The Asian Seller

This is a replay of a 2-hour Live Masterclass on how to start a PRINT-ON-DEMAND business by Jacob Topping.

Get Jacob's 350-page ultimate guide to Print-on-Demand now (only US$57)

Jacob has been doing POD since 2016, and understands it inside out. He provides an incredible amount of information in this video to get you started.

His book is an expansive guide to all things Merch and Print on Demand:

Over 350+ pages - including selling via Merch By Amazon and many other popular top Print On Demand sites:

• Several bonus files
• Step by step instructions
• How to guides
• Glossary
• List of 45+ POD platforms (with traffic metrics)
• Tips for settings
• Tips to boost conversions of existing designs
• Technical specifications
• Additional tools and resources to help you improve your sales.
• Over 300+ resource links, and dozens of links to step by step videos

Get the 350-page ultimate guide to Print-on-Demand now (only US$57)

More info:

• Get the 350-page ultimate guide to Print-on-Demand now (only US$57)
• Reach out to Jacob on Facebook

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

In this podcast episode, Per-Ola Röst, an experienced Amazon seller, and founder of SellerMetrix talks about the importance of ROI, and how much ROI you should be looking for when starting an Amazon business.

Per-Ola and his wife started selling on Amazon in 2015, and have recently launched SellerMetrix, a tool that helps Amazon sellers Instantly see their Amazon sales and profit in their personal dashboard. Sellers can see their financial metrics like sales, profit, PPC spend, Amazon fees, ROI, refunds and other key numbers.

The tool is free for beginners who have fewer than 100 orders per month and costs US$15 for 101 to 2.500 orders and so on.

Episode highlights:

1. Per-Ola's background
2. Impact of coronavirus on e-commerce
3. Why is ROI important?
4. What is ideal ROI
5. Other metrics sellers should track
6. Important metrics sellers should be paying attention to
7. About SellerMetrix
8. Special offer for The Asian Seller

More info:

• SellerMetrix
• Special offer: Sign up to SellerMetrix here for an extended free trial of 60 days (usual trial period is 30 days)

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

This is a replay of a live virtual meetup held on 19 March 2020 with almost 80 Amazon sellers, and e-commerce experts.

Jason Tay, Chris Thomas, Margaret Jolly and Meghla Bhardwaj answered questions related to dealing with COVID-19, Amazon FBA restrictions, supply chain disruptions, Amazon SG and a lot more.

They provided advice and tips on how sellers should look at product research, what product opportunities to look for, how to manage the recent FBA restrictions, and more.

Episode highlights

1. Introductions
2. Impact of COVID-19 on sales and supply chains
3. How is logistics being impacted and what to do if sellers have products ready to ship
4. Advice on the temporary FBA restrictions
5. What products to sell in this environment and how to look at product research
6. How to make the most of your time right now
7. What to do for Amazon PPC
8. What does this mean for e-commerce in the long-term
9. Selling on Amazon Singapore
10. Rats in Amazon's warehouse..?!
11. Can we add keywords related to coronavirus on listings

About the experts

• Jason Tay: One of the top Amazon sellers from Singapore. He was the first ever Singapore seller to be featured on Amazon's Seller Success Story series. He runs a training program at www.jasontayonline.com/singapore-training.html
• Chris Thomas: Has been selling on Amazon for 5 years, and coaches scores of students at all different levels. Check out: https://www.theaustralianseller.com
• Margaret Jolly: Mentor to small businesses after owning and managing several businesses and is also an Amazon seller who has been sourcing products from India for over 2 years. More info: http://profitimprovementbusinesssolutions.com
• Meghla Bhardwaj: Has been working in the Asia sourcing industry for close to 20 years. Runs The Asian Seller podcast, and organizes sourcing trips for Amazon sellers. More info: http://www.theasianseller.com

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

In this podcast episode, Sophie Mao. Managing Partner of Chibridge Law Firm and blogger at China Law Help shares advice on how to source safely and smartly from China.

Sophie has been practicing law since passing her Chinese Bar Exam in 1997. General corporate matters have been her major practice area, having not only advised many enterprises, financial and medical institutions, but also local governments in China.

She has gradually shifted her focus to foreign direct investment and worked as counsel for numerous foreign enterprises and advises their daily operation in China.

Her areas of practice include foreign direct investment under Chinese law, contract law, IPR, labor law and litigation.

Her law firm can help do due diligence on sourcing agents or suppliers.

