Thursday, January 14, 2016

Amazon Tools, Supplies, Apps & General Resources




Follow the link below for a complete list of the Amazon Tools, Apps & General Resources we at EPS recommend:

http://www.eliteproductsource.com/seller-resources.html
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Current List of Prep Centers for Preparing & Shipping Your OA Finds to Amazon



http://primezeroprep.com/ (TAX FREE in New Hampshire)

http://www.quickprepandship.com (launching Feb 1st)




http://selltecprep.com/ (TAX FREE in Montana)
















http://www.weship-USA.com (TAX FREE - located in Salem, NH)

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Amazon Long Term Storage Fees - Make a Plan



LTS Fees - START PLANNING NOW

February 15th is the cut-off for Long Term Storage Fees on Amazon (fees for items that have been in the warehouse for longer than 6 months), so you need to start planning as far as what you're going to do with the product that is subject to fees.

I take this on an item by item basis - sometimes I have items that I have no problem paying the fees on - usually LTH (long term hold) items with high ROIs. For everything else you'll either want to sell them quickly, have them sent back to you or dispose of them. You can move a lot of the inventory by using Sellbrite or JoeLister to cross market your Amazon items on eBay. Another strategy that is often used is to drop the prices ridiculously low to quickly move the inventory out - even in some cases where you might be breaking even or losing money, it may net you more cash back than any other options - I like to think of it as getting as much money back as I can quickly so I can reinvest it. You win some you lose some - it's a strategy used by all businesses. 

To see your items, first click on Manage Inventory in Seller Central. Then look across the top of the page and click on the link to Inventory Dashboard. Now click on the link that says Manage Excess Inventory. This will bring up a report that shows all you inventory and how long it has been in storage.

For future reference - use Google Calendar to set this date (and August 15th) on repeat for each year. I also set a date a month or two in advance to start reviewing the inventory subject to fees so I can plan accordingly.

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Subscriptions & Services for Running an Efficient Amazon Business



Subscriptions & services I use to run my business more efficiently (while attempting to move closer & closer to full automation)
  • AppEagle - automatically reprices my Amazon inventory
  • Amazon Replenish Alerts (Just a feature in Seller Central to remind you to replenish your items)
  • List Label Ship - (used to create barcode labels instantly - this was necessary to run a Mac and a Dymo)
  • Go Daddy - bookkeeping; tracks & categories my business profits & expenditures
  • Inventory Lab - listing & inventory management
  • Sellbrite - software that enables me to crossmarket and list products in multiple online marketplaces
  • AutoMCF - used in conjunction with Sellbrite to monitor inventory levels across multiple marketplaces
  • Oaxray - OA sourcing tool
  • RetailAzon - OA sourcing tool
  • Prime Zero Prep - prep service in a tax-free state that accepts, processes and ships out my OA inventory
  • Tax Jar - tracks your collection of sales tax
  • Slice - Tracks and organizes all your purchases & shipments for you by accessing your email account.
  • Refunds Manager - opens Amazon cases for you regarding customer returns, etc. that need reimbursement
There are of course alternative subscriptions and services for things like repricing, bookkeeping, listing on multiple marketplaces, prep services, etc. but these are my preferred sources.

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Tax Time Accounting



While my accountant does a fine job on my taxes he is not knowledgeable about all my various online income streams. I on the other hand know very little about accounting. So each year I fill in the list below to give to him (most numbers are just pulled from Go Daddy, Inventory Lab, etc). I also give him the printouts from all the inventory & accounting programs but I like to attach the list below as well. I often miss something here or there and he asks me for it, but this at least keeps me organized and on track. However, please consult your own accountant.

