A small operation with half a year of experience, recording the process of working alone on Amazon from selecting items for 1688 in May to making a net profit of 60,000 yuan in November...

Preface

I joined Amazon half a year ago, and I made two or three hits on the BS list in North America and Europe. In May, many of the company's main accounts were blocked, and after a notice meeting, layoffs began. My team leader and I chose to work on Amazon on our own. After considering my personal situation, including savings, family, and acceptable losses, I felt that I should just give it a go.
 
I registered my company and account at the end of May, and coincidentally, the Amazon Consumer Act triggered a wave of account audits. I didn’t receive the store closure notice until mid-June, and the trademark receipt also came, followed by brand registration. I don’t know why the same set of information was rejected twice. I asked the trademark registration person for the third time, and they told me to just upload a product picture. Inexplicably, it was approved in the end. I think brand registration depends on how strict the reviewers on Amazon are.
 
I placed an order with the 1688 factory and the first batch of goods was shipped on June 30. The sea freight will not arrive until the end of July. I will update the follow-up after the goods arrive. . . .
 
 
Updated on August 9:
 
I was busy with the first batch of goods in July. I just logged into Zhiwubuyan today and suddenly there were a lot more replies. I have been very busy recently and forgot that I wrote this post.
 
Let me first give an overview of my recent state of affairs. After resigning, I feel very fulfilled and busy. I feel that my life is now my own. Before, when I was working, I felt that my life was just work, and my days off revolved around work.

The July goods arrived at the warehouse a week late due to the strike negotiations of UPS, which is about 22 days in normal time limit. At present, there are eight new products. After one week of promotion, the performance of two new products is OK, with good click-through conversion. The unit price is 30 US dollars. Recently, the store has about 10 orders per day, and the advertising consumption is about 40 US dollars per day. The profit and loss are almost equal. Later, I will prepare a large batch of low-priced products. Because my price is relatively high, I want to push it to the goal of more than 10 orders later. The other six products are Halloween test models, and I will wait for the time node to promote them.
 
From the end of July to today, apart from launching two new products, I have been selecting products almost all the time. I am so busy every day that I feel I don’t have enough time. I contacted the factory today to make samples. It is estimated that 1,000 pieces will be shipped by the end of this month, with a total of about 20 new products. The cost of 1,000 pieces is about 13,000 (plus shipping costs).
 

Answer questions from netizens in the comment section

1. Some basic questions about opening a store and selecting products. You can search in forums and on the Internet. I found someone to register a company, got the license in 3 days, registered an account more than a week later, and then registered a US trademark for 2,600. After 20 days, I registered the brand, was rejected several times, and finally passed. The next step is to select products, find factories and freight forwarders online.
 
2. Many people say that they start working on their own in half a year just to gain experience. Because the category they choose is quite special, it is the kind of product that you will definitely make stable sales if you concentrate on researching it. So they quit their jobs and start working while they are young and energetic.
 
3. The main pictures a+ of all products are made by me and my partner together, so the conditions are better in this regard.
 
4. I ship 50 units of each new product, and then if they are sold, I can directly replenish them by air + sea transportation.
 
---------The current situation is as above, I will update it next time friends---------

Update December 1:

Four months have passed and I am now running two stores. The products were almost out of stock in September. The net profit in October was 40,000, 60,000 in November, and the profit in December was estimated to be around 30,000 due to seasonal items. However, the tasks for the second half of the year have exceeded my goals. I am very glad to resign this year. I am very satisfied with my current life. I can do whatever I want. The most important thing is that I have a direction and goal to strive for.

The author is a pure white hat, and a small seller with small capital. I am very satisfied with a profit of 60,000 to 70,000 a month. So the following operations are to maintain this profit to develop, and will not take risks with large funds to pursue super high returns. My current net profit rate is 30 points (minus the first leg return). The most troublesome problem at present is that Amazon warehouse receives too slowly. If I am lucky, it will be fast, but if I am unlucky, it will not be signed for after a month.

Now I am busy making products for next year. I expect to ship about 30,000 this month. The sales target for January is 40,000. I hope to stabilize at 60,000+ in the second half of next year...

Upload the performance of two stores in November. The gross profit margin of my products is OK.

Although I started preparing in May, the first batch of goods arrived in August and sold for a month. In September, there was almost no stock for the whole month, and the goods were on the way. In August, I registered another store. The two stores started to receive stable orders in October. The net profit in October was more than 40,000 yuan, and in November it was 60,000 yuan, and this was under the premise that several products were out of stock.

Others think it is very simple, but it is actually very hard work. I hardly left the community gate in August and September. I stayed in the house every day to select products. At first, I asked others to make pictures, and then I learned PS to make pictures myself. I worked 15 hours a day and my work efficiency was super high. So the success rate of the products I developed is also quite high.