Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 20 years, you’ll have heard about Amazon and how successful it’s making people.. But, the thing you really want to know is, how much does it actually cost to sell on Amazon as a complete beginner in 2020?
There’s no denying that becoming an Amazon seller is one of the most profitable ways to actually start making money online, but you have to know exactly what you are getting into before you begin.
So, let’s get started. Amazon recently released a report showing that over two thousand people earn six figures or more selling on Amazon, and that number is going to explode this year meaning Amazon will be bigger than ever.
t is the perfect time to get started with Amazon, no matter what anyone says. Though people mistakenly think that it is a saturated market, I can assure that nothing could be further from the truth. Amazon is literally a trillion-dollar company that millions of customers from all over the world use every day, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Today, we are going to look at what it will cost you to become an Amazon seller and explain each fee so that you understand them all completely. Stop listening to people who say you can start with a dollar or ten dollars.
Amazon FBA business needs some money to get started. And if you are on a razor-thin budget, then honestly Amazon FBA is not for you.
Table of Content
- What Does it Cost to Sell on Amazon?: Budget Breakdown
What Does it Cost to Sell on Amazon?: Budget Breakdown
The first expense that we are going to be talking about is Software. It is something that you really can’t avoid when it comes to Amazon, so when estimating how much it cost to sell on Amazon, be sure to factor this in.
Amazon is wildly complicated when it comes to finding the perfect product. If you find the perfect product and do everything else wrong you can still make money.
So, finding the right product is an important key to success in the Amazon FBA business. The best way to find it is by leveraging product research software that actually goes out and scans tens of millions of products on Amazon and shows you the perfect product that has a lot of demand without much competition. Something that sells very consistently throughout the year and is not seasonal.
You also need software for keyword research. When you are creating your product listing, you have to make sure that your title, your bullets and overall product listing is optimized with the keywords that your customers are actually searching. If your product listing is not optimized, your product will not appear on searches and you are not going to get as many sales.
These two software are 100% necessary to be successful on Amazon. You can also use some complementary software like the ranked record, PPC optimization tools, launching tools, etc. If you will buy all these software individually, you will have to pay 500 dollars or more every single month.
But, luckily for you, there is an incredibly affordable option called ZONBASE.com. It provides all the software you’ll need to succeed within one advanced and accurate bundle. It will l also give you training on how to use each tool inside the platform and is available to try for one week free of charge.
You have to budget $97 for software when it comes to Amazon’s business to find the perfect product. If you are serious about selling on Amazon, we have a 50% coupon code for all Zon based products inside of our FBA ninjas so join today and take full advantage of this great opportunity.
Related: FBA Fulfillment fees
Sample Ordering Cost
Once you find your perfect product, let’s say it is a garlic press. If you are selling a garlic press, you have to see a sample first before your manufacturer creates 500 units. You have to make sure that quality is extremely high, it looks the way you expect it to.
So, sample since your manufacturer is only making one or two units rather than 500 or 1000 units. We are going to budget for samples to actually receive an individual unit of your product $150
Of all the costs you will have to bear when you start an Amazon business, the cost of sample orders is the right next to software cost. If you want to make sales on Amazon, you will have to order samples of your products to ensure they are of good quality and can keep your customers coming back.
Your budget estimation of how much it cost to sell on Amazon is incomplete without this.
Inventory Cost
Inventory is what you are actually going to be selling on Amazon. That’s why it is the most expensive part of the overall process. I have seen so many different numbers here. Some people say you can get started with $100, some people say you need $10,000 to get started.
So, there is definitely no perfect number here but, judging from my experience, I’d say you need a minimum of $1,500 to invest if you want to be successful. How much does it cost to sell on Amazon? Get a good idea of how much your inventory will cost first, and you will be on the right track.
Barcodes Cost
Amazon recommends getting barcodes from a place called GS1. It is a little bit more expensive than some other options out there but simplifies the prices and makes things run more smoothly. However, but amazon does not yet require GS1 barcodes for every product so it isn’t mandatory.
However, if you do choose to use GS1 barcodes, they will cost you around $250 per 10 barcodes or $40 per 10 budget barcodes.
Shipping Cost
A lot of people leave shipping out while calculating the budget. But shipping is an expense. When you are shipping 500 units or more sometimes that can get expensive. But, of course, like everything, shipping is dependent on the actual products.
You can ship by sea or you can ship by air. By sea, it takes 30 to 45 days but it costs 1/10 or ⅓ of what it costs by air.
You have to budget $500 for shipping your products. If you are going to ship them by sea, you will save a significant amount of money. Your estimation of how much it cost to sell on Amazon will be misleading if you leave out the cost of shipping.
Promotion Cost
When you first launch your product on Amazon, no one has bought it. Amazon doesn’t know that it’s going to be a successful product. You have to do what is called giveaways to actually launch your product from obscurity into page one for the keyword that you actually want to rank for.
For example, you created a Garlic Press listing and no one has bought it yet. So, Amazon doesn’t know to show your specific listing to people when they search garlic press on Amazon. The way you actually get that to happen is you giveaway more units than the products on page one are actually selling.
PPC is marketing on Amazon, it stands for pay-per-click. It allows you to actually advertise your specific product, every time somebody searches the keyword garlic press. You can actually advertise it on the top.
If you combine giveaway and PPC you are going to rank on top in no time. This is an incredibly important piece that most people miss.
Luckily inside ZONBASE.com, they have a launch and PPC service that will do 100% of the hard work for you.
You have to budget $250 for both giveaways and PPC.
Seller Fee
The last cost to sell on Amazon that we are going to talk about is the professional seller fee which is $39.99 per month. It will give access to what Amazon calls seller central. It is essentially the platform that Amazon created for its independent third-party sellers.
One cool thing that most people don’t know is. When you sign up and start paying that $40 per month fee, Amazon will refund you all of those charges until your first product sells. You just have to submit a ticket saying you were not using seller central for those times. They will immediately approve and refund you.
Other Cost (Optional)
One optional expense for you might be if you decide to join a digital course, or blueprint or mentorship. I have an Amazon FBA course in which thousands and thousands of people are joining. It doesn’t matter to me if you join my program or other. What matters is you get the learning needed just like for any other profession it is necessary to join a school. One of the fastest ways to achieve success is by being taught by a person who has already achieved it.
All of the good courses that I have seen range between $1000 to $5000. We will budget $2000 for the course.
Total Budget
So the total budget to get started with Amazon FBA is $2,787 (excluding course budget). With this estimation of how much it cost to sell on Amazon, you can be on your way to earning passively on Amazon without worrying about any unexpected extra expenses.
Good luck for your journey!
In ordering products and selling through Amazon, is there an assurance that products will all be sold upon diligently following your course?