IRA Roth Fund/Retirement/Savings Contributions
Health Insurance Premiums
Mortgage Payments 
Mortgage Interest 
Total Utilities (Gas + Electric + Trash Disposal, etc) - a % is deducted for a Home Office
Car Payment on Business 
Total Business Mileage Driven (apparently you can either deduct mileage OR something to do with your vehicle depreciation, payments, repairs, etc. I give him all the numbers and he chooses the largest of the 2 deductions as I'm told you can only take one)
Home Office Deductions – Total square footage is given - 15% is claimed for home Business
Home Updates Affecting Home Office (including those to make the home more energy efficient)
Charitable Donations

Other Expenses and/or deductions

Smart Phone
Internet 
Paypal Fees 
Etsy Fees 
Bonanza Fees
Amazon Fees 
Ebay Fees 
Shipping Fees (including prep service fees)
Supplies/Office/Equipment 
Office Expenses (Business Courses, Software, VA Expenses, Subscriptions) 
Business Credit Card Interest 
Customer Returns 
Business Insurance 
Meals & Entertainment 
Vehicle Maintenance 
Sales Taxes Paid 
State & Federal Taxes Paid 
Accountant Fees
Cost of Goods Sold 

Gross Income:

Amazon Sales
Ebay Sales
Bonanza Sales
Etsy Sales
Book Royalties
EPS Proceeds
Merch by Amazon Proceeds
Affiliate Marketing Proceeds
Sales Tax Refunds
Cashback Sites Checks

Value of Inventory Still in my Possession
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Free & Paid Amazon Product Sourcing Tools



A list of helpful free & paid sourcing tools and chrome extensions. Feel free to comment if you know of any others to add to the list!

Oaxray ($100/month): http://oaxray.com/elite-product-sourcing

RetailAzon ($20): www.retailazon.com/?ref=5614127821470  use code ELITE10 for 10% off

HidePrime ($20):www.retailazon.com/?ref=5614127821470 use code ELITE10 for 10% off

Online Arbitrage Top Ranking Chart (free): http://www.arbitragedashboard.com/software/top-rank-chart/

AMZ Genie (free): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/amz-genie/fhjiodpghlekincmagkkekfejkpffjnl

AMZ Seller Browser (free): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/amz-seller-browser/klgpelgeohjghmccooegimcfhanlnngc

Invisible Hand (Free):https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/invisiblehand/lghjfnfolmcikomdjmoiemllfnlmmoko

Price Blink (free):https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/priceblink/aoiidodopnnhiflaflbfeblnojefhigh

Keepa (free): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/keepa-amazon-price-tracke/neebplgakaahbhdphmkckjjcegoiijjo

The Tracktor (free): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-tracktor-price-histor/onajjgekdldckfgodnmoallcmdmfcfom

Camelizer (free): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-camelizer/ghnomdcacenbmilgjigehppbamfndblo

Honey (free):https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/honey/bmnlcjabgnpnenekpadlanbbkooimhnj

Scanalzye (paid): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/scanalyze-for-online-sour/jofibhpjfepbfdeniifaoobeiilmhpgk

Shop Genius (free):https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/shopgenius/ekejkhnkppgbldboejcbcejjjamkpooa

Walmart (free):https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/walmart/bmelcnhnemihidpaehodijpamdaeeglh

Target (free):https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/targetcom/mnghgojcbpjnbllckaldjekkdbdjdlfm


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Stay At Home/ Work From Home Parent Sample Schedule



I've had a few stay-at-home parents message me about balancing the demands of parenthood and entrepreneurship so here's a sample week. Warning it's long & rather "normal", if you bore easily you might want to scroll on by!

Monday
-Get up at 5:00 am - scan emails, answer facebook questions, personal messages, post product finds for our VA Mastermind Groups, check in with EPS business partners & VAs.
-Little one is up at 7am - family breakfast time, getting ready for preschool. Husband drops her off on his way to work (he's a self employed auto body shop owner).
-8:30-11:00 am finish left over work, sourcing, placing orders from the VA lists, ship any eBay orders (I only ship on M, W, F), create a PZP shipment sneak in a quick workout- whatever needs to be done for the day
-11:30am - pickup our daughter & have lunch
-Get her started on an activity to finish anything I have left over
- Afternoon until daddy gets home at 5:30 pm or so is spend multi-tasking, keeping her busy, taking care of the house, etc.
- Make dinner, spend time with the family. I try to unplug at this time as well.
-If my husband has to go back in to finish a job, I work on other income streams while our daughter is sleeping

