The Asian Seller

This is the 50th episode of The Asian Seller podcast! Wow - it's been quite a journey and I've learned so much myself and been inspired by many of the guests.

I started this podcast and The Asian Seller community to bring Amazon and eCommerce sellers together, so we can share information, resources and help each other grow.

Hope you have found the content useful and inspiring. Please do subscribe to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or YouTube.

Here's to the next 50 episodes!

Episode highlights:

• Introductions
• Preparing for Prime Day
• Managing logistics when selling on multiple marketplaces
• Top marketplaces to start selling on
• Managing hijackers in Mexico and Canada Amazon marketplaces
• Documents needed for toys and other similar categories
• Setting up a company to sell on Amazon India
• Is insurance required when selling on Amazon
• When to convert from an individual account to a company account on Amazon
• How to launch products on Amazon
• Videos on listings
• How many units to launch with
• Do we need to use an accounting service or software
• How to source products in India for Amazon India
• Should you source from IndiaMart
• Will Q4 be chaotic?
• Challenges with FBM
• 3PL options
• Last day to send shipments to Amazon.com for Christmas deliveries
• We need a mastermind group for The Asian Seller!
• Jason's training - highlight recommended
• Quick advice from all speakers

Follow sellers in this episode:

• Jason Tay
• Rishiraj K
• Viral Jain
• Margaret & Kevin
• Debbi Cai

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With Amazon's new inventory limitations until the end of 2020, it has become essential for Amazon sellers to send in their shipments to a 3PL warehouse and drip feed to Amazon FBA. This is especially important for new SKUs as they are mostly limited to 200 units.

In this replay of the Virtual India Sourcing Show, we talk to two 3PL service providers, both of whom are currently being used by the webinar hosts. Margaret and Kevin send their products to DSP, while Meghla utilizes Oregon BPS.

DSP Warehouse:

This company was established in 2007, and is located in the Raritan Center Business Park in Edison, New Jersey, in the heart of the New York/New Jersey Metro region. They ship to Amazon FBA and can do FBM orders as well. They manage all logistics information including receiving, storing, and the shipping of your products to your customers; they also provide information related to inventory, sales, returns, and other management data to enhance your profitability and business planning. Most processes are automated at this large-scale 3PL.

• Download their presentation here
• Contact: Simon Wei, Eric Lai
• Email: [email protected], [email protected]
• Website: www.dspwarehouseinc.com

Oregon BPS:

Oregon BPS is situated in Oregon on the west coast. This is a smaller family-run business that specializes in Amazon FBA. The founder, Heather used to sell on Amazon previously and understand the pain points of sellers.

Services they offer include receiving, storage, quality control, staggered fulfillment to Amazon FBA, prep services for bundling or multi-packs, shipment creation in Seller Central, labeling with FNSKU (if required), fulfillment through eBay, Shopify, FBM, among others.

• Download their presentation here
• Contact: Heather Jackson
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.oregonbps.com

Mention "Virtual India Sourcing Show" or "The Asian Seller" when reaching out to them.

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In this episode of The Asian Seller podcast, Dr. Neale O'Connor talks about importing electronics products from China.

Most Amazon sellers shy away from selling electronics as a lot can go wrong with a product that has many moving parts. However, if you find the right factory, do your due diligence, and conduct ongoing quality control, these categories can be quite profitable.

Dr. Neale is a Professor of Accounting at Monash University, Malaysia.

He is an expert on technology and innovation in manufacturing in China. He has spent 18 years in Hong Kong where he researched the modernization processes of Chinese firms, examining issues such as performance measurement, order qualification, and trust.

His China 1000 project is the largest ever survey of operational risk issues for foreign buyers and Chinese suppliers.

Most recently he has been undertaking factory quality audits for multinational clients and advising on operational and marketing improvements as Director of Ricebox.com.

He is founder and editor of Tech Asia Youtube channel with over 14,000 subscribers.

