The suppliers and international carriers for Amazon FBA

The Starting Point for A Successful Amazon FBA Journey

How to Build a Successful Amazon Business?

There are tons of trainings online trying to teach us how to sell Amazon in recent years.

Some of the trainings are from real sellers and some of them are from not-so-real sellers.

Is it worth paying the trainings to begin your Amazon FBA journey?

I personally have paid for Jungle Scout Freedom Builder Bootcamp and learnt some tactics from Greg Mercer.

Is the Freedom Builder Bootcamp good? Is the Jungle Scout training worth it? Should I pay for Jungle Scout software?

I will cover the reviews in the next few days.

What is the Starting Point for Amazon FBA?

Today, I’d like to talk about the absolute essential first step to start your selling journey in 2020, a pandemic international market.

Is the first step to find a niche and a product that sells well on Amazon and does not have too much competition?

Is the first step to have enough initial investment to buy inventory?

Is the first step to register with Amazon Seller Central?

If we were in last year, then the answer might be yes, maybe, and maybe.

But this year, the absolute first step is to have a supplier.

A supplier? No way this is a step before your decide on your niche – you may think.

Let me tell you why.

I used Jungle Scout to find new niches to sell in last month and came across a really good one for both U.S. and Canadian market.

Then I started my sourcing process and contacted tens of qualified suppliers on Alibaba.

Some of them offered very competitive price and products seem pretty decent. I was even ready to order samples.

But, I suddenly realized that the shipping cost is extremely high, and this happens to all the suppliers.

It may cost up to $800 for 50kg (1:1) by air.

It is largely due to the fewer direct flights.

There are suppliers offering free shipping, but the shipping cost is largely built intot the product cost.

I am asking for more information with different carriers.

But it seems for now there is no way to profit in the niche I researched based on the current product offerings on Amazon.

So the Starting Point?

We need to re-think our traditional approach to selling on Amazon, as a private-label seller.

Traditional approach: niche searching – supplier sourcing (Alibaba) – private labeling – list building – PPCing

Current approach: what products do you have on hand? how long will it last? Do you have suppliers in different countries other than China?

It is so true that China is experiencing a huge change, and I recommended a book “Deceiving the Sky” in my Reading List.

The traditional way that relies heavily on suppliers in China may not work in the long term.

I have already contacted suppliers in Vietnam, the U.S. and Canada.

Will this hurt our profit margin? Will our price be competitive on Amazon?

It sure will, at the beginning. But I am sure there will be adjustment to other sellers too and we will finally reach to a balance.

It is a good time to start to build your own strategy to be an online seller.

What is Your Solution to Current Challenge?

I would want to contact as many qualified suppliers as possible for the niches that I am interested in and I wanted to build a business around.

I am also considering to build a WooCommerce website and have more control over the selling process and get closer to our customers.

But first thing first, to think for the long term, I prefer to work with suppliers in the U.S. or in Canada.

I came across SaleHoo and it is a supplier directory tool which has tons of suppliers information inside.

But it is a paid service. I am mulling over whether to pay for the service or to continue with my “google” approach.

Good news is that it offers 100% satisfaction guarantee.

I will give it a try and update how it is inside.

At the same time, you can visit the website and take a look by clicking the link.

Conclusion

A case study I have learnt revealed a fact that a large number of successful business owners start their business with their existing resources.

To find a qualified supplier and build a solid relationship with that supplier can be the very important “existing resources” for us to succeed in online business.

Without this critical piece of puzzle, how can we succeed long term in e-commerce?

Affiliate Disclosure: the post may contain affiliate links. We will receive a small commission from qualified purchase – it helps us keep the site running.

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