What do I do now?

I had sold on eBay and Craigslist forever, it seemed. I had not viewed selling online as a business, though, just as a way of “selling my junk” so others could enjoy it…until it became their junk…at which time, the process could repeat. The thought of an online sales business never crossed my mind. Only after learning that being an Amazon seller could pave the way to fulfilling my dream of becoming a full time RVer did I consider doing more than “selling my junk.”

Selling on Amazon? Don’t they just sell their own products? I soon learned this was a common misconception. It turns out that anyone could become an Amazon seller. So why not me?

I had retired in September of 2014 after 20 years as a 9-1-1 Dispatcher and was looking for something to fill the void. I always felt I could run my own business, but my obstacle had been determining exactly what business that should be. While reading forums related to eBay selling, I saw posts about Amazon FBA, or Fulfillment by Amazon. At first, I had no idea what FBA meant, so I started researching. The more I read about it, the more appealing it seemed: be my own boss, minimal start-up cost, no storefront requirement, and Amazon would do all of my storing and shipping? Winning!

So Much to Learn

Much of what I did in the beginning was trial and error, (as I’m sure many of you can relate). Initially, When I started, I did not know about the various educational sites out there. Granted, some are wastes of time and money. But there are many good resources, such as Stephen Smotherman, Ryan Grant, Jordan Malik, and of course Jim Cockrum. I focused initially on Seller Central help files, which was hardly the easiest or quickest method for success.

Then, I started learning all I could about this FBA thing to see if it was all too good to be true. I had a plethora of books to offload after downsizing from a 2000 square foot house into a 400 square foot condo. At the time, I had been paying to store my quantity of books in a storage unit until figuring out what to do with them. With my newfound Amazon FBA information, I took the plunge and made a little side business out of decreasing storage unit costs “selling my junk.”

As any seasoned Amazon seller will tell you, December is hardly the best time to start selling. I missed the 4th quarter rush, but I did not know that at the time. Ignorance is bliss, right? At the time, I was just excited at the prospect of saving money on storage and maybe, possibly also making some cash. The more I read and the more I invested into my little side business of “selling my junk,” the more I realized I could actually make some serious cash if I kept at it.

Time to Become an Amazon Seller!

It was around the 29th or 30th of December 2014 when I ventured out, iPhone loaded the Amazon Selling App in hand. This was before I knew about InventoryLab and the much better Scoutify application (and now even better with Scoutify 2). But you use what you have at the time, right?

My first stop was Fred Meyer, a Pacific Northwest chain of stores similar to Kroger or Fry’s that sells housewares, clothing, groceries, and toys. There were many Fred Meyer stores in the Portland, Oregon area, so it was a good store to try for my first gamble on retail arbitrage, also known as RA. (By the way, I had no idea at the time that there was a term for what I was doing.)

A Lego set on the clearance table was the first item I scanned. It was a Star Wars themed AT-AT marked at $20.00. According to the handy Amazon Seller App, I could make about $100 when it sold!

$100? I thought this had to be an error. I must have scanned that Lego set about eight more times before I put it in my shopping cart. This was also the point I started to become a believer.

That particular Fred Meyer was closing out its toy section after the holidays. My timing was perfect. They were really low balling the toys, including all of their Lego sets. Back then, there were no brand restriction requirements for selling Legos on Amazon. (Some of us have fond memories of an easier sourcing time). Everyone likes Legos, so I grabbed all of them. Yes, this was my research tool: “Oh that looks good. Who doesn’t like this?”

Don’t get me wrong. I also bought a lot of stuff I shouldn’t have. I had no knowledge of Keepa or Camel Camel Camel at this point. And what the heck was that rank thing?

I also picked up several sets of Hot Wheels that came with 5 cars to a pack. Those weren’t quite as profitable, but I could still make a few bucks on them.

I limited my RA purchases at the beginning, although the excitement of seeing the ROI on some of the items I scanned was pretty addicting. Initially, I shipped just my books and the toys I found on the Fred Meyer clearance tables. It was just after Christmas, so there were lots of opportunities. I decided to curtail my spending, though, since I had a lot to learn and I didn’t get ahead of myself.

Buying Was The Easy Part

Now all I had to do was to get them to Amazon. The joys of the 30 label sheets, unused labels, and laser printers. This frustration over the many unused item labels is just one reason why using a thermal printer with InventoryLab is so awesome!

Shipping labels were another story. I found out that UPS would send you free shipping labels that were two to a sheet. The shipping labels printed out perfectly on them so that was a big bonus. Early on, before I could afford to buy a DYMO 4XL for my shipping labels, these worked perfectly and they were great for the bottom line.

Then my first sale, January 25^th, 2015! I made a whopping $1.74, hardly a windfall but it was a start.

At this point I could officially call myself an Amazon seller. Not a bad ROI on this little gem either, but it was only the beginning of an interesting journey that continues to this day.