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The 90 day Amazon business blueprint!

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If you follow along you will learn to sell on Amazon, make

your first sale and start a business.  More importantly, by
making sales you will prove to yourself that the the sky’s
the limit. It’s rinse and repeat after that.

 Startup Costs to Selling on Amazon

 How to Open an Amazon Account
 How to Find a Product to Sell
 Best Product Selection Tools
 Open an Alibaba Account
 Definitive Guide to Negotiate with Alibaba Suppliers

 How to Create an Amazon Listing

 How to Create an FBA Shipping Plan
 Amazon Product Photography
 Guide to Product Listing Optimization
 Create a Brand & Packaging
 How to Automate Your Amazon FBA Business
Let’s begin:
The amount of money you need to start an Amazon
business depends on where you’re sourcing your products
from. You can purchase inventory to sell on Amazon from
a few different sources:
 Retail Stores: You buy items at local/online retail
stores, and resell them on Amazon (this is known as
retail/online arbitrage)
 Wholesale Suppliers: You buy items from a company
like ours, and you’re able to resell these products
wherever you’d like (including Amazon)
 Private Label Manufacturers: You modify and
customize your own branded products to sell wherever
you’d like (including Amazon)
If you’re extremely tight on cash (less than $250), I would
recommend checking out retail arbitrage first…
RETAIL ARBITRAGE ON AMAZON: PROFITABLE
CLEARANCE ITEMS AT WALMART AND TARGET?
 

How Much Money Do You Need To Sell On

Amazon
There are currently 5 costs directly associated with
starting an Amazon business. These figures can range
depending on how much you’re willing to invest and how
much you’re willing to bootstrap some costs in the
beginning to keep startup costs low:

 Buying Initial Inventory ($150)

 Opening an Amazon Account ($39.99)

 Buying UPC Codes ($10)

 Investing in Product Photography (Free – $295)

 Creating a Logo and Product Branding ($24)

Total Amazon Business Lean Startup Cost: $224 – $518
See how we calculated the startup cost below…

How to Open an Amazon Account

To sell on Amazon, you can go through the following
steps:

Step 1: Go to Services.amazon.com

Step 2: Scroll down and click the “Selling on Amazon” link
.

Step 3: Select between “Sell as a Professional” or “Sell as

an Individual”. As a beginner we recommend selling as an
individual. Amazon charges $0.99 per sale. For a
professional seller account Amazon charges $39.99 per
month.
Step 4: Fill out the required information and once you’re
done then you’ve officially become an Amazon seller.
You can also use this video below detailing how to open
your Amazon seller account.

How to Open an Amazon FBA Account

Use your personal information, you don’t need a “legal”
business right away to start an Amazon business.
Your personal tax information (social security number) is
perfectly fine because you can claim any earnings as
personal income to start.  If you’re selling on Amazon
from outside the US it’s covered that in this article.
If you want to sell on Amazon from outside the US this is
what you currently need:

 Credit Card that can be charged internationally. Visa

or Mastercard are the most common ones.
 A local bank in your country that supports what’s
known as ACH (automated clearing house) which only
means that your local bank can receive electronic
transfer payments from Amazon.

 Your home address where you receive personal mail.

 local phone number with your countries prefix.

 A US EIN number. You don’t have to be a corporation

and have any type of legal status in the US to get this
number. An EIN may be obtained by filing IRS Form SS-
4, Application for Employer Identification Number
There you go, it’s that simple.
 Share this image! #AmzChallenge

How to Find Product to Sell on

Amazon
We’ve covered finding profitable products to sell in the
past but we have never put it together in a comprehensive
post like this.
Here’s the deal:
Without a profitable product to sell you have no Amazon
business.
When starting to sell on Amazon this is the part most
people tend to overlook and rush.  One of the biggest
questions that we get over email is “How do you find a
profitable product to sell”
What people actually mean is “Can you tell me which
product to sell” and it’s not that simple. A profitable
product falls at the intersection of your interests and
profit margin.

