How To Start Selling Your Own Products On Amazon FBA – An Interview With Chris Guthrie
Are you looking to start an online business that makes some real returns?
I’ve been an online entrepreneur since August of 2008 when I started my first blog and in that time it took me over a year of blood, sweat, and tears to earn my first $100 online.
Nowadays, things are much different, and new business opportunities are popping up more and more one of those is selling private label rights products on the Amazon FBA program (Fulfilled By Amazon).
Over the last year I’ve been hearing a lot about this incredible opportunity but it didn’t get real for me until I came across Chris Guthrie from EntrepreneurBoost.com.
In his latest income report, which you can read here, he shares that he sold $26,527.21 in product in the month of January.
Do I have your attention now?
Now I should mention that his actually profit was only around 40% of that number but that’s still over $10,000 in earning in the month of January. Better yet that was from just one product and he only started this 6 months ago.
So in this months interview I decide bring Chris on and ask him a few questions about this big opportunity. Now I should mention this is not some sort of get rich quick opportunity, to get started it will likely require a small investment to get up and running, and realize that everyone will likely see different results.
With that said let’s jump into the interview.
Q1: To Start, What Is The Amazon FBA Program And What Inspired You To Get Into This Business?
Amazon allows you to send products to their warehouse and then they handle the shipment of those items (FBA = Fulfill by Amazon).
I got into the business because I got a random email from someone that found my blog on Google asking for some advice on his Amazon business.
The more we spoke the more I realized that I could do what he was doing too so I went after it.
Q2: What Specific Tools Do You Use To Determine What Kind Of Product You Should Consider Selling?
This answer will seem a little self serving, but we created a set of tools to help with product research.
They’re available over at amasuiteapps.com. Basically they help you search through a bunch of product categories, quickly gather data on how well the products are selling, how many reviews they have etc.
Q3: What Are The Basic Steps To Finding Your First Product To Sell And Are There Any Markets On Amazon That You Would Avoid When Getting Started?
The components of a great product include:
- Lower competition
- Great price point
- Lightweight
The lower competition refers to the best seller rank of the product being sold on Amazon (I prefer targeting 500 – 2,000 BSR) and then additionally not too many sellers offering the same product.
Great price point is between about $10 and $50.
Light weight is important so that it’s easier to ship.
Q4: Once You’ve Found A Product To Sell, What Did You Do To Market Your Product, Get It Out There, and Start Making Sales?
You want to launch your product with an actual plan. Most people just list their product on Amazon and don’t “launch it”.
The main component of launching involves driving initial sales and reviews. One of the best ways to drive initial reviews is to use an email follow up sequence for your buyers on Amazon (something like salesbacker.com works – currently in beta right now).
I also recommend launching at a lower price point (potentially as low as break even) simply to start driving sales and reviews. Then you can slowly raise the price.
Q5: What Is One Specific Piece Of Advice You Would Give To Someone Just Getting Started and What Are The Top Pitfalls To Avoid Doing With An Amazon FBA Business?
You can read about methods to earn money online all day and it won’t help you make any money unless you try something. So my suggestion is that if this is interesting to you that you do more research (e.g. I answer a bunch of questions on this podcast episode I recorded) but to then actually pursue this.
Biggest pitfall is going after too competitive of a product. People see the top 100 and think they should sell that, but that’s not what you should start with.
Wrapping Up
To wrap up I personally liked the part where Chris shared the qualifications needed to find the right product. With millions of products selling on Amazon it can be hard to find the right one to go with and Chris does an amazing job showing how to filter those down.
I know their is a lot of work in getting this kind of business up and running but I’ve actually been giving this opportunity a lot of serious thought. You see I’m an entrepreneur at heart for as long as I can remember.
On top of that I also run small manufacturing business and I understand a lot about the whole idea of creating, marketing, and selling products.
However, I’ve never done this online though, because with my manufacturing company I work directly with distributors. So if you would like to see me give this business opportunity a try let me know in the comments below.
So are you interested in selling your own private label product on Amazon? Share your thoughts and comments below.
Cheers!
