I don’t know if you’ve heard or not – but there is a LOT of money being made by people who private label products to sell on Amazon via the FBA platform. Yeah! I’ve heard that too. It’s been really hard to ignore over the past year or so if you hang out in the “make money online” spaces like I do. I read blogs and I listen to podcasts. Most of my focus over the last few years has been around blogging and building niche websites. But even most of the people that I follow in that space have either dived in, or at least talked about private labeling products and selling them on Amazon via FBA.
Throughout most of the past year, I have had to purposely ignore all of the talk and the hype around Amazon FBA. I had specific reasons that I didn’t want anything to do with that type of business. At least not at the time. So, what were those reasons and why did I change my mind? Why am I jumping into the business now?
Starting Out with Amazon FBA
I first got involved with Amazon FBA in late 2014 and early 2015 when me and My Lady tried the retail arbitrage Amazon FBA thing. Many of the private label guru’s will tell you to stay away from doing this. You can’t scale this method because you have to be constantly searching for products that you can buy for cheap to send in to Amazon and sell for a profit. Want to see exactly how we found those products? Go ahead and download my free guide…
FREE Guide – How to Find Retail Items to Sell on Amazon
But I don’t regret our experience at all! We learned a lot about how Amazon FBA works and familiarized ourselves with Seller Central (the back end platform for selling on Amazon). And we didn’t have to risk a ton of money to do it. In fact, we came out ahead by several thousand dollars! But after a few months, and after the holiday buying season of 2014 ended, we got sick of going to stores and hunting for products. So we quit.
Starting with retail arbitrage taught me a few things about running a business selling things on Amazon…
- Money can be made very quickly (and lots of it!) – Amazon’s marketplace and market share is absolutely massive
- Selling on Amazon is very cash (capital) intensive – you have to spend money to make money – the more you spend, the more you can make
- Inventory is key – you have to make sure you always have inventory in stock and plenty of it
- Selling on Amazon is not very passive – you have to constantly monitor your seller account
- watch inventory levels
- monitor listings and prices
- deal with feedback issues
- Amazon refunds customers like it is going out of style – seems like it’s a no questions asked kind of policy they have
- the money comes out of your seller account (not Amazon’s back pocket) – so they don’t care
- Amazon fees can eat you alive – you have to know this going in and take it into account before you purchase products to re-sell
Why I Chose to Ignore Private Labeling
The making money part about selling on Amazon was great. Some of the other stuff that I mentioned was pretty annoying though. And that stuff is what led me to a level of comfort in my decision to completely ignore all of the hype around the private label products to sell on Amazon FBA talk. My intent since I started this blog has always been to create passive income streams. Selling on Amazon is not completely passive by any means. Plus – I had no desire to deal with constantly re-stocking inventory.
So – I successfully ignored all of the FBA talk and instead focused on my niche sites and my blog for almost all of 2015. And towards the end of 2015 I even made a drastic move and decided to completely drop everything (including this blog) to put 100% FOCUS on just ONE niche site. I vowed to work on nothing else until that site was a complete success.
But in the back of my mind – I had this master plan in place for what I wanted to do with that ONE niche site. It was already becoming more of an authority site. I am creating the best resource on the internet for the niche that it is in. And the main monetization source is affiliate income via Amazon Associates (promoting Amazon products for a small commission). But the master plan in my head would eventually lead to private labeling one of the products that I was already promoting on the site.
Private labeling a product to sell was supposed to be the last step. First, I was going to build out all of the content. Do outreach and get links to increase rankings in the search engines. Build up affiliate income to reasonable levels. And build up an email list. All of that had to be done before I would even consider the private label thing.
The Webinar that Changed Everything
So, early December 2015 came along and I got a few emails from Spencer over at Niche Pursuits. He was co-hosting a webinar with one of these private label guru’s. The guys name was Scott Voelker and his website and brand is called The Amazing Seller. Okay… That webinar was happening at 9pm my time on a Tuesday – December 8th. I had nothing better to do that night. I knew I wanted to learn this business eventually anyway. And I like and trust Spencer and all of the information and content that he puts out. So I thought, why not watch it? If for nothing else – I might be entertained and maybe even learn a little bit for when I decide to jump into this type of business in the future.