Step 1: Narrow Your Product Research Criteria

You want your first product to be what’s called your
“beach head” product. It’s one that generates sales for
you right away and then you can branch out from.

Trying to pick a niche when first starting out can become

difficult and overwhelm you.

Our goal is to make this process as roadblock free as

possible. That way you can get motivated and continue to
make progress.
Startupbros doesn’t believe in profitable niches but
instead profitable products.

So, we need to establish the bare minimum requirements

that determine a good product to sell.
Look:
This is the Startupbros Guidelines to Finding A Profitable
Product to Sell.
 Share this image! #AmzChallenge

Also, look at products under sponsored ads selling on

Amazon. If someone is spending money advertising them
then there’s a good chance the product is selling well.
Just like there is a good criteria for product selection,
there are characteristics we need to avoid.

This is the Startupbros Guidlines for Bad Products to Sell

On Amazon:

Share this image! #AmzChallenge

Now: 
Take these tips with you and start thinking about what
items you want to start researching.

Avoid Restricted Amazon Categories

Amazon requires that you apply and gain approval to sell
in certain categories. Check out the restricted categories
here: Amazon restricted categories
I would recommend that the name of the game is to start
making sales quickly.

The more time you spend trying to get yourself ungated

the less time you have to test products. Save selling in
restricted categories for when you have more time and
money to spend on ungating services.

Step 2: Select the Right Online Tools for Amazon

Product Research
These tools don’t select products to sell on Amazon for
you. And there’s no tool out there that can select the best
product for you to sell.  So, you need to learn how to
make the best decision with the best data available to
you.

These tools allow you to sort your ideas and filter out bad
ones from good ones based on the criteria we mentioned
above.
Therefore, we recommend 3 tools for Amazon Product
Research:

#1: The Startupbros Product Research Workbook

Figuring out what product to buy and sell on Amazon
doesn’t have to be enormously complicated.

This is our proprietary Product Research Workbook. And

we use it to keep track of everything when searching for
your first product to make a sale on Amazon.
 Follow the gif instructions!

I’ll explain with an example:

If you have our workbook then it can be as simple as
putting the numbers into the spreadsheet.

Check out the video below to see how we teach product

research and do it yourself!
#2: Jungle Scout Product Research Tool
One thing we don’t recommend is to start selling any of
the items we research in the videos. We’re teaching you
how to do your own research and depending on when
you’re reading this the numbers are potentially different.

GET $20 OFF JUNGLESCOUT!

#3: Unicorn Smasher Product Research Tool (FREE)

Unicorn Smasher is a free online Chrome extension that
gives you sales data on particular categories on Amazon.
The data is not as accurate as it is on Jungle Scout but if
you want to save on money then try this free option.

GET UNICORN SMASHER FOR FREE

Suggested reading: 21 Amazon Chrome Extensions for
FBA Sellers

Now that you’ve selected a product to sell on Amazon and

start your business then it’s time to move on finding a
supplier for your product.

If you’ve followed our guidelines then you should have at

least 3 to 5 products you want to start selling on Amazon.
There’s a single point that we want to get across and it’s
that there is no perfect product. The perfect product is the
one you choose to execute on and fully optimize better
than your competitors which is what we’re going to teach
you later in the article.
 

The Exact Steps to Finding Overseas

Private Label Suppliers

Follow these steps to open an Alibaba account and buy

from Alibaba:
First: Go to Alibaba and click on “Join Free”

Second: Enter your Email address and verify that you own

it. Try to not use your main/personal email if you don’t
want your inbox clogged up with supplier emails.
Third: Fill out your basic information. Password, location,
first name, last name, and telephone number.  Alibaba
asks you for “Company name”..Do not panic. The name
can be whatever you want.
Fourth: Confirm your personal information and complete
the opening of your new Alibaba account. Now you can
start buying products on Alibaba.
How to open an Alibaba account (Video)

