursue further.
My name's Stephen Somers, I'm 34 years old, and I'm coming in today from my hometown here in Wexford, Ireland.
Just to give you guys a brief background...I've been doing what I do for eleven years now- so I guess you could say I'm an eleven year, overnight success story!
Like a lot of people, when I was in my early twenties, I wanted to learn how to make money online. That was the big goal. I was in a band before that, trying to be a rock star which did not work out, unfortunately!
I was studying business in college at night time while working a day job as a data processor (*The most boring job in the history of mankind!!). So I was doing all of these things but when the band ended, I just became directionless. I was eating the wrong foods, drinking too much and all the rest.
I knew I didn't want to finish college. I didn't want to work in my 9-5 forever. And I knew that I wanted to do my own thing...So I tried lots of different things.
I looked into affiliate marketing, drop-shipping and everything else in between... but for me, at the time I wasn't an expert at anything. So selling physical products on the internet just made sense to me.
So that's what I did. I tried selling my first product on Amazon. It was a cream canvas wardrobe- a terrible product! Way to competitive!
But at the time I didn't know how to research or validate products. I didn't make any money, but I did get my money back. So I set out to find someone who could help me!
And that's when I came across Robert.
My first mentor who is still my business partner to this day.
Weirdly, I met him through my Aunt and she mentioned to him that I wanted to get into this sort of thing. So I got in contact with him and he agreed to let me come up, work for a week, and learn how all this stuff worked.
Of course, I thought I was about to walk into the 'laptop lifestyle.'
Where I could open up my computer, punch in a few numbers, enjoy a coffee while I was doing it, and start making money online.
Wow, how wrong I was!
I got to Northern Island where Robert's business was based. It was freezing cold. There were rats running around outside and all of a sudden he turned to me and said, 'I hope you're wearing work boots because you're going to be lifting boxes all day!'
I thought this was WAY different from all the stuff I'd seen online about a physical product business. Anyway, I didn't realize it at the time, but it was a blessing in disguise because I started to actually learn how this type of business worked. Sure it was hard work, but I absolutely LOVED it!
So I did what any logical person would do...I think.
I quit my job, went all-in, and spent about 9 months working with Robert, learning how the business worked during the day, and at night worked on my own personal development as well as how to do online marketing.
To cut a long story short, I started to take all the book knowledge I'd been studying and put it together with the stuff I was learning from Robert, and from there, we completely re-engineered his business from the ground up.
That meant getting rid of the two huge rat-infested warehouses and 8 members of staff, to where it was just myself and Robert. We worked HARD for about 18 months and grew that business into a multi-7 figure business.
We knew we had a process that worked, and we knew we could teach this to other people. And that's how Marketplace SuperHeroes was born - which is now a training and service business with over 5,200 members.
How much can a new business owner expect to make? How much can a person expect to make around one to two years after they start?
That's a very common question - nonetheless a great one! When it comes to an Amazon-based business selling private label products, it really depends.
It'd be wrong of me to just throw a number into thin air.
If you're reading this and you're considering starting your own business selling on Amazon, and you're wondering how much you can realistically make, the sky really is the limit.
I know that's not the answer you were hoping for but whether you want to grow to an income that supports your lifestyle and sets you financially free, or maybe you want to scale that growth into a multi 6 or 7-figure business, it's all 100% possible as long as you have the correct system in place, and you're willing to invest the time, capital and effort.
Here are a few screenshot results I grabbed from our community to show you what some of our Heroes have achieved in their first 1-2 years - or less - selling on Amazon.
What do you like about selling on Amazon?
If you were looking for a business opportunity that had the potential for you to set your own hours and work when and how you want, then selling physical products on Amazon could be a fantastic option for you.
By selling physical products on Amazon the way that we teach, you're able to reach a far greater customer base than on any of the other e-commerce platforms, like eBay.
One of the great things about Amazon is that you can potentially make more money but by doing far less work (all thanks to Amazon's unbelievable fulfilment service). Take for instance Amazon's EFN - the European Fulfillment Network...
This is great for Amazon sellers because it allows us to store all our products in a single country (the UK) and fulfil orders all across Europe. That includes 27 countries spread across Amazon's German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish and Polish Marketplaces.
Here's a cool screengrab showing how effective this 'market multiplication' effect can be when it's in full swing:
(Gary is one of the Heroes who has achieved phenomenal results selling globally on Amazon.)
Not only that, but we have now opened our warehouse in Canada which allows our members to easily sell there too!
Not only that, but Amazon is usually the first place somebody will search to find a product. That means you can piggyback on their reputation and sell more of your products without having to build up a relationship with your customer first.
How can a person start their own business on Amazon? How does this business model work?
If you wanted to start your own Amazon business selling private label products from scratch, here are 5 tips:
#1 Find a System
Trust me, don't waste your time trying to figure all this stuff out on your own! Find a proven model that works, follow it, and you WILL get results.
#2 Product Research
Product research is the most important thing you'll ever do in this business. Place the majority of your time getting good at finding products that are going to sell.
