Today I bring you the

top 7 mistakes of Amazon FBA Sellers

#1 – Not knowing the costs

This is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to selling onlineMost Amazon FBA sellers think they have huge margins but, they have not taken into consideration all the costs associated with selling online.

I often hear people say something like:

“I am selling a product for $8 but I’m getting 60% margins” This is nearly impossible!

Just think about it, Amazon takes 15% of your gross, then you have $3 of pick and pack fees (unless you are in small and light) That right there is almost 40% and if you add the 15% commission you realize Amazon is taking already 65%.

Then you need to account for the price of purchasing the item, let's say its $1 to make things simple and another $1 to ship it to the US and clear customs.

Your total costs so far are already over $6 and you didn’t even account for the PPC, returns, taxes, giveaways (if you are doing any), your packaging, photography or 3D rendering, Logo design to put on the package…

Man, you may be losing a couple of bucks every time you sell an item!

Here is my advice, if you are selling a cheap item like that, try to bundle 2 or 3 so you can skip the pick and pack fee and only pay it once, or try to make it a premium looking product and sell it for $12 instead of $8

#2 – Sourcing the same products as everyone else

Most people have

listened to the same podcasts or youtube videos from sellers like me who have

been selling on Amazon for many years.

But what worked for us in 2015 is not what works in 2019.

If everyone is sourcing a small product, without moving parts, that is unbreakable, is in the top 1000 BSR… that means out of the 4 million sellers and thousands of new ones coming in every day, it's almost sure that at the same time you are sourcing a new product, so are 100 other sellers.

When this happens the

only difference is going to be the brand name and probably the logo on the box.

Think outside the box, and if possible source products that instead of being cheap and have a very low BSR, are a bit more expensive or have a higher BSR with low competition. You can be the big fish in the smaller pond, instead of a guppy in the ocean, because everyone can eat you at any time.

#3 – Assuming and believing

We all are part of Facebook

groups and masterminds where often sellers share something they hear as if it

was true, without testing it.

Test things for yourself!

I know it is a bit

more time consuming, but just because someone says for example “Giveaways don’t

work anymore”

It doesn’t mean its true. It could be that that person didn’t give away enough units, or used the wrong URL if they even used a special URL for the giveaway. It could be that that person didn’t even do giveaways, and is just firing it out of their mouth to sound smart. Or it could even be, that they have a product without any demand! There are people that have products so bad, that not even for free they can give them away! And, instead of listening to the market they just blame the giveaway or the FB group they used or blame the cat or the dog…

I’m not saying that

giveaways are as effective has they used to be, and this is not even about

giveaways… It is about believing everything you hear without testing.

#4 – Asking for a review before starting a conversation

After a client buys from you, you’re allowed to email them internally or by using a tool to do it automatically. If your first email after the purchase is something like “thanks for buying my Bluetooth speaker set waterproof 4.1 works with iPhone, Samsung smartphone, tablet great sounding wireless best headset” Please leave me a review. number one, that sounds completely automated, never use the full title in your email. number two, always mention their first name.

Number 3, what’s in it for them? We know we can't incentivize, but you can surely offer some value or ask them a question.