Podcast Episode 218 – Gadgets Newbie Amazon Sellers Ought to Keep away from Reselling

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Episode 218 Transcript:

[INTRODUCTION]

[0:00:01.8] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to The Full-Time FBA Present. In every episode, it’s our objective that will help you flip part-time hours right into a full-time revenue, promoting nearly something on Amazon. Now, your hosts of the present, Stephen and Rebecca Smotherman.

[WELCOME]

[0:00:21.3] STEPHEN: Welcome to episode quantity 218 of The Full-Time FBA Present. Immediately, we’re speaking about gadgets that newbie Amazon sellers ought to most likely keep away from reselling, and to speak about with this with me, with you, all this collectively is my spouse, Rebecca. How are you doing Rebecca?

[0:00:37.7] REBECCA: Good restoration there, I like the way you pull.

[0:00:39.7] STEPHEN: Did I recuperate?

[0:00:40.0] REBECCA: I imply, I believe you effectively did off, effectively sufficient.

[0:00:42.2] STEPHEN: Okay, that’s good however yeah, we’re speaking about gadgets do Amazon sellers ought to perhaps keep away from reselling and we’ll do this on this episode of The Full-Time FBA Present.

[DISCUSSION]

[0:00:53.4] REBECCA: So, when Amazon sellers first get began with their Amazon enterprise, they usually marvel very first thing, proper off the bat, “Okay, what can I promote?” However they don’t actually ask the query, “Is there something I ought to keep away from promoting on Amazon?” So as we speak, we’re going to be speaking about this subject and we’re going that will help you perceive that query and the right way to reply it and allow you to know concerning the stock gadgets that it is best to avoid as a newbie Amazon vendor, a minimum of for now.

These should not belongings you would need to keep away from ceaselessly and we’re not saying that this stuff are by no means worthwhile or that it’s a waste of time to promote them. We’re simply telling you that these are gadgets which can be harder to promote on Amazon and so it is best to simply maintain off for now. There are lots of gadgets you’ll be able to promote on Amazon which can be easier, they’re simpler to promote and to start with phases, that’s actually the perfect place so that you can begin out.

So, when you get some extra expertise as an Amazon vendor, then you’ll be able to try to supply this stuff that we’re going to be speaking about on this episode and add them to your stock.

[0:01:54.2] STEPHEN: Yeah, and simply to begin off, when you didn’t know, Amazon restricts new sellers from promoting sure gadgets and sure classes and so some manufacturers will limit new sellers from promoting their manufacturers on Amazon and we’ve gone deep into that subject of Amazon restrictions in episode quantity 43. You may verify that out at fulltimefba.com/43 and so sure, there are extra restrictions for newer Amazon sellers.

However you recognize, within the episode, episode 43, we discuss methods to extend your possibilities of getting authorised. We’ll even throw some weblog hyperlinks within the present notes, fulltimefba.com/218 as a result of that is episode quantity 218. So, though there are some restrictions for newer sellers, there are thousands and thousands upon thousands and thousands actually of things that brand-new sellers are allowed to promote on Amazon.

However even in case you are allowed or authorised to promote an merchandise on Amazon, it doesn’t at all times imply it’s a good suggestion to do this as a beginner.

[0:02:48.5] REBECCA: So, for the remainder of this episode, we’ll share each common gadgets after which additionally extra particular gadgets {that a} new Amazon vendor ought to suppose twice about whether or not or not they need to put their hard-earned sourcing cash into shopping for these gadgets. You’d even be spending your time on shopping for this stuff and sourcing them to promote on FBA and we simply really need you to consider your finite assets of money and time.

So, Stephen, kick us off with the primary merchandise that newbies ought to keep away from sourcing to promote on Amazon.

[0:03:19.5] STEPHEN: So, the very first thing to keep away from as a beginner, once more, not all Amazon sellers have to keep away from this however new Amazon sellers don’t begin off promoting electronics. The class of electronics is extra than simply promoting a cellphone or a laptop computer, or a wise speaker, or something like that however promoting electronics on Amazon might additionally contain guarantee info. , is the client going to be asking you to meet the guarantee or is the model going to honor a guaranty offered by third-party Amazon sellers?