Tips shared by Sophie:

1. Confirm the identity of the person you're dealing with. In case you are cheated, you cannot file a police complaint or litigate if you cannot prove the identity of the person
2. Trust but verify any information the agent or supplier gives you
3. Check the company information against government databases (in Chinese). The information you can check includes: company name, domicile, registered capital, business scope, name of the legal representative, business scope etc.
4. Suppliers' English company names should not be used in contracts as the government registration is done using their Chinese company names
5. Register your trademark in China to prevent suppliers producing counterfeits of your product

Episode highlights:

1. Sophie's background
2. How to vet sourcing agents when sourcing from China
3. How to check if a supplier is a trading company or a manufacturer
4. What are the options available to recover money if someone has been cheated
5. How effective is it to sign contracts with suppliers to prevent IP infringement / design copying
6. How particular are Chinese companies about following contracts
7. What is the process of filing a trademark in China
8. Is it worth filing a lawsuit if a supplier / agent has cheated a buyer or in cases of IP infringement
9. How much does it cost to file a lawsuit in China
10. How to contact Sophie

Contact Sophie and her team:

• China Law Help
• Email: [email protected]
• Wechat official account: LegalTips
• Get more information on Sophie's services here

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

In this podcast episode, Eric Eio, a Chartered Accountant and founder of Paul Hype Page & Co. shares advice on how overseas Amazon and eCommerce sellers can set up a company in Singapore.

He also talks about the requirements for overseas entrepreneurs who want to incorporate in Singapore, and the differences with Hong Kong.

Eric helped me incorporate my company, and I highly recommend his comapny's services. Right from the beginning of the process, Eric and his team were patient, thorough and extremely efficient. As Eric is an entrepreneur himself, he understands the pain points and struggles of a new business owner.

Eric brings many years of experience from the Big 4s (Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers). He was awarded the Practicing Management Consultant in July '12 & voted as Advisory Panel for Singapore SME 500.

Episode highlights:

1. ​Eric's background
2. Why should overseas entrepreneurs set up a company in Singapore?
3. Is Singapore a tax haven? Why are corporate taxes much lower than other countries?
4. Typically, what types of businesses set up companies in Singapore
5. How to incorporate a company in Singapore?
6. How easy is it to open a bank account?
7. Differences with Hong Kong
8. How can local Singaporeans and PRs incorporate a company?
9. Accounting advice for small businesses
10. Do eCommerce sellers need to pay GST in Singapore?
11. Effects of COVID-19 on business in general
12. Why it's a good time to start an eCommerce business

Contact Eric and his team:

• Paul Hype Page & Co.
• WhatsApp: +65 6221 4733

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

The Buy Hive is a new and unique service that allows importers worldwide to hire a "sourcing bee" or a freelance merchandiser / buyer to attend trade shows in Asia on their behalf.

In this episode of The Asian Seller podcast, Minesh Pore, Co-Founder of The Buy Hive talks about how the app will help Amazon and eCommerce sellers (and other types of importers) who are unable or unwilling to travel to Asia to join a trade show.

You can think of The Buy Hive as the "Up Work of sourcing and trade shows" that will match buyers to the right sourcing freelancers based on their requirements.

For a fee of US$399 per day, you can get information from up to 20 exhibitors and 150-160 products. The service will especially be useful in situations such as the current COVID-19 epidemic because of which importers don't want to travel to Asia.

Episode highlights:

• Minesh's background
• Ongoing changes in the sourcing industry - Amazon sellers are growing and big box retailers are shrinking
• What is The Buy Hive, and how it helps buyers
• Why is there a need for such a service
• Types of buyers is the service best for
• How freelance buyers are recruited
• Payments and ratings on the platform
• Guidelines buyers need to give freelancers
• What happens if the buyer is not satisfied with the product info they get
• How much does it cost
• Can one freelancer work for multiple buyers on the same day
• Trade shows available now on the app

Get more information

• The Buy Hive: www.thebuyhive.com
• Email: [email protected]

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

In this episode of The Asian Seller podcast, hear from Shopify seller Thomas Bertrand who sells bento boxes on his ecommerce store.

An alumni of Kyoto University, Thomas has been in Japan since 2003.

In 2005, he started a blog that became a huge hit, and gave him the idea to start Bento&co, an online store focused on selling a variety of bento boxes.

Today, Thomas has an online and offline store specializing in all types of boxes that he mostly sources from within Japan.

With 10 years of ecommerce experience, Thomas has a deep understanding of ecommerce sellers' needs.

He recently started Ship&co, a SAAS and API to digitize the shipping process.

