​Happy New Year!
 
I thought that it would be fitting to write a blog post that will definitely help you on starting your Amazon business. My goal is to inspire you and help you succeed in your online business. So today I wanted to discuss the online course that helped me with my Amazon business.
 
Proven Amazon Course
 
Jim Cochrum’s Proven Amazon Course (PAC) is the online course that I purchased back in 2018 and it taught me everything about Amazon. The great thing about this course is that it is not only one course, but it is made up of several courses rolled into one. Think of it as an online library. They also add new courses to it every six months or so.  Which means it’s like getting new materials in your online library without shelling additional money, which is very nice indeed.
 
Once you purchase the course, you are given a portal wherein you login and access the modules at your own pace. Being able to login and study at your own pace makes it very convenient since you can do this on your free time.
What I also appreciate about PAC is that the fact that there have been a lot of additions since I’ve purchased it several years ago. To give you an idea, here are the screenshots of some of the courses covering ALL different aspects of sourcing and selling on Amazon. Note that these are just some of the courses on my dashboard, not all of it.
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 As you can see, there’s a lot of content that you get for the course.

How much is PAC and is it worth it?
 
Now let’s talk about pricing. You can pay a one-time fee of $499 and get a full lifetime access to it, which is what I did because this was the only option a few years ago. Not sure if you want to shell out that much money? The great news is that they are now offering this course for only $29 per month! I have purchased a few thousand dollar courses before so I thought $499 was a bargain. Seeing this course now being offered at $29, I urge you to jump on it and create another income stream this new year! They offer a 30-day 100% money back guarantee as well so if you realize Proven Amazon Course is not for you, contact their support (within 30 days) for a refund. They'll give you 100% back, no questions asked. 
 
So if you are thinking of starting a business this 2021, purchasing PAC course is a no-brainer. It’s zero-risk and sky-high return in your investment if you implement what you learn. If you're living outside the US, you can still pursue the opportunity of selling on Amazon as PAC course includes InternationAZ, the Amazon course for international sellers. You can see the details of this course here.

Please note that once you sign up, they might upsell you to their one on one coaching services which cost thousands of dollars. I hit six figures on my first year of selling on Amazon and I personally have never purchased their coaching so I believe you don’t necessarily need those to succeed on Amazon. 
 
Conclusion
 
Proven Amazon Course is a solid training that gives you useful, extensive content to accommodate newbies through intermediate sellers.  The modules are all easy to follow and it’s enough for most sellers specially newbies to start or grow their Amazon business. Check out PAC's student testimonials here and scroll through the page and read proven success stories of people who got their start with the Proven Amazon Course.
 
 
 

These days, it’s very hard to balance the job, the kids, and the uncertainty of the current pandemic. For a lot of moms, having a home business like selling products on Amazon is getting more and more attractive. But of course, it’s not easy to take that first leap because it’s never easy to try something new.
 
As a work from home mom myself, let me tell you that all it takes to get started is to narrow down your options and find a low risk way of getting in. Once you get a feel of what it’s like to have an online business by selling on Amazon, you’ll feel more confident about it. Plus, you’ll get to enjoy having control of your own time. Imagine that!

Let’s help you narrow down those choices into the four most popular business models for selling on Amazon.

The 4 Most Popular Business Models for Selling on Amazon

It’s great to have choices but sometimes having too many choices can get confusing too. If you’ve just started your home business for selling products on Amazon, we wouldn’t be surprised if finding all the different ways you can sell on Amazon made your head spin.
 
To narrow things down for you, here are the top four most popular business models used by third party sellers on Amazon - retail arbitrage, online arbitrage, wholesale, and private label.

Is Retail Arbitrage a Good Fit for Your Home Business?

Retail arbitrage is a pretty simple business model that is usually the best choice for a first time online business owner like us. Basically, it calls for ‘flipping’ a product - for going to brick and mortar stores and buying something at a lower cost and then selling it for more on Amazon.
 
The pros of retail arbitrage is that it’s easy to get started and it’s relatively low risk. You can get started tomorrow! You can work with whatever capital you have on hand and just grow your money from there. There also a lot of price scanning apps available now that are easy to use - even for moms like us!

The cons of retail arbitrage is that it's the most time consuming out of the four business models. You might lose the advantage of being a work from home mom if you always have to pop by retail stores to find your products.

Is Online Arbitrage a Good Fit for Your Online Business?

Online arbitrage is pretty much the same as retail arbitrage except for one important difference - you look for your products online instead of physically going to stores and buying products there.
 
