Avoid these Amazon FBA mistakes! Ariana and I share her top 10 lessons learned from her first year selling on Amazon FBA!

In this video, Ariana and I will share with you the 10 crucial things that we’ve learned about selling on Amazon. We want to share them with you so you will not make the same mistakes.

It’s Expensive to Start
It could be expensive to start on Amazon especially if you do it wrong. Depending on your product, it could cost up to $10,000 to start a product. One of the ways you can medicate this is to start a Kickstarter.

Different Business Models
There are multiple ways to sell on Amazon. There are four main business models and each one has a different start-up process. There is Retail Arbitrage, Wholesale, Private Label, and Creating your Own Product. The good thing with Creating your Own Product is you can do a Kickstarter. It helps you raise a lot of money especially if you do it right and it does not cost any money.

Don’t Go Out of Stock!
It’s so important to keep track of how much you’re selling per day on Amazon. Be mindful that if you’re going to be running out of inventory.in a month, you can start sending in some inventory and get that number up. You need to do inventory planning and figure out exactly how much you have in your warehouse or storage. Make sure you order ahead of time.

Amazon Fees
Amazon takes a huge chunk of your sales. They take about 33% of your sales. One of them is a 15% Flat Rate whether you’re using FBA or FBM. There is also another fee if you do Amazon FBA, depending on the weight of your product.

Mastermind
There are going to be complications in selling on Amazon that’s why it’s (more…)

This is the most important video I have ever made on Amazon FBA! In it, I talk about why I quit Amazon FBA but there is a very positive & important message in this video.

In this video, I will share with you the reasons why I’m quitting Amazon, despite earning $794,561.47 in revenue with just Performance Nut Butter.

My Income Report
Revenue: $32,370.43
Product Cost: $7,693.92
Amazon Pick-and-pack Fee: $4,623.39
Amazon Fees: $4,322.84
Other Amazon Random Fees: $269.91
Amazon PPC: $2,691.75
Other Fees: $900.00
Profit: $11,868.59

I know it doesn’t sound bad, but the thing is I’ve only really worked on Amazon once for the last few months. It seems that it doesn’t matter if I work a lot or I barely work at all. My Amazon sales stay the same.

The Mistake
I’ve been having a lot of issues with Amazon, including one that cost me $10,000. What happened was I sent two pallets of Performance Nut Butter to Amazon. However, they claimed that they only received one of the pallets. I contacted Amazon about this, but they want a copy of the Bill of Lading. It’s somewhere, but I forgot where I put it. This issue has already happened to a lot of people. What I recommend doing is you keep your Bill of Lading, keep your weights, take a picture/video of the actual pickup of the product by the Amazon truck.

The New Opportunity
The main reason why I’m quitting is that I got burnt out of Amazon. What I found in my life is whenever I have a new opportunity or when I find something new that I’m excited about, I’m at a 100% energy. Over time, my energy kind of dips. I run out of ideas and new excitement for the project. When you find yourself in this situation, sometimes it’s better to find a new project that (more…)

Get MY AMAZON FBA Course For FREE!!
https://effectiveecommerce.com/ppfswitch

I want to teach you how to create and sell a product on Amazon for free. I want to give you my Amazon course for free. What I do on Amazon is a little bit different from what everyone else is doing. What I recommend doing is create your own product, something that you wish existed in the world.

Below are the different steps and basic structure of the course:

Idea – I have a complete module on how you can come up with an idea of a product that you’re passionate about. I want to help you start a business that you really believe in. Amazon is not a get rich quick scheme. You will have to put in some work. You might as well put in work into something that you love.

How To Build Brand – Gone are the days when you can make money just by slapping some boring brand on whatever your product is. There’s a lot of science on how to properly brand a product. I have a bunch of videos that I will give you for free on how to do this.

Launch Group – Another key thing that a lot of people are missing is to create raving fans. Before you launch on Kickstarter and Amazon, you should create a Product Launch Group. Get a bunch of people that are really excited about your product to come out. The people in your launch group will also help you build an amazing product.

Kickstarter – Don’t just go straight to Amazon. Test out your idea and make some money off of it to pay for the production run. The beautiful thing about Kickstarter is you don’t need to produce anything up until you get the money.

Legal Stuff – (more…)

Should you quit your job for Amazon FBA!? I share the truth about Amazon FBA, the struggles and everything you need to know!

It’s been a month since Ariana quit her job to work on Amazon full-time. In this video, we will be talking about why she quit her job, her income report, and her biggest lessons.

Why Ariana Quit Her Job
She wanted to commit 100% to her business. While working full-time, she did not have enough time of the day to work on Vino Cards.

