Amazon FBA

amyp1122

Hi there,

I'm looking for some information re FBA Amazon. I'm living in ROI and very interested in starting this journey, all going well!

I'm mid-way through one of Udemy's course about how to get started on selling through Amazon FBA Private Label. Although I'm not anywhere near, nor feel that I am ready to bite the bullet yet. I do have one or two concerns though that are cropping up throughout all of this:

1. I'm wondering if someone knows whether to sell products through Amazon UK or US. I'm really unsure how the VAT works for the UK etc. and which would be the best marketplace to go with.

2. I've been seeing people say a UK Bank A/C is needed also which I'm unsure about.

Also would really appreciate feedback if anyone has tried this before and can share their experience!

Kind regards,
Amy

tacofries

1. UK is way less competitive than the US so I would start with that if you're not very confident. Obviously volume would be smaller but you would learn properly about how FBA works.
2. You don't need a UK bank account. If you start generating good revenues then it may be worth setting up a £ account with Revolut so you don't get caught with currency fluctuations. I wouldn't do this until you are selling quite a lot of stock though as otherwise it's not worth the hassle.
3. Legally a Vat number is not required if you are under the Vat thresholds, however in quite a few countries such as Germany, Amazon requires that you must have a German vat number. I'm not sure if this is the case with the UK but if you setup your Amazon account then they will send you messages if it is needed (will probably deactivate your account until you get one if they do ask for it).

Good luck

amyp1122

Thanks a mill for your great advice. I'll def look into it further.

ironclaw

Just as a word of caution, you are very, very unlikely to make any money. FBA is a hot topic for courses and a lot of them promise the sun, moon and stars. Most FBA guru's make money on courses, not their FBA practises. Remember, anyone can teach on Udemy and credentials are flaky at best (I say that as a Udemy instructor!)

What FBA courses don't tell you is 90+% of people either never make any money or are left with scores of unsold inventory.

If you want to be successful, you need to:

- Truly understand margin as you will be competing with the very suppliers who are supplying you. Plenty of horror stories of companies monitoring sales and then just selling the goods themselves direct. You cannot compete with China.

- Be a stockbroker of the Amazon market and get in before EVERYONE else. You can't trade on hot tips or what the latest forum posts say. You need to identify the opportunities yourself and know when to get out.

- Attract customers with razor-sharp copy and advertising. You need to be the very first hit and capture your customer when they search for you. When did you last buy the second product in the search?

FBA is really only a moneymaker in very niche products or if you are fulfilling your own merchandise.

Above all, I'd urge caution if this is your very first time selling online.