18 Ways To Make Money On Amazon FBA And Grow a Brand
Introduction
Whether you’re an avid Amazon shopper or not, you’re probably aware of the huge opportunity that this eCommerce platform provides not just for its customers, but for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Amazon FBA isn’t just for established brands. Whether you’re going all out and want to start a business full time, or only have a few hours every day to make some extra cash on the side, you can find a way to make Amazon work for you.
The best part? Even if you start small, you can take some steps to scale your Amazon business if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
Here are 18 ways you can make money on Amazon FBA starting today!
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Is It Profitable To Sell On Amazon?
When you play your cards right, Amazon can be a highly profitable tool on which to build your business. When you sign up with Amazon FBA, you can start an eCommerce business with very little overhead.
Although it helps to build your own website and have a platform outside of Amazon from which to sell your products, it’s not an absolute must.
As a result, Amazon is one of the easiest tools for entrepreneurs to start making money online.
And here’s why.
Amazon has spent decades building its platform and its clientele. They built up a reputation so that you don’t have to.
Thanks to all those years of hard work, Amazon Prime now has 200 million members worldwide, 147 million of which are located in the United States. And because Amazon is not just a retailer, but also a marketplace for third party sellers like you, anyone can sign up and work towards getting their own piece of the pie.
Plus, when you use FBA, your products benefit from the Amazon Prime experience, which means those 200 million Prime members are more likely to look at your items compared to products that don’t offer fast and free shipping.
That’s because FBA (or Fulfilled by Amazon) allows you to outsource the fulfilment of your business to Amazon directly. When you do this, your products get stored in Amazon warehouses, are packed by Amazon employees, and shipped via the same channels Amazon uses for its own products.
Do You Need Any Skills To Start Making Money On Amazon?
There’s a lot to learn to be successful on Amazon (and we have plenty of other resources on our blog to help you get started), but the great thing is that you don’t need any specific skills before you start selling your first products!
You don’t need to have a business degree or be tech savvy in any way. You can also start making money without making Amazon your full-time occupation, which means you can keep a full-time job while you grow your eCommerce business on the side.
And did you know that you can start selling products on Amazon without developing your own line of products?
This means you don’t need any particular expertise in product development, either.
If you do want to develop your own product, that’s amazing! Amazon will be a great platform for you to sell your own products.
But if you don’t want to do that, you can build your own brand by selling other people’s products instead.
How Much Money Can You Make Selling On Amazon?
There’s no real limit to how much money you can make on Amazon. If you grow your business with a long-term vision in mind and put in the processes you need to scale, you won’t need to be limited by how much time you have in a day to make more money.
Of course, what is possible isn’t the same as what is likely to happen, especially as a new seller.
Junglescout’s new study about new Amazon sellers reveals the following:
New sellers make an average of $42,000 in profits every year
Only 26% of sellers make less than $1000 a month in revenue
A large chunk of sellers (44%) make between $1000 and $25,000 a month in sales revenue
They also surveyed sellers on the amount of profit they make:
So let’s say you’re a new seller with a monthly sales revenue of $10,000, which falls in the large chunk of 44% of sellers.
If your profit margin is 16%, this means you’re making $1600 in profits every month.
On the other hand, if your margins are closer to 26%, this means you’re profiting $2600 per month.
Keep in mind that this is on a part-time basis, and you can make a lot more if you play your cards right. 6% of sellers make more than $250,000 a month in sales!
How To Make Money Selling On Amazon FBA – 18 Proven Ways!
So how can you start making money on Amazon FBA today? Let’s discuss the 18 best ways to make Amazon work for you.
1. BUILD UP YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Before you take your first step into the world of Amazon FBA, start building up your enthusiasm. This will give you the momentum you need to invest the time in your business.
There’s so much to be excited about! Amazon is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs in all walks of life.
According to Statista, Amazon generated 386.06 billion in net revenue in 2020.
This is up from 280.52 billion in 2018!
You can see that the platform is still growing and there’s plenty of opportunity to make money, even if you’re just starting today.
2. ESTABLISH A SELLING STRATEGY
Next, you’ll want to decide how you want to grow your business on Amazon.
You can decide to sell your products to Amazon directly. When you do this, your items will be sold under the Amazon brand.
On the other hand, you can become a third-party seller and sell your products under your own brand.
Both selling strategies have their advantages and disadvantages.