#3 Raise Capital
The key to sustainable success with this business is to consistently raise investable capital. If you can put $25 aside every day for 6 months, that's nearly $4500 that you can invest straight into more products.
#4 Invest
As soon as you're ready, pull the trigger and get that first product ordered. Taking action and continually investing in new products is the best way to achieve success with this business.
#5 More Products!
As soon as you've got your first product selling, congratulations! Now it's time to focus on getting the next product into the pipeline of your business - which is exactly what Beth has done, helping her smash almost close to 6-figures in the US and $50k in the EU:
How do you determine what to sell on Amazon?
At Marketplace SuperHeroes, we use four key elements to determine what to sell on Amazon.
Here's our B.E.S.T framework:
Boring
Find boring, everyday products that routinely sell online.
Established
Only sell items that are established and have proven demand.
Sustainable
Focus on creating a sustainable business with sustainable products (example - don't try to sell the latest iPhone case as it will be out of date within the same year!)
Tangible
Make certain that everything you sell is tangible (i.e the customer can physically handle the product)
How do I create my own product? Is it hard? Do I ship the item myself?
The unique thing about Marketplace SuperHeroes is that we don't need to create our own products. One of our core principles is to always fulfil demand - we never try to create it. Therefore we're simply looking for products that are already selling with proven demand. We simply look at ways to improve offers that are currently available by adding different pack sizes or a tangible bonus item. #winner
When it comes to shipping...Amazon handles all this for you thanks FBA (fulfilment by Amazon)
You simply send your products into Amazon's warehouses.
Then, once a product sells, Amazon automatically sends that product to the customer. They also deal with all the customer service too which is brilliant if you're like me and hate those annoying customer headaches!
Can you give me an example of items that can be sold on Amazon?
Sure! By using our B.E.S.T framework, a few examples that spring to mind are things like plastic shoe boxes, wall-mounted TV stands, and rubber feet that go underneath washing machines.
See what I mean by boring? It's kinda hard to get excited about a plastic shoebox, right?
But these items are proven to be in-demand. They're already selling. All we have to do is identify ways to improve the offer.
Now that I've said that...
*Please do not try to sell plastic shoe boxes*
Those are products we sold a number of years ago - and remember - markets DO change from time to time - which is why it's always important to focus on finding more items to fill your product pipeline.
How much does it cost to start this type of business and how much on a monthly basis to maintain it?
I've seen a bunch of 'gurus' underestimate the costs involved in starting an Amazon FBA business (probably because they want you to leave enough room in your budget to buy their course!) I'm not trying to do that - I'm trying to be as honest and transparent about this business as I can.
Roughly speaking, to get your first product imported and selling on Amazon, you're realistically looking at between $1,000 - $3,000.
For monthly on-going fees, the two main things:
Seller Subscription Fee:
A seller subscription fee is either £25 for the UK or $39 for selling in the USA. This is paid regardless of if you're selling or not (this is why we don't recommend you open an Amazon Seller account until you have a product to sell.)
FBA Fee:
These fees depend on factors like size, weight, marketplace, and item category. FBA fees usually always consist of a fulfilment and storage fee.
Fulfilment fee: A flat fee per unit based on the item's dimension and weight.
Storage fee: Calculated per cubic foot per month, pro-rata*
*We actually created a freight and storage service (SuperHero Freight) for our members where we are able to offer much lower storage costs as well as taking care of all the importing of products from China - at a price that simply can't be beaten.
There's no need to allow Amazon selling fees to swallow up your profits!
Are there any other tips that you have for someone who wants to try selling on Amazon?
If you're looking at getting started with an Amazon-based business selling physical products, I'd always have a long-term focus and think about selling your products on a global basis (that way you get the benefit of marketplace multiplication).
And to break down the benefit of Marketplace Multiplication we've created a really simple formula... it's called the Rule of Five.
Take five products. That all make $5 profit per sale. (5 x 5...)
Now, take these same 5 products, and sell them on 5 different Amazon Marketplaces ...(US, CA, UK, EU, AU) (5 x 5 x 5...)
With our type of products, we simply want to make 5 sales per day, per product, per marketplace. Which is very achievable by the way! (5 x 5 x 5 x 5...)
And since there is an average of 30 days in a month let's see what happens when we multiply this simple formula by 30....
(5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 30 = 18,750)That figure is what is possible to achieve in profit before tax every month when you sell 5 products globally on Amazon. If this figure could change your life then- then my advice to someone who wants to try is to go all in! That's something we are big on in our community!
Now, I know you offer a course to help others create successful Amazon businesses. What can a person learn from your course?
Our Ignite Program is designed with one goal in mind: to teach you exactly how to find simple, low competition, high-profit products and sell them globally on Amazon.
We've created the most complete, step-by-step program that literally anybody can follow. Whether you're just starting out and you've never started a business in your life, or you're an Amazon veteran looking to expand your business - our Ignite course has you in mind.