The pros with this business model is obvious. With online arbitrage, you won’t have to leave your house which means that you will be working from home in the truest sense. This is a much better way to go if one of your goals is to have an online business in the truest sense. You can work from home and still spend time with your family.

The cons of online arbitrage is that the products you see online may not match supposedly identical products on Amazon. Or products may arrived with damaged packaging as well. It’s a lot easier to get a bad deal or get cheated if everything is done online - including product inspection. You will also find that there are more competitions in this business model since every other seller are also buying the same items online.

Is Wholesale a Good Fit for Your Home Business?

If you have a significant amount of capital that you can play with and you don't like the idea of constantly sourcing day after day, you might like doing wholesale. Since buying wholesale usually requires MOQ or minimum required quantity when ordering, I recommend doing this when you have more experience selling on amazon so you know for sure that you will be able to move those 500 units of one item.
 
The pros of this business model is that you are practically guaranteed a better, predictable supply of inventory. You don’t have to look constantly look for good deals at either retail or online stores. You can just plan when to restock and place the order when needed. The cons of wholesale is that it profit margins could be slim depending on the product, and it requires a much larger capital which means that it’s also much riskier. 
 
Is the Private Label Business Model Fit for Your Online Business?

For most moms, the private label business model might be the best fit if your main goal is to be less hands on and to have more free time for yourself and for your family.

Basically, what it means is that you will be selling products that already exist on Amazon but branded under your own private label. Your job will be to check out the products you’re interested in, and choose which ones you want to sell as part of your label. Once you’ve chosen, you’ll order from the supplier and they’ll make the product by bulk with your brand name on the packaging. 
 
The suppliers will ship directly to Amazon and they will fulfill your order via Amazon FBA. The reason why private label isn’t on top of my list of business models for brand new business owners is that you will need a much bigger capital which also means bigger risk. You will also have to shell out more money to invest in advertising when launching a new product. Not only do you need more money to invest, but also time, since it will take more time branding and marketing a brand new product. If you’re someone who’s trying to provide for the family in the middle of this pandemic, something high risk might not be the best choice.
 
On the other hand, if your main goal is to have more control of your own profit margins and get time back to spend with your family, then private label might be the best choice for you. Selling your private label products through Amazon FBA pretty much takes care of everything and is the most passive business model, if you know what you're doing!  Just keep in mind that Amazon FBA does cost a pretty penny.

Conclusion

It can be nerve wracking to start your own business, especially a work from home business. There will be a lot of challenges at first and a lot of new skills to learn, but the payoff is usually worth it. At worst it will be a learning experience and at best you can be the boss of your own company while also having the freedom to spend time with your family!
 
Here’s one final tip - don’t be afraid to mix and match the different business models to your need. Try a little bit of retail arbitrage and a little bit of online arbitrage when you’re getting started. And when you’ve got a good footing in the market, maybe you’ll feel like you’ll want to invest in wholesale or eventually do private label too!
 
The most important hurdle for any new home business owner is really just to get started.

​If you’re already outsourcing your order fulfillment process to Amazon FBA, why would you need another third party prep center to send your products to Amazon? That’s probably the big question that’s looming in your mind if you’re considering hiring a prep center to help out with your business.
 
But the truth is, there will come a time in your business when you can no longer keep up with the demand for your product. When that day comes, one of your best options might just be to outsource to a prep center. But first, you have to find out whether outsourcing to a prep center is the right move for your business.
 
What is FBA Prep?

There’s a lot of confusion between Amazon’s FBA fulfillment and a third party prep center. For starters, those are two completely different things. While Amazon already offers a lot of convenience via its FBA fulfillment service that let you stock your products in their warehouse and then takes care of packaging and shipping, sometimes you will still hit a bottleneck. When your business gets busy enough, there might be a delay in shipping your product to the Amazon warehouse, and that’s where a third party FBA prep center steps in.
 
These FBA prep centers assist you in the process of making sure that your stocks are ready and meet the strict standards of Amazon before shipping them to FBA. That’s where the difficulty lies - in making sure that your stocks are packed, wrapped, and ready in a way that’s up to Amazon standards. Otherwise, you will get a penalty for not adhereing to Amazon’s standards and it will cost you more  to have Amazon prep and label them for you.
 
Basically, FBA prep centers ‘prep’ your stocks to make sure that they’re acceptable to Amazon’s FBA program.
 
Is Outsourcing to a Prep Center Right For Your Business

Prepping your products for FBA is something that you can do yourself and it’s also what I recommend when starting to sell on Amazon, unless you are working with your manufacturer to handle that part as well as shipping direct to Amazon. This is what most private label sellers do, especially if their products are coming from China. Doing it this way is just more efficient and cost-effective.
 