You simply don’t need to be in that scenario and so a buyer would possibly simply assume and it’d really state it on the Amazon product web page that they’d get that guarantee. Additionally, most digital gadgets offered by third-party sellers, they’re used and that’s simply an absolute nightmare with regards to, you recognize, simply checking the product for defects earlier than promoting and all that. So, even when you put “not verify for defects” within the used situation notes, most clients don’t learn these notes and so they’ll return the merchandise for the defect or worse, go away you a damaging suggestions.

I say worse as a result of if damaging suggestions is worse as a result of an excellent suggestions rating is significant to getting an Amazon enterprise going. For probably the most half, when you’ve got actually nice suggestions you’re going to get extra time within the purchase field and the purchase field is the place 80% of all gross sales come from. We go deep into how the purchase field works on episode quantity two of the podcast, fulltimefba.com/2. I imply that’s how necessary successful the purchase field is, we put it in episode quantity two.

And so, in case you are promoting electronics on Amazon as a beginner, you’re simply welcoming potential damaging suggestions and we wish you to keep away from that.

[0:04:52.7] REBECCA: So, the second factor that we might suggest new sellers avoiding promoting on Amazon is clothes and footwear and I say this as somebody who offered footwear and clothes for years on Amazon, so I’ve plenty of expertise in these classes. So, if you find yourself beginning out as a brand new Amazon vendor, you actually need to preserve issues so simple as doable. Shorten your studying curve, be taught the fundamentals, after which transfer on to harder issues.

And there’s a facet of promoting clothes and footwear on Amazon that’s actually, actually complicated and this may not be tremendous intuitive when you’re used to promoting on eBay or Poshmark however the best way listings are carried out on Amazon will be actually complicated to appropriately perceive and that’s as a result of Amazon has their footwear and clothes organized of their catalog by variations and it may be actually complicated.

So, right here’s how these variations are organized and the way it may be complicated. For many gadgets on Amazon, every stock merchandise is matched up with an ASIN. An ASIN means, Amazon Customary Identification Quantity, and it’s mainly a 10-digit alphanumeric code that identifies merchandise on Amazon. So, it’s going to be a singular ASIN for every product and it’s assigned when a brand new product is dropped at Amazon.

Most gadgets you’ll promote on Amazon have one ASIN and it’s easy, simply the one simple ASIN however with clothes and footwear, the Amazon catalog is ready up with a mother or father ASIN for the principle product title after which every mixture of shade, measurement, model totally different, so on, may have their very own particular baby ASIN that’s related to the mother or father ASIN. So, think about a hierarchy of a mother or father after which all the kids beneath it.

So, to make sense out of what I simply defined, give it some thought this manner. Think about you’re promoting a easy Nike golf shirt that has a small Nike emblem on the left aspect of the chest. That fundamental idea of that golf shirt goes to be assigned to a mother or father ASIN however that shirt goes to have a number of sizes, small, medium, giant, extra-large, and so forth. There’s additionally going to be a number of colours of that shirt which can be obtainable, purple, blue, orange, inexperienced, no matter.

And there’s going to be a number of subsequent kinds probably. You’re going to have V-neck, rounded, collared. You may need a number of sorts of sleeves, brief sleeve, lengthy sleeve, sleeveless. All of those shirts belong in that very same general mother or father ASIN and so they all have the identical model of the small Nike emblem on the left aspect however there’s going to be many, many variations. So, one mother or father ASIN may need over a 100 baby ASINS as a result of when you’ve obtained a small purple brief sleeve V-neck shirt, it’s going to be one baby ASIN however a small purple brief sleeve collared shirt goes to have a special baby ASIN.

[0:07:51.4] STEPHEN: Are you confused but, listener? Are you confused?

[0:07:53.2] REBECCA: I imply, this at all times, occupied with baby ASINs at all times takes me again to love center college math, the place you’re like multiplying out what number of potentialities are there, actually, it goes again to that. So, how does this makes issues arduous for a brand new Amazon vendor? I imply, it looks like it’s fairly simple so far as like matching it as much as just remember to’ve obtained the fitting measurement, model, shade, all of that.

