How we make money while traveling: The Amazon Method
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How we make money while traveling: The Amazon Method

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The Amazon Method: Buying Hot Products from Alibaba & Selling them on Amazon under your Own Brand.

  • This post is an overview of the Amazon FBA process
  • FAQ: What’s the best way to get started & do this?
    • I break it down to 2 ways to build an online business these days: either…
      • watch tons of YouTube Videos
      • or buy a course and follow it

The Amazon Method is the most common way I’ve found travelers are making real money online right now. I was trying to figure out how to make money online for 2 years before I found out about this.. You can read a little about the story of how we got here.

FYI: The Amazing Selling Machine is an online masters course that costs $3500 to enroll that teaches how to sell hot products on Amazon. Our friends here in Chiang Mai are enrolled so we learned with them. It’s a bunch of videos and PDF’s that walks you thru everything. (Update: you really don’t need this course tho, it’s really not that complicated relative to other businesses, and there are plenty of free resources and podcasts online that go over every possible question. And you can ask me! X)

BTW: There is a chapter in The 4-Hour Workweek on private labeling/importing, I prefer the audiobook. (secret download link)  … if you have not read it, GET THE BOOK OR AUDIOBOOK NOW! This book is the BIBLE in SEAsia for online people and travelers around the world! It starts with the right mindset! And knowing what’s possible! ….

Update January 2018;)

We did over $250,000 in Amazon sales in 2016 (4 products in the US)

We did over $500,000 in Amazon sales in 2017 (4 products in the US 1 in Europe)

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UPDATE! – October 18, 2015: After launching our first product in July, we are selling 10-15 units a day on Amazon right now (about net $10 profit per sale after the cost of the unit, shipping to US and amazon fees), and we just placed our second 1000 unit order for this one, and our first 1000 unit order for our second product launching soon!

Here is our sales volume from the past month (our product sells at $39.99) and units ordered in the past week (10/15/2015)

As you can see, we make between 10-15 sales a day right now on Amazon, and it’s only halfway thru the day on Saturday right now.

UPDATE SHOPPING SEASON 2015 – DEC 20th: Sold 149 units in one day! (Biggest day, Sunday before Christmas)

amazon-method-christmas-sales

Our First Year sales: Over $200,000 (Aug 2015-Aug 2016)

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Here we are working in a café slash co-working place called NEST the other day in Ho Chi Minh City Aka Saigon, Vietnam. We came here after Chiang Mai cuz it’s another digital nomad hotspot. Read more about why here: http://www.createandbereal.com/travel/

Ok, on with the blog post I originally wrote back in April when we were learning this whole thing.

The Amazon Philosophy:

Amazon.com is the biggest store in America. Think of all the people inside every Costco in the US put together, more people than that are on Amazon.com shopping for stuff every day. There’s SO much volume going through each day, that all you have to be is one of the top 10 sellers or so of a hot selling item, and that amounts to thousands in profit each month.

We know several guys in Chiang Mai right now that are crushing with this, meaning doing more than 4k in profit a month. A few are doing more than 10k a month in less than a year. It’s more automated than selling off your own website because Amazon handles everything – warehousing, orders, shipping, and even customer service.

All you have to focus on is an awesome product listing page in a hot selling market. We’re just jumping into an existing waterfall of sales and just getting our slice of pie. There’s so much volume that there’s plenty to go around.

how to sell on amazon - livin that life

1) Product Research

FINDING WHAT TO BUY&SELL: The Hardest (and Longest) Part

This is the longest and most difficult part. It takes weeks of combing thru Amazon.com and Alibaba.com to find a product opportunity.

This should take at least a month in my opinion!

“Creating demand is hard. Filling demand is easier.  Find a market – then find or develop a product for them.” – Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

RESOURCES I USE:

  • Product research spreadsheet template that I made that you can download here (download as .xls file then re-upload to Google sheets to edit it.
  • Viral Launch – Product research & sales data analyzer
  • Search Volume tool: Viral Launch – Viral Launch now has this! A must have. Estimates monthly search term volume. Crucial.

Product Criteria:

  • $19.99-$49.99 range – this is the ‘impulse buy’ price range for shoppers. (IMO, selling in the upper range of this is better.)
  • Something ranked high in the top 1000 in Best-sellers in a Top-Level Category (e.g. Sports & Outdoors, Home & Kitchen)
  • Top sellers have ideally less than 400 reviews (not too dominating)
  • Competitors are selling a lot (have high BSR, best-seller ranking) but relatively low number of sellers with over 400 reviews or so
    • Opportunity to overtake the competition in number of reviews
    • Picture yourself around 100 reviews – do you sell 10/day
    • Aiming for 10 sales a day (at LEAST)
  • Lightweight and easy to print your logo on it
  • The goal is to double your money: e.g. $10 to buy & ship each unit -> $20 payout from Amazon per sale. (Amazon takes around 25-30% per sale, so aim to sell at $29.99 if your product+shipping cost is $10.

