FBA Coaching with Chris Green CEO of FBAPower Part 2: If you were scouting with me, where would we go?

Already Gone Through PAC How do I sell on Amazon? What is FBA? How do I use FBA? What tools & programs do I use?

FBAPower & FBAScout Support Support: Watch the Videos FBAPower support staff happy to help

Where to find inventory - BOOKS Book sales Thrift stores Garage sales Estate sales

Books & Media: Pros Cheap to acquire Leads to high margins Low cost of investment in inventory

Books & Media: Cons Most competitive category - most scanners still consider themselves book sellers and have not made the transition to FBA & ‘Everything Else’ Limited places - if not in major metro area, thrift stores may not be as pentiful Book sales and library sales are only on certain dates of the year More work per unit- finding ‘singles’

Where to find inventory – Everything Else Retail stores Closeout stores Discount Clubs (Costco, Sam’s, BJ’s) Pharmacy Grocery store EVERYWHERE!

Retail Arbitrage: Pros Many places to acquire inventory Some open 24/7 Not as competitive Less work per unit - finding ‘multiples’ Easy to list ‘multiples’ Easy to replenish Opportunity to create new listings

Retail Arbitrage: Cons Higher product cost per unit Higher inventory costs Can lead to lower margins Can be considered higher risk

Side Note: Creating Listings Skip McGrath has posted about how he creates new listings in the MST forums with great success. Skip uses the same strategies that I tought him and I’m teaching you here. How to prevent competitors from listing on your newly created Amazon product page.

How to Make a Unique Amazon Product Page (Prevents competition from piggy-backing on your listing and driving price down)

Where to Buy Bar Codes

So, Where Would We Go First? Closeout stores like Big Lots Already lower price Constantly putting out new inventory Cities with multiple stores – go to them all!

Clearanced Items First Almost all stores have a clearance section Prices already lower than regular price Items may be seasonal, slow moving, or old models Doesn’t matter on Amazon – product is either in demand or not. If it is, buy it! Talk to store manager to get additional discount

Stores that you don’t think of Many stores sell a variety of items that they are not known for. What I say Kohl’s, TJMaxx, or Burlington Coat Factory, do you think of a place to buy toys? Each of these stores (and many others) sell products other than their primary category. They will often have a big sale to move items that have been sitting for too long.

Exclusive Products Example: Toys R Us & Target Both get exclusive toys; you can only buy them from Toys R Us or Target Toys are advetised on national TV creating demand Not everyone lives near a store Amazon buyers PREFER to buy from Amazon

Exclusive Products If retailer exclusive, then you know that Amazon won’t sell it directly – less competition Exclusives can have long term value Think of collectors who want a complete set of toys – they need the exclusives If they don’t live near a store, they buy online

Exclusive Products Sales Rank: 30,000

Exclusive Products Sales Rank: 7,000

House Brands Example: Craftsman at Sears Example: Ryobi at Home Depot Same principles as exclusives – demand exists that prefers Amazon but Amazon does not sell the item (until you do!)

General Retail Store Strategies Avoid ‘commodity’ items Example: Newest Fisher Price toys – Amazon likely sells (unless a low cost makes it worthwhile) Look for items that you may have never heard of – just because no demand in store, doesn’t mean no demand on Amazon

General Retail Store Strategies Stores in rough parts of town can have great stuff Slower sales means merchandise sits on shelves longer Good items that are sold out elsewhere are sitting on the shelf Other scanners don’t go to them – go where your competition doesn’t go!

There is no ‘List’ of good products It’s not the items, but the characteristics of the items that make them winners Consider brand, cost, margin, competition Importance of learning to read FBAScout data Pixar effect – Cars came out in 2006 Still strong demand for toys from Cars Toy Story 1 came out in 1995!

FBACoaching Parts 3,4 & 5 Part 3: How to buy lower than your competition – retailer secrets Part 4: There is always gold, lazy scanners, advanced FBA Part 5: Open questions. Send them in ahead of time. No time limit; I’ll answer them all!

Questions?