Minimum Requirements to Select the Perfect

Supplier
At a minimum you want to make sure that your private
label supplier meets the following requirements:
 Accepts Trade Assurance, Paypal, or AliPay (Most
secure payment methods)

 They’re a Gold Supplier

 Has been assessed and certified checked onsite by

Alibaba
You want to keep your money as secure as possible. So
checking all these boxes is a way to make sure you
protect yourself when looking for a good supplier.
Startupbros must have requirements in a supplier:

Share this image! #AmzChallenge

Now, let’s dive deeper into Alibaba payment methods and

which ones would be better over others.
 Overview of Alibaba Payment Methods
Suppliers like to compete on price but some might be
willing to offer you a better one.

Finding a supplier making the exact product you found on

Amazon is crucial. You’ll see that sometimes the pictures
are even the same ones that are selling on Amazon.

Side Note: We’re not doing that when we list our product!
Finding a supplier that communicates well is going to be
extremely important moving forward. Especially when you
decide to place a logo on your products.
 Share this image! #AmzChallenge

 You’ve done your Amazon product research and met

the criteria

 Calculated Amazon revenue

 Opened your Alibaba accoun

 Found 3 suppliers that make your product and accept

proper payment channels

 TWEET ALL THE ACTION STEPS YOU’VE

TAKEN SO FAR!
 

Steps to Negotiate With Alibaba Suppliers

Next, let’s negotiate with our suppliers and see if we can
get a lower cost for our small orders.  You can’t start an
Amazon business with good negotiations!

Best case scenario we can even get a credit back on the

sample products.
If you see on the bottom right hand side of the photo you
can click on “contact supplier”.

You don’t order right away on Alibaba. You need to

contact the supplier and explain to them what you want
and to give you an estimate.

Step 1: Contact the supplier and start the conversation

We’re not going to leave this to chance. We’ve tested so
many emails to suppliers and we’re going to share one of
the best emails you can send.

The idea is to create an open line of communication

between you and your supplier.

People become very nervous at this step but suppliers are

people too and just need to know how they can help you.

Introduce yourself first and then you can let them know
that “your boss” is unhappy with your current supplier and
would like to move to another supplier.

Copy and Personalize This:

Alibaba Supplier Negotiation Template

Step 2: Use This Alibaba Supplier Negotiation Template
Dear NAME,
We cannot divulge secretive information like monthly
sales volume. Based on what you have told me / what I
have seen , your volume is enough for us to be interested
in your factory, especially given your broad range of
products and your focus on quality control.
However, my boss is not willing to switch accounts / my
boss is not willing pay for samples to any new supplier
until we prove things out by moving slowly.  The steps he
would like to follow are:
We test a normal and high capacity cartridge internally in
the field with our 20 sales reps = 40
Then we test on a broader scale with 100 units, preferably
with a different printer line =100
After, we move to 1,000 units to test happiness with
customers in our many channels of distribution =1,000
Assuming all goes well, we go to 5,000-10,000 units and
really begin to migrate to your factory fully for that line = $
Your factory seems like a great potential partner for our
company, and we’re excited to do business with you. But
this is our company’s standard procedure for new
products and suppliers.
Please let me know if you’d like to do business together,
and I’ll let my boss know immediately.
Look forward to working together,
YOUR NAME
Step 3:  Set the Proper Expectations
If you do this and maintain your position as an assistant or
purchasing manager, it will give you the necessary
negotiating strength to get started.

Just be sure to set reasonable expectations of growth

and have them understand that there are validation and
inspection processes to go through in order for them to
earn your company’s business.
Once you send the initial inquiry you’ll come to this screen
and you’ve made contact with your first supplier! They will
email you back and ask for specifics. It becomes a
conversation at this point and you tell them what you
want.

