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I am a product designer. I registered on Amazon in October 2020 to kill time. Then I slowly explored it. It has been more than 3 years now. In the past year, Amazon has been able to support itself. It couldn't support itself before.
I have been working alone for the past three years. I only stick to one category. Although I have other categories now, they are also peripheral related categories. Because it is one category, the things are relatively simple, and I can handle all the design, mold making, product production, and packaging by myself. Sometimes when I don’t want to pack, I find a part-time worker.
What level have I achieved? The money I earn is only enough to maintain basic living expenses. If there is a little surplus, I will prepare stocks and develop new products. It feels like working for myself. I have free time. But the pressure is very high. I am very entangled. Pressure from suppliers, internal friction, and inability to make a choice. Sometimes I am really fed up with this kind of life. A bad mentality is also a huge reason.
Starting a business is like fighting monsters and leveling up, and solving problems when they arise. When enemies come, we will fight them; when water comes, we will block it with earth. But every time I feel particularly entangled, a small matter is magnified by me, and it becomes a big deal, which consumes myself excessively.
Sometimes a product will have some problems after it is made, but you can try to test it in small batches first. However, I was entangled in this and made myself suffer a lot. I still couldn't solve it but I was unwilling to give up, wasting a lot of time.................
After the product is shipped, it is time to run the product and advertise. I won’t talk about myself, I am totally at a loss. It would be great if there was an advertising formula, I could just apply it. If there is no advertising formula, I don’t want to spend time on it, because it makes me exhausted and entangled. Sometimes when sales drop or advertising costs too much, I break down...
Because I was obsessed with this category, I was quite attentive at first and often shipped it out as soon as possible. The response speed and time point were still quite fast. After the product had problems, I would correct it in time, and even start over from scratch, but it seemed that I always fell in the same place, or I would not turn back even if I hit the wall. Because it has not been getting better, my passion has been worn out.
I don't know how to go on in the future
Partnering with others? Why am I so worthy? What do they want from me?
Hiring? I just earn enough to feed myself, how can I support another person?
It seems that there are only two options: just keep going, or continue to develop new products.
I completely transformed into a TO B business. Because I was interested in developing products, not TO C. But this was a fresh start. If I developed too many products, the supply chain and stocking would be a huge challenge for me. I even had no food to eat at the beginning.
"Wonderful Reply"
Jim, a product developer - an experienced product developer who is learning operations Agree with: Brother-in-law's crew cut, Dabai needs to work harder, the endless falling leaves rustle down, rabbits make small money, Guangzhou native Xiao K more » My friend, let me share my own experience with you. I have tried Amazon twice, failed both times, and now I am preparing to try it for the third time.
There were many reasons for my previous failures. The first time, I just felt that I didn’t have enough energy and time to operate the business. Then my products didn’t sell well, so I quit. I sold the account, and the second time I partnered with a friend, but the account broke the rules and died, so I stopped doing it again.
Actually, I can't give you a solution to the problems you encounter, but I think I can give you a sentence. Your mentality determines your upper limit. When your mentality is particularly unstable, it is difficult not to doubt your past decisions. In this way, your internal friction is actually greater than Amazon's actual losses.
The second is that the amount of capital determines the scale of investment, and the scale determines the upper limit of the store size.
A Taobao store selling clothes will invest about 100,000 RMB in the first half of the year. If we can have one or two stable products on Amazon, the investment will probably be more than this amount. And what is the success rate of product development? 20% is already good. I have previously developed 49 ASINs, of which only 50% had a positive gross profit and only 17% had the expected gross profit. After hearing this, do you think you are doing well? he r0hua • Shenzhen • 21 hours ago Thanks for sharing. Your mindset determines your limit! I will adjust my mindset... and be an indestructible cockroach!
Three V's won't Agree with: Chunxiaxiaoxiao, her0hua, MilesLU, Erguotou, I am so awesome More » Excuse me for being blunt, but the OP's current state is totally unsuitable for starting a business. His writing gives people the feeling of self-pity. Even though he knows his problems, he is unwilling to face them. He knows that advertising is his shortcoming but he has not tried to solve it. He just complains that there is no ready-made formula. If there is a formula for making money, it only means that someone is trying to cheat you.