If you’re not sure whether your business is ready for a third party FBA prep, there are other options that you can consider. For example, you can hire someone and train him to do the FBA prep for you. It’s likely that this person will be working somewhere within your home grounds, if that’s where you keep your products. If that’s something you’re comfortable with, then you can go for this more affordable option.
 
However, if your business is growing at a fast rate, hiring one person to do your FBA prep for you might just be putting a band-aid on a bigger problem. Sooner or later, if you’re committed to selling on Amazon and scaling up your business, you’re going to have to consider using the services of an FBA prep, especially if you’re starting to sell more volume. Another option is to hire employees and rent a warehouse.

Advantages of Outsourcing to a Prep Center

Despite being marketed as a convenience for Amazon sellers, the FBA fulfillment service has a lot of strict rules and rigorous standards that need to be complied with to the letter. If you’re an Amazon seller, you may have already learned that not complying with even just one of these standards will get you some consequences.
 
By turning over the process of prepping for FBA to the experts, you’re guaranteed that there will be no send backs and that they will be updated with Amazon’s warehouse protocols. You’ll also spare yourself from all the time and effort of inspecting the stocks, labeling, and shipping, time better spent on expanding your online business. For me, this is really the main purpose of outsourcing. So that I can free myself up to do other things that have better ROI for my time.
 
Trust us when we say that when you’re trying to grow your online business, the last thing you want to do is to be doing everything yourself. You’re going to end up overworked and tired, which will leave very little for any creative thought.

Considerations When Choosing an FBA Prep

The top consideration for any Amazon seller when choosing an FBA prep center is, of course, price. While it’s completely understandable that you want the best deal possible (you’re running a business after all), always balance the value you’re getting with the price your paying. Check their fees and additional charges and compare with others. I also always do my own due diligence by talking to their existing clients to make sure I’m choosing a reliable business partner with solid referrals from satisfied customers.
 
Location is also an important consideration. If you’re expecting a lot of shipments from overseas, consider choosing an FBA prep center that’s within the vicinity of your usual ports of shipment. Also, another thing to consider in relation to location is sales tax. If you’re outsourcing to an FBA prep center that’s in a state where there’s no sales tax, then you can potentially save yourself anything between 0.5% to 10% in tax. Even if you’re just saving yourself 3% in tax money, that’s money you can invest somewhere else. Another tax consideration is that if you’re doing online arbitrage and using your tax exempt certificate, you won’t be able to use that if you’re shipping those items to a prep center located in a state where you don’t have tax exempt certificate. So that is a lot of savings if you ask me! As an entrepreneur, my goal is to improve my bottom line so the more savings I get, the better my bottom line is.

Conclusion

When your business reaches a point where you can no longer keep up with the demand for your products, one of the solutions you can consider is outsourcing to an FBA prep center. An FBA prep center receives, packages, and ships your products to Amazon FBA, making sure that it meets all of the rigorous rules and standards of the warehouse.
 
An FBA prep center can help streamline your business, freeing up your time, and preparing you for selling to an even bigger market. While these services come at a price, they will help you expand your online business and prepare you for even more products and customers!
 

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​We are now in the last quarter of 2020 and it’s already looking like it’s going to be one of the biggest Q4s for Amazon sellers. This isn’t surprising because of the pandemic regulations, so a lot more people are buying their holiday gifts online instead of going to the stores.
 
As an Amazon seller, this is your chance to maximize those Q4 sales. But if this is your first Q4, what are the things that you can do to prepare for this highly anticipated bump in customer traffic on Amazon?

1. Stock Up on Inventory

Just in case there’s any confusion, Amazon’s Q4 isn’t October to December like most other companies. Instead, the busiest months are actually November to January, which means that you still have a chance to stock up on supplies. Believe us when we say that you want to be ready for this sudden skyrocket on Amazon sales.
 
We’re not saying that you should go out and buy an enormous amount of products. It’s always best to stock up based on your current sales record instead of being overly optimistic (which could lead to some losses). If you’re making two or three sales on one product per week, expect an uptick to the point of getting a sale per day (or two or three).
 
The important part is to not wait until December to realize that you might just run out of products and miss out on the chance to get a healthy stream of profit. Also, be sure to stock up all the way up to January, which is the month that most new sellers miss out on. Keep in mind that buying products, even directly from suppliers, can be tough during the holiday season. Remember, even suppliers are trying to ride Amazon’s Q4 wave too.
 
