The bitter story of cross-border business: Going it alone resulted in millions of debts, but fortunately the advertising data was good. The average customer order was $50, the average advertising CPC was $0.4, and the Acos was 20%.

Time has unknowingly come to 2024, and I will soon enter my thirties. I am not married, I have no savings, and I only have a car worth hundreds of thousands of yuan (I should have listened to my friends and bought a more expensive car or a down payment on a house, at least I could cash in more money if I couldn’t make ends meet). When I had money, I felt that this was just the beginning for me, I didn’t need these clouds and shackles, and I had the momentum to make it back even if I spent all my money.

The main reason is that I haven't had any mentors or friends who were willing to help me at key points along the way. My family used to be relatively wealthy, but my life was unfortunate and some changes happened at home. From junior high school to graduating from university and entering the society, it was all my own choices. My family could no longer give me any support, and I was short of money everywhere. I always wanted to do something for my family. At one point, I almost didn't want to go to college. Even if I sent some money home every month, I would feel better. Facts have proved that getting an undergraduate degree is also a pain in the ass.

After graduation, I spent a year in Shanghai. I felt that I couldn’t fit in in that so-called international metropolis. Then I switched to the financial industry, which everyone thought was a big money-maker. I made some money in the early stage, started working on my own, attracted clients to invest, and found some areas that were more in line with the bosses’ preferences to operate. I wore a suit and accompanied the bosses to brothels every day... However, in 2018, the Guo family began to strictly control this aspect. I lost some money, the team was disbanded, and I started to deal with subsequent chores, ending my exploration in the financial field. (I can’t say more about the financial aspect, for fear that it will not pass the review. Those who understand will understand)

I was depressed for about half a year and didn't go to work, but I went to many places all over the world, including Fujian, Changsha, Guizhou, Xi'an, Huangshan, Huzhou, Chaoshan, Zhuhai... I did bungee jumping, mountain climbing, camping in the wild, whatever was exciting, which comforted myself and encouraged myself that there is always a way out when you reach the mountain, and I can do it (my writing skills are not good enough, I write whatever I think of, no one here should know me, so I will write in detail, and the big guys can just discard the dross and keep the essence, please allow me to mutter)

I feel like I am semi-socially anxious. Sometimes I can talk a lot, and sometimes I can stay silent for days. In the early morning of 2019, I suddenly woke up and was stunned for a long time. I felt that I couldn't go on like this. I had to find a new project to do. It would be okay to work in the early stage. I looked at some domestic and foreign projects and chose cross-border. I was not familiar with Amazon at the beginning. Some friends were doing Taobao and Tmall. I asked for advice, but they said it was not possible because the competition was too fierce (I trusted my so-called friends too much). I was doing very well, but I guess they were afraid that I would compete with them in the same category, because in the past few years, I have been at the service of my friends and given them advice, and I have also experienced and understood that I have never reached the state of looking down on all the mountains, so I had to be more open-minded. Then I came to a place with a better cross-border atmosphere to investigate how this industry is.

I heard from another friend that Zhejiang's express delivery is second to none and the e-commerce atmosphere is also relatively strong, so I plunged into this cross-border track that has lasted for several years:

A few days after I arrived in Zhejiang, I found a service provider and opened an amz store. As a result, the so-called second review came out before I even put the products on the shelves. The main reason was that I knew nothing about e-commerce, so I just found a company to work for and learn from experience. I tried Amazon, AliExpress, and Meikeduo. In the first year, I was like a headless fly, learning a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The main reason was that many companies didn't teach much. Every time I went to a company, I worked as an operations assistant. After I got more familiar with it, I invited these operations people to dinner privately, just to make them willing to teach me. At that time, I changed jobs every few months because I felt that I couldn't learn anything (so stupid). I have done customer service, packaging, product inspection, labeling, box mark printing, freight forwarding, product selection, purchasing, and operations, but I didn't learn them well, because I felt that if I went through each process and became familiar with it and remembered it, I would understand the e-commerce platform and could go out and do it on my own.

The next year, I started to feel the urge to start my own business. Once I have an idea, it is very difficult to suppress it. I couldn't sit still because I had this idea. I told the company that I didn't want to work anymore and quit. Then I activated the previous business license, registered a new store, selected products and started working:

I borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars from my credit card as start-up capital, bought a printer, labels, packaging, products, and contacted a freight forwarder (after all, if you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools). At the beginning, I chose household items, but the average order value was a bit low. I selected a dozen products and began to test the market (now I think about the loss of not having a supply chain, and there is still no accumulation). At that time, the CPC per click was already very high. Before, when I worked in the company, I didn't feel sorry for selling my father's land. I could do whatever I wanted since it was not mine. At worst, I could just change to another company. But when it came to me, I was so afraid that I would be afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind. After five clicks, I felt that the order should be placed. I have ordered more than ten times and still no order has been placed. It's really killing me.