The second is to go it alone. It seems that one person has solved all the links, but in fact, he will exhaust himself. Doing everything may mean that he will only try a little. One's energy is always limited, and just packing can exhaust all your energy.
It may not sound nice, but I really want to help you. As long as you want to solve the problem you are facing, there must be a way.
The advice I can give is to take some time to settle down. If you have any questions about advertising, talk to others and ask for advice. If that doesn’t work, learn while working. If you only work on one category, talk to local Amazon sellers and learn from them. Go out more often instead of working in isolation.
The most important thing is to adjust your own state first, and then consider other things, whether it is going out to make new friends or exercising like hiking. This is what I think should be solved first. Stop internal friction and do whatever you think of immediately. Long-legged cute chicken • Shenzhen • 23 hours ago Advertising methods are constantly changing. The old methods are not suitable for today. Only by constantly taking root in the industry and learning new methods can you make money in it.
Three V 's will not • Anhui • 22 hours ago @长腿萌鸡: Yes, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. You need to keep learning so as not to be eliminated.
her 0hua • Shenzhen • 21 hours ago Thanks for your advice, I'll adjust my mindset first.
Three V's will not • Anhui • 20 hours ago @her0hua : You're welcome. I'd like to remind you of a few points. You can try to optimize each link currently on sale. Observe the competitor's title, main image, five points, and A+ to make optimization adjustments. Only start advertising when you feel you have made adjustments. Otherwise, it will be a waste of energy and you will constantly fall into a vicious cycle of self-denial. If you have any questions about the advertisement, you can ask them without asking. You can also ask them for a fee. In short, there must be a positive trend, so that you will have a better mentality and more confidence in yourself.
A small seller • Shenzhen • 17 hours ago @三人v的不会: Thank you for your comments. I see a lot of positive energy in this answer, which fully demonstrates your subjective initiative.
Three V 's will not • Anhui • 2 hours ago @A small seller : You're welcome. I'm very happy to be able to inspire and help others. I think the difficulties and setbacks I'm facing now are temporary and are opportunities. As long as we overcome them, the results will not disappoint us.
Guangzhou native Xiao K - a cross-border rookie~ Agree with: her0hua, study study KK123, why is the prime minister laughing I personally believe that the core competitiveness of product development lies in the supply chain. Whether it is design-based development like LZ or market-based development, it ultimately depends on the supply chain.
The difference is that the former builds a strong supply chain by itself, while the latter establishes a stable supply chain through accumulation of factory operations.
The former is relatively more focused on one category, but correspondingly loses the energy for rapid expansion.
The final iteration of a product from design to marketing is all within one category or related categories. If the entire category is incremental, it is still good. If it is in the stage of competing for existing products, when the difference in product strength is not particularly large, it may be more of a marketing contest. However, investment in product design will inevitably reduce the energy of marketing on the market side. Therefore, when you have absolute confidence in your own products, I believe that this model needs to be supported by strong marketing and capital to achieve the effect of deeply rooting in the category.
The latter, relatively speaking, focuses on market analysis and marketing , which will be more difficult in the early stage when there is a lack of a stable supply chain. However, if the supply chain resources are integrated through long-term accumulation, the competitiveness of the product design can be compensated and the product line can be extended more rapidly. The difficulty lies in the control of the supply chain in the early stage .
If you thoroughly understand the supply chain, you will know which factory has the best R&D and quality control capabilities, which supplier your competitors use to make their products, the quality of their products, and the price range of your own products in the supply chain. This is how you can win every battle if you know yourself and your enemy. The effort you put into marketing is nothing more than clarifying your own market positioning, defining the customer group portrait, and taking targeted promotion measures.
In short, LZ can consider transforming to the latter type of development. With sufficient understanding of product design, he can better estimate product costs and suffer less losses in the supply chain. He can also consider transforming to TO B. I don’t know much about this aspect and cannot give any advice. he r0hua • Shenzhen • 20 hours ago This year the supply chain feels like it has lagged behind a lot. We spent a lot of time and energy but didn’t get good factory support because the first order was too small and the cost was too high!