2. Organize Your Workspace (and Buy Office Supplies)

Don’t forget that the holidays are going to be busy for you, in terms of personal stuff like family events and Christmas parties as much as it will be busy at work. Before you even hit the actual Q4 season, stock up on office supplies, shipping supplies, hire additional help and make sure that everything in your workplace is organized and without clutter.
 
You would be surprised at how much preparations are being done by Amazon sellers during this period. A lot of home offices are streamlined to make sure that everything that’s needed to get an order ready, either for customers or for FBA, is within the room. Those few extra steps multiplied by a hundred can be a lot, especially when you translate it into time saved. In preparation, extra tables are often brought in to create a sort of assembly line for expediting the packing and shipment process to keep up with the busiest time of the year.
 
There’s always a chance that you will be hit by a storm of sales if you haven’t already. And whether it’s a slight uptick of sales or a huge one, it’s not going to be like your regular sales days during Q1 to Q3. The best way to avoid mistakes which could result in missed opportunities and higher cost is to organize your work flow, your work space, and your work supplies. 

Unless you are using a prep center to handle your inventory, this one is very important during Q4. The worst thing that you can do during Q4 is to run out of polybags or shipping boxes when you're trying to get a shipment out the door!
 
3. Calendar Everything
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Again, this is more of a ‘decluttering and streamlining your life’ tip but you wouldn’t believe how hectic things can suddenly become when you’re a home-based Amazon seller during the Q4 madness. It’s not if you forget something, it’s when you forget something, and that something will usually be very important and very inconvenient for you and your business.
 
By simply putting everything in your calendar, you will significantly lower the chances of missing out on great opportunities or forgetting to place an order to your supplier. These little things add up to a lot when you’re dealing with the holiday shopping rush.

4. Don’t Chase the ‘Holiday Toy List’

A lot of Amazon sellers go for the holiday toy list because chances are a lot of people are going to be after those products, but you’ll find that most major stores are also stocking up on them and probably already have warehouses full of them since September. Look for niches with toys that are likely to be sought after but will be harder to come by come December.
 
These niche toys and items will also be pricier as it approaches December and January, unlike the holiday toy list which you can’t really reprice by much.

5. Adjust Your Repricing Strategy

When it comes to repricing during the Q4, we always recommend keeping an eye out for trends. You’ll notice that certain products’ prices will slowly get higher as it gets closer to December and even much higher by the time you hit January. Don’t get left behind, use that repricer to find a good fit for your prices in line with other Amazon sellers. With the right repricing strategy, you can stay competitive and gain more visibility over your competitors that will hopefully result in an uptick of sales. I use Bqool repricer and adjust my parameters to maximize my profits.
 
Conclusion

The most wonderful time of the year is also one of the busiest and most profitable quarter for Amazon sellers. And while Amazon’s Q4 is very well known for being hectic, it’s a great time to boost sales and visibility for your online business, especially if you’re just starting out.
 
By keeping these top tips in mind, you can keep track of your sales, be prepared for the huge holiday rush, and not lose your cool while expediting shipments and orders. Don’t worry, a couple more of these Q4s and it will be a cinch soon enough.
 
And lastly, don’t forget to spend some quality time on yourself and your family. It’s also the holidays for you just as much as everyone else - just a tad busier.

Just like in any other business, you will need supplies to get your business started. Below are the list of shipping supplies and materials that we regularly use in our Amazon business.

Shipping lables: https://amzn.to/2IUqNhm
Dymo printer: https://amzn.to/3lUummu
Weighing scale: https://amzn.to/2IXhgpX
Heat gun: https://amzn.to/2UJcJtK
Dymo labels: https://amzn.to/38Z3X3b
Stickers for Bundles and Multipacks: https://amzn.to/3kSG7s9
3-inch Packing Tape: https://amzn.to/36Tepq9
3-inch Tape Dispenser:  https://amzn.to/3kUS5kR
Polybags (Bundle): https://amzn.to/3pYFFfQ
Large Polybags: https://amzn.to/3lQ1YBX

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​Maybe you’ve been thinking about it for a while or maybe you’ve seen other people try it and do pretty well for themselves, but the truth is there’s really no better time than now to start your own work from home business by selling on Amazon.
 
As a mom who have been doing online businesses since 2014, I can say that the hardest part was getting started. It did take a lot of late nights but after a few months, I finally found my groove.
 
We all know that e-commerce is here to stay. While some industries suffered massively this year, other industries - like online shopping - continued to thrive and is even doing better now more than ever! So why not ride the e-commerce wave?
 
