Josh, I read your update #11 on your FBA launch. I was wondering if you had made the amount of sales that you thought you would. It’s been about a month since you launched ( I think). I hope it is working well for you. Thanks for your posts, they are helping me.
Hi Josh,
I really appreciate all the info you share with us. It’s been a huge help for me as I try to set up my own Amazon business.
I’m devoting my time now to finding a suitable product and I came across a candidate which seems to meet most of the criteria you laid out. The top products in the category are selling well, high BSR, some of them are with low number of reviews (under 200), and some are badly presented with just one picture.
However the product keyword search is at 25,000 monthly searches, which is way under 100,000. That puzzles me, because this is a well selling category.
After some more research I found out that there is a parallel category (with a small variation in the keyword) that is searched a lot (over a million searches at Merchantwords) and is full of strong competitors.
I now face a dilemma whether I should go forward with this product or not. On the one hand looking with Junglescout on Amazon this looks like a suitable product. On the other hand it is not searched as much according to Merchantwords. And then there is the parallel category on Amazon which is full of strong competitors.
I would appreciate your advice on this. Perhaps you have faced a similar situation with your research on Amazon.
I can’t be 100% sure without knowing the exact products, but I would probably stay away from it due to the high comp in a parallel niche. Sorry and I know how hard it is to find a product. Good luck!
Used your ultimate guide to buying expired domains for a PBN network and checked out a few hundred that were “no such hosts” and NONE of them were available.
Does that sound possible?
I am only looking for 5 to 10 sites to build a PBN but at this rate I’ll never get there.
Yes, that seems possible. I usually have thousands of “no such hosts” and end up with a couple hundred available domains to look through. Just keep trying and you’ll find some domains
Was recently reading your Amazon FBA journey as I’ve been interested in dabbling in this for a while. You’ve provided a very interesting read and LOT’S of good pointers – thank you!
I do have a question as I am coming at this FBA thing from a somewhat different angle. I understand the positives of manufacturing and shipping from China. There are certainly some downsides compared to manufacturing and shipping from the USA however. Here’s where I’m in a unique position. I have (relatively free) access to a manufacturing facility that specializes in metal products of all types. I’ve found what I believe to be a niche in the outdoor market, and it just so happens to complement my personal manufacturing abilities quite well.
My main concern is that the current competitors in my niche do NOT seem to be selling your typical off-the-shelf product from China like a lot of FBA-ers are doing, they tend to be selling a nicer product that although may be produced in China, is distributed from a name brand recognized in the community in the USA. I’m not talking EMS, North Face, REI, etc scale, I’m talking smaller companies that only someone participating in that arena may know about. I have the ability to produce a product of equal or superior finish quality with added value, on top of first-hand oversight of production. Should I be concerned about my competition, or do you think that’s something that I can work with considering my manufacturing advantage? Clearly this could be scaled out of Amazon FBA, but FBA seems like a great place to test the water.
You’re welcome, glad I could give you some pointers!
I think that since you are going to be creating a superior product to the competition that you shouldn’t worry too much about the other guys. You will naturally become a well known brand yourself if your product is good enough. Also, the most important part is that your product is good. If your product is good then you will get good reviews and that will lead to more sales. I think that you should take advantage of your skills and resources to make your own product and become a leader within this niche!
Good luck and if you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask 🙂
Hi Josh,
Thanks so much for all of the information that you have been providing!
I have a question around offering a free gift or bonus item in with my main product. I would like to offer my main product for sale with a free bonus item (smaller item) as a way to differentiate myself from my competitors. I would obviously like to mention this in my listing title to attract attention to my listing…..i.e. “XXX comes with a bonus gift of a XXX”
Do you know if this is allowed under the Amazon TOS? I cannot find anything that refers to this.
I believe that doing something like this is against their TOS. I know for a fact that you can’t mention it in your title but I am not positive about being able to offer a free gift. You may want to contact Amazon and see what they say
Hello there i wanna ask you about one pbn expired domain, need me answer. Check screenshots.
I check archive.org and no spam. Regular domain, safe.