Well, as you can probably guess by now – the webinar got me hooked! I was so excited about the possibilities and the potential. I even insisted to my wife that she watch the replay of the webinar and I made her do just that the very next night. The night after that, I purchased Jungle Scout (more on that below) and started deep-diving into some product research. After validating my idea with Jungle Scout – I knew that this business couldn’t wait. There is money to be made and there is no reason to wait. I needed to learn everything I possibly could about how to private label a product to sell on Amazon.
Want to attend that same webinar that I attended? Go to TheAmazingSeller.com and get signed up for the next one! Trust me. You won’t regret it.
Complete Obsession with The Amazing Seller
As it turns out – The Amazing Seller has a podcast too. As an avid podcast listener, I was excited to learn about this. I started listening. And I couldn’t stop! I kid you not… I seriously have lots and lots of podcasts in my feed that I’ve been listening to for a really long time – but for the entire past month now I have listened to NOTHING but The Amazing Seller podcasts. I’m telling you – I haven’t been this excited about or this obsessed with a podcast since I started listening to Pat Flynn a couple of years ago. For real!
Scott Voelker is to Selling on Amazon what Pat Flynn is to Internet Marketing!Click To TweetSeriously! As of the day I am writing this post, Scott has 148 podcast episodes live. And I’ve probably listened to about 50 of them in a month. I’m telling you – the information I’m getting there is far more valuable than a college education. And the income potential is much greater than what most college graduates can expect. This is serious stuff. Scott literally gives away everything for FREE – anything you could possibly want to know about selling on Amazon can be found somewhere on Scott’s podcast.
I happen to have plenty of time to listen to podcasts. It’s what I do while I am driving around in my rig at my day job. For those of you who might not have that kind of time to listen all day every day like me – Scott also put all of the information into a course. This one is not free – but it is VERY reasonably priced. Especially compared to some of the alternatives out there. Information for how to get that is available at the end of every one of his webinars. Again – go to his site and get signed up for one of those webinars!
And lastly – there is a free Facebook group associated with The Amazing Seller brand too. I’ve been in there recently – paying attention and participating in a few discussions. This group is invaluable. There are thousands of experienced and not-so experienced sellers in there. Any possible question you might have about anything related to selling on Amazon has either already been answered in there or can get answered. It’s also very highly motivational to just hang out in there with lots of like-minded people. Go here and request permission to join if you’re interested. If you don’t look like a spam-booger, they’ll approve you.
Nutshell for me: I did not purchase Scott’s paid course. I simply don’t have the time to sit down and read a course or watch videos. But I do have lots of time to listen. So I’m learning everything I need to know by listening to The Amazing Seller podcasts and by participating in the free Facebook group (usually via my phone).
How to Find Private Label Products to Sell
Instead of just telling you my whole story about why and how I decided to finally jump into the private label FBA thing – I thought I might provide a little value for you as well and give you some actionable information from my point of view.
Just like with everything else in internet marketing – there are always free ways to do things that are usually harder and more time consuming. And there are also tools (usually not free) that people have created that make things faster, easier and usually more effective. Such is the case with finding products to private label and sell on Amazon.
This post is long enough already – and I’m not exactly the expert when it comes to this stuff. But I can show you some of the basic stuff that I’ve learned about product research. And the easiest way for me to show you is with a screenshare video. Check out my latest production…
YouTube: Private Label Products to Sell on Amazon…
Or you can click here to watch this video directly on YouTube.
Tools Used in the Video
AmaSuite is the first set of tools that I featured. It’s actually a suite of 4 different tools – all sold together. I already owned AmaSuite because I used it extensively for product research for my Amazon niche sites. And it just so happens that I have a pretty sweet exclusive discount available if you want to buy it through my affiliate link! We’re talking $100 off if you choose the one-pay option!
Jungle Scout is the other tool that I featured towards the end of the video. As it turns out – Jungle Scout is kind of a game-changer when it comes to doing this type of product research. I’ve found it to be SO powerful that there is NO WAY I would attempt to do product research for private labeling without it. And here is something pretty cool! Greg Mercer (the creator of Jungle Scout) was kind enough to offer a nice discount to readers of my blog! Feel free to take advantage. Any of my links that lead to Jungle Scout reflect that discount.
