Are you stuck in a job that gets you frustrated and need a better way to make money? Or do you want a profitable online side hustle to engage in? Then Amazon FBA may be what you need.
Amazon FBA is a service that gives you access to Amazon’s shipping and logistics network. What this means is that as an online seller, you have access to Amazon’s warehouses. The company staff will assist in packaging and shipping any orders placed on your products. In some cases, complaints and other inquiries will be handled by Amazon’s customer representatives.
While FBA might sound easy, it does involve some important details. To fully benefit from it, you need to undergo a training program on FBA. If you want to know what such a program entails, check out Bashar Katou’s BJK University for help. A good program will help you understand what this is about.
Like every other thing, some of these programs are not legit. They can be operated by scammers. To avoid being a victim of scams, let’s discuss how Amazon FBA works, what a good training program will involve, some of the advantages of the FBA, and some notable downsides and how to overcome them. Let’s begin!
How does Amazon FBA Work?
One of the questions you might ask is; how does this work? Here’s how: when you have a store on Amazon, you have two options. These include:
- To pack and ship your product
- To outsource storage, product packaging, and shipping using FBA
As an online seller using FBA, you can create your product listing and put it on sale on the Amazon website. Then you can ship them (your products) to Amazon’s warehouses. Your products remain in the company’s fulfillment center and are readily available for shipping when an order is placed.
You will have to pay some amount for the storage fee. This depends on how big or the volume of your goods. Once a customer places an order, Amazon will help you with the transaction and update your store inventory.
This online e-commerce giant will help you with customer care service. Refunds and product returns will be handled by the company. Amazon will send you profits from your sales every two weeks.
Note: To use FBA, you need to make sure that your goods follow the guidelines of Amazon. If you would like to know more about this, click here.
What does a Good Amazon FBA Program Involve?
A good program will teach you how to grow your business. It will contain important information which you can learn in weeks or months. Some of the things you will learn will include:
- Marketing strategies
- How to find profitable products
- How to negotiate and manage relationships with suppliers
- Branding your store
- How to list, describe and optimize products in the store
- How to get organic reviews and deal with negative ones
- How to advertise your store
A good program will teach you most of these things. Knowing them will help you understand how FBA works and how to earn money from it.
Advantages of Amazon FBA
To decide whether you should take the FBA program or not and whether it is good for your online store, it is vital to understand some of the benefits of this. Here are some of them:
Shipping and Logistics
You don’t have to worry about the expenses of packaging goods, tracking orders, and shipping them to your different customers. This e-commerce giant will help you do everything for a small payment. This payment will be smaller than what you may pay if you do the shipping and order fulfillment yourself.
Storage Facilities and Scalability
This is one of the best advantages of this fulfillment. The e-commerce store will help you with a secured inventory for your products. Since you will not spend a lot of money to hire a storage facility, you save money and can scale your store. If you are a new store and have a lot of orders, Amazon can offer free shipping offers for a period.
Returns and Refunds
Apart from assisting you in selling, packaging, and shipping, this fulfillment will also help you handle refunds and returns from customers. This comes with a fee but it is worth it.
Customer Service
The ecommerce company will assist you with 24/7 customer support. These representatives will help you handle complaints or inquiries made on your online store.
Advent of Amazon Prime
Prime helps online stores to ship products at a fast pace. FBA stores automatically can apply for prime for free. Thanks to the many fulfillment warehouses in the world, your goods can be shipped and delivered to any part of the world on time.
Cons of Amazon FBA
Here are some of its downsides and some ways it might be managed:
It Comes with a Price
This is not free. You will have to pay money for storage and maintenance. If you do not sell enough, you might lose money. Before you apply for FBA, it is important to consider whether it is worth it for your business. This fulfillment works well for online stores that sell small products (e.g. toys) with high-volume sales. Thankfully, Amazon has a calculator that helps you determine whether you should consider this or not.
More Product Returns
This is solely due to the e-commerce giant return policy. With more products returned, you may be at a loss. However, the company is making some notable changes so that this can be minimized.
Managing Inventory
It is not easy to track your inventory since you are not directly involved in selling your products. However, you can continuously check and analyze your online inventory reports to deduce this information.
Little Opportunity for Branding
You wouldn’t be able to brand your store because Amazon will handle your packaging and shipping fulfillment. The shipping box will have the company’s logo and name. If you want to personalize your store with original ideas, FBA would not offer this. For some of these branding methods, check here: https://99designs.com/
Conclusion
If you want a profitable online business that you can make profits from, Amazon FBA is a great opportunity that shouldn’t pass you by. However, ensure you choose a good program that teaches you how to succeed in this.