However then what makes it troublesome is figuring out the gross sales rank in your footwear or clothes that you’re attempting to promote on Amazon. So your gross sales rank on these pages which have a mother or father ASIN and a number of baby ASINs, kids, I don’t know, baby ASINs, childrens, I don’t know. Anyway, the gross sales rank that’s proven on these Amazon pages and due to this fact proven on any sort of system that you simply’re – an app or a program that you simply’re utilizing to scan will not be going to point out you the gross sales rank for every particular person baby ASIN.

It’s solely going to point out you the gross sales rank for all of these baby ASINs mixed beneath that mother or father ASIN. So, if the Amazon product web page says that this Nike golf shirt that we’re speaking about. That has the Nike emblem on the chest is ranked 10,000 within the general clothes class, you haven’t any strategy to know which measurement, which colours, which sleeves, et cetera, of that shirt are actually giving it that gross sales rank. Which of them are promoting effectively and which of them should not? And it’s a must to know the gross sales rank of an merchandise earlier than you promote it, proper? You can not blindly record your gadgets, not figuring out what the gross sales rank is. However when you can’t know the gross sales rank of the kid ASIN, you’ll be able to solely know the general mother or father ASINs gross sales rank, how do you decide.

That could be a completely regular query to ask, you ought to be asking it. And that’s the explanation why we don’t suppose it’s a good suggestion for newer sellers to promote gadgets with a number of variations on Amazon. You actually need to attend till you get some expertise and you’ll perceive gross sales rank, and general, you’ll be able to perceive how totally different classes work. After which, you’ll be able to discover ways to convey readability to variations. As a result of you’ll be able to know which of them are going to promote extra.

You may higher perceive, you can also make a extra educated resolution about it, though you don’t know the precise gross sales rank of a kid ASIN. However that’s a sophisticated talent. And also you need to wait till afterward in your Amazon journey to attempt to be taught that.

[0:10:14.9] STEPHEN: Yeah, and this isn’t even stepping into the numerous potentialities of returns of footwear and clothes as a result of individuals strive it on and return it. So, clothes and footwear, it may very well be very worthwhile however it’s a sophisticated technique that we don’t suggest new Amazon sellers deal with. The third sort of merchandise that we suggest that newer sellers avoid, are groceries. Now, groceries could be a actually worthwhile class to promote in.

However we solely suggest Amazon sellers get just a little extra expertise beneath their belt earlier than including groceries to what they’re promoting on Amazon. And the principle motive is as a result of, groceries have expiration dates. Amazon has very particular guidelines on when you’ll be able to promote gadgets with an expiration date, how a lot lead time, and grocery merchandise must be within the buyer’s fingers earlier than it’s allowed to be offered.

And so, Amazon updates these guidelines every now and then so I’m not going to provide the precise quantity of lead time and plus it’s totally different for several types of gadgets however I offers you a hyperlink on our present notes web page. Fulltimefba.com/218. I’ll put the hyperlinks to Amazon’s pages about understanding expiration dates if that’s one thing you need to know. However you recognize, most gadgets that you may promote on Amazon, they’re simply simpler, as a result of you’ll be able to simply ship your stuff to Amazon and have an indefinite period of time till it sells.

I imply, in fact, your month-to-month storage charges and issues like that. However groceries, you could have a literal clock counting down on how a lot time it’s a must to promote your merchandise earlier than it turns into unsellable. And this isn’t even contemplating the instances you’re allowed to promote a number of sort of groceries on Amazon by way of FBA. So, when promoting groceries, you could do job of retaining monitor of expiration dates and set reminders and ensuring that you simply promote out earlier than an merchandise turns into unsellable and it’s simply the worst to speculate sourcing cash right into a grocery merchandise, after which it by no means sells, after which the merchandise expires and there’s nothing you are able to do with it however throw it away. Eliminate it.

