This is going to be more of a motivational post, and not really an educational post like what I usually post. I want to go over the question I get asked a lot:
How much can I make it with selling on Amazon FBA?
First of all, I will not be talking about big brands. Because we all know brands like Nike & Nikon can make millions by selling on Amazon. I want to discuss how much you can make with selling your own private label products. Some PL companies that started just like you and me: from home. What is the true potential of these Amazon focussed companies?
Etailz
For me, this is the biggest inspiration as an FBA seller, in matters of how big you can grow. Etailz was founded in 2008 by 2 college students and their professor. It started out as an project in their entrepreneur class about how to sell on Amazon. They had huge succes: growing their revenue from $27 million to $93 million, from 2013 to 2015. So they tripled their revenue in a matter of of 3 years! They ultimate sold the company for $75 million in cash & stock! The company is currently selling on all online marketplaces such as Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, Jet & Wish. They currently have over 200 employees and even have their products in some brick & mortar shops. But this all started with 3 people who wanted to sell their products on Amazon. Truly amazing and an inspiration for every FBA seller!
Source: Geekwire & Etailz.com
Is Amazon FBA still profitable in 2018?
I know what most of you are thinking: These guys started years earlier and have a huge advantage over me. Well that is definitely true but there are still huge opportunities on Amazon. I am still launching new products every month, you can check out my case study if you want to find out how. And the Amazon marketplace is continuing to grow each quarter as well.
So IMO the Amazon FBA is definitely not dead or saturated. But you must be able to beat the competition. Luckily I have plenty of guides about how to pick your first product or how to do Amazon PPC. You wil also need some tool to help you find great products to sell on Amazon. Here is a list of the best Amazon Tools.
I know it depends on a variety of factors like what product I choose to sell, but what do you think is a good ballpark estimate of how much I should have saved up before diving into FBA?
Thanks!
I’d say $1000 is enough to get started and learn the ropes.
Thanks for the response. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my ignorant questions.
For one of your next posts, could you talk about the legal steps to starting an FBA business? I don’t really see many people talking about this. Should I form an LLC vs keeping it a sole proprietorship, do I need a business license, other permits/licenses/requirements, etc.?
Also, for sales tax purposes, do you think I should collect sales tax in every state in which my products are stored in Fulfillment Centers? Does this count as ‘economic nexus’ or should I just worry about collecting tax only in the state I am based in?
No worries, glad to help. Yeah good idea, I can write a basic tutorial about starting a business and the legal structure. But I probably won’t go into too much detail as I am not certified to give advice on taxes, as I am not an accountant. Taxes are fairly complicated and best thing you can do is probably talk to an accountant. However, I can link to some discussions and give an idea about what the general consensus is about certain topics.
That would be extremely helpful. I look forward to it.
Another related thing that I’ve always been confused about that would be great to see in your post involves how to structure an Amazon FBA business if you have multiple brands. Do people just have one LLC and then just have multiple DBA’s under one umbrella business entity?
Always looking forward to reading all your new content. Thanks for all the help!
Yeah having multiple Amazon accounts is forbidden, so you have to put your brands all under 1 Amazon account.