Guangzhou native Xiao K • Guangzhou • 19 hours ago @her0hua : Factories also look at the number of orders and evaluate your strength based on your order turnover. It is recommended to choose a good category and then dive in, screening out the top factories with strong strength. Don't rush to lower the price in the early stage, cooperation is paramount, do a good job in marketing, place small quantities and multiple orders, and slowly increase the depth of cooperation.
Anonymous user
Agree from: her0hua The main advantage of the topic is the product, the following is for reference only:
Turn around and invest in the product end of the supply chain, so that you are only responsible for product development and production can be handed over to the factory.
To B, the questioner also knows that if customer acquisition is solved, one or two products can survive well. So the problem lies in customer acquisition, which is also a technical job.
Set up your own product design studio, and you can refer to the domestic first-class product design institutes.
h er0hua • Shenzhen • 21 hours ago I used to work in a design studio, and finally I jumped out to make products. I have been working on 1688 for two years. It is indeed difficult to acquire customers. I have to constantly develop new products to attract customers.
Blingbling33 Agree from: Jim who does product I have some suggestions for your reference:
If you know design, you can take some private orders to provide product design for some small companies or factories. It can also be regarded as making some extra money for yourself, depending on your schedule.
Find a class, you can find one with similar purpose as yours, or a different category, it depends on your purpose. This way you can also accumulate some funds for yourself.
To maintain the store products, you can slow down the pace. Excuse me for being frank, but if you want to make more money on Amazon now, you need to have corresponding funds to leverage it, so there is no need to rush or waste time. The main thing is to make money from multiple aspects to pave the way for future opportunities.
Jim who makes products • Suzhou • 22 hours ago Indeed, Amazon’s capital threshold is objectively existing.
he r0hua • Shenzhen • 21 hours ago Thank you for your advice! I have too many products to develop, and I like to tinker with them! I really don’t have time to take orders and do design, unless it’s for old customers! I haven’t received any orders for a year... I can survive! The pace really needs to be slowed down... It’s better to be steady, I’m a little anxious in the second half of the year.
lin baishui • Shenzhen • 19 hours ago I am a developer and have only been in this industry for 1 year. I have not yet found a product that can be popular without relying on operations. According to my current understanding, either the product can really solve the user's pain points, in which case development accounts for 70% of the success and operations account for 30%. However, if the product is just a little differentiating but not very innovative, operations and development still account for 50% and 50%. This is just my personal opinion.
Princess, Please Go to Work - The Real Life of the Post-80s Generation... Agree from: her0hua If you have the ability to develop, I think you should make high-quality products, not just mass-produce them. Carefully carve out a product, and pay close attention to the details. Once the product is done, making money will come naturally. Don't expect that you will always make money by quickly developing new products and mass-produced them. This is a wrong way of thinking. If you successfully develop a hit product, and it is a common daily necessity in life, you can make millions or tens of millions of dollars a year. her0hua • Shenzhen • 20 hours ago Now all we do is differentiated appearance, or it is a niche product that few people make!
Night clear candlelight - Product development for post-90s (high-quality) It's a bit similar to me. I started out as a product designer. I research the market, design, make molds, draw pictures, pack, operate, and ship. It's basically all done by one person. It's also a single category. It's very easy to do. The drawing is now outsourced, and the goods are also hired by hourly workers. It's not a problem to support a family. Although I don't earn much, it's better than working as a worker. The products have their own advantages. This may be because they are all designers. her 0hua • Shenzhen • 18 hours ago Well, I'm more tired than you! I still make the pictures myself now! To save some money... But the pictures I make myself may not be as good as those made by outsourced!
Anonymous user
I personally think that the entire e-commerce industry is now an asset-heavy industry. Without large financial support and a stable supply chain, it is indeed difficult to do business.
Plus the market has been going downhill since 2021
You can consider finding a full-time job and running your own shop part-time to slow down the pace.
her0hua • Shenzhen • 21 hours ago Looking for a full-time job, but I don't know how to position myself... designer? developer? I'm getting old, so it's less tiring to do something I like.
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