Tuesday
-Get up at 5:00 am - scan emails, answer facebook questions, personal messages, post product finds for our VA Mastermind Groups, check in with EPS business partners & VAs.
-Little one is up at 7am - family breakfast time (no school on Tuesdays)
-Finish left over work, sourcing, placing orders from the VA lists, - while she's working on an activity
- Typical busy day until daddy gets home at 5:30 pm or so keeping her busy, taking care of the house, etc. - sometimes my in-laws will take her for a play date for a few hours so I can get some work done
- Make dinner, spend time with the family. I try to unplug at this time as well.
-If my husband has to go back in to finish a job, I work on other income streams while our daughter is sleeping

Wednesday
-Get up at 5:00 am - scan emails, answer facebook questions, personal messages, post product finds for our VA Mastermind Groups, check in with EPS business partners & VAs.
-Little one is up at 7am - family breakfast time, getting ready for preschool. Husband drops her off on his way to work (he's a self employed auto body shop owner).
-8:30-11:00 am finish left over work, sourcing, placing orders from the VA lists, ship any eBay orders (I only ship on M, W, F), create a PZP shipment sneak in a quick workout- whatever needs to be done for the day
-11:30am - pickup our daughter & have lunch
-Get her started on an activity to finish anything I have left over
- Afternoon until daddy gets home at 5:30 pm or so is spend multi-tasking, keeping her busy, taking care of the house, etc.
- Make dinner, spend time with the family. I try to unplug at this time as well.
-If my husband has to go back in to finish a job, I work on other income streams while our daughter is sleeping

Thursday
-Get up at 5:00 am - scan emails, answer facebook questions, personal messages, post product finds for our VA Mastermind Groups, check in with EPS business partners & VAs.
-Little one is up at 7am - family breakfast time (no school on Tuesdays)
-Finish left over work, sourcing, placing orders from the VA lists, - while she's working on an activity
- Typical busy day until daddy gets home at 5:30 pm or so keeping her busy, taking care of the house, etc. - sometimes my in-laws will take her for a play date for a few hours so I can get some work done
- Make dinner, spend time with the family. I try to unplug at this time as well.
-If my husband has to go back in to finish a job, I work on other income streams while our daughter is sleeping

Friday
-Get up at 5:00 am - scan emails, answer facebook questions, personal messages, post product finds for our VA Mastermind Groups, check in with EPS business partners & VAs.
-Little one is up at 7am - family breakfast time, getting ready for preschool. Husband drops her off on his way to work (he's a self employed auto body shop owner).
-8:30-11:00 am finish left over work, sourcing, placing orders from the VA lists, ship any eBay orders (I only ship on M, W, F), create a PZP shipment sneak in a quick workout- whatever needs to be done for the day
-11:30am - pickup our daughter & have lunch
-Bring her along to run errands, do some RA, visit family 45 minutes away - usually return late in the evening

Saturday
-All day work session
-Drop little one off with my parents in the morning and she will stay overnight until Sunday afternoon - spends time with her grandparents, aunt & uncle, cousin & extended family as well as some time at my parent's brick & mortar business
-I will create a shipment for any RA I've done (try to save it all for today and ship it out on Monday), clean the house, work on other income streams, go out and do more RA
-Evening hours- date night with hubby and/or night out with friends

Sunday
- get up early and continue to finish whatever I didn't finish from Saturday. Pick the little one up at lunch time or late afternoon and spend the remainder of the day with her & my husband, doing family activities, cooking, etc.
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Amazon Reports to Run on December 31st