That’s simply an enormous waste of money and time. Once more, it may be a extremely worthwhile class to promote in, perhaps not for brand spanking new sellers who’re studying the fundamentals. However when you get some expertise, you can begin so as to add groceries afterward in your Amazon journey.

[0:12:18.3] REBECCA: Yeah, don’t ask us what number of instances we – the start phases of promoting grocery gadgets on Amazon ended up having to take away gadgets as a result of they’d reached that lead time for expiration date and we ended up having to eat them ourselves.

[0:12:33.0] STEPHEN: Sure, sure.

[0:12:33.8] REBECCA: Which you recognize, will be scrumptious nevertheless it’s not worthwhile.

[0:12:37.4] STEPHEN: Completely.

[0:12:39.3] REBECCA: All proper. So, the fourth group of things that we might suggest you keep away from as a starting vendor are seasonal merchandise. So, these are the kind of gadgets that actually are solely promoting huge in the course of the season that they’re related to. There are some superior methods to promoting seasonal gadgets out of season that may actually give you the results you want nevertheless it takes plenty of forethought and plenty of technique and so, we don’t actually suggest when you’re simply beginning out, placing your sourcing cash into a listing merchandise that has a brilliant brief timespan when it’s going to get these huge gross sales.

So, promoting seasonal gadgets is nearly like promoting gadgets with expiration dates since you’ve obtained a a lot tighter cutoff time the place you’re going to should name that merchandise again or it’s not going to promote. So, for instance, sandals, clearly, promote very well within the spring and summer time months when it’s hotter, however they’re not going to promote very quick within the fall or winter or they’re not going to promote in any respect within the fall or winter.

So that you don’t need to begin out if you’re first in your Amazon FBA enterprise, specializing in promoting sandals and placing some huge cash into one thing like that, when you don’t know the right way to promote them rapidly. Since you’re going to finish up carrying them over into fall and winter when no person is searching for sandals. So, don’t deal with promoting all these seasonal gadgets if you first get began. Wait till you’ve obtained some expertise and you’ll strategize higher, the right way to make these shopping for selections.

[0:14:12.9] STEPHEN: One other sort of merchandise that we don’t suggest new Amazon sellers and truly, most Amazon sellers promoting. Are merchandise with no gross sales historical past. I imply, we are able to’t have an episode of the Full Time FBA Present with out mentioning Keepa.

[0:14:26.4] REBECCA: I don’t know that that’s ever occurred, has it?

[0:14:27.7] STEPHEN: It may not, I don’t suppose so. I imply, when you don’t know, when you’ve been residing beneath a rock, Keepa is a device that tracks the gross sales rank and worth historical past, and tons extra, for nearly each merchandise on Amazon. You may test it out, fulltimefba.com/keepa.

[0:14:40.1] REBECCA: Hey, can I cease you proper there?

[0:14:40.9] STEPHEN: Positive.

[0:14:41.3] REBECCA: I’m not a fan of the expression, when you’ve been residing beneath a rock. As a result of, it simply implies that you recognize, you’re lacking out on one thing you haven’t heard about it. Should you’re listening to this and it’s the primary time you’re listening to about Keepa, that’s okay, there was a day when I didn’t know what Keepa was and Stephen did. And he advised me about it.

[0:15:01.2] STEPHEN: And there was a day after I didn’t know what Keepa was. I apologize, I stand corrected for my phrasing.

[0:15:07.0] REBECCA: I simply needed – I simply needed to verify, anyone that’s listening to this who’s new to promoting on Amazon is like, “Nicely, I’ve not been residing beneath a rock however what on earth is Keepa” It’s positive. You don’t learn about it. However now you do and simply wait, you’re going to listen to about it from us loads.

[0:15:19.5] STEPHEN: That’s cool. And I’ll by no means most likely use “Residing beneath a rock “, phrase once more, since you’re proper. I don’t need to exclude anyone. However with regards to shopping for merchandise on Amazon with no gross sales historical past. So, with regards to specializing in stock to promote on Amazon, when you come throughout a product with no gross sales historical past, keep away. , you would possibly suppose, “Nicely, what if it’s new to Amazon? There’s no gross sales historical past as a result of it’s new to Amazon” Nicely, wait till there’s a historical past of gross sales knowledge and make a wise sourcing resolution primarily based upon the gross sales historical past.