This category didn’t work either. More than a dozen products all fell into oblivion, and none of them took off. It was a big blow to my self-confidence. At that time, I didn’t think of plagiarizing the products of the company I had worked for before. I was not ruthless. Then I chose five more products to test the waters. They were still as stable as before. I couldn’t go back to work (I did go there for a while to seriously learn about operations and product selection, and also to hone my increasingly impetuous heart)

I didn’t have the habit of reviewing my past experiences before. Whether I was working in finance or cross-border business, I suffered losses in this regard. I still have to learn how to review my past experiences, really!!!

In 2019, I selected several products from multiple categories. I made whatever was popular. I used my own operational knowledge to select products with good trends in some categories (now I know it is called distribution). I did both overseas warehouses and self-delivery. Gradually, I received some orders (advertising is still my weakness, and I still can’t start well). But as we all know, more serious things are coming. Damn, I didn’t expect the epidemic to last for three years! Masks! Masks! Masks!

On the second day of the New Year of 2020, the county issued a notice to close the highway, the supermarket, and every intersection. On the fourth day of the New Year, there was another new notice. No one was allowed to go out. For daily shopping, each family could only send one person out, and they also needed to register. Later, it was changed to require a registration certificate to go out. Emmm, I can’t say more below, it’s a bit sensitive, so let’s get to the point. Every day, I see orders coming in, but the inventory is decreasing, because at that time I didn’t realize the seriousness of the out-of-stock situation, let alone self-delivery. I returned them one by one to others, and they all returned to performance. Some FBA links are out of stock, and the ranking is visibly falling every day. I didn’t expect it to be closed for so long. I stayed at home until April before I was allowed to go out. At one point, I wondered why God only favored me. Am I really not suitable for starting a business? I have been stumbling and struggling for so long, and just when I can make up for the previous losses, I have to fail again. I am really unwilling to accept it! ! !

(Can anyone with advertising experience give me some advice? I’ll pay you to learn, as long as it works) The more I write, the more I get excited. I can’t find words to describe my previous depression. Because of the irresistible reasons of natural disasters and man-made disasters (I don’t know if it’s true or not), it’s useless to review the situation. I can only say that I can get back as much as I can. I should think about how much I can make up for the loss this time, what to do next, and whether I should continue to do this business. (Because I have to survive, the money I owed at this time exceeded one million. My family didn’t dare to tell them, and they always thought I was working honestly)

"Wonderful Reply"

Anonymous user

Agree with: Zhiyong's Yong, WuShuang2233, ZGYjuaner123, Andy Chats about Cross-border, Oh Hayo123 More »

The original poster, the advertising data is not bad. Yes, maybe there is room for optimization if it is operated by experienced people, but honestly, the average customer order is $50, the average CPC is only $0.4, and the Acos is 20%, with stable orders. The original poster's product track makes those operators with CPC of two or three dollars drool with envy. Of course, we also have to look at the original poster's real profit margin.

Looking at the poster's story, there isn't really any major detour to speak of, so is it that the poster's cash flow can no longer sustain itself, or is it that the product itself is not profitable?

This is the world of business, where ability, financial resources and luck are all factors. For the same achievement, the OP may be reflecting on his life, but for others who are used to struggling, it may not be a topic of conversation.

"Some people are poor first and then rich; some are old and strong but not weak. Some are full of articles but fail to pass the imperial examination when they are old; some are talented but little learned but pass the imperial examination at a young age. Palace maidens in the deep courtyards, when their luck runs out, become prostitutes and concubines; some are beautiful prostitutes, when their time comes, they become wives." I would like to share this sentence from "Han Yao Fu" with you to encourage each other.

Anonymous user

Agree with: Alphagou, Huahan Li Gang, rainco, I am a handsome guy with explosive sales, Dabao 6666 more »

You have been doing this for four years from 20 years to now. Have you been losing money every year? We cannot tell anything from your advertising data. The purchasing power in Europe is not as strong as that in Europe and the United States. What's more, your average order value is still high at around €80, so your advertising data is actually acceptable.

Well, since advertising has little impact on your profits, then based on your description, you now owe more than one million yuan. If it is all calculated as "W loan", the annual interest would be at least 150,000 yuan. Your product probably doesn't lose much in a year. I think the factor that causes your debt to grow has a lot to do with interest.