The first thing that you should consider when quitting your job is finances. How much are you spending per month and how long can you survive? It’s not going to be right off the bat that you’ll be making lots of money. She needs to create a runway. A runway is how long do you have before your business can take off. There are a lot of expenses that Ariana has to consider. Some of the expenses are rent, park payments, student loans, gym membership, gas, groceries, etc. Break down what your costs are and see how much they are per month. For Ariana, it’s about $1700. Aside from calculating your costs, another thing to consider is how much money your business is already making.

Ariana’s Numbers
Revenue: $2,099.25
Product Cost: $456.00
Amazon Pick-and-pack Fee: $419.85
Amazon Transaction Fee: $314.88
Other Amazon Fees: $40.00
PPC: $214.44
Other Fees: $40.00
Profit: $614.07

Ariana’s Biggest Lessons
One of the biggest lessons is learning what to prioritize. It was a huge driving to Ariana quitting her job. She wanted that time to prioritize and really think about what’s actually going to make the business boom. It is great to focus on what’s working and what’s not. You want to prioritize and focus on the thing that has the potential to grow sales.

I think when you’re only working on your (more…)

The complete guide to Shopify vs. Woocommerce, including Pros and Cons and a detailed review so you can decide which one is better.

In this video, I will be going in-depth about the advantages and disadvantages of both Shopify and WooCommerce.

Shopify
Pros
1. They have better templates – While WooCommerce also has some great templates, I think the Shopify templates are a little bit more professional.
2. It is easier to use – Shopify is built from the ground up for e-commerce, to make it as simple as possible for people to put their products and sell them online.
3. 24/7 Support – This is part of why Shopify is easier to use. With WooCommerce, you are pretty much on your own since it’s a free plugin to WordPress.
4. It has better addons and apps
5. It integrates better
6. Less can go wrong – With Shopify, you can’t change the checkout page too much. With WooCommerce, you can tinker with it a little bit more but there’s a bigger chance that something will break.

Cons
1. It is expensive – While it can be more expensive to start with WooCommerce since a lot of hosting sites make you pay a one-year fee at once, Shopify is still more expensive in the long run.
2. They can shut you down – If you’re in a high-risk country or if you’re selling high-risk products, do not go with Shopify.
3. Third-party apps are more expensive on Shopify than on WooCommerce.
4. Fees – Shopify does charge a fee if you want to use a third-party payment gateway. However, you don’t need to do that. Shopify has its own built-in Payments. The way it works is that every time you get a sale, Shopify takes a 2.9% fee. Depending on what plan you have, that percentage will go down.

WooCommerce
Pros
1. It (more…)

There are some big Amazon FBA mistakes beginners make, and in this video, we show you the honest truth about working on Amazon FBA Full time.

In this video, Ariana and I will share with you how each of our days typically goes.

My Day
I try to structure each day to be as amazing as possible. I wake and do my morning routine. I try to get in some exercise. I either do yoga or go for a jog. After that, I’ll go to the park and write down my to-dos for the day.

As awesome as it is to own an Amazon business, the actual work that goes into that business is pretty boring. It’s basically just me on my computer doing things. It’s really not necessarily the most fun thing to watch. It’s mostly just sending emails, making calls, making decisions, etc. Most of my effort now when I’m working on my business is around launching my second product. I also recently launched a course so a lot more of my time and energy has been going into that.

One of the things I think is really important to get outside and take breaks. Around 1:00 PM, I either go outside and play basketball with a friend or for instance today, I have a private training session with a guy that specializes in body alignment. It’s a workout but at the same time, it helps me with posture which I think is really important.

I usually wait after lunch and after I’ve gotten some exercise to check my email. By reserving the morning time to do my most important tasks, it allows me to grow my business. In the afternoon when I have less energy, I can handle things like an issue on the film being damaged in transit where I just (more…)

Step by step how to apply for Amazon Brand Registry. I go in-depth on everything you need to do to be able to apply and receive the brand registry in this video.

In this video, I will talk about something that has helped so many Amazon FBA sellers prevent their product from being changed and edited by others. It doesn’t guarantee that your product will not be sold by other Amazon sellers but it does give an extra level of protection. This is the Amazon Brand Registry. It used to be easier to apply but they’ve made it a little bit more complicated. With Brand Registry, you can also enroll multiple brands and it doesn’t have to be the same name.

Why you need Brand Registry?
This is going to prevent people from being able to change and merge your product listing. it’s going to give you a lot more control of the Amazon platform. A lot of different functions and features are not available unless you’re in Brand Registry. It also makes it so it’s less likely that your product is going to get suppressed.

