Whether your goal is to get out of debt, or grow your wealth, we all agree that just a little extra helps.
One way I have found to do this is by selling on Amazon (known as Fulfillment by Amazon or Amazon FBA). After only 4 months I have made $300 gross with an investment of $100.
Start making money with Amazon FBA
Whether you live in the US or the UK, the process to start is the same. First, go to Fulfillment by Amazon (click here if you’re based in Europe) and sign up for a seller account. After that it’s just a matter of going out finding merchandise and sending it to fulfillment centers.
Your starting capital is different for everyone, I started with $100 others suggest starting with $500. The important thing is that you have the ability to buy enough products that your return covers all fees and shipping costs as well as provides a profit.
To calculate potential fees, you can use an Amazon fee calculator to ensure you’re going to work our your associated costs.
Finding merchandise and the Amazon Seller App
The best way I have found to find merchandise is going to a large retail store such as Target and going to their clearance sections, there you use the Amazon Seller app (click here to download) to scan items to check if you could resell for a profit.
It’s not important that you actually know how the merchandise works, or even what it’s for. All you need to know is that the packaging is in good condition and the item is a good price.
Here’s where the Amazon Seller App becomes your best tool. Take the information the app gives you (low price, estimated amazon fees, and gross proceeds), then you decide if the product is worth buying. Keep in mind though that whatever the “gross proceeds” on the app says does not include the purchase price of the product.
My goal is to at a minimum double my investment. So I suggest a minimum selling price on the app of $15.00. I’ve found that the fees are at least $4.55 bringing your possible profit to $10.45 right away (more depending on the product) so you would have to buy it for $5.00 or less to double your investment selling at $15.
If you find something on clearance at one chain store worth reselling chances are that the other stores in the area also have the same items on sale. For instance my wife and I found some model cars on clearance at Walgreens. We then went to the Walgreens down the street, then the next, then the next until we had around 30 ranging in price from $24.99 to $82.49 of which we paid $7.49 each.
Following trends can also be very profitable. There are collectors for just about everything. Funko Pop! Toys for instance. Many stores have “exclusives” that are more valuable, and if you’re able to get those you could make a lot of profit. Finding things like this requires more work and research, but it is the highest amount of profit I have made.
Finally, use your “unfair advantage”. I live in a huge city that has a drug store on every corner as well as multiple Targets, Wal-Marts, and Best Buys all close by. So find whatever your “unfair advantage” is in your area and use that to help.
Benefits of using Amazon FBA to make money
Selling via Fulfillment by Amazon is a nice side project that my wife and I can do together. Not only that but it requires little time, sometimes only a few hours of work and a few hundred dollars made.
It does take some time to get your first sale. When you first start your profile says “new seller” and people are hesitant to buy from you. It took 2 months before I got my first sale but after I did the rest of my merchandise went within a few weeks.
Conclusion
Selling on Amazon has helped me pay down my debt. After meeting my costs of the merchandise all of the profits go directly into debt repayment.
Whether you sell on Amazon to build wealth, or to pay down debt it’s something that takes little time, has a huge return on investment, and can even provide some family time if done together. It’s a wonderful tool on your path to financial freedom.
Would you consider using Amazon FBA to make extra income?
Author Bio: Tyler Philbrook runs the blog I Am The Future Me. He talks about his journey from $29,000 in debt to becoming financially independent by cutting costs, making more money, and making good financial decisions.
(Editor’s note – Tyler is a new regular contributor on Disease Called Debt – look out for more posts from him from time to time!)
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25 Comments
This is such a perfect thing to do to earn extra money. Is it available worldwide?
Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way recently posted…Where can you start investing?
Hi Clarisse , I am in the US and it works here and I looked into the UK for it and it works well there (actually more of a market there from the sounds of things). From what I can tell as long as there is amazon in that country this would work, the shipping fees and amazon fees may be different so I would check on that for wherever you are but the process should be the same.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
I recently just heard about Amazon FBA. I never really realized that it existed. Sounds like a great way to make money!
Michelle recently posted…My March 2016 Blog Income Report â $72,196
Hey Michelle, yes it has been a huge success for me. Of all the side projects I have tried it thus far has been the most successful.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
This is one of the better posts I’ve seen to get started with Amazon FBA. I’m currently selling my friends and my own used video games and movies on ebay and it’s pretty fun. I’ll have to give Amazon re-selling a try. Thanks for the great info.