Key topics discussed:

• Dr. Neale's background and work
• Overview of electronics manufacturing in China - products made, production hubs
• Different types of electronics factories in China
• 1. Trading companies, buying agents, wholesalers
  2. SME factory workshops
  3. Established factories – OEM factories
  4. EMS providers
• What differentiates a factory producing good quality products from one producing products that don't last long?
• 1. They should choose the right components, especially battery
  2. They should have systems in place – material receiving, assembly to final QC
  3. Proper packaging and separation from the environment
  4. Anti static – especially during soldering process
  5. Finger gloves avoid moisture during the assembly process
  6. They should have dust free zones
  7. Do they OEM for established brands
  8. Do they have in-house design teams
• Advice for new importers sourcing electronics
• 1. Begin with off the shelf product
  2. Delay setting up and ordering a tweaked product
  3. Use a trading company – if you cannot travel to visit the factory now
  4. Work with an OEM factory that has established relationship with brand names
  5. Redouble QC efforts beyond what is needed for a certain level of AQL
  6. Know your quality specs so you can have a good engagement/relationship with the 3rd party inspector
  7. Look for a factory that already has FCC, UL, CE certifications
  8. You do not want to be the first customer asking for such certifications
  9. Ask for reference from other customers
  10. Don't pay any money unless you have verified the business license, have reference, conducted a factory audit, had facetime communications with the factory
• How suppliers cut corners and compromise quality
• 1. Use substandard materials
  2. Outsourcing without telling you (have a clear conversation with them about this – i.e. our auditor is allowed to visit the outsourced factory)
  3. Process shortcuts
  4. Poor set up of assembly line for workers to do a consistent job
  5. Separation of electronics components
  6. Burn in room tests – takes time – they can cut corners on this process
  7. Replace lower quality components, like batteries inside your product
• Dr. Neale's services and contact information

Contact:

• Rice Box
• China sourcing course in Udemy - Use the code CHINA39 for a discount
• Email Dr. Neale: [email protected]m
• Tech Asia YouTube Channel

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Whether you're sourcing from India or China, you will need inspections to ensure products conform to your specifications.

In this webinar hosted by Meghla Bhardwaj, Margaret Jolly and Kevin Oldham, Grace Wong and Tatiana Trukhina from V-Trust give an overview of product inspections and explain how they are done.

They also answer a number of audience questions.

V-Trust is a one-stop-service of product inspections, factory audits and laboratory testing. They are one of the biggest local inspection companies in China. They have 310+ full-time QC inspectors.

They offer free consultancy for your quality control plan in Asia, and have served over 3,200 buyers all over the world.

Episode highlights:

• About Grace and Tatiana
• V-Trust's network in India, China and Vietnam
• What are product inspections?
• Why are product inspections needed?
• What is inspected and how is it done?
• Are all products inspected?
• How to understand whether my products Pass or Fail?
• How do I confirm my sample?
• 3 main instruments to confirm quality of your sample
• Do's and Don'ts when it comes to quality

Contact:

• Book an inspection with V-Trust here and get 5% off your first inspection: www.v-trust.com/ecommerce-ist.aspx
• Contact Tatiana at [email protected] if you have any questions

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Eddie Levine from Hub Dub Ltd joins Meghla Bhardwaj, Margaret Jolly and Kevin Oldham to talk about Amazon's new inventory quantity limits, and who they affect the most.

Eddie shares advice on dealing with the new guidelines. He also breaks down IPI or Inventory Performance Index, and gives some tips on how to improve it.

Episode highlights

• About Eddie and his background
• Overview of the new storage guidelines by Amazon
• How are new sellers affected, especially considering new sellers also have space limitations
• What is IPI and how to improve it
• Should you switch to FBM
• If you're a new seller, should you hold off starting to sell until the dust settles

Contact Eddie:

Email: [email protected]

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Sylv Stefanowicz from Poland runs a wholesale and retail lingerie business. She started 3 years ago after a successful corporate career in banking.

In this podcast episode, she talks about how she built her business from scratch, sourcing from various countries including China, Sri Lanka and Poland, and the challenges she has faced along the way.

She also shares advice for new sellers who want to start a fashion brand.