How to comb thru Amazon looking for Product Opportunities (the shitty and boring part):

comb-desert

Go to the ‘Amazon Best Sellers’ page to find the Hottest Products to sell.

The journey starts on this famous page! –> https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers/zgbs

amazon best sellers page - fba private label - livin that lfie
The Amazon Best-Sellers page
  • Click on the categories that interest you first and browse the top 100 best sellers in each. (It’s more fun if it’s something you have used before or resonates with you, but that won’t always be the case)
  • Go thru the sub-categories to dig deeper below the top 100
  • When you find a product you like that fits the criteria, search the main keyword for it in the Amazon search bar.
  • If the first page of results doesn’t look too dominated by 3 or more listings with 1000+ reviews, or more than 5 with 400+ reviews…

unicorn smasher fba sales - livin that life

  • Use the Viral Launch Extension to gather estimated sales data for that first page.
    • Trying to find the sweet spot between the # of reviews, revenue, & monthly sales volume.
    • You are looking for niches that have listings selling over 300 in Est Sales with LESS than 100 reviews.
    • Picture yourself at 100 reviews off the bat after your $1 coupon review blasts… Will you be selling 10+/day? If no one is selling 300/mo with under 100 reviews, then there’s not enough sales volume in that category… Move on!
    • 10+ sales/day is the GOAL. (Est sales 300+)
  • In a google spreadsheet, keep track of the data
  • I have a spreadsheet template that I made that you can download here
  • AVOID these categories: (Says the ASM guys)
  • Automotive & Powersports
  • Apps
  • Books, e-books
  • Clothing, Accessories & Luggage
  • Collectible Books
  • Entertainment Collectibles
  • Gift Cards
  • Industrial & Scientific
  • Jewelry
  • Magazines
  • MP3’s
  • Shoes, Handbags & Sunglasses
  • Sports Collectibles
  • Toys & Games (holiday approval products only)
  • Watches

2) Buy in bulk from Alibaba.com

The ‘Wholesale Amazon’ – direct from factories in China 

After you have found a top-ranked product that has relatively medium competition (every product will have competition, but competition is good in this method), but the top few guys have relatively low reviews, and there’s potential to get yours up there into the top 10 best ones, at least.

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Alibaba.com homepage

We source from Alibaba.com – it’s surprisingly easy.

  • You are chatting or emailing with one Chinese girl, preferably from your business email as the CEO/Lead Buyer of a big US company, intending to do serious volume.
  • You order a test sample to your house
  • You have them print your logo on it, and possibly on the packaging too
  • You place a minimum ‘test’ order of whatever you can afford (usually around 100-500 units depending on how cheap it is), which is usually much less than their official ‘MOQ’, but you call it a ‘test’ order.
  • They ship the box directly to Amazon, and they warehouse and ship everything out automatically.
  • Take the photos with a friend’s camera on a white backdrop, pay for 3D digital renditions and/or send your final product to a pro photographer on on Fiverr/Upwork.

3) Get quick reviews to get in the game

HOW WE COMPETE OFF THE BAT: THE BLAST STRATEGY

AMAZON IS THE LARGEST SHOPPING SEARCH ENGINE IN THE WORLD.

Amazon wants to show you the best possible product for what you are searching for. What shows up on the first page is based on REVIEWS and SALES VELOCITY (Sales in the past 24 hours, aka how Hot the product is). 

How we get reviews and sales fast, to quickly appear high in search rankings:

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example of a Facebook Amazon Review Group

*New Review Policy: As of October 2016*

DISCOUNTED ORDERS are NO LONGER ELIGIBLE to REVIEW PRODUCTS.

So… We used to do the 95% off coupon method. But now, it’s plausible that sellers will start using the FLASH DEAL method. Instead of offering coupons to your small group of reviewers that opted in to review your product via a Facebook Review Group, you will just lower the listing price to 95% off for a short period of time, say 3o minutes, and inform your reviewers of that ‘secret deal time’. We haven’t tried it yet, but we are speculating that this may be a possible method.

