Amazon has been contributing to the work from home professionals & businesses through various programs. Be it an Amazon affiliate program under which you send customers to Amazon through social media marketing or blogging. Be it a kindle publishing program that offers self-publishing and that encourages aspiring authors to be a best-seller.
Amazon also allowed people to list their products on their website and sell their products worldwide. The amazing thing about Amazon is to use these services you need to spend a very small amount as compared to the profit you gain.
Amazon did not stop here. Recently Amazon has launched the FBA program. FBA stands for Fulfilment by Amazon. This program is beneficial for small businesses that need a platform to showcase their product. In the pre-existing seller program by amazon, the seller was expected to list the item and deliver it straight to the buyer.
FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program is an improved version of the seller program. As a seller, you need to list your item on the site and ship it to Amazon instead of buyers. The main idea is to maintain the efficiency and packing of delivery. Amazon already has a well set up infrastructure that handles delivery very smoothly. So, you can completely concentrate on handling business, and Amazon will fulfill the delivery tasks.
Benefits of the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program:
Funds for the business and delivery of the product consume 50 percent of the resources of any aspiring businessman. Apart from that, management and seamless customer fulfillment can be hectic for a newly emerging business. I need not tell you the impact of Amazon on the global market. Now, here comes the FBA program by amazon. If you start your business under FBA, here are the benefits,
- 50%-60% of your business is handled by Amazon.
- You can get more time to focus on the products.
- You can spend more time improving and developing your product.
- Customers believe in Amazon’s services, so there are high chances that new buyers trust your services and products.
- For newly emerging businesses, it is a very good opportunity to test their business skills with very less investment.
How can I get started with the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program?
If you are ready to explore your business skills with the help of the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program, here is a detailed step by step process:
1. Decide your Products:
This step is very crucial. Your entire profit is dependent on this decision. What is the point in selling items at its cost price, right? Consciously, compile the products that can gain you reasonable profit.
Look for the products that people need the most and can add value to the buyer’s life. Products can be at your home, your office, or any local store or sale. Just choose them wisely. Note that you can’t sell any illegal products through the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program. Avoid listing used, old, and cheap products. It will not gain any profit, but your ratings will go down.
2. Register for the program:
Go to the official site of Amazon and sign up with an email id or a phone number. If you are already registered then register directly for the FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) program. If you have been selling on Amazon under the seller program, then convert the seller account to the FBA program.
3. List out Products on the Amazon Website:
After deciding the products and enrolling for the FBA program, you need to list out the products on the Amazon website. You can list as many products as you want, but the condition is one product at a time.
4. Shipping to the FBA Stores:
Now, it’s time to pack and label your products. Amazon has put forth guidelines for packing and shipping the items, read them carefully. You must follow every rule by Amazon for your convenience. After packing the products, ship them to the FBA store. As soon as Amazon receives your products, your products will be live and buyers can buy them from Amazon’s site.
5. Payment and Shipping to the Buyer:
Under the FBA program, as a seller, it is not your responsibility to ship and take payment from the buyer. Shipping of product, payment, return & everything else, is handled under FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon).
6. Seller’s Payment:
As per the conditions under the FBA program, you will receive payment after every two weeks of your sales. For the first month, you will receive payment after a month and later on as mentioned above. If everything goes well, you will start earning very soon
Taxes on Sales:
Most of the states and governments apply tax on tangible products. Sometimes, sellers need to pay sales tax for more than one state. If you have a nexus in the same state as a warehouse you need to pay sales tax as per the rules of that state.
Amazon has its warehouses in different states, your product can be stored by Amazon in different warehouses other than the one you sent your product to. So, it is advisable to find out the warehouse where your products are being stored for fewer sales tax. Amazon has offered sellers to set up sales tax in the seller account to avoid further tax-related complications.
Proven Ways to Build Successful FBA Business
The sure shot to build a successful FBA business is market research. You cannot build any business overnight be it under the FBA program or any other program. It takes time, money, and mindfulness to gain profits.
As I said earlier, the choice of the right products is the key factor to gain profits under FBA. The main idea behind the success of a business under FBA is to purchase the product at a low cost and sell it at a high price.
How can I get the product at less cost?
- Consciously look for online/ offline sales.
- Buy the products from local wholesalers.
- Buy things in bulk so that you can get a high discount.
- Constantly visit local markets and make good connections with marketing people.
Always remember to deliver a quality product for long-term results. After a few months, sales may go down, so don’t panic. Analyze the reason & work over it, and continue to deliver quality products because that is the only way to success.