Step 4: Agree on the price and place your first small order
on Alibaba
Alibaba Shipping Hack
Remember a small order can be anywhere from 5 to 20
units. It depends on your level of risk tolerance. Expect to
pay around $150 to the supplier for door to door small test
orders. And remember that the de minimis value for e-
commerce parcles to the USA was raised to $800 USD in
March 2016.
Therefore international courier shipments and/or
international parcel deliveries can be cleared without
duty and taxes!

 TWEET THIS HACK ABOUT DUTY AND TAX

FREE PRODUCTS!
It’s your responsibility to make sure that when the
products arrive at your house that you inspect them and
prep them for FBA.
The video shows you how to get your supplier to ship your
products to your house.

Dealing With Shipping Costs

Startupbros rules to live by:

 Product research is more beneficial to the profit

margin than trying to lower your shipping costs.

 Anywhere from $50 to $150 is reasonable for shipping

costs

 If we’re asking them to express ship it via air then we

should expect a higher shipping cost
Keep this in mind when receiving a quote from a supplier
and consider a new product before thinking $50 to $150
in shipping costs is unreasonable.
 
How to Create an Amazon Listing and
Ship to Amazon FBA
Follow these steps when you want to create an Amazon
listing:

Step 1: Go to seller central on Amazon and select the

inventory drop down and select ‘Add a Product’.
Step 2: Next you want to select ‘create a new product
listing’ and start from scratch.
Step 3: Choose the category of the products you’re going
to be selling. Make sure that your product category is not
restricted. If you sell in a restricted category you won’t be
able to create your product listing until you’re approved.
There are plenty of categories that don’t require approval
so keep it simple and keep moving forward! Find the
closest thing that relates to your product.
Step 4: Fill in the required info. You just want to get the
product listing up (but not live) so that you can send your
products into Amazon FBA.
You can focus on optimizing Amazon keywords after the
inventory arrives in Amazon.
Handpicked Content for You: The 6 Most Important
Factors for Amazon Product Listing Optimization
Next you want to fill out these spaces to complete your
product listing and get your Amazon FBA listing
completed.

Title:
You want your product name here, you can change it later.

Manufacturer:
Since you’re a private label seller you can list your
company name as the manufacturer. If you don’t have a
company name just make it the company name you will
have in the future. Again don’t let this stop you.

Brand:
Your brand can also be your company name.

Your Price:
You can change this later so put any price for now. This is
so the listing can get published but you can’t sell anything
until Amazon receives your inventory. Select a price that’s
comparable to the lowest Prime price to a similar product.

If you saw our last post about buying UPC codes you

know that you need them to list your products on Amazon.

How to Buy a UPC Code

Step 5: Buy a UPC Code if you don’t have a UPC code yet.
Go to SnapUPC

Click through all the steps until you can download the
package.
Step 6: Open the folder with the UPC JPEG in it and write
down the number so you can enter it in the ‘Product ID”
area of your product listing.
Step 7: Click on “Save and Finish” and you’ve created
your very first Amazon listing.
Pro Tip: You can list an item to sell on Amazon by
merchant and then convert it to be Fulfilled by Amazon
once it’s listed. That way, it won’t sell until received at a
FBA warehouse. The item will go into your Inactive
Inventory until it is received into the FBA warehouse.

Now we need to create what’s called a shipping plan.

However, you can start selling on Amazon right away with
the listing we created.

But if you want to offer 2 day free shipping, have the prime
logo on your listing, and win the buy box then Amazon
needs to have your inventory.

 
How to Create an FBA Shipping Plan
Step 1: In your Seller Central dashboard, click on edit
inventory and click “Change to Fulfilled by Amazon”.
Step 2:  Click on “Convert Only” wait a few minutes,
refresh the page, and now that it’s fulfilled by Amazon
click on “Print Item Labels”.
Step 3: Click edit and then “Send/replenish inventory”
You want to select case-packed products. What this
means is that you are going to send all of your products
together in one big box. If you are sending multiple
products in one box into Amazon FBA then you will select
individual products.