PROBLEM is: Have a lot backlinks and it’s on chine,russian,usa,india… page global.
Hello Josh,
I saw a few of your videos on Youtube and am interested in Amazon FBA, If possible I like to talk to you on the phone to get your advice and talk to you as an investor as well. I am in Orange County California.
Please let me know if you can talk and the time. I am not sure if this post is public so I am not putting my phone number but if you want to e mail me yours I can call you.
Thanks for sharing the how too it is very helpfull.
Could you please elaborate more on how exactly you ship products from china to amazon? did you use a forwarding companu like Shapiro?
did you use an inspection company like fbaforward?
I will appreciate if you could elaborate more on this subject as it has a lot of significance and it is hard to know which company to use.
I used Forest Shipping to ship my product from China to the Amazon warehouse. I didn’t use any inspection services and I sent my shipment straight from China to the warehouse, I never saw my shipment. Hope this helped
Hi Josh,
This is Prabir form India.
First, Thanks a lot for those tons of resourses you provide to learn FBA.
I know you are super busy, however if you please clear some of my confusions it will be a great help for me :
1. How many and What are the labels we need to paste on our products
2. After putting the products in a final box, which label to fix on that box.
3. If I have a Chinese supplier how can I make him fix all the labels in right places.
4. How can I use Amazon UPS servise to ship from China to US if not which one will be best and headache free.
5. Should the labels be printed by laser or inkjet will work the same.
Hi Josh great website very informative. I was reading a section on your site when you requested samples from the seller and it took it took three weeks. I was wondering and it wasn’t mentioned in your post was there a sales agreement between you and seller when you requested for the samples or did you arrange one after you got samples and placed a large order with the supplier once you decided you wanted to sell their product?
Hey Josh, love your stuff progress and all. I’m opening up a shop on Amazon too and let me tell you doing this taught me more than college did (and I went to a top 30 nationally ranked school in the US!)
If you’re in the LA area let’s work on getting you a new photo for LinkedIn, business cards, everything!
Thank you so much for your comment, means a lot! Good luck selling on Amazon as well. I would gladly take you up on your offer but I live in WA state. Thank you though
Hi Josh,
Thanks for all your work to put this together. You are a very impressive young man!
I am getting ready to lauch a PL product that is listed in several different categories from Toys, to Home Improvement, to Sports. Should I create my listing in the category of the item that has the best BSR? Wondering if this happens frequently and any implications..
Thanks much for your time!
Thank you Yanique! I would list your product in the category that fits what your product is the best. If your product can easily go in any of the categories then I would choose the one with the least amount of competition so you have a good chance of getting the “best seller” badge
First off I want to thank you for your great work. It has helped me to grasp the not so “unconfusing” world associated with Amazon FBA. One thing is still in my head though: How do you handle taxes? I don’t really know much about US tax law (I live in central Europe), so if there’s a source you could provide me with, I’d be very happy. My search wasn’t very successful.
I read your Amazon FBA case study and it was really informative! I have a few questions to ask you is do you need to register a business to sell in a professional seller account? Or you can sell as an individual in a professional account? Is a non US resident required to pay sales tax selling as an individual and not as a company?
Comments
27 Comments
Josh, I read your update #11 on your FBA launch. I was wondering if you had made the amount of sales that you thought you would. It’s been about a month since you launched ( I think). I hope it is working well for you. Thanks for your posts, they are helping me.
Dan
Hi Dan,
I actually have not launched my product yet (about a week away) but I will keep you updated when I do!
Josh
Hi Josh,
I really appreciate all the info you share with us. It’s been a huge help for me as I try to set up my own Amazon business.
I’m devoting my time now to finding a suitable product and I came across a candidate which seems to meet most of the criteria you laid out. The top products in the category are selling well, high BSR, some of them are with low number of reviews (under 200), and some are badly presented with just one picture.
However the product keyword search is at 25,000 monthly searches, which is way under 100,000. That puzzles me, because this is a well selling category.
After some more research I found out that there is a parallel category (with a small variation in the keyword) that is searched a lot (over a million searches at Merchantwords) and is full of strong competitors.