When you sell to Amazon directly, here’s what you can expect:
Pro: Profit from Amazon’s brand recognition
Pro: No need to compete against Amazon
Con: You’re reliant on Amazon’s brand and can’t build up your own online presence and brand
On the other hand, here’s what you can expect when you sell on Amazon as a third-party seller:
Pro: You have the ability to build your own brand, which can be expanded outside of Amazon if you want to
Con: At first, no one knows your brand
Con: You’re competing against Amazon on their own platform
You’ll also have to decide whether or not to use Fulfillment by Amazon.
Amazon FBA provides you with thinner profit margins, but in return, you don’t need to handle shipping charges and inventory management. So you may actually be saving money if you’re starting out small.
That’s because shipping will be expensive for you to handle if you’re not shipping out tons of products.
The other option, apart from FBA, is FBM, or Fulfillment by Merchant. If you decide to go this route, you’ll have to store your inventory, pack and ship your own products, and handle returns yourself.
You’ll still need to pay Amazon’s fee every time you sell an item, but you won’t need to pay the FBA fee.
3. FIND WHAT ITEMS YOU’LL SELL ON AMAZON
If you’re developing your own product, you can sell those on Amazon without a problem. But you don’t need to create your own products from scratch to make money!
You can sell virtually anything on Amazon.
But not everything will sell. So make sure that you do some market research to establish what the market is like right now.
If you don’t have any idea of what to sell, you can start dropshipping.
Dropshipping involves finding a supplier for an item you want to sell, and ordering the item from them to send to your customers every time you get an order.
You don’t ever hold inventory or ship out items yourself.
However, you can’t directly dropship with Amazon FBA, since your inventory needs to be in Amazon warehouses for this to work.
Later on, we’ll cover white labeling, as well as other ways you can find products, and these techniques all work if you want to use Amazon FBA.
But for now, make sure you do your research to see what products are popular to get an idea of the niche you want to go for.
4. CHECK FOR COMPETITION
Once you have an idea of what type of products you want to sell, you need to scope out the competition.
Perform a competitor analysis to figure out:
Who else is selling similar products
What they’re charging for said products
What their customers are saying about them
What types of ads they’re running
Some brands will also have a presence outside of Amazon. Take some time to analyse what those brands are doing so that you can learn from them.
5. GATHER ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR AMAZON PRODUCTS
You’re going to need to have some information ready before you submit your products to Amazon.
This information will allow you to create a high-converting product listing.
The information you need will vary depending on the type of product you’re selling. For example, if you’re selling a tech item, you may need to include the specs.
On the other hand, if you’re selling an item of clothing, you’ll need sizes and a size chart to help your customers find out which size to get.
In addition to product-specific information, you’ll also need:
All the information you can get about features and benefits, as well as how your product can help your customer
Which keywords you want to target (here’s how to perform a keyword research on Amazon)
Your product’s price
What type of shipping you’ll offer
Potential questions and answers you can expect from customers
Parcel dimensions and weight
Have everything in hand? You’re ready to move on.
6. FIND AND IMPLEMENT SOFTWARE SERVICES TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER
Amazon, on its own, is a powerful tool. But it’s made even better with other software services.
For example, if you want to keep your pricing competitive, you can use tools like RepricerExpress to automatically update your listings.
Or, if you need help to source products, a tool like SourceMogul can help.
Not sure where to get started? We created a master list of the 125 best Amazon seller tools available on the market!
7. OUTSOURCE NON-CORE TASKS
One of the best ways to scale your money-making efforts on Amazon is to find reliable people to perform non-core tasks for you once you’re up and running.
Outsourcing allows you to focus on the big picture of your business and spend more time doing the things you love outside of your business.
Here are some things you can consider outsourcing:
Customer service
Product research and sourcing
Setup for your product listings
Copywriting for product descriptions
Graphic design
Order management
Marketing strategy to help you scale
As your profits start to grow, you’ll actually be able to make more money, not less, by paying other people to do these tasks for you, since you’ll be able to spend more time establishing your strategy.
8. ESTABLISH AND DOCUMENT ALL BUSINESS PROCESSES
If you’re going to outsource, you’re also going to need to document your business processes.
Why? Without a clear process in mind, the people who take over your tasks for you won’t have anything to guide them.
Specific tasks can be performed in several ways. This can get messy really quickly, especially if you hire more than one person.
Here’s a tip: use a video recording tool like Loom to record yourself performing the tasks you want to outsource so that you have something to work from. Then, you can create a text version of your processes using the videos as a starting point.
9. SUBMIT YOUR PRODUCT TO AMAZON
Everything is in place – now it’s time to finally submit your products to Amazon!