The two reports I run from Amazon at the end of the year - if you're doing this late (as in now or later, you can choose to download a report that was automatically created close to midnight last night for the most accurate reflection of in stock items.
1. Active Amazon Inventory
Log in to Seller Central.
Hover your pointer over “Reports,” and then select “Fulfillment.”
Click on “Amazon Fulfilled Inventory” on the left side of your screen.
Click on the “Request Download” button.
The report status column will state that this report is “In Progress” until it’s completed.
Once the report is completed (usually a minute later), a “Download” button will appear. Press it.
Your report is now downloaded to your computer as a .txt file. Open up the file.
Screen Shot 2014-12-23 at 11.11.07 AMThe text is hard to read, so select all the text (Control A for PC users or Command A for Mac users).
Open up an Excel type spreadsheet and paste the text you just copied. The data will now be more organized.
Save the file with a name like “2015 Amazon Year End Inventory.”

2. Sales, fees & income from Amazon
Log in to Seller Central.
Hover your mouse over “Reports,” and then select “Payment.”
Click on the “Date Range Reports” tab.
Click on the “Generate Report” button.
Select Report Type: Summary
Select Date Range: Custom
Enter in the date range you want. For tax purposes enter “01/01/2015 – 12/31/2015”
Click “Generate” to get the report started.
Once the report is ready, it will be available to download.

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Cashback, Rewards & Gift Card Sites



FREE MONEY: Cash Back, Rewards Sites & Gift Card Sites 

Evreward: http://evreward.com/

Main Street Shares: https://mainstreetshares.com/?r=eliteproductsourcing

Ebates: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=vv6r0PP3TCHaY2dBu5iDMQ%3D%3D&eeid=26471

Raise: https://www.raise.com/user/sign_up?referral_code=eproduct

Top Cash Back: http://www.topcashback.com/ref/Member74829673623

Paribus: https://paribus.co/i/briannagreene

Fat Wallet: http://www.fatwallet.com/

Shop Your Way Personal Shopper (Kmart/Sears Rewards): http://syw.co/1HS2XZD

My Points: https://www.mypoints.com/emp/u/refSignup.do?refCode=P-iHLvO8LoSQC---2&arr=s2&afsrc=1&src=EXTERNAL_PUBLICATION&fb_ref=Default
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AMAZON HOUSEKEEPING - Keeping your account organized & healthy


Amazon housekeeping details you should be doing on a regular basis to not only keep your account healthy and in good standing but to keep yourself organized. (there are services out there for some of these things, I'm currently trying out Refunds Manager):

1. Checking that customers are actually returning items they've initiated returns on (and that it's done in a timely fashion) (once a month)

2. Removing customer damaged or defective items from the warehouse (every few months)

3. Filing reimbursement claims for distributor damaged or warehouse damaged items (every few months)

4. Keeping an eye on your long term storage fees (February & August) - several weeks prior start lowering prices if you don't intend to pay the fees or create a plan for disposal or removal (every few months)

5. Scanning through your list of products under "recommended removal" and decide whether to do so or file for a reimbursement (every few months)

6. Checking for stranded inventory (under manage inventory) - relist, remove or file for reimbursements (monthly)

7. Identifying suppressed listings (under manage inventory) - often a few minor details are missing from listings making them unsearchable by customers (monthly)

8. Reviewing all customer feedback (if you're OCD like me it's daily but weekly is good). File a claim for feedback removal if it's a product review or due to the Amazon FBA process (weekly)

9. Checking for the dreaded red flag - immediately respond to these messages (daily)

10. Responding to all messages (if they require no response or are spammy report them and also mark them as no response needed) (daily)

11. Searching for blocked listings. Occasionally you will be blocked on a listing without warning or communication. Immediately address the issue with Amazon and remove all inventory if necessary (sometimes it's just a temporary issue) (monthly)

12. Clearing out inactive listings you will no longer be replenishing - I usually keep seasonal items there if I might want to buy them again for the next season (as a reminder). Wait and do this every 3 months or so, so that any customer returns that come back to the warehouse are returned to an active listing. (every 3 months). It's important to do this as occasionally an item will be become restricted, even if it's been months or years since you've sold it and you don't want Amazon to think you might be actively selling it still.

