Proven Wholesale Course Week 4

Review  EIN  TPT/Reseller License/Sales Task  What is a business entity  How many businesses do I need?  What type of website should I get?

Review  EIN-  Federal Tax ID  Vendors will ask for this  Most likely you don’t need this for IRS purposes  TPT/Reseller License/Sales Tax  Not pay sales tax in the stores  Shows that you are buying for resale  Even states that don’t have tax will have some sort of business license.  Google your state and call the office

Review  What is a business entity  Sole Proprietor- No separate tax return  LLC- Separate Tax Return/Potentially less personal liability  You store name is just a display name. It doesn’t have to match your company name.  **I AM NOT A CPA OR LAWYER** Best advice will come from a professional who has worked in your area

Robyn’s Business Structure Robyn’s LLCAmazon Store Independent Site Name (DBA)

Display Name: Can be changed at any time Separate from legal entity Legal Entity Your Sole Proprietor or LLC

Robyn’s Approach….

Nathan’s Business Structure Nathan’s Selling LLC Amazon Store Nathan’s Buying LLC

Nathan’s Approach….

Bringing New Items to Amazon  When you see an item that you are interested in selling and you can’t find the item on Amazon…..  First thing you need to do is look on Amazon for the item by Name, UPC, and Brand

What if you find an item that is not already on Amazon?  What to look for in bringing items to Amazon  Is it unique?  Does it have brand or do something so special it doesn’t need one  Is it something that is new to market?  Is it a rising or falling trend  Selfie Stick – on way out

What if you find an item that is not already on Amazon?  Does it have sales on other marketplaces? (Amazon UK, Ebay etc.)  Check completed listings on Ebay  Look at sales rank on Amazon UK, CA, etc  Look for multiple independent sites carrying or featuring the product

What if you find an item that is not already on Amazon?  Google the item  Are people talking about this product on forums, blogs, etc.?  Is there a physical store with Yelp reviews  It is a niche item that is unique and fills a need  Is there another item on Amazon that is comparable to estimate demand?

Considerations Before Bringing an Item to Market  Do you have time to create the listing?  If the item doesn’t sell will it put a big strain on your capital?  Is the item Hazmat?  How deep will you have to buy?  Alternate Exit Strategy

Questions to Ask the Vendor  How long they have been in business?  Which are their best selling lines?  What they are seeing on a typical re-order?  What are they doing to market the product?  Do they expect to be specialty or big box?  Is the product ready to ship?

When to create new listings  When a item is not on the marketplace and you have searched by Name, UPC, and Keywords  Must search by Add a Product in Seller Central  When only an outdated version is available  NEVER to avoid competition

Creating New Amazon Listings  Fill out as much as you can  Have quality images  Use Merchant Words and Amazon Product Ads to help you find solid keywords  (more info in bonus section)

Completing  Fill out offer details  Hit Save at the bottom

Images  Image Requirements 1000 Pixels on longest side  Clear white background  Remove The Background  

Using a light box  Make sure pictures are clean, professional and show all important selling points.  Check style guides in categories to make sure you are following the requirements for that category  Clothing and Shoes are especially strict

Variations (Parent/Child)  Have to be made using a flat file (excel sheet)  Great tutorials on Amazon Seller Support  Takes a little patience – but worth the effort  You can add to a current variation with a combination of using a flat file and Amazon Seller Support.

Reminders for Creating Listings  Use style guides in titles. Don’t keyword titles.  This is not Ebay  Use the keyword area for keywords  Use the bullet points  Make sure you fill out all applicable fields using keywords.

Promoting Your New Listing  Have a solid listing  Use Amazon Product Ads to get targeted key words  Temporarily Lowered Price and Ads helps to get items into the search algorithms  Give samples to top reviewers to get reviews on your product. (Make sure you never offer payment)

Wholesale Purchasing Tips  Watch trends for ideas on wholesaling (i.e Ugly Sweaters, Paleo foods, etc)  Buy in advance of season. You should be restocking for the current season and looking for new items for the next season.  If I wanted to sell squirt guns I would start looking in February not July

Allow for Longer Lead Times  Wholesale has a longer lead time than RA/OA  1-3 weeks from Order Date to Receiving  1-3 days for you to process  2-10 days to be recievied by Amazon’s warehouse  You should be placing your orders for stock levels 30 days out when possible.

Preparing for Q4  Start planning for Q4 as early as possible  Expect to triple to quadruple your sales in some categories  Save money throughout the year and get your holiday orders in early  Companies often will be out of stock during Q4, some as early as October

Placing Orders  Once you know what SKUs you plan on ordering you will place the order in numbers correlation to the number of items in each case pack.  Make sure you hit the minimum opening order  Check to see if you are close to any FFA promotions  If not already getting FFA ask  Ask for Net 30,60 or 90

They might ask for a credit sheet  Don’t Panic  Trade References are other vendors you have bought from  Either use a vendor you buy a service from or hold until you have a couple of other companies you can use.  Trying to look to see if you will pay on time

Payment Expectations  Varies by Industry  Common Expectations  Prepaid with a Credit Card  Invoice upon receipt  Net 30  Fill out the form completely and honestly

Preparing to Receive the Shipment  Have any materials ready before the shipment arrives (bubble wrap, polybags, etc)  If you have help try to schedule shipments to arrive near the same time and process together.  Have an area prepared to receive the items  Create your shipment before the items arrive so that you can just focus on flipping items for FBA once they arrive.

Homework for Session 4  Prep for the arrival of your first order  Continue to look for new vendors

Q & A Session 5 Maintaining Accounts Tips for Scaling Expanding Lines Reordering