First, you’ll need to send your inventory to an Amazon fulfillment center if you haven’t done so already. You’ll also need to add your listing to Amazon.
Depending on the type of product you’re selling, you may need approval before you can publish your listing. These categories include:
Grocery & gourmet food
Jewelry
Music
Video, DVD & Blu-ray
Watches
There are also some restricted products for Amazon FBA. You can view the complete list of restrictions here, but here are some important ones to keep in mind:
Alcoholic beverages
Loose packaged batteries
Vehicle tires
Damaged or defective units
Any product that has been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured
Make sure you have all your product information ready from the previous sections before you start this step to make it easier for you.
10. PROCESS YOUR FIRST ORDERS AND LEARN FROM THEM
If you’re advertising your products and doing the work, you’ll start generating your first orders.
Congratulations!
Now you can learn about the process and see if anything needs to be fixed.
What are your customers saying about your products? Are they leaving reviews, and if so, are they positive or negative? Did shipping go as expected?
Your customers aren’t just a source of income – they also provide the best method for you to learn how to improve your business on Amazon.
Even if you get a less than stellar review, take it as an opportunity to learn and improve the next time around.
11. SELL BOOKS BY PUBLISHING THEM ON KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING
Did you know that Amazon also has an eBook marketplace on which you can easily publish your own books?
With Kindle Direct Publishing, you don’t need to go through a publisher to start selling your own books. Kindle Direct Publishing even allows sellers to create paperbacks now, which means you can get a real book in the hands of your customers, all on your own!
Of course, you’ll need to write a book first. If you already have a book idea in mind and want to write it on your own, you can do so, but keep in mind that if you have the budget, you can also hire a ghostwriter to write it for you.
Freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr have plenty of writers available for hire for a range of different budgets.
Keep in mind that making money on Kindle Direct Publishing is a number’s game. You’ll need to produce lots of books in order to make a substantial profit. Of course, you could get lucky and publish a bestseller, but the more books you publish, the more likely that is to happen.
You can make up to 70% in royalties by selling books on Kindle, which is much more than what you would make via a traditional publisher.
12. SELL WHOLESALE PRODUCTS ON AMAZON
Did you know that you can purchase products in bulk to sell them on your own Amazon store?
When you sell with Amazon FBA, you won’t even need to manage the inventory yourself. So no need to rent a storage unit just yet.
This means selling wholesale products, or white label products, is one of the easiest ways to start making money on Amazon.
You’ll need to do your research to find which products are popular right now and to make sure you choose a reliable supplier, but once you find a good product, you can start making sales and learning as your business grows.
You can find wholesale products to sell on Amazon using stores like Alibaba. Typically, the more products you buy at once, the cheaper you can get them for, which means you’ll make a bigger profit margin.
Here’s a caveat: selling wholesale products on Amazon FBA has become a highly competitive field. More than one seller may be offering the same product you want to sell.
While this doesn’t mean you can’t make money at all, you’ll need to keep in mind that it will take some work to stand out. But with the right strategies, you can increase your sales and beat the competition!
13. FIND AND SELL PRIVATE LABEL PRODUCTS ON AMAZON
Private label products are pre-existing items that you can brand based on your own custom branding. When you set up a relationship with the manufacturer, they can start labeling the products in your name.
This process isn’t just available for Amazon sellers. Think of any brand you’ll find at a grocery store or Costco. These stores have their own brands of products that they sell at more affordable prices than big brand items, like Kirkland at Costco.
Here’s the truth: Costco isn’t manufacturing Kirkland products. Instead, they work with bigger brands to create a private label version of their products to sell on their shelves.
For example, Kirkland coffee is produced by Starbucks, and their diapers are manufactured by Kimberly-Clark, the same company that creates Huggies diapers.
The manufacturer profits because you’re coming to them instead of producing your own products that would be in direct competition with them. They get to make money by selling you products without having to spend money to market said products (that’s your job).
You profit because you don’t need to have the overhead necessary to establish your own manufacturing business in order to make money from quality products.
When you sell private label products, you start working to establish your own brand. Brands are what make businesses and products memorable.
And when you’re memorable, customers will think about you when they need to purchase something again.
By selling private label products, you’re setting yourself apart from other sellers compared to when selling white label products.
Why is that?
White label products are generic and available to every seller. On the other hand, private label products are developed specifically for the seller. For example, not just anyone can grab Starbucks coffee and rebrand it as their own (legally, at least).