Hi Syed,
I actually think starting out just getting rid of the stuff around your house is a great way to start. Old books, video games, movies, etc. When you really start getting rid of your stuff it will surprise you how much capital can be built up just from that alone. Then you start reselling and it can snowball into something huge. My numbers this month should be close to $700 all starting with that $100 initial investment.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
Great post! I had heard of selling items on Amazon for a profit but never really understood how it worked. What is the time commitment associated with you finding products? and Shipping them to a fulfillment center? (i.e. when is the time frame that you can expect your return on investment)
Hey Tia,
It has been a great way to make some extra cash. As for the time involved, finding the products can take as little or as long as you want. My latest purchases which should make me a profit of around 300 to 400 took roughly 4 hours to find the products, submit them to amazon, and ship them. It then takes about a week for them to arrive at the fulfillment center. Once there you can start getting sales right away which does happen. Just this week I had a sale an hour after the shipment arrived to the fulfillment center. Payment takes about 2 weeks so it’s not a “quick” thing but a nice side project.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
I’ve never heard of this, but sounds like a great way to make some extra cash! Is there any guarantee that an item will sell? I’d be a little wary of purchasing things that didn’t sell.
Hi Michelle,
Unfortunately no there is no guarantee, you can lower the risk though. When searching for items you get the “rank” the better the rank the more likely it is to sell quickly. I have noticed that everything sells eventually but stuff ranked 50,000 or better seem to sell almost as quickly as they arrive.
Tyler
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
I’ve thought about doing this with some of my books, but don’t need any extra stress right now. I read recently Amazon has started rejecting items especially books.
Savvy recently posted…New Series: Staying Relevant over 50
Hi Savvy,
I have actually found this to be one of the stress free side-hustle projects I do. However I buy things new and don’t send used things so that may be the difference. I haven’t had anything rejected yet though just yesterday I did have something damaged by amazon which was kind of unfortunate but it seems to be ok they are going to reimburse me the sale price.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
Such a helpful post! I’ve known about it for a while but haven’t had the mental energy to figure out the logistics, so thank you for laying it out so clearly. I’ll have to take a look at how to incorporate this into my current daily routine since I have to make the most of every free minute.
Revanche recently posted…Just a little (link) love: PhoDographer edition
Revanche,
It seemed overwhelming to me at first, and as a side note I ended up losing some money when I first started.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have some questions about further specifics.
As for “part of your daily routine”, I would say that depending on your ultimate goal it could only take a few hours a month or you could turn it into a full time job.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
Great advice. The craziest thing I ever flipped was a ceramic owl bank I picked up at Poundland. When I went home for the holidays I brought it with me and that one pound purchase sold for $45. It was ridiculous.
Mel,
That’s a great find, my best find yet was a model car I for for $6.90 and it’s selling for $82.
Tyler recently posted…Many Paths To Take To Become Debt Free
I actually read a book about this a while back, and love the idea. If I had time for another side hustle this sounds like a great one! Could you go into the unfair advantage a little bit more? I live in a city, too, so I may be taking mine for granted. How does having those resources around you give you a one up?
FF @ Femme Frugality recently posted…25 Free Things to Do In San Diego
Hi Femme,
The uNair advantage can be anything. I use my employee discount at my 9 to 5 which is one of my unfair advantages. Living in a city is great. One store can discount only so many items and only a few if any will be worth buying for resell. But if you find one at say a cvs, odds are good that all the cvs in the area have discounted that same item so go to multiple of the same store and find the multiples to sell rather than just a few or only one.
Im just now starting my amazon FBA business but have a few months to go before Im actually selling. Its a long drawn out process but right now I am waiting on my manufacturer to complete bulk production. Its so exciting!!
Im ready to make some money!!
Alexander @ Cash Flow Diaries recently posted…My Amazon FBA Side Hustle – Bulk Manufacturing Has Begun
Hi Alexander, I’m looking forward to seeing the results of your amazon business. If I remember though you are starting to actually create your own products to sell, which can be very lucrative. I hope to start doing that some day but as for now I’m sticking to just reselling items.