Next, fill in the Ship from field. In the beginning, it’s your
house but it can also be your FBA inspection service that
will be prepping your products after receiving them from
your Chinese supplier.

Don’t Forget the Hazmat Review Form

Step 4: Fill out the Hazmat Review Form
Depending on your category just to be safe Amazon will
ask you to fill out a hazmat review form.

You want to tell Amazon how many units per case you’re
sending to their warehouse and then how many cases
you’re sending them.
Since your product is most likely not hazardous you want
to download the exemption sheet that you need to fill out.

Click no on the entire sheet and save it on your desktop.

You can then upload the document and hit continue.
Step 5: Fill out the dimensions of your actual individual
product, and prep information. It’s okay to be approximate,
just don’t be completely wrong.  If you don’t know then
ask your supplier and they would be more than willing to
help you!
Then fill out the units per case and the number of cases
you’re sending.
After you set the quantity, click on continue.

Next, it’s going to ask you if prep is required. What they’re

asking is if there is any prep required by Amazon in their
warehouses. The answer should be no. Either you are
preparing your products or your prep/inspection company
would be preparing your products for you.

Hit continue. The page asks you “Who Labels?” you want
to select merchant. Put the label on the packaging earlier
or the 3rd party company you paid to do it.
You don’t need to print labels here because that would be
if you wanted to create stickers for every single one of
your products.

FAQ: How do you know what Amazon FBA warehouse

to send your products to?
By creating your shipping plan, Amazon automatically
decides which warehouse your products are going to.

They provide you the address and you can either send it
yourself or give that address to your freight forwarder so
they can send it to the FBA warehouses.
Make sure that all of the information is correct.
Handpicked Content for You: [Case Study] How I Turned
$2,200 of Rice Cakes Into a $1-Million E-Commerce
Business

Step 6: Click work on shipment to select how you’re going

to ship your product to Amazon.

Quickly Prep & Ship Products to

Amazon FBA
Now you need to select how your products are going to be
sent to Amazon.
Small parcel delivery and if you’re sending the products
from your house you would be using your own shipping
services. It can be FedEx, DHL, UPS or even the US post
office, whatever you like.

If a third party is sending your shipments ask them who

they’re using to send your products in and they will give
you all of that information.

Make sure all of shipping information is correct and ask

your third party freight forwarder how much 1 box weights
and what the dimensions are.
Otherwise, you can weigh the box in your house by
stepping on a scale.

Print your box shipping labels.

In my example, the supplier factory address is my ship
from address which is why the return address is Chinese.
If you’re shipping from your house then it would be your
home address.
Here are the FBA Prep Requirements to get your
products accepted into FBA warehouses.
You need to send the file of these labels to whoever is
going to be doing the shipping for you if it’s not yourself.
Once you send your products into Amazon you will get a
tracking number from your shipping company. If you sent
10 boxes then you should get 10 tracking numbers. Place
the tracking numbers in your Amazon seller dashboard.
 
Amazon Product Photography
Make sure you take your product photos before sending
your items in!
Product photography doesn’t have to be expensive. We
swear by it.

DIY Product Photography Video

Pro Tip: Save money and take incredible product

photography using your cell phone and a bathtub.

 TWEET THIS AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHY TIP!

When you’re selling Amazon you’re competing against
other sellers that are selling similar products to you and
it’s critical to be able to stand out.

We created a DIY Amazon Product Photography guide for

you because product photos quickly make a decision for
your customer to keep looking at your listing or not.
Want to know the best part?
You can pay a professional to take photos but if you use
the guide we provide above you can compete against the
best sellers on your own.

But, we love companies like Virtuous Graphics

for professional Amazon product photography.

You can certainly save money on product photography. If

you can spare it, getting a professional to take your
Amazon product photos might be worth it.

