Staring an Amazon FBA business

Andrew

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Hey so after sucessfuly building up an eBay business from scratch I think it's time I follow @Jon s advice and diversify my income streams so I'm not just reliant on one platform. So I'm building up to star tackling Amazon FBA in March. Just wondering if anyone's aware of some good UK based bloggers/vloggers I can follow?

Ta
 
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homie

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If ebay is working then I would stick with that. You won't get the same profit margins from Amazon because their fees are so high.
 

Jon

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If ebay is working then I would stick with that. You won't get the same profit margins from Amazon because their fees are so high.
I think it's about not having all your eggs in one basket. It's a dangerous thing to do when it comes to online earnings I always feel (but maybe that's just based on my own past experience lol)

On ebay you can't control the competition that appears, their price or their promotion but I suppose you can control the content that appears in your listings.
 
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Andrew

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If ebay is working then I would stick with that. You won't get the same profit margins from Amazon because their fees are so high.

Aye plan is to sell stuff that has a higher margin on Amazon (like certain books and RA products). So I'm getting the best possible prices for my stuff.
 

Maifax

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bit of a Necro - but about to dip my toes into these waters and wondering how well your FBA experience has gone. Any hints/tips or watchout's appreciated!
 
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nate99

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bit of a Necro - but about to dip my toes into these waters and wondering how well your FBA experience has gone. Any hints/tips or watchout's appreciated!
Yup would love to know how you go too!
 

Maifax

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Yup would love to know how you go too!

I've done a few hundred quid of RAto test the waters - buying on deal/clearance and selling via FBA. That works ok, key learning - the fees are bonkers (£4.50 on a £15 item) so you need to be getting the product cheap & it might be that selling by Ebay is a more profitable route

Have also been thinking about launching my own product as that seems to be where the real money is & is basically what i do for a living in a corporate environment. I think I might have found something - so currently getting some samples from a couple of suppliers to see if they can make something I'd be happy/confident to sell.
 

Jon

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I've done a few hundred quid of RAto test the waters - buying on deal/clearance and selling via FBA. That works ok, key learning - the fees are bonkers (£4.50 on a £15 item) so you need to be getting the product cheap & it might be that selling by Ebay is a more profitable route

Have also been thinking about launching my own product as that seems to be where the real money is & is basically what i do for a living in a corporate environment. I think I might have found something - so currently getting some samples from a couple of suppliers to see if they can make something I'd be happy/confident to sell.
You have to pay amazon £4.50 for selling a £15 item?!!?!?
 

nate99

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Yeah Amazon sure like their cut!

Ah Private labelling? Is that a lot harder these days? Much cost involved?

Cheers
 
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Maifax

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You have to pay amazon £4.50 for selling a £15 item?!!?!?

to be fair it does vary - but that's the worst I have seen. This does cover listing fees (15% of selling price) + and a "referral fee" which I believe covers the handling, postage & packaging for prime delivery too so it's not completely ridiculous & probably varies by item size and weight. That said it was definitely more than I was expecting when I started with this.

Their calculator should be used before you jump in..
 
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Maifax

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Yeah Amazon sure like their cut!

Ah Private labelling? Is that a lot harder these days? Much cost involved?

Cheers

Yeah, I hear it's much tougher than it was 3-5 years ago - but I'm hoping my 10 years of professional experience designing and launching products gives me a bit of a leg up.

Cost-wise I've budgeted £3500 to get something started including my first order. My target is to break even on first order to get the ball rolling and cover all the one-off costs and then (hopefully) profit off top up orders after that.

I'm pragmatic though - so using this first one as a learning experience -
worst case I lose £3k, can put "launched my own brand" on my CV (good for the space I work in and cheaper than most professional courses) and get a good story.
best case I launch a product that gets me a recurring £500-£1000 profit a month and learn something I can replicate again and again.
 

nate99

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Yeah, I hear it's much tougher than it was 3-5 years ago - but I'm hoping my 10 years of professional experience designing and launching products gives me a bit of a leg up.

Cost-wise I've budgeted £3500 to get something started including my first order. My target is to break even on first order to get the ball rolling and cover all the one-off costs and then (hopefully) profit off top up orders after that.

I'm pragmatic though - so using this first one as a learning experience -
worst case I lose £3k, can put "launched my own brand" on my CV (good for the space I work in and cheaper than most professional courses) and get a good story.
best case I launch a product that gets me a recurring £500-£1000 profit a month and learn something I can replicate again and again.
Good luck - 10 years of experience should stand you in good stead!
 

Jon

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Really fascinating read @Maifax !

I think you are spot on when you say about going for light / easily deliverable items when you stare starting out to help keep the costs down

also settling little and often is key as at least that way you are getting the eyeballs during the early days

Sustainability is a great 'hot topic' - Can see it driving trends for a good number of years

REALLY interesting stuff this!
 

homie

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Be interested to see what the product is. Really hope it's something innovative and interesting and not just a pair of socks being resold with a picture of a dog on it or something. (no offense)
 

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