I now face a dilemma whether I should go forward with this product or not. On the one hand looking with Junglescout on Amazon this looks like a suitable product. On the other hand it is not searched as much according to Merchantwords. And then there is the parallel category on Amazon which is full of strong competitors.
I would appreciate your advice on this. Perhaps you have faced a similar situation with your research on Amazon.
Thanks,
Ziv
Hi Ziv,
I can’t be 100% sure without knowing the exact products, but I would probably stay away from it due to the high comp in a parallel niche. Sorry and I know how hard it is to find a product. Good luck!
Josh
Used your ultimate guide to buying expired domains for a PBN network and checked out a few hundred that were “no such hosts” and NONE of them were available.
Does that sound possible?
I am only looking for 5 to 10 sites to build a PBN but at this rate I’ll never get there.
Any suggestions?
Thanks, Vince
Hi Vincent,
Yes, that seems possible. I usually have thousands of “no such hosts” and end up with a couple hundred available domains to look through. Just keep trying and you’ll find some domains
Josh
Hey Josh,
Was recently reading your Amazon FBA journey as I’ve been interested in dabbling in this for a while. You’ve provided a very interesting read and LOT’S of good pointers – thank you!
I do have a question as I am coming at this FBA thing from a somewhat different angle. I understand the positives of manufacturing and shipping from China. There are certainly some downsides compared to manufacturing and shipping from the USA however. Here’s where I’m in a unique position. I have (relatively free) access to a manufacturing facility that specializes in metal products of all types. I’ve found what I believe to be a niche in the outdoor market, and it just so happens to complement my personal manufacturing abilities quite well.
My main concern is that the current competitors in my niche do NOT seem to be selling your typical off-the-shelf product from China like a lot of FBA-ers are doing, they tend to be selling a nicer product that although may be produced in China, is distributed from a name brand recognized in the community in the USA. I’m not talking EMS, North Face, REI, etc scale, I’m talking smaller companies that only someone participating in that arena may know about. I have the ability to produce a product of equal or superior finish quality with added value, on top of first-hand oversight of production. Should I be concerned about my competition, or do you think that’s something that I can work with considering my manufacturing advantage? Clearly this could be scaled out of Amazon FBA, but FBA seems like a great place to test the water.
Thanks so much!
Hi Sterling,
You’re welcome, glad I could give you some pointers!
I think that since you are going to be creating a superior product to the competition that you shouldn’t worry too much about the other guys. You will naturally become a well known brand yourself if your product is good enough. Also, the most important part is that your product is good. If your product is good then you will get good reviews and that will lead to more sales. I think that you should take advantage of your skills and resources to make your own product and become a leader within this niche!
Good luck and if you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask 🙂
Josh
Hi Josh,
Thanks so much for all of the information that you have been providing!
I have a question around offering a free gift or bonus item in with my main product. I would like to offer my main product for sale with a free bonus item (smaller item) as a way to differentiate myself from my competitors. I would obviously like to mention this in my listing title to attract attention to my listing…..i.e. “XXX comes with a bonus gift of a XXX”
Do you know if this is allowed under the Amazon TOS? I cannot find anything that refers to this.
Thanks for your help!
Brod
Hey Brod,
I believe that doing something like this is against their TOS. I know for a fact that you can’t mention it in your title but I am not positive about being able to offer a free gift. You may want to contact Amazon and see what they say
Josh
Hello there i wanna ask you about one pbn expired domain, need me answer. Check screenshots.
I check archive.org and no spam. Regular domain, safe.
PROBLEM is: Have a lot backlinks and it’s on chine,russian,usa,india… page global.
What you think is okay domain?
Screenshots:
http://prntscr.com/8mjn82
http://prntscr.com/8mjnnf
Please answer me, i never use ex. domains before. Thanks
Hello Josh,
I saw a few of your videos on Youtube and am interested in Amazon FBA, If possible I like to talk to you on the phone to get your advice and talk to you as an investor as well. I am in Orange County California.