For beginners selling on Amazon save the money but be

aware that this option exists. $295 for 5 photos. Prove the
concept first then I would look for awesome professional
photos for your Amazon listing.
GET $15 OFF W/ PROMO CODE: $15OFFWSTARTUPBROS
 

Amazon Product Listing Optimization

Product listings are literally everything in an Amazon FBA
business and sadly becomes one of the most neglected
things. There are some ranking tricks that you can use
but nothing helps your entire SEO strategy like an
optimized listing.
People want more eyes on their listings and people want
more sales but never stop to think that maybe their
product listings might need a little bit of work.

Fully optimize your product listing with keywords and

create meaningful relationships with your customers.
We had Greg Mercer from JungleScout give us the 6 Most
Important Factors for Amazon Product Listing
Optimization and he did not disappoint!
These 6 Factors are:
 Product Titles

 Product Images (Minumum Amazon image

requirements)
 Key Product Features

 Amazon Listing Descriptions

 Amazon Product Reviews

 Product Rating
Head over to that article and find out exactly how to make
sure your Amazon products are perfectly showcased to
make sure you start off on the right foot!

Share this! #AmzChallenge

Everything you need to start selling on Amazon and make

your first sale has been covered.
  TWEET HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST SALE ON
AMAZON!
 

Create a Unique Brand & Grow

Your Amazon FBA Business
After researching your product and you’re confident you
want to continue selling your product in your Amazon
business then it’s time to think about logo and branding
design.

I want to include this in the beginning because you want

to have this done with your next large order.
This is crazy:
You can hire a kick ass freelancer from freeeup for $12
dollars an hour or even more if you want and they can
design a logo for you within a day.
Then you can use them anytime you need design work
done.

They can help you with:

 Packaging Design

 Product Inserts

 Logos

 Infographics
It’s such a simple process to hire one of these workers
and their customer service is outstanding. Freeeup will
recruit, interview, and hire online workers then place them
into your business effectively saving you time to grow
your company.

Let’s say it takes the designer 2 hours to design your

logo. That’s $24 USD
GET $0.50 OFF HOURLY RATE FOR FREEEUP
ASSISTANTS!
You might be wondering:
Can images like this make all the difference?

Yes, they can…

You can also use tools like Canva to make incredible

images for free!
Requesting a Logo on Alibaba
Look:

At the very least if you don’t want to register your brand,

you can test the validity of a product with a logo on it.

Branded products usually get priced higher than

unbranded products so it’s something worth testing.

Pro Tip:  If you aren’t making consistent sales you

shouldn’t worry about registering your brand on Amazon.
Create a name to sell your products under and it can be a
generic name to start.

Check out the video below to see an example using

Photoshop!

Requesting Logo for Amazon Products on Alibaba

Do you need an LLC, Business License or Importing

License to Sell on Amazon?
 
Automating Shipping and Prep for Your Amazon FBA
Business
Benefits of third party companies:

 Schedule freight services for you

 Inspect your products before leaving China

 Return any defective products before leaving China

 Prep your products per FBA standards

 Send directly into the Amazon warehouses

To automate your operations this is the missing link that
people don’t realize exists.

Suppliers can’t prep your products per FBA guidelines. So

instead, you’ll want to use a prep and inspect service to
be the middleman who keeps your supply chain moving
along smoothly.
One that I recommend is:

Check out the FBA Inspection pricing sheet here.

Yes, these costs will eat into your profits but, this is a
necessary step if you decide to automate your Amazon
FBA business.

You are eliminating the headache of inspecting your own

products and the cost of sending back products from the
US to China.
Wrapping this up:
Everything in this article is meant to motivate you to take
action.

If you take everything in this article and apply it we can

guarantee that you can learn to sell on Amazon and make
your first sale.

And we define a successful Amazon FBA business as

making your first sale on Amazon.

Look, your going to run into obstacles so keep coming

back and checking on the updates we’re going to make.

Ask questions and keep this conversation going in the

comment section below.

Additional resources you might be interested in:

 73 Tools for Amazon Sellers: The Complete List