How to Sell on Amazon: Arbitrage, Wholesale, & Private Labeling

Introduction

In this tutorial, I’ll guide you on how to sell on Amazon. We’ll start by discussing the three primary selling methods on Amazon. The first is arbitrage, which can be executed in two ways, possibly concurrently. Retail arbitrage involves purchasing items from physical stores like Walmart, Target, or Best Buy, preparing them at home, and sending them to Amazon for fulfillment. The second approach, online arbitrage, follows a similar process but occurs through retail websites, with products sent to your home or a preparation center before being dispatched to Amazon. This constitutes the first method, arbitrage. The second method, wholesale, entails purchasing products in large quantities, either directly from the brand or through a distributor representing various brands.

You can send the inventory to yourself, a preparation center, or directly to Amazon, which is part of the Private Label selling strategy. The third method, Private Label, is the most popular yet significantly more complex than the other two. In Private Label, you purchase products in bulk, typically from China, and brand them with your logo. This process involves coordinating international shipping from your Chinese supplier to the United States, dealing with customs, and arranging delivery to an Amazon warehouse. However, it doesn’t end there.

Listing a Product on Amazon

Since you’re essentially creating a new product and brand to sell on Amazon, you must manage various tasks, including obtaining professional product photographs, conducting keyword research, optimizing the product listing, title, and description, and engaging in Amazon advertising to ensure your product ranks and sells. Unlike Arbitrage and Wholesale, where you deal with products with established demand, Private Label requires generating demand for your new product, making it a more intricate process.

While Private Label offers benefits in the long term, it’s the most challenging method to sell on Amazon, and I generally advise against it for most people. I focus on arbitration and wholesale, where many people have succeeded significantly. Once you’ve decided on your selling method, the next step is to register for a professional Amazon seller account. This account costs $ monthly and provides value by allowing Amazon to store, prepare, pack, and ship your orders and manage returns and customer service. Considering these services, the monthly fee for accessing the professional seller features is justified. Next, I’ll guide you on sourcing profitable inventory for Amazon. Before that, you should download two essential software tools to simplify the process and enhance your chances of success. The first tool is Keepa, a product analysis software that provides current data and trends for specific products, aiding in making informed decisions.

Keepa provides comprehensive data on a product’s performance on Amazon, detailing its sales velocity, pricing trends, number of competitors, and overall profitability. It helps determine if a product is currently profitable or has been consistently over time. Seller Amp, another essential tool, acts as an advanced profit and loss calculator, offering detailed data to streamline sourcing. Its standout feature is aiding in managing inventory for your storefront, which will be discussed further in this tutorial. Your business’s primary focus should be product sourcing, selecting inventory to send to Amazon for sale, and profit generation. Without inventory, there’s no business or income. The tutorial will guide you in identifying which products are viable and which might jeopardize your account, highlighting potential red flags to consider during product sourcing.

If you opt to start with retail arbitrage, the process is straightforward. Visit any local retail store like Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Safeway, Grocery Outlet, or Dollar Tree. For more comprehensive data, you’ll need the Amazon Seller app or, preferably, the Seller Amp mobile app. Begin by scanning items in clearance sections and throughout the store, as profitable products can be found anywhere. Once you identify a profitable item, add it to your cart and move on to the next. Be aware that initially, you may encounter gated products, meaning you’re restricted from selling certain items or brands, which we’ll discuss later. For online arbitrage, you start by identifying popular brands for sourcing, such as Nike, to focus on finding inventory through storefront stocking.

Navigate to amazon.com and search for “Nike” in the search bar, leading you to Amazon’s Nike product listings. Look for listings with multiple FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) sellers, indicating potential sourcing opportunities. For example, if you select the “Blazer mid vintage,” you can either source this specific product or use it to identify other sellers stocking it for storefront stocking. Suppose you choose a seller like “Emlin store,” known for their 100 ratings. You can access their storefront using a Chrome extension, allowing for more efficient sourcing. This method leverages the product research already conducted by other sellers. If targeting Nike products specifically, filter by the Nike brand on the seller’s storefront. However, to broaden your sourcing, explore beyond Nike, considering other categories like tools and home improvement, thus utilizing the arbitrage strategy to identify a broader range of products from successful sellers’ assortments.

Beginning at the top, if you’re interested in a product, click on the Google icon to initiate a search for the same product at the same price the seller found it. Upon searching, the exact listing appears almost immediately from the brand’s official website at a low cost. You see the website RetailMeNot offering a discount. If it’s your first purchase from this site or product, you can obtain a discount or use a generic email to appear as a new customer for consistent discounts. With the assumption of using a prep center in a tax-free state, return to the Amazon listing, apply the discount to calculate the final cost of goods, and determine the selling price on Amazon. This process outlines how to achieve a significant return on investment (ROI) for this product with minimal effort in searching.

