I’m still in the exploratory process and have not even joined Amazon seller Central yet. With the new rates for pro plans, will they only charge me one month’s fee until I have active listings? I don’t want to get stuck paying for the monthly fee if it’s going to take me several months to get active products.
I think I know what I want to sell, but I want to get into seller central to determine if it’s worth it first. Also, do most merchants in foreign manufacturing package the products in your packaging or do you have to do that yourself when you have them shipped to you? I’m just not sure how I get from ordering a product to sending it to Amazon without a lot of gruntwork from myself…
Also, can someone told me how necessary it is to have my own brand with a trademark before I create listings?
Its a total waste of time and money, sorry. The amazon honey pot has dried up unless you are very lucky. I have been looking at many products that are selling in volumes of 400 to 5000 units per month. Margin on that stuff is so low indicates the actual manufacture is selling direct. If you can beat their price you will win. To have any serious attempt at winning on amazon you would have to be a from outside of the USA and have a proxy or clandestine warehouse set up in the USA so you can avoid tariffs and taxes. They do make money because they are NOT paying any tax on the money so keep that in mind too. Only tax that is being collected is sales tax and the online marketplaces collect that, they are not being taxed on profit like the sellers in the USA are.
Your best bet is to go to a big box store, buy some trinkets from the markdown shelves and sell those so you can understand all the positives and negatives with online marketplaces.
Amazon pro plan charges monthly, packaging varies with manufacturers, a trademark isn’t mandatory initially, and join seller communities for quick insights.
The supplements / vitamins / unregulated health products are very profitable.
Buyers of those products are extremely gullible and not very smart, hence, a very easy sale at high margins. All you need is some flashy label and name combination and you hit gold.
You do not need to pay for a mentorship or courses at all. All the relevant info can be found online for free. Look for blogs and tutorials on Youtube.
I have been sourcing for the past 6 years and help sellers with virtual assistants. A lot of guys in our office already have the experience… But nonethless, you should have experience before working with somebody like myself. I recommend in the meantime to get started with Udemy courses. Some really great ones. Once you have a great foundation, I’d be happy to support you with the day to day. Our agents help with many common seller tasks - Product research, PPC & Listing optimization, Amazon bans seller support, etc.