More (Better) Information on Jungle Scout
I learned about Jungle Scout, of course, through The Amazing Seller podcast. Scott refers back to episode 56 of his podcast ALL THE TIME because that is the episode where he interviewed Greg Mercer (Jungle Scout creator). And that episode is NOT just all about pushing and selling the product. Oh no! Scott and Greg offer a TON of free value and advice on how to do product research. This is the episode that helped me the most and gave me complete confidence in knowing that I was doing my own research correctly.
Since Greg is the expert with his tool and has far more experience with product research than I do – I probably should show you the video that he created on this topic. This video really cleared things up for me. Check it out (courtesy of Scott Voelker’s YouTube channel)…
YouTube: How to Research and Find Products…
Or you can click here to watch this video directly on YouTube.
Tool Used in the Video
Jungle Scout – game-changer, MUST HAVE tool (in my opinion) for product research for private labeling products to sell on Amazon. Get it at a discount by using any of the links on this page.
Note: Scott has the exact same discount available on his Resources page on his The Amazing Seller website.
Private Label Products to Sell – Overview
Recap and a Few Thoughts
While it seemed like everybody and their brother was getting into private labeling products to sell on Amazon FBA – I tried my best to ignore. And I did for most of an entire year. But then I got caught up in the hype. Thanks Scott Voelker! And now I’m pushing full steam ahead with the business and I’m super excited about it. It seems to me that if I do my research right and select the right product, then pretty much just follow all of the steps that Scott teaches – this is almost a can’t fail business. I’m already past the product selection phase and I’m currently working with a supplier in China to source my very first ever private label product! So exciting!!
What about my FOCUS on only ONE niche site until success that I vowed? Yeah, I can justify that. And here’s how… The product I selected IS one of the products that I promote on my niche site. It goes along with the strategy overall. I’m just skipping ahead a little bit.
In the meantime, my writer and my VA have been steadily producing and posting great content for the site. Nearly 100 articles are already published with at least 100 more keywords that still need to be targeted. The two of them will stay busy for months, with very little involvement from me, to get all of those articles published. So I can spend time focusing on the private label FBA stuff!
I’ve got a LOT more to say about that site and the plans that I have to grow it into a massive authority in it’s space and how I’m going to use it to complement the FBA business (and the other way around). But I’ll save that for an upcoming post. For now – I’ve got some FBA stuff that I have to go deal with!
Good Day!
Note: Several of the links in this post that lead to products are indeed affiliate links. If you choose to purchase any products after clicking through via my affiliate links, I will receive a commission. I want to Thank You in advance if you choose to do so. I really appreciate your support.
Image Credit: “06.07.2011” by Amy via Flickr
Matthew Allen
Sounds like a great plan! I can understand why anyone with the spare cash to invest would get involved with PL and FBA.
I’ve been listening to Scott for a while so know why it got you motivated to take action!
Thanks for the Jungle Scout discount. I haven’t watched the videos yet but did you get the Chrome extension or the Web App – which one do you think is better for product research?
I’m in the UK so when I do give this a try, I’m not sure whether to try it in the UK or in the US.
If there are any readers in the UK who are thinking of giving this a try, feel free to get in touch so we can mastermind.
Good luck Matthew and keep us posted.
Keep the HAMMER down Matthew and the shiny side up! Enjoy reading your blog. I’m in same boat as you, from Mich, drive a rig too and trying to side-step the internet landmines and create an online lifestyle. Safe travels
What happened to concentrating on one thing as per one of your previous posts? All I get now is emails about the next big thing and affiliate links!
No kidding Glenn? That’s awesome. There’s more than one ‘dumb truck driver’ who’s trying to make this internet thing work. That’s cool! What’s your focus on internet-wise? How are you making money?
One thing about me though… I differ from many internet marketers in that I am NOT trying to quit my day job. I really enjoy my day job. Trucking is a ton of fun for me (especially in the winter). And I work for one of the greatest companies on the planet. I’m not one of these people who despises his day job and can’t wait to quit. My dilemma might come one day though when I am making ridiculous amounts of money online and it might not make sense anymore to keep my day job. Wouldn’t that be a nice problem to have?!