13. Repricing - I use Appeagle and there are other great repricers out there. Of course it's a monthly expense and I did it by manually for a year. Don't go too crazy repricing but usually you want to at least scan through your inventory once a week or so.

14. Setting your replen alerts. This can be done under manage inventory. I do this every day after listing and I set the alerts to 1 week out from running out (probably smarter to change this to two weeks out though - I lose out on a lot of sales by not replenishing quick enough.

For any matters above that would require a response or action from Amazon, a "ticket" or case can be opened using this link:

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A Guide to Getting Started on Amazon



Whether you're a newbie or have some experience and just need a little extra help - here are a few resources you may not have been aware of to educate yourself about selling on Amazon.

A Guide to Getting Started on Amazon 

Whether you're a newbie or have some experience and just need a little extra help - here are a few resources you may not have been aware of to educate yourself about selling on Amazon. 


Courses

Arbitrage and Amazon's Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) Program
https://www.udemy.com/arbitrage/

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The Potential of Amazon



We are living in an amazing time. Technology is growing by leaps and bounds and offering us more of an opportunity to be successful each day. Most people think small and don’t understand. I don’t say that to belittle their intelligence but rather to point out that 99% of people think of what directly affects them and little else. Reading posts through some of the groups only verifies it but I doubt many people see it, it actually seems that more people agree with those thoughts and agree. So I want to try and bring some perspective into what this business is and what our part of it is in the grand scheme.

There are 482 million listings on Amazon, of course there are many duplicates but there are probably far more OOS listings to offset that. Then count in the over 300,000 new products being brought to market each year. Hundreds of millions of items to sell or market, tens of millions of proven items on Amazon.
So the idea that some people can’t find 10 or 20 items to sell is not for a lack of availability but rather a short coming of their own and of course people don’t like to blame themselves.

New sellers are coming in everyday and for some reason people think that this is flooding the market. Amazon alone did about $89 billion in sales last year. And out of the $89 billion and 100’s of millions of products to choose from, people worry that the new sellers are going to come in and take a bite out of the $80k in annual sales as if there were not room for any more people. This thinking is because they can’t see past their own sales and what directly affects them. There are over 2 million 3rd party sellers on Amazon, the idea that a few thousand more are going to ruin everything seems kind of silly.
So let’s put some of this into perspective. You as a seller on Amazon are competing with 2 million other sellers to find profitable items out of the hundreds of millions of available listings, not even counting that you can create your own to add something new.

And you as a seller are trying to get a small piece of the roughly $89 billion dollars in sales that Amazon will be doing this year. That $89 billion compared to the $22 trillion dollars in worldwide e-commerce this past year. In comparison, Alibaba has about $250 billion in sales the past year. If Amazon’s $89 billion is huge to you, then the $250 billion must seem gigantic for a company. Unless you look at regular retailers like Walmart who will probably be doubling that and be around $500 billion in sales this year.

You need to put into perspective that being an Amazon seller is being a very small fish in a very small pond. I don’t care if you’re doing a million dollars a year in sales, in the overall scheme that is a very small seller. It’s important to understand how small Amazon is in the scope of things so that you can understand the potential.

Right now the United States makes up about 10% of the world’s internet users. And you think to yourself that the internet is huge, has hundreds of millions of users and millions of websites. It does seem huge until you take into account a couple facts.
1.) Google accounts for roughly 40% of all internet traffic. I checked that claim and it looks like that stat came from some internet monitor that showed all internet traffic dropped 40% when google went down for a couple minutes last year and the traffic increased back up by 50% went they went back up. The second stat that puts the first one into perspective and gives it the wow factor is
2.) Google has indexed and uses 0.004% of the internet's total size.
That’s right, even with everything we see with online content we do not use 1% of the internet’s capability.

So there is room for expanding beyond our wildest imaginations. There is room for Amazon to increase it’s 25% market share of the US e-commerce retail market. There is room for online sales to increase it’s 10% share of all retail sales in the US. There is room to increase the already hundreds of millions of products available on Amazon. We are at the beginning people.