Episode highlights

• Sylv's background
• Challenges she faced building a fashion brand
• Why fashion is known as a high risk industry
• How to find suppliers in various markets
• Advice for people wanting to go into fashion
• Should people start with their own brand or selling other brands
• Comparing manufacturing China vs Sri Lanka/India vs Poland
• Sylv's plan for the future

Follow Sylvia:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sylviastefanowicz

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sylv_lingerie

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PPC is perhaps one of the most daunting aspects of selling on Amazon for most new sellers. In this podcast episode, Ritu Java, CEO of PPC NInja gives a tried and tested blueprint you can follow when launching a new product.

Ritu also talks about her free 6-week PPC Mastermind, where she does weekly live calls with a small group of sellers. You get free access to PPC Ninja during the mastermind period, and a special offer for The Asian Seller community if you want to continue using PPC Ninja (see details of the offer below).

Ritu's recommended campaign structure when launching a product

• 2 Auto
• 4 Manual - Keyword targeting
• 1 Manual - Category targeting
• 2 Manual - Product targeting
• 1 Sponsored Display - Product targeting

Episode highlights

1. Ritu's background and how she helps Amazon sellers
2. Importance of Amazon PPC
3. Types of ads on Amazon
4. 10 campaigns you should start with when launching a product
5. Impact of PPC sales on organic sales
6. How to determine your PPC budget
7. PPC Ninja's free PPC Mastermind
8. About PPC Ninja software and account management services

Free 6-week mastermind

Click here to join the mastermind

Special offer for The Asian Seller community

Apart from the free mastermind, you get access to your own trial account for PPC Ninja for the whole duration of the Mastermind.

If you go on to become a paying subscriber, you will get an additional 50% off your first month. Just message [email protected] with Asian50 in the subject line.

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Margaret Jolly and Kevin Oldham started their Amazon business as a hobby after retiring from running multiple businesses.

They traveled to Canton Fair in China, sourced their first few products from there, and have now been importing private label products from India for a couple of years.

Selling on Amazon has become a full-time business now, and they even coach other new sellers, and manage a few Amazon accounts.

In this episode, they talk about their own journey, and also offer advice for people thinking about venturing into eCommerce.

Episode highlights:

1. How Margaret and Kevin started their eCommerce business
2. Do you need a course to start selling on Amazon
3. What is Private Label
4. How to source products
5. Advantages of sourcing from India
6. Outlook for global ecommerce
7. What's next for them
8. How Marg and Kevin help new Amazon sellers

Contact:

Reach out to Margaret on Messenger

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Amazon sellers, Riley and Payman have developed a unique way of guiding other people to start their eCommerce business.

Instead of only offering recorded videos like most other experts do, they take their students through a 90-day program where they give guidance on how to find, source, and launch products.

With weekly group coaching calls, brainstorming sessions, product research cheat sheets and more, Riley and Payman will guide you through the entire process from start to finish.

In this podcast episode, they talk about the 90-day challenge as well as their Multiple Layers of Differentiation (MLD) approach of selecting products.

Episode highlights:

1. How Riley and Payman started their eCommerce businesses
2. Is product research for Amazon an art or a science?
3. What is their MLD approach to product research, and how is it different
4. What is the 90-Day FBA Challenge
5. What it takes to succeed in eCommerce
6. Payman talks about why he is excited about sourcing from India

Learn more:

Join the 90 Day FBA Challenge here

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A software engineer by profession, Priya Sivaraj started her eCommerce business after her son was born and she wanted to spend more time with him.

Today, she runs a successful online store selling products in India and the US. She also sells on Amazon and other marketplaces in both countries.

Priya has been able to leverage social media and content marketing to build a community of loyal and raving fans.

In this podcast, she gives insights into how she has grown the community, and the strategies she uses to keep them engaged and coming back to buy more.

Episode highlights:

1. About Priya and how she ventured into eCommerce
2. Why she decided to focus on crafts
3. Where she sources her products from
4. How she does market research for her brand
5. How she has built a community of raving fans
6. How she keeps her audiences engaged
7. Which social media channels does she use and how
8. How does she recommend people start building a community for their eCommerce brand
9. Advice for sellers outside of India who want to sell in India
10. Advice for sellers just starting their eCommerce business

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