Please let me know if you can talk and the time. I am not sure if this post is public so I am not putting my phone number but if you want to e mail me yours I can call you.
Thanks
Hi Josh,
Thanks for sharing the how too it is very helpfull.
Could you please elaborate more on how exactly you ship products from china to amazon? did you use a forwarding companu like Shapiro?
did you use an inspection company like fbaforward?
I will appreciate if you could elaborate more on this subject as it has a lot of significance and it is hard to know which company to use.
Thanks,
Ophir
Hi,
I used Forest Shipping to ship my product from China to the Amazon warehouse. I didn’t use any inspection services and I sent my shipment straight from China to the warehouse, I never saw my shipment. Hope this helped
Josh
Hi Josh,
This is Prabir form India.
First, Thanks a lot for those tons of resourses you provide to learn FBA.
I know you are super busy, however if you please clear some of my confusions it will be a great help for me :
1. How many and What are the labels we need to paste on our products
2. After putting the products in a final box, which label to fix on that box.
3. If I have a Chinese supplier how can I make him fix all the labels in right places.
4. How can I use Amazon UPS servise to ship from China to US if not which one will be best and headache free.
5. Should the labels be printed by laser or inkjet will work the same.
Thanks Again,
Prabir Banerji
Hi Prabir,
I will gladly answer your questions! 🙂
1. You will need one, the FNSKU label on your product
2. You will need to put the shipping label on the outside of the box
3. Most suppliers will know how to do it properly
4. I haven’t used any Amazon shipping services, however, I have used Forest Shipping and they have been great
5. Im not sure. I would think it would be the same either way
Josh
Hi Josh great website very informative. I was reading a section on your site when you requested samples from the seller and it took it took three weeks. I was wondering and it wasn’t mentioned in your post was there a sales agreement between you and seller when you requested for the samples or did you arrange one after you got samples and placed a large order with the supplier once you decided you wanted to sell their product?
Thanks
Angela
Hi Angie,
Thank you 🙂
There was no agreement in place when I ordered the samples. I placed the order after I had confirmed I liked the samples and wanted to sell this item.
Josh
Hey Josh, love your stuff progress and all. I’m opening up a shop on Amazon too and let me tell you doing this taught me more than college did (and I went to a top 30 nationally ranked school in the US!)
If you’re in the LA area let’s work on getting you a new photo for LinkedIn, business cards, everything!
Hey Arnold,
Thank you so much for your comment, means a lot! Good luck selling on Amazon as well. I would gladly take you up on your offer but I live in WA state. Thank you though
Josh
Hi Josh,
Thanks for all your work to put this together. You are a very impressive young man!
I am getting ready to lauch a PL product that is listed in several different categories from Toys, to Home Improvement, to Sports. Should I create my listing in the category of the item that has the best BSR? Wondering if this happens frequently and any implications..
Thanks much for your time!
Thank you Yanique! I would list your product in the category that fits what your product is the best. If your product can easily go in any of the categories then I would choose the one with the least amount of competition so you have a good chance of getting the “best seller” badge
Josh
Hey Josh!
First off I want to thank you for your great work. It has helped me to grasp the not so “unconfusing” world associated with Amazon FBA. One thing is still in my head though: How do you handle taxes? I don’t really know much about US tax law (I live in central Europe), so if there’s a source you could provide me with, I’d be very happy. My search wasn’t very successful.
Thank you in advance!
Hey there!
I would suggest reading my post here – https://www.passionintopaychecks.com/amazon-fba-sales-tax-nexus/
Also, check out taxjar’s website as they have some solid resources for FBA sellers
Josh
Hi Josh,
I read your Amazon FBA case study and it was really informative! I have a few questions to ask you is do you need to register a business to sell in a professional seller account? Or you can sell as an individual in a professional account? Is a non US resident required to pay sales tax selling as an individual and not as a company?
Thanks,
Ben
Hi Ben – good to hear from you!
You can start selling on Amazon WITHOUT registering as a business. However, you will still be required to pay taxes on the sales you make
Josh
You have a great blog . A very informative way of monetize Amazon product. Good job Josh
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