One of the things you need to apply is a trademark. You are also going to need a website with contact details. I recommend ideally if it could be the same URL as the email that you used to log in. You should also make sure that your brand name appears on the packaging or on the product itself. It lets Amazon know that whatever brand name you are trying to register, it really is your product.

How to apply for Brand Registry?
Applying for Brand Registry is crucial if you’re going to be selling on Amazon. Aside from giving you protection, it gives you access to A+ brand content. If you don’t have Brand Registry, you’re just (more…)

This is the BIGGEST Mistake I have made on AMAZON, plus I talk about the top 5 mistakes I see other sellers making, and I share my income report.

There are a lot of people that sell on Amazon and most people make the same mistakes over and over again. In this video, I will share with you the top 5 mistakes that new sellers make and how to prevent them.

Niching Down
The first mistake I see that new sellers make is not niching down enough. Whatever product you have, you need to niche down the branding. You need to niche down who it’s for. It is wrong to think that your product is for everybody. Think about the most niche market you can and create a perfect product for them.

Creating a Tribe
The second mistake is not creating a tribe before they launch on Amazon. You want to create a group of people that absolutely love your product before you even create it. The idea is to get people that are going to help you develop your product.

Launch Strategy
By far, my most favorite way to launch a product on Amazon is to have a Product Launch Group. I like to get a bunch of people on Facebook. Aside from them helping me create my product, they will also be the first ones in line to buy the product when I launch it on Amazon. What happens is you get a spike of sales and reviews the day that you launch your product. Amazon will see this and most likely put it on top of search results, making it snowball into more and more sales.

Other ideas for your launch strategy is to build an email list, interact with people on Facebook Messenger, and send direct messages on Instagram. You should have a proper (more…)

There are some little dirty secrets about Shopify that you need to know before you buy, including the reasons why you don’t need it. In this video, I will share with why you don’t necessarily have to buy Shopify

Free Alternative
A free alternative to Shopify is WooCommerce. If you are tight on cash and want to start an online store, WooCommerce is a better suggestion for you. Basically, the way it works is you need to create a WordPress website and WooCommerce is a free plug-in for WordPress. However, to have a WordPress site, you need to pay a small amount for hosting.

If you’re looking for a 100% free alternative, there are other options but all of these have some major downsides. One option is selling on Amazon. One good thing about Amazon is usually you only pay a percentage fee of what you sell. However, if you use Fulfilled by Amazon, then you have to pay a monthly fee. Another option for you is Kickstarter. You can raise some money at the same time to validate your idea. You can use the money to pay for your monthly Shopify or WooCommerce site.

Gurus are Biased
A lot of people are selling specifically because they get an affiliate commission. If you use our links to sign up for Shopify, the guru gets a kickback. The way it works is that the person gets back the two months that they pay to Shopify. What happens to a lot of gurus is that they recommend Shopify only to get that affiliate commission even though they think WooCommerce might be a better option. However, the thing is most ecommerce platforms have affiliate programs and these gurus make as much money recommending other sites like Big Commerce or Volusion. You have to decide for yourself which is (more…)

This video is a complete guide on how to sell on Amazon. You will go from beginner to expert in this video. I will share everything that you need to know about selling on Amazon.

How does Amazon FBA work?
Basically, you send your product to Amazon Fulfillment Centers. They hold and store it. When a customer purchases your product, Amazon picks and packs your product. The fulfillment and shipping are all done by Amazon.

The Business Models
There are four business models that you commonly see on the Internet: Retail Arbitrage, Wholesale, Private Label, Create Your Own Product. These are four different ways that you can earn on Amazon. Out of these four, I recommend creating your own product.

Retail Arbitrage – Buy discount items and flip them on Amazon. The benefit of this is it is low risk. It also requires low amount of cash. The downside of this is it is not scalable and not very reliable.

Wholesale – Buy items at wholesale and sell on Amazon. It’s relatively easy. You only need to find reliable manufacturers to buy wholesale from. However, it’s pretty saturated and has high competition. It’s also not a long-term business model.

Private Label – Find a winning product, something that people are buying. Create your own private label and sell it on Amazon. However, it is hard to find a product to private label and it is expensive to start. It is also saturated and has high competition. It also does not work as well as it used to.

Creating Your Own Product – This is the next gold thing on Amazon. Find something that does not yet exist and sell it on Amazon and Shopify. You also need no/low cash to start because you can raise money through a crowdfunding campaign. There is also no competition and you own (more…)