"A car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars won't sell for much money even if you want to." Your current cost of living should be quite high. Combined with your previous experience, the car is probably a BBA or something like that. The one-year maintenance cost plus the interest on your debt size is almost beyond your ability to bear.

Therefore, I would like to give you my personal advice. If you really want to get out of debt, you should first consider disposing of your car. At present, the car is a consumable item for you, which consumes your limited funds. Although it can't be sold for much money, it can save money that you will spend on it in the future! This is what you need to consider! If you are still borrowing to pay off loans with a balance of more than one million, then it is most reasonable to stop as soon as possible.

If this suggestion is reasonable, you can save at least 150,000 yuan in extra expenses every year. If you can adjust the store to make positive profits in the future, you will be closer to the day of paying off the debt completely. . .

Anonymous user   • United States • 4 days ago

19 A8L 50 TFSI If you want it, I'll sell it. It's had a few scratches, but no major repairs. The car is in pretty good condition.

Quantum Society   • Shenzhen • 4 days ago

This guy is really a down-to-earth person. He has considered all aspects, especially the debt. The method of paying off the debt with credit cards and loans is really not easy to pay off. It will only get bigger and bigger. If there is an online loan, it is recommended to pay off the online loan first. You can negotiate with the bank for the longest installment of the credit card. If you really can't pay it back, you can wait for a while to deal with it. But online loans may be difficult to negotiate! Amazon can achieve what it has now, so it shouldn't be a big loss. So the top priority is to sort out and solve the debt problem as soon as possible.

Anonymous user

Agree from: Li Gang from Huahan, rainco, EE0401, schneider123, weixin65047 more »

I have also worked at Amazon for 3 years. I started a partnership before I was fully prepared (not enough knowledge). Not to mention that my partner gambled away due to debts, the company also owed a lot of money. I asked my parents for some money, and the store is now turning around and making a little profit every month (not enough to cover my salary). I am still working in other companies and paying off my debts bit by bit.

Quantum Society • Shenzhen • 4 days ago

Come on, many of my colleagues have come this far, you are doing great, you are actively facing and solving problems, and the store is profitable, and I am working to earn my two cents, and the debt is reduced a little bit, which is really good?

Anonymous User • Yangjiang • 4 days ago

@Quantum Society : Life must go on, and hard work and learning are the only way. Let's work hard together.

willia m888 • Guangdong • 3 days ago

Work to pay off debts +1
I worked in a company for 2 years and saved some money. In the 3rd year, I went out on my own and put all my money into it. I was in debt. Now I am back to work. The most important thing for a small seller is profit. What is your purpose in advertising? If you are pursuing profit, ACOS is less than gross profit margin. If you are pursuing ad ranking, don't pay attention to ACOS, look at the homepage display ratio and homepage ad position. If you want good ad data, use some long-tail keywords and pay attention to ROI. The same indicator has different standards for different purposes, so it cannot be generalized.

Amazon Tobiching   -Small sellers focusing on Amazon self-delivery

Agree with: SuperK

My situation is similar to that of the original poster. I am also about to enter my thirties. Regarding the original poster's situation, I would like to share my views on the following points. I hope they will be helpful to you.

1. Let's talk about the advertising data first. In fact, from the only screenshots of advertising data, the overall advertising performance is still good. The key issue that needs to be broken through is the conversion rate (of course, I also know that the conversion rate will be relatively low due to the high average order value). Compare it with the conversion rate of competitors. In addition, does the questioner have multiple stores? You can try multiple stores and multiple SKUs to increase your overall exposure and occupy more spots;

2. I personally think that although there are indeed objective stages of "easy to do" and "difficult to do", if you are determined to start a business on your own, you must give yourself enough confidence and courage, and don't let the so-called "difficult to do" affect you. Remember that the best time to plant trees was ten years ago, and the second best time is now;

3. Funding problem. It seems that the blogger has encountered funding problems? (The article is too long and my memory is not good). As an individual seller, fund management is a very important link. It is recommended that you focus on the 5 links with the highest return on investment in your store first, and stabilize the funds step by step.

Su Shiyu - Please give me a thumbs up!!

Agree from: Six Little Walnuts, ScottL

At first glance, acos looks good, but if you look closely, most ads don’t convert very well. . . First, give enough budget to the ad with the best conversion (the one at the bottom); second, check the performance of the ads with particularly poor conversions, and if the click-through rate, keywords, and ad positions are not good, turn them off; finally, if the conversion rate of the remaining ad groups is more than 8%, and the keywords and ad positions are good, you can try to optimize them again.