To clarify, when engaging in arbitration, you don’t need to stick solely to retail or online methods; most Arbitration sellers use a mix of both. For those interested in online Arbitrage, I’ve already created a detailed video on the subject, which you can watch after this one; the link will be in the description below. Regarding the wholesale approach, there are specific prerequisites to access inventory. The three main steps for wholesale sourcing are identifying and vetting suppliers, establishing and managing wholesale accounts, and evaluating and procuring inventory. While I can’t delve deeply into these aspects in this short video to stay within the 10-minute mark, I’ve produced other detailed videos covering these processes, including how to vet suppliers and manage contact, complete with templates. These resources are available after this video, with links in the description. Next, I will guide you on incorporating products into your inventory.

Gating Challenges

Before we proceed, let’s touch upon the concept of gating on Amazon. Gating is the process by which Amazon imposes specific prerequisites for selling certain brands or products to Sell on Amazon:. To be permitted to sell these items, sellers must furnish Amazon with documentation like invoices or complete a questionnaire. Once Amazon’s stipulations are met, sellers achieve ungated status, allowing them to sell in particular brand or product categories. Though the process is straightforward, many sellers find it challenging. I’ll address how to navigate these hurdles later in this video. After acquiring inventory, it must be listed in your Seller Central account under your Amazon professional account, which I will demonstrate. This step is essential before initiating any shipping plans and verifying your eligibility to sell a product on Amazon, which I’ll also cover.

Verifying listing eligibility is crucial to avoid being gated before making a purchase, whether in wholesale or arbitrage. Instead of buying large quantities upfront and discovering you’re restricted, start with a smaller amount, get ungated, and place a more significant order. This approach also applies to wholesale: validate your ability to list a few units on Amazon before investing in larger quantities. Testing a listing in your inventory beforehand can prevent potential issues, as Amazon usually confirms that the listing is allowed. To list a product, you need its ASIN, which can be obtained from Seller Amp or directly from the product’s listing URL on Amazon. When dealing with product variations, ensure you have the correct size or variant; for example, if selling size 10, select size ten during the process. The ASIN is also located in the product details section on Amazon.

The ASIN found may not always be accurate when dealing with product variations. You can also locate the ASIN using Keepa, assuming it loads correctly, or more reliably through the URL or the Seller Amp Chrome extension. Once you have the ASIN, proceed to your Seller Central account. Within Seller Central, select the option to add a product. You can search by title, like “Nike vintage,” but the most straightforward method is to use the ‘Product ID’ field, which requires a UPC, EAN, ISBN, or ASIN. I prefer using the ASIN, as it uniquely identifies products on Amazon’s catalog, avoiding the confusion that can arise with UPCs, which may be linked to multiple products on Amazon. If you were gated or not eligible to sell a product, you couldn’t access this page after entering the ASIN to add a product; you’d be prompted to apply for ungating or receive a restriction notice. However, reaching this page indicates you’re cleared to list the product.

Resources for Overcoming Gating

I’ve already filled out the details to speed up the process. You need to specify the product’s condition, which can be done in the designated section, and assign an SKU (stock-keeping unit); for this example, I used “test SKU.” Next, enter the number of units to send—here, I entered 5. Set your selling price, keeping in mind that you should stay competitive for the buy box. I usually set a higher price initially, anticipating potential market price increases. For instance, if I’m sending in Nike shoes priced at $100, but they might sell out, and the price could rise to $150 when mine are available, I’d miss out on extra profit if I don’t adjust my price accordingly. For fulfillment, select either “I will ship this item myself” for merchant-fulfilled (FBM) or “Amazon will ship and provide customer service” for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). In this case, we’ll choose FBA, then save and finish.

And that’s the entire process for listing a product. Within a few minutes, it’ll be visible on your manage inventory page, allowing you to proceed with creating a shipping plan. As mentioned earlier, overcoming gating challenges will be an ongoing task regardless of your chosen selling approach. If you need help tackling this obstacle, it could significantly impede your success on the platform. To assist you, I’ve created a comprehensive video that covers everything from beginner to expert level in ungating, making it the premier resource on YouTube for this topic. I encourage you to watch it next. Furthermore, if you’re interested in receiving personalized guidance through my one-on-one mentorship program, where you’ll work directly with me, please check out the first link in the description for more information on how to join.

Conclusion

In conclusion, navigating how to sell on Amazon involves various steps, from sourcing inventory to listing products and overcoming gating challenges. While each step may present obstacles, a thorough understanding and strategic approach can lead to success. Remember, whether you’re engaging in arbitrage, wholesale, or private label, ungating will be an ongoing puzzle to solve. However, you can confidently navigate these challenges with the right resources and guidance, such as the comprehensive ungating video and the option for one-on-one mentorship. So, take advantage of the available resources, stay persistent, and continue learning and adapting to thrive in the dynamic world of Amazon selling.

1. Jungle Scout – [https://www.junglescout.com/]
2. Helium 10 – [https://www.helium10.com/]
3. SellerApp – [https://www.sellerapp.com/]
4. AMZScout – [https://www.amzscout.net/]
5. FeedbackWhiz – [https://www.feedbackwhiz.com/]
6. Keepa – [https://keepa.com/]
7. Sellics – [https://www.sellics.com/]
8. Viral Launch – [https://viral-launch.com/]
9. Camelcamelcamel – [https://camelcamelcamel.com/]
10. InventoryLab – [https://www.inventorylab.com/]