Hey Joe – I got the Chrome extension. I honestly haven’t even looked at the Web App so I can’t say which is better. The Chrome extension is pretty sweet though! I like it a lot.
Yeah – Scott’s upbeat and fiery personality is contagious, isn’t it? It would be hard to NOT get excited and motivated after listening to him for awhile.
Did you read the entire post Stephen? At the end I briefly explained how this fits into my ONE thing. And I’m sorry if the affiliate links annoy you. But this is part of the ‘make money online’ game. I’m an affiliate marketer. That’s what I do.
Thanks for sharing the videos. I just know about this.. I will surely check out them and will update you about my action 🙂
Thanks. Yes the Chrome extension looks more affordable. Will see if it has a UK version as that is where I am.
Do you read the Passion into Paychecks blog, that is another good resource for FBA sellers.
Joe
I’m pretty sure the Jungle Scout Chrome extension will wok on ANY Amazon webpage. It basically just pulls data from every single product listed on whatever page you are looking at on Amazon – so I don’t know why it wouldn’t work on any countries version of Amazon.
I have not read that blog yet. I’ll look into it.
Wait! I just looked at Passion into Paychecks – I didn’t realize that was Josh’s blog. I HAVE seen it before. Honestly – I don’t have time to sit and read blogs very much. I try to when I can. But I try to spend most of my time on my computer doing my own stuff. Most of my learning about what others is doing is accomplished through podcast listening.
Cool Tonmoy. Take Action!!
Yeah that’s pretty obvious man and if you provide any value that’s fair enough but one or two of your recent emails haven’t in my opinion. For example, there was one you sent around cyber Monday time and it provided no value whatsoever. You basically wasted my time and asked me to give you money for nothing. But hey that’s what you do! Good day!
Yeah – sorry about those Black Friday to Cyber Monday emails. I went a little crazy around that time with the emails I sent to my list. There were just SO many deals to promote and I may have gotten a little greedy. I’ve purposely backed off since then and plan to stick to my original strategy of only providing value, emailing about recent posts and only promoting tools that I am actually and currently using.
Hey Matt, Yeah, FBA seems to be all the rage. I’ve still resisted so far! Good luck with it!
Matt, I see how it fits in for sure. And, it’s super interesting to learn about the whole process so that keeps you moving forward.
You are showing how to use the tools and why they are useful so it’s great for the people that are interested in the product. You can’t please everyone…
It’s just a matter of time Doug… Just a matter of time. 😉 I don’t know if you’ll end up getting on this bandwagon or not. But if you do – I think you’d really like it. The whole thing is very much process driven. I think even more so than creating niche sites. It really is an almost ‘can’t fail’ business model – as long as you follow the process and do everything right.
Thanks for the validation Doug. I know it would be much easier to see how these connect if I were to reveal my niche and domain and also the product(s) I am sourcing. But you know how it goes… those are risks I can’t take right now.
Hi Joe,
I’m in the UK as well, just came across this post while searching for Amazon FBA info. I’ve got a bit of spare cash and was thinking about giving it a shot. Add me on skype: mjr629
Great post by the way, Matt!
Thanks MJR. Just curious… do you remember how exactly you came across this post on my blog? Was it through a random search on Google? If so, do you remember what exactly you searched for?
Hi Matt, “Great Stuff!” -I like that fact that we always seem to be on the same page. Know that I am pluged-in and plan to dive-in right behind you with both feet on this Amazon FBA venture. Scott Voelker sims to give away what many courses that I have found are charging thousands for.
He certainly does Chuck. Scott gives it all away for free. He absolutely is the Pat Flynn of the Amazon FBA world! Even a few weeks after I published this post… I can’t stop listening to his podcasts as much as possible.
I’ve been following the Private Label Selling Boom for a while now. This is an awesome guide Matt. If I was going to get into physical products, this is definitely the route I’d take.
Thanks Dominique. Good to know that my route is validated by at least one person! 😉 haha Selling physical products is an entirely different beast though. Lots of money to be made – but totally understandable why people might want to avoid.
“It seems to me that if I do my research right and select the right product, then pretty much just follow all of the steps that Scott teaches – this is almost a can’t fail business.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Thanks for your great post with very informative information. i have read your several post and like your attitude of thinking.