Episode highlights:

• Intro and background
• About Bento&co, the products and how they're unique
• Why did Thomas decide to start a Shopify store
• How do they drive traffic to their website
• How do they build an audience and community
• How do they manage order fulfilment
• Best practices of running a Shopify store
• What are some mistakes Thomas made along the way
• Why they don't sell on Amazon
• What kinds of categories do well on Shopify
• Advice for new Shopify sellers - how many products should someone start
• What is Ship&Co, and how does it help sellers

How to reach Thomas:

• Email: [email protected]
• Bento&Co
• Ship&Co

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

Danny Carlson, founder of Kenji ROI shares the strategy he uses to optimize Amazon listings to improve clickthrough rates and sales.

Danny is an Amazon FBA entrepreneur specializing in PPC management & listing optimization. He founded the Amazon seller agency Kenji ROI in 2016.

Kenji ROI offers Amazon sellers with product photography, video, copywriting, Amazon SEO, and Amazon PPC management services, and has produced 1355+ Amazon product listings.

Residing in Bali, Danny's off time is spent training hand to hand acrobatics, ripping sport motorcycles, and speaking at business events.

Episode highlights:

• Intro and background
• Keyword optimization - How to show Amazon's A10 ranking algorithm your product is the most relevant item for specific search phrases
• Subject matter fields
• Title structure
• Key info communication - Identifying the key information shoppers are scanning for, then prioritizing and placing it in strategic areas to maximize clickthrough and conversion rates
• Persuasive desire optimization - Using sales psychology to portray your product as the bridge from your customer's undesirable current situation to an improved future situation
• Best practices for image stack
• Are Photoshopped images acceptable
• How to optimize images for mobile
• Best practices for A+ content
• How to optimize bullet points

How to reach Danny:

• Website: www.kenjiroi.com
• Facebook: danny.k.carlson

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

On this episode, Justin Chen, Co-Founder of PickFu gives a rundown of their popular crowdsourcing split-testing app.

PickFu is a simple and fast way to receive consumer feedback.

To set up a test, you write a question, provide two options, and specify the audience you'd like to respond. PickFu brings you 50 or more respondents in as little as 10 minutes. You can target an audience by gender, ethnicity, income, mobile device, political preference, and more.

Once your survey is complete, you'll receive a vote tally which tells you which option your audience preferred. In addition, each respondent will explain his or answer, so you'll know why.

You'll see a demographic breakdown of your respondents, and get a full understanding of who answered. And with this insightful, real-world feedback, you'll know how to improve your idea.

E-commerce sellers can PIckFu to decide on product variations before ordering and improve CTRs by optimizing product listing images and descriptions.

Episode highlights:

• Intro and background
• How and when PickFu came about
• How does PickFu work, and who are the people doing surveys
• How accurate are survey results
• What can be tested using PickFu
• How can a product idea be validated
• Strategies and best practices for testing images, titles, descriptions, videos
• Audience targeting on Pickfu - behavioral segmentation, psychographic segmentation
• Best practices for audience segmentation
• Pricing of PickFu

Special offer:

• Use the code ASIANSELLER for 50% off first poll on www.pickfu.com

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram

Cameron Walker is an eCommerce entrepreneur living and working in China for over 15 years. He is based in Shenzhen.

A week before Chinese New Year in January, together with his wife and daughter, Cameron went to his wife's hometown, Xiangyang to spend a few weeks with her parents. Soon after they got there, coronavirus hit the city of Wuhan, 300kms away from Xiangyang.

A few days after Wuhan was quarantined, their city was also locked down - flights and trains were canceled, highways closed, and basically no one is allowed to enter or leave the city.

As of today, 6 February 2020, it's been three weeks since they arrived in Xiangyang and two weeks since the lockdown, and the situation seems to be escalating with the number of cases increasing every day.

Luckily, Cameron's is an eCommerce entrepreneur and can work remotely so his business has not been affected as such.

In this podcast, Cameron talks about the situation on the ground where he is, and how he and his family are coping. He also shares advice for Amazon and eCommerce sellers on how they can cope with the disruption in the supply chain.

This interview was recorded on 6 February 2020.

Episode highlights:

• Intro and Cameron's background
• The situation on the ground in Xiangyang, where Cameron and his family is in quarantine
• How hospitals are coping
• How do they get food supplies and groceries
• Where do they get information and updates from
• How is the situation now different from SARS in 2002
• What's the situation with factories
• How Cameron is coping as an eCommerce seller
• Impact on the supply chain long term
• Likely impact on Canton Fair and other fairs in Asia
• Advice for Amazon sellers on how they can cope with the supply chain disruption

Join The Asian Seller community

Facebook Group

YouTube

Meetup

Telegram