With a private label, you can work with a manufacturer to develop something more unique than what you’ll find on wholesale marketplaces when searching for white label products.
And the more unique you are, the more you can stand out from the competition.
14. START YOUR OWN BLOG
You can actually make money from Amazon without even creating your own Amazon store.
Yup, you read that right!
When you sign up to become an Amazon affiliate, you can make commissions by referring other people to Amazon. Even when they don’t purchase the product you linked to, you’ll get commissions if they purchase something else after clicking on your link.
Several bloggers make money not just from placing ads on their blog, but by generating affiliate income through Amazon.
For example, you can write product reviews and item roundups to help your readers find the best product in the category they’re looking for. This article rounds up the best affordable laptops of 2021 and links directly to Amazon:
While you can get started on a blog, you can also create Youtube videos to supplement your written content.
You can also write on other topics instead of just writing product reviews and roundups. Then, you can link to products that relate to your topic.
For example, Elna Cain at Twinsmommy.com helps moms make money blogging and often links to Amazon products. In this post, she talks about productivity using bullet journaling. Note that she has a disclaimer on her post:
This disclaimer is necessary if you’re using affiliate links. The law states that you must disclose when you could be making money by recommending or linking to products.
Depending on the category of products, you can make up to 10% in commissions.
15. FLIP PRODUCTS YOU FIND IN STORES WITH RETAIL ARBITRAGE
Next time you notice a sale at your local Walmart or other retail store, consider it an opportunity to make money on your Amazon store.
Why? Thanks to retail arbitrage.
With retail arbitrage, you can find discounted products and mark up the price on your Amazon store.
This can be an easy way to get started making money on Amazon, but keep in mind that retail arbitrage isn’t easily scalable. You can’t order new inventory at the click of a button, and you’ll be competing with other sellers who are taking advantage of the same sales as you to find the exact same products.
16. FLIP PRODUCTS YOU FIND ON EBAY ON YOUR AMAZON STORE
Online arbitrage is almost the same thing as retail arbitrage – except it’s done online.
Both Amazon and Ebay are popular online eCommerce platforms, but it’s much easier to find used products on Ebay. Plus, because of the auction system, you can get items at very low prices if no one else bids and flip them on Amazon for a markup.
If you don’t want to bid, you can also find items that are available to buy now. This won’t require you to be as active on the platform to ensure you don’t get outbid.
Like retail arbitrage, it can be extremely competitive to use online arbitrage as a selling tactic on Amazon. However, unlike retail arbitrage, you won’t need to physically visit retail stores and search for items.
17. SELL MERCH ITEMS USING MERCH BY AMAZON
Do you have an idea for a t-shirt or hoodie design that you think would sell well on Amazon?
If so, Merch by Amazon could be a great way for you to make money.
Plus, this costs nothing upfront! Amazon gets paid to print your merch when one of your customers makes a purchase, and you keep the profit margin.
It works just like selling books, except you’re selling merch.
If you’re an artist (or you partner with artists), you can create unique designs to print on your merch. You can set the list price you want, and these merch items will benefit from free Prime shipping.
Merch by Amazon is a great way to sell unique products that no one else is selling, since you’re creating a unique design.
18. USE AMAZON’S TRADE-IN PROGRAM TO TRADE UNWANTED PRODUCTS
If you’re a big-time Amazon shopper yourself, you can trade in products that you already own in exchange for other items you want.
This is called Amazon Trade-In. It’s especially useful for tech items like old cell phones.
This won’t make you money per se, but it will allow you to purchase some items you may need at no extra cost. You can also choose to upgrade an existing item to something better, like an old phone model for a newer one.
Desired Outcome
When you use one or several of these methods on Amazon FBA, it’s possible for you to start making money, even if you don’t have a lot of time to invest at first.
Amazon has made it easy to build a business online. There’s virtually no limit to how much you can scale if you have the resources to do so, and even big brands like Nike, Cuisinart, Unilever, and countless others are using the platform. But if you only want to start small and scale as you go, you can do so, too.
Whichever strategy you choose to make money on Amazon FBA, remember to keep the long-term vision at the forefront of your business if you want to build a sustainable business.
Grow A Profitable Business That Makes Money On Amazon FBA
Although there are plenty of other people trying to make money on Amazon FBA, not everyone is marketing their business to the best of their ability.
You can get an edge on your competitors by partnering with a performance-driven marketing agency and converting more visitors into customers. Schedule a free strategy call to discuss your Amazon business and get a marketing plan on us!