Don't be too anxious and calm down. First, you need to sort out your thoughts and pick one or two products that are okay. For individual sellers, profits must be guaranteed first. The performance of advertising is the continuous increase in traffic and conversion to stability. Based on these two points, analyze what is more needed at different stages of the product. Exposure and traffic are more needed in the new product period, and conversion and profit are prioritized in the stable period. Advertising is a tool. For example, if you want exposure and traffic in the new product period, think about whether it is easier to get it automatically or manually. Should you choose broad, phrase or precise? There is no template to use. The key is to make a list to make a plan and record and review regularly, because working alone is not like working with rules. It is easy to act casually and lose self-control, your thinking will be scattered, and your behavior will be blind and panic. As for e-commerce, out-of-stock and bad reviews are all normal. Keep a normal mind and keep going. Come on ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ

GOTOGOON - 96AMZ-Boy

Agree from: 哦哈哟123 、 ZWBYLMJ 、 zt0000

The impact of masks is actually not that bad, with both advantages and disadvantages, and the overall cross-border volume has also benefited a lot. I agree with the post owner's review, I am not afraid of past mistakes, I am afraid of not learning from them. Not falling into the same pit twice is the most important thing on the road of going it alone.

Regarding advertising, there is actually no fixed routine. Different sellers and different categories have different goals and strategies. In general, it is "how much money to spend and how to spend it more effectively". How much to spend depends on your budget. There must be an upper limit and stop losses in time. Don't rush blindly.

The most effective way is to test. For the same category, you can open different ads for several products with different adjustment ideas. There is always the most suitable one. If not, it is a problem of the category. Going it alone and spending your own money does have a different mentality, so "planning and reviewing" are indispensable.

winnie

Agree from: Cheng Aiying loves Amazon

How should I put it? The OP is a man of both courage and strategy, but his luck is a little off. He also doesn't quite understand the impact of out-of-stock situations, and hasn't prepared for a rainy day. However, no one could have imagined the sudden outbreak of the epidemic. Our products (consumables) were selling like hot cakes during the epidemic. It may be because of different categories and different destinies. In addition, from the advertising point of view, it looks okay at first glance. We can only slowly reduce the acos, shut down when necessary, deny when necessary, and it is best to increase the natural traffic so that orders can be placed without advertising. The products can be appropriately reduced to maintain 5-10 profitable and potential SKUs to reduce cost investment. As for the car, it feels that it is not very useful at present and it is still a consumable. Sell it if you can, reduce unnecessary expenses, and when it is profitable to pay off the loan, the car can be returned. To be honest, unmarried people without children still have the opportunity to try and fail, but married people with children who try and fail, if they fail, it is called a disaster, keep it up, the original poster

Anonymous user

I only wrote about the situation in 2019 and 2020, but nothing was written between 2020 and 2024. I don't know why?

1. Is the advertising data provided 20 years old or the most recent? How long is the advertising data? I run a US site, and my advertising has always been poor. I think the overall ACOS is not that bad. I run a US site, and my ACOS is much higher than the original poster's, and both are profitable. Moreover, I sell low-priced products, while the original poster's products are basically very expensive. Moreover, the European FBA fees and storage fees are lower than those in the United States. In theory, the profits in Europe should be much higher than those in the United States.

2. The poster started in 2019, when there was less competition. And the poster has been doing it for 5 or 6 years. After so many years, even if you are lucky, you should be able to come up with a few flagship products, right? If a store does not have one or two flagship products, it is impossible for the store to survive for so many years, right? But the poster did not write anything, so how can others analyze it?

Anonymous user

Agree from: Ohhayo123, Huahan Ligang, rainco, ZWBYLMJ, weixin65047

The first priority of working alone is definitely profit, especially in your case, where the first step is to borrow money.

Where can you get money without profit? Second, you have to understand that advertising costs money, so is it possible to get orders without advertising?

As for optimization, the difference between 90 and 95 is not that big, you have to make sure you can make money every day. Finally, if you have some spare money, you should deal with your debts.

After all, interest is also money. Cars and other things should be sold when necessary. The store doesn’t have any new products. It’s better to collect the money first and settle the interest, both of which are profitable.

Anonymous user

Agree with: Oh Ha Yo 123, The former edge is smoothed by life, ZWBYLMJ

If you spend money to learn advertising, you can only learn some open knowledge points. It is better to explore on your own (in addition, the advertising data of the poster is already very good, so the proportion of advertising must not be that high). I think that compared with those fancy strategies, no matter how they change, they still have to make money. Many people talk about various strategies very well, but in the end they lose a lot of money. So the main thing is to believe in yourself and selectively learn from others to find a strategy that suits your product.