📝 Five Things People Don't Want to Talk About When it Comes to Amazon FBA
Starting an Amazon FBA business can be a daunting task, especially for newbies. There are many roadblocks that you have to overcome to see any type of success with any e-commerce business model. In this article, we will discuss the five things that people try to avoid when talking about Amazon FBA. These are the things that coaches or other sellers may want to shy away from because they know that it's going to scare away the newbies to Amazon FBA. But, it's important to know these things to help you decide if these are things that you're willing to try to get better at and to overcome in order to see your business succeed.
💰 The Always Infamous Amazon FBA Fees
Nobody wants to talk about the fees, but if you talk to anybody who's done Amazon FBA or any of the Amazon FBA haters, they're going to tell you that Amazon FBA fees will break your business. It's why Amazon FBA doesn't work. They'll try to tell you that they launched a product years ago and Amazon FBA fees killed their margins, made it so they weren't profitable, and they had to end up shutting their product down. But, if you understand what the Amazon FBA fees actually are and what they're going to take, you can account for that within your profit margins.
First, we've got the Amazon FBA fulfillment fee. This is a per unit fee charged to fulfill items to the buyers for purchases on Amazon. This fee depends on the item's category, size, weight, and everything like that. So, it's important to understand the market that you get into with the size of your product, which category it's in, and be able to really dig into the analytics as to how you can make it profitable. Next is the monthly inventory storage fee. Amazon charges these fees for the amount of space that your inventory takes up in their warehouses. Month over month storage fees are based on daily average volume measured in cubic feet of the product when it's in its packaging. There are also long-term storage fees for products that have been in an Amazon fulfillment center for over 365 days. Typically, you will get charged this long-term storage fee in addition to the monthly inventory storage fee. Finally, there are disposal order fees. These are simply fees that Amazon charges you when you ask them to dispose of old inventory that you can't get rid of.
🤖 AI is Not Going to Save You
As big as the craze is right now, AI is not going to save you. I know there's this huge uproar of all the things that AI can do, particularly in e-commerce businesses and making money online. But, I'm here to tell you that artificial intelligence is not going to run a profitable business for you. There's always going to be a humanistic aspect that needs to run a business, particularly a brand. People want to be able to identify with it. AI as it stands right now can come across often times as a little stale when it comes to giving something an actual brand voice. Customers are smarter than ever. They know AI is out there. They know the tools. They know chat GPT. People, in my opinion, are starting to get pretty keen to when something is authentic or when it is generated by AI for the most part.
🎨 The Importance of Branding
The third thing that people are avoiding talking about a little bit, I think, is the importance of branding. Branding is going to be the next wave of Amazon FBA. You will see the most success by putting effort into branding your products. These one-off products, cheap products that you're just trying to launch and make profitable, it's not going to be as successful as you think it is. Even the ones that are so few and far between where I believe if you just spent that time and effort creating a decent brand around something, it doesn't need to be crazy, you don't need to be the next Gymshark or fully brand out, put it on all socials, make an e-commerce store, make a Shopify store, do all those things. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about having an aesthetic, having a brand message, making it so that when people see your product or they see your listing, there's just something about it that tells them that that is your brand. That's the same brand. So when they see another product under your brand, they know that that's you, and it's something that they can trust.
🚫 Don't Let the Scare Tactics Keep You Away
The fourth thing that I don't believe people are talking about enough is to not let the scare tactics keep you away from trying something. There are so many things out there, and here's the secret to all of it: none of them are dead. They're still working today. The ways in which you operate in those businesses have changed, but as long as you can put both feet in, take the time and effort to learn that business, learn what has changed, learn where it's going, try to stay ahead of the curve, put your best effort into it, you can see success in any one of those.
📈 Outsource Your PPC
The fifth and final thing that I believe people are avoiding talking about is to outsource your PPC. If you're not a paid advertising expert, consider outsourcing your PPC to professional PPC specialists. It's worth at least trying. There is so much time saved, there is so much initial cost saved, there is so much ad spend waste saved. Trust me, it's worth it. I fully believe that you will see results.
🌟 Highlights
- Amazon FBA fees are important to understand, but they can be accounted for within your profit margins.
- AI is not going to run a profitable business for you, but it can be useful for product listing copy, product research, and generating ideas.
- Branding is going to be the next wave of Amazon FBA. You will see the most success by putting effort into branding your products.
- Don't let the scare tactics keep you away from trying something. As long as you can put both feet in, take the time and effort to learn that business, you can see success in any one of those.
- Outsource your PPC to professional PPC specialists. It's worth at least trying.
❓ FAQ
Q: What are Amazon FBA fees?
A: Amazon FBA fees are fees charged by Amazon for fulfilling items to buyers for purchases on Amazon. These fees depend on the item's category, size, weight, and everything like that.
Q: Can AI run a profitable business for me?
A: No, AI as it stands right now cannot run a profitable business for you. There's always going to be a humanistic aspect that needs to run a business, particularly a brand.
Q: Why is branding important for Amazon FBA?
A: Branding is important for Amazon FBA because it will be the next wave of Amazon FBA. You will see the most success by putting effort into branding your products.
Q: Should I outsource my PPC?
A: If you're not a paid advertising expert, consider outsourcing your PPC to professional PPC specialists. It's worth at least trying.
