Is selling on Amazon still worth it?

#1

Make no mistake, I am a very hard working person and am more than willing to put in the work to make this work even if there is a small chance of success. Otherwise, there are many other opportunities for business success outside of Amazon. I have been drowning in fees as of late, and have recently decided on a new product that I’ll begin selling in a week or two. Is it worth not giving up? If the best success I can have on Amazon is simply making minimum wage at best, it is not worth it. The only scenario that makes Amazon worth it in my eyes is if my constant (not 9-5, but always) hard work could pay off into not just being a good pay, but a great one. One that would allow me to expand my business and potentially hire others to help it grow.

Is this even plausible or am I delusional here? I really am looking to know if it is worth staying in for the long haul, or if I should move on to another venture.

In conclusion, let me clarify that I understand that success takes time, and I am more than willing to wait as long as it takes, work as hard as it takes, and do what it takes…however, if there is no opportunity for success on Amazon, then I am wasting my time as it will never bear any fruits.

Thank you.

#2

You need to figure out a minimum price that you are willing to accept for your item. If you look through the Amazon catalog, and do a search for what it is that you are selling, you can easily see everyone that is competition with you, and their prices. If you want to jump in with the rest of them, that is your choice - knowing the competition. But, every day, like Skeeter said, there are others jumping into the same boat. Your competitive price may not be the best price tomorrow. As time goes on, your item may be pushed down the ‘line’ so far, that the buyer just doesn’t go to page 2 to look any further than the top guy.
You have to look at what you’re up against to make a good decision.

#3

Depends on the product and of course your selling price. Selling $3.00 items will never pay off. We sell professional books and have found AMAZON to be a great source of income.

#4

>…however, if there is no opportunity for success on Amazon, then I am wasting my time as it will never bear >any fruits.
>

Yes.

You must realize this market place is HYPER-SATURATED with sellers.

What this means is your piece of the pie shrinks by the HOUR, at this point in time your piece of the pie is sliced so thin it is now translucent.

#5

In my opinion, no.

Their are so many issues with this site, I just left you with the most general and obvious.

I can say yes, HOWEVER, it only applies if you violate policy,use black hat or sell stolen goods.

#6

You MUST try every thing possible, but do so with caution.

In so doing that let science and data be your best friend.

Don’t order a container of private label trinkets with your “brand” on them and hope to get rich, that is a wreck waiting to happen.

Most importantly DO NOT DRINK the on-line Kool-aid, it will not get you any place other than failure.

I almost forgot this,

Selling on the internet is all about:

Monkey-see, Monkey-do, if the monkey you are following is stuck in the mud you will be too…

Think about that one for a while.

#7

If you are mediocre you can make 5 figures, if you are good you can make 6 figures, and if you are really good you can make 7 figures.

#8

Don’t rely on Amazon as a sole income stream. Its too capricious.

But if you can make a profit with out too much labor, it is always worth it. If you can make $100 a day profit with 2 hours work… why not? I used to sell on Amazon F/T, and it was not worth it. I found a job with a bigger e-commerce company, and now sell less on Amazon, but still get a tidy some for a hour or two of extra work (plus I get to come to forum and annoy people…)

If you are making less then $10 an hour, its not worth it. Flip Burgers…

#9

Okay, so if I understand correctly, If I want to make real money, it needs to be items that are more expensive? $20+ or even more?

#10

Okay, but at least its possible?

My thought is that since nearly every market is tapped on Amazon, selling items on the top 100 list is generally not advised?

I’d imagine at least some markets are less tapped than others (even if one as 5,000 sellers and the next has 3,000)

#11

So then, this is a waste of time for me?

#12

Well I’m obviously not doing or planning on doing that.

I understand the huge task it is to be successful here, but my primary concern is just about everything, fees, saturation, not standing out…

#13

Would you mind defining the “online kool-aid?”

Thanks

#14

Only you can make that determination.

To succeed in any business, you need to have a vision and a concrete plan to execute it.

Amazon offers opportunities on many fronts. You have to know what you want to accomplish and go for it.

Unfortunately, barrier to entry is so low for many categories and products that you have to get creative to make a decent volume of sales.

Once you establish a niche or something that isn’t easy to source and offer it on Amazon, you can make some headway but you have to be able to adjust quickly because as soon as wind of your products’ success is known, you will get hit with competitors from all corners of the earth.

Amazon makes it so hard. Why? Because they want to make sure you never grow enough to be able to compete with them on their platform. I don’t think it is a coincidence that we still deal with counterfeiters from China to this day.

If you are asking if it’s worth it, you are already in a bad position because doing business here is not for the faint of heart.

Between sourcing, selling, gating, brand approval, scammers, returns and fees…there is so much that you have to manage.

If you aren’t up for it then you may want to consider something less stressful and more stable.

I do it because I enjoy working for myself and having the power to determine the level of success I enjoy through hard work and seeing it pay off.

This is the way of the future and Amazon is pushing the boundaries. Would like to enjoy the ride with them.

With this environment there is no room for self-doubt.

You need to put things into perspective and figure it out.

Good luck to you!

#15

Dudes with hot dog trucks can make loot too. But not if they are parked next to 3 other hot dog trucks unless they have a frank that people are dying for and will pay premium price for.

#16

It’s not fully full time, but I pour a lot of time into it. I do have enough “company” money from the time I ran the business on Ebay left over to take me quite some time, and a full time job. I’m about to begin selling 300 units of 7,8, x iPhone Cases, and I’ve already failed at selling HDMI cables due to the markup being too low. However, I worried I’ve made a mistake going into possibly the most saturated of the most saturated (mobile accessories)

#17

You don’t mention how long you have been selling on Amazon. You also don’t mention whether it’s part-time or full-time for you. And we don’t know what you’re selling or how much you sell. So, it’s kind of hard to guess. But I will say, you don’t want to be losing money here. That is definitely not worth it.

Also, this platform can be difficult because of the danger of suspension. If your ODR slips for any number of reasons, you could find yourself having to fight to stay on amazon. Too many A to Z claims, late shipping, claims of item not received… and the dreaded “inauthentic” claim.

Do you have backup savings that will cover your business expenses and living expenses if needed for at least six months? Without some sort of security, you’ll always be worrying, and that’s not a good feeling.

If you’re in a position where raising your prices would place you out of the competition for sales, then you have a big problem–unless your product is better than the rest. Someone else noted this already.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

#18

Well at this point I’m losing money, so it for sure isn’t worth it.

Quiting time.

#19

My main problem now is deciding whether or not to give up in the sense that so many people have given me such different answers, and that combined with the hyper-saturation of the market, I think it is either too late or too expensive to get ahead at this point.

What I really want to see, is if I am chasing something that is not there. And if this is the case, I am wasting my time. However, there are so many sellers…just so many…so what are the odds that all of them just hang around because they enjoy losing money?

Edited by: Provectus Technology on Jan 7, 2018 3:51 AM

Edited by: Provectus Technology on Jan 7, 2018 3:52 AM

#20

You have to make the decision for yourself. Because if you don’t make the decision for yourself you’ll always be blaming somebody else if it goes wrong or if you find out you could have made money but you didn’t because you listen to somebody.

If you have something unique that not many other people have that people want to buy then great if not then you’re probably wasting your time but you have to make that choice.