What You Need to Start Amazon FBA
M any people are looking to piggyback on the success of Amazon, creating either a side hustle or an entire company for themselves. One of the most popular options out there is Amazon FBA, which allows for a high level of ease and convenience. If you find yourself wondering how to start Amazon FBA or how much money do you need to start Amazon FBA, continue reading for our expert advice as Amazon marketing consultants.
An Understanding of Amazon FBA
First of all, you will need a deeper understanding of Amazon FBA, which stands for “fulfillment by Amazon.” This means that you can make the most of both the customer base and the distribution network of fulfillment centers that has been steadily built by the company. Essentially, you can choose which products you would like to sell and Amazon can take care of the rest. There are plenty of major advantages out there, including freeing up your time to focus on the rest of your business-based tasks. Not only that, but there is Amazon FBA’s quick and free shipping, plus its exceptional level of customer service to factor into the equation. There are plenty of growth opportunities out there to increase your profit margin and lower expenses than you would normally expect in other ecommerce store situations. Depending on your products and marketing, you can expect to make anywhere between tens to thousands of dollars.

An Amazon Seller Account
It may already be self-evident, but you will need an Amazon Seller account before you can get started. You will be able to do this directly via the Amazon website. You will have to decide whether you would like to set yourself up as an Individual or a Professional account. The first means that you will not have to pay a monthly subscription fee, but there will be limitations placed on the account. The second gives you more options, but you will have to pay a monthly fee. If you are just starting off on a casual basis, an Individual account may be just fine, but a Professional account may be better for serious business owners.

A Niche Set of Products
You are obviously not going to be able to start selling everything under the sun straight away. First of all, you should try to work out a niche. This means starting off by considering the sectors in which you are most knowledgeable and passionate. To begin, it’s better to be specific and over time, you can then start to expand your shop as it hopefully becomes more successful. If you choose an area that you are interested in, it’s much more likely that you are going to sustain the level of passion that is required to be successful. If you are looking for a bit of inspiration, some of the biggest and most popular sellers include books, jewelry, pet products, and baby items.

A Supplier of Your Items
Once you have decided on your own individual set of product lines, you are then going to need to seek out a supplier or a set of them from which you can get the items. Perhaps you already have the products and do not need to do any additional testing.

However, if you are using a new supplier, it is better that you are sure of what you are selling. A lot of FBA sellers choose suppliers that are located outside of the country. While you can save cash this way, you need to be sure that you can rely upon them. If you are not going to go down the overseas route, you could always look into the option of seeking out local trade shows or getting bulk and clearance items from local retailers. Another possibility is to seek out local manufacturers.
A Well-Built Brand
What makes people decide to opt for one brand ahead of another? A big part of this answer often comes down to the brand that has been built up through marketing. There are several different steps involved in creating a brand that really sticks in the minds of your customers. To begin, you need a solid name that really represents what you sell and everything that you are about as a business. You are then going to need a strong logo, which you could try to create for yourself or enlist the support of a professional graphic designer or artist. Other aspects that can help to sway people’s decisions include the specific brand themes and taglines that you create. If you really want to keep it protected, you could even copyright your brand name and your logo. You don’t have to struggle to try to achieve this all yourself, though. You can find success within your brand by reaching out to experts. Amazon marketing consultants know all the tricks of the trade. Have a free consultation with our team so we can find out your needs and get you on the right track.

Strong Product Listings
When people are deciding whether or not they would like to go through with the purchase of an item, it is often the product listing that helps them to make up their minds. Professional product photos are a great starting point as so much is based on the visual aspect when you are listing items online. The product titles should give a good amount of information about what the item is all about – though you do not necessarily want to make it too long. The next step is to write your product descriptions. A good starting point is to read the ones that have been written by other sellers or reaching out to Amazon marketing services who will have advice on the best practices for the best ROI.

Experts can help you establish the tone that you would like to use and highlight the very best features of an item. All product descriptions should be split up into paragraphs that are not too long so that they are easy to digest for people who like to skim and scan over the text.
While selling through Amazon FBA is a great way of making money, you need to make sure that you do it in the right way. Otherwise, you may not achieve the level of success that you had initially hoped for. These points are a great starting point to launch your ecommerce store.
Ryan Flannagan is the Founder & CEO of Nuanced Media, an international eCommerce marketing agency specializing in Amazon. Nuanced has sold $100s of Millions online and Ryan has built a client base representing a total revenue of over 1.5 billion dollars. Ryan is a published author and has been quoted by a number of media sources such as BuzzFeed, CNBC, and Modern Retail.