However what if it’s a big-name model and a preferred subject or one thing like that or actually cool with the youngsters or no matter? Then verify to see if perhaps there’s one other product web page on Amazon that matches the merchandise higher. See if there’s a gross sales historical past there. However by no means purchase an merchandise to promote on Amazon that has no gross sales historical past, please.

[0:16:04.9] REBECCA: No less than, not if you’re getting began.

[0:16:06.0] STEPHEN: Completely, proper.

[0:16:06.8] REBECCA: After which like Stephen stated, very hardly ever can we do this at the same time as skilled sellers. We’re at all times in search of gadgets which have a extremely strong gross sales historical past.

[0:16:15.3] STEPHEN: Yeah, strong seals historical past, constant pricing, these are the issues we’re in search of.

[0:16:19.5] REBECCA: All proper. So, the final class that we needed to speak about, which can be gadgets we don’t suggest promoting as a beginner, and truly, this once more, is one which I’d not promote at the same time as extra skilled vendor. However merchandise with the promoting worth beneath USD12. That’s the very, very lowest cutoff, the ground of that. I’d put that even larger than Stephen does. I believe we’ve talked about this earlier than, that his flooring for the worth is decrease than mine.

However, this one’s simple. This one, you’ll be able to preserve that in thoughts that greenback quantity, and simply perceive that there’s no approach you’re going to generate profits in case you are promoting an merchandise that’s priced decrease than USD12. Nearly all gadgets offered on Amazon by way of FBA, which can be priced beneath USD12 are going to go away you no revenue. I imply, I’m not saying there’s not gadgets being offered by way of FBA which can be priced decrease than USD12. There are. However these individuals do not make any cash on it.

Amazon’s FBA charges are going to take about USD10 complete in charges for something beneath USD12. So, that’s going to go away you with mainly nothing, I imply, you’ll have needed to have acquired that merchandise totally free to make USD2 on it. And that’s simply not price your time to spend on that. Particularly as a newbie if you’re needing to develop a worthwhile enterprise.

[0:17:38.5] STEPHEN: So, these are the issues that we suggest new Amazon sellers avoid when they’re first beginning outsourcing, attempting to develop their Amazon enterprise, and we invite you to affix our Full-Time FBA teaching program. Should you’re keen on details about it, go to fulltimefba.com/teaching. We’d love so that you can be part of us and we can provide you ideas and tips alongside the best way of the right way to develop your Amazon enterprise.

[0:18:00.4] REBECCA: It’s at all times time to seek out out extra details about the Full-Time FBA teaching program. It’s by no means the unsuitable time to affix in case you are desirous to get began on being actually profitable at rising your FBA enterprise. Please test it out, fulltimefba.com/teaching.

[CLOSING CONVERSATION]

[0:18:19.9] REBECCA: Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us for this episode of the Full Time FBA Present. As a reminder, the present notes will be discovered at fulltimefba.com/218, as a result of that is episode quantity 218.

[0:18:31.5] STEPHEN: And subsequent week on the present, we’re going to speak about gadgets starting Amazon sellers ought to deal with reselling. We don’t need to go away you hanging and simply provide you with a complete episode of what to avoid. Subsequent week, we’re going to speak concerning the issues you ought to be specializing in to promote on Amazon and we’ll see you there subsequent week on the Full Time FBA Present.

[0:18:49.4] REBECCA: Cliff hanger.

[OUTRO]

[0:18:53.2] ANNOUNCER: That’s all for this episode of The Full-Time FBA Present. So head over to fulltimefba.com/podcast, the place you can see the present notes and hyperlinks from this episode. Whilst you’re there, subscribe to our e-newsletter the place you’ll get a number of free downloads of our widespread and useful Amazon FBA assets. Now, take motion on what you could have discovered as we speak, so yow will discover success at turning part-time hours right into a full-time revenue with Amazon FBA.

[END]