There’s No Better Time to Start a Home Business

Let’s face it, starting an online business that let us work from home is ideal right now, especially since the job markets are low and there are so many changes because of the pandemic. There is no job security because you unless you own the company, anyone is dispensable. Also, the revenue from online shopping has skyrocketed in the past few months, simply because online shopping has tripled or even quadrupled in popularity. With millions of dollars in revenue being made by selling online, it won’t hurt to even have a small piece of that pie.
 
As a stay at home mom, I can honestly say that starting my own online business from home has been one of the best decisions that I made in my life. It has empowered me to be able to contribute to the household, pursue my own investments and put something towards my retirement account. Plus there’s the added bonus of being able to spend time with my kids! It’s definitely a life changer and it’s a great feeling to be in control of my own schedule.

Why You Should Start a Home Business By Selling on Amazon
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If you’re thinking of starting a home business by selling items online, the top choice for an eCommerce platform has got to be Amazon. For one, a large number of online shoppers seem to prefer Amazon. Just ask yourself, who does not shop on Amazon? I literally cannot think of anyone.
 
Because a huge chunk of online customers are already in Amazon, you are more likely to get more sales and garner more attention too. And with the help of value added services like Amazon FBA, you can let the company take care of product shipping and customer service too, so you can have more free time for your family.
 
How to Get Started in Amazon for Your Home Business
 
​The hardest part is always getting started. Whether you’re a career mom or you’re a stay-at-home mom, starting an online business can be really intimidating. Don’t worry, the idea here is to start small and to grow your home business in steps. What’s important is to get started so that you can get a feel of what online selling through Amazon is like.
 
There’s this selling plan in Amazon called the individual selling plan and this is a great fit for people when just starting out. Basically, it is a pay-as-you-go plan where you’ll only have to pay $0.99 per item that you sell. If you are selling less than 40 items a month, that’s a pretty great deal, don’t you think?
 
But what if you want to expand your business and start selling more than 40 products a month? Don’t worry, it’s easy to switch to a professional seller package any time. You just go to your account settings and upgrade your seller account. That one has a maintenance fee of $39.99 per month but once you start getting those sales, the fee won’t seem steep anymore.
 
Of course, I would recommend that you start with the individual package first, unless you are 100% sure that you can sell more than 40 items in one month. Dip your toes in the water and get a feel for whether being a work from home mom with a home business is the right choice for you.
 
Amazon Makes it Easier to Get Your Home Business Started

Amazon offers a lot of conveniences when it comes to getting started with your online business. Through Amazon FBA which is basically Amazon fulfillment, you can streamline your packaging and shipping so that you won’t have to do it yourself (for an extra fee) every time you get an order from a customer. If your main goal is to spend more time with your family, Amazon FBA would be a good choice.
 
A Closer Look at Amazon FBA

We’ve just mentioned Amazon FBA and how it offers so many conveniences for new sellers. What’s the catch, you might ask?
 
The catch, of course, is that those conveniences come with a hefty fee. There’s a storage fee for keeping your products at the Amazon warehouse plus the pick and pack fee for shipping. These fees are on top of the referral fees that you need to pay as well. Referral fee is a fee Amazon charges you every time you sell a product. It is a percentage of the total sales price and is usually 15%.
 
You might balk at the additional expenses, but if you’re selling a lot of products online, Using Amazon FBA is a good idea so that you don’t get overwhelmed with shipping and logistics. For me, I would rather pay these fees than spend all my days messing with tapes and boxes and shipping to customers.
 
I should say take a closer look at the services they offer plus the different fees (the fees vary depending on the size of the product and the price of the product) and think about whether it’s right for you. You could try it out or do merchant fulfill. As a home business owner, you do what is right for you and your bottom line.

Conclusion
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There are more and more parents like us who are choosing to work from home especially with the current pandemic. Many are starting their online side hustles too. By starting your own home business, you can earn extra income and if you decide to be a full time home business owner, you can be in control of your time and your schedule. You will essentially be your own boss! It's not easy but it is doable.
 
As a mom who have been a home business owner since 2014, my advice to you is: take action. Whether that means taking an online course, product research or sourcing, just take action. And do it consistently! Start with what you have, take calculated risks, but start today. Creating your own successful business from home is all about taking that first step. Get started by filling out your selling application here: https://sellercentral.amazon.com 

If you would like to join our FREE facebook group where I help other newbies start an amazon business, please click here: www.facebook.com/groups/pinayamzentrepreneurs/