And we’re also at the beginning of technology whether you believe that or not. The first iPhone was launched just 8 years ago. The first iPad 5 years ago. 10 years ago there were not even flip phones yet, no mobile internet service, your phone made calls and could send texts, that was it. That’s right, that was before most people had even heard of Wi-Fi. Mobile apps didn’t exist. And 7 years ago Amazon was 1/5 the size in sales volume than it is today.

According to the census records in 2010 (yes, just 5 years ago) only 76% of households had a computer and only 71% had internet service. I’m telling you that online merchants are still in their infancy and while they have been there for quite a few years it’s not until these last few that it’s really started to get going. Every year we hear that UPS, FedEx and USPS had problems keeping up with the volume of packages, every year they increase their workforce and try to anticipate the needs of the season, and every year it grows beyond what they anticipated and what they can keep up with.

There is so much potential for growth and that leaves a ton of potential room for sellers to expand. It’s growing faster now than ever, it’s going to keep growing, and we are all in for one hell of a ride!
So next time you see the negative comments about how things are going downhill, how the market is getting saturated, how all these negative things are happening I want you to remember that their perspective isn’t looking past their own problem at the moment. They are too narrowly focused to see past their own mistakes and faults. And most important, that’s when you realize that your potential has no limits and make the decision not to let anything they say deter you from what you know is possible.
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Cross Marketing Amazon FBA Products in other Online Marketplaces



I've been cross marketing my Amazon FBA products for about 6 months using Sellbrite & AutoMCF. I normally have my entire Amazon store listed on eBay (I'm a bit behind with transferring listings during Q4) and then I also sync the eBay store with Bonanza (so I'm selling my Amazon FBA items on Amazon, eBay and Bonanza). While the sales on other marketplaces are abysmal compared to Amazon, I sell well more than my subscription fees and often times for higher prices than I've got them listed for on Amazon (I price my items higher and allow best offer on eBay).

Sellbrite is basically a listing and inventory program that enables you to list in a variety of online marketplaces. It pulls the Amazon photo, title and description and allows you to quickly list the product wherever you want. It actually supports several sales channels including Shopify & several others. While it can sync inventory across all of the marketplaces the one area it cannot is with your FBA items (they are currently working on integrating this). This problem is solved by using Auto MCF (discounted for Sellbrite subscribers). That's what controls your inventory levels and automatically pulls the item from Amazon and ships it for you.

Example: I have an item in the Amazon warehouse, quantity of 1. It is currently a live FBA product. I list it on eBay using Sellbrite (which pulls the photo and specs from the Amazon listing - you can add more description if you want, however I do not - this is about automation for me). Someone purchases it on eBay. AutoMCF automatically knocks the quantity down to zero at the Amazon warehouse (or if it sells on Amazon first it would end your eBay listing for you). AutoMCF also extracts the eBay customer's shipping info and sends it to Amazon who then pulls and ships your item to your customer. I literally do nothing when an Amazon item sells on Ebay. It even uploads tracking.

Speed of shipment depends on how you list the item - if you list an item on eBay utilizing priority shipping the software recognizes that and the eBay customer gets the speed of prime shipping. Make sure you check out the associated pack & ship fees and roll them either into your shipping cost or product price when you list it on eBay. I've literally sold HUNDREDS of Amazon items on eBay with no complaints or comments about it arriving in an Amazon box.

Two notes to keep in mind: Bonanza is SLOWWWWW so when I sell an item there (which is rare anyway), I do have to create a fulfillment order by hand within Amazon (Sellbrite is not compatible with Bonanza only with eBay) which then automatically pulls the item off eBay for me. Also, for all Amazon FBA items listed on eBay you must disable international shipping (currently not supported with the program) however, you can enable the global shipping program and AutoMCF will send the item to the Kentucky processing center. I've sold dozens of items utilizing this method. And again, often at ridiculously high prices.

Just another way to maximize your online income! Any questions, comment below.
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