Overall, I’m not worried about this little change. In the grand scheme of things, someone will find the next best way to get quick verified reviews, and everyone will start adapting that. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s working best after Q4 and adapt it.

  • Immediately give away some units *VIA 30-min FLASH DEALS* for 95% off,
    • Post your product in FACEBOOK REVIEW GROUPS to line up reviewers
    • This will also count as a flood of sales in Amazon, so your ranking will rise fast.
    • The goal is to get to 15+ reviews ASAP FIRST WEEK, then turn on PPC. (15 reviews is the minimum ‘social proof’ needed to sell at a decent conversion rate – so no need to pay for extra clicks until you’re converting at 10%).
    • If you start with a 200 unit test order, give away 30 to get 30 reviews ASAP.
    • After a successful test order (hitting 10 sales/day) and you order 1000, give away another 100 to cross 100 reviews ASAP. (It looks good in shoppers’ minds to have triple-digit reviews – it will increase conversion rate).

Update 2018: Read this about ways to get reviews.

Top 5 Ideas to Get Quick Reviews in 2018 – Amazon FBA Selling

The Strategy: Make your Listing SEXY & Stand Out

Product Listing Strategy: Be Different to Stand Out

  • Catchy and unique LONG title with tons of keywords and sales copy
  • Sexy and unique images (sexy models?)
  • Hard-selling exciting bullet points with major points in CAPS
  • Include free extras / e-book
  • Hard-sell the lifetime guarantee
  • Sexy packaging image (even if it’s not the actual packaging at first)
  • Higher price point than competitors – we’re positioning ourselves as the PREMIUM product

Other (obvious) Marketing stuff: (that we don’t do any of but worth a test)

  • Press releases
  • Social media
  • Get bloggers to blog about your shit

Examples of ‘Amazon Method’-type Product Listings

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example of a good looking Amazon Listing

Example: Our Product

January 20th: Invested $2000 in 300 units

May: Got a loan for $16,000 to order 1,000 units – Launched July 6th.

Our product sells at $39.99.

Margins: Amazon takes 25%, or about $10

= so we are paid out about $30 per sale 

Product cost  = $16 (each unit from Alibaba was $12 + import shipping $4 per unit, about $2/kg typically via Express UPS Air from China to US)

So each sale $39.99 sale gets us about a $30 payout, minus the $16 product we bought = $14 … (but let’s say also $1.00 in PPC ads per sale…. it’s less than that because not every sale comes from a sponsored click, but just to be conservative, lets subtract $1 from the profit from each sale)= about $13 profit per sale

So $13 profit / off a $40 sale = about 33% profit of sale price (…or $13/$30 = 43% profit per payout)

*Amazon Ads are necessary when starting out – and we keep them on all the time, because it makes money – it makes your product show up on the side or the bottom of the first search page as ‘Sponsored’ – and can $1.00 per click or up to $3.00 a click for the really competitive niches, so keep this in mind if you are going into a really competitive niche! It could shave a few bucks off your margin!

Breakdown of Amazon’s FBA fees: in the ‘FBA Calculator’ just type in any product ASIN and they tell you the fees. This is our product below.

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Well below is a snapshot of a recent transaction… Looks like we actually get $29.59 per sale:)

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Below is a screenshot of our bi-weekly payouts from 2016 so far: These are BI-WEEKLY payouts….

Amazon FBA Private Label sales 2016 - The Amazon Method Livin That Life Riley Bennett

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So I did the math, and the average bi-weekly payout so far in 2016 has been $5,543.145… x 2 weeks =  $11,086.29 avg monthly payout. (not counting the last payout b/c we actually got approved for a $12,000 AmazonLending loan so that’s why it says an 18k payout last week on September 13th 🙂

So we get on Average $11,086.29 back from Amazon each month… x 43% profit per payout = $4,767.10 avg. profit per month 🙂

We each pay ourselves a $1,500 monthly living salary for us 2 owners ($3,000 total) = so about $1,767.10 of the profit is saved each month towards new products… So every 6 months we have $10,600 to invest in a new product:) … See, if we didn’t have to pay ourselves we could do that every 2-3 months! ?)

The rest of that ~11k in payouts each month (about $6,300) stays in the account to re-up on existing product inventory.

The Amazon Method Philosophy:

    1. BUILD Something You OWN.
      1. Building an ASSET that you can sell in the future
      2. Not someone else’s product you are just an affiliate of
      3. It’s like a building a rental property! Or a physical store!
        1. You invest in the real estate, the materials to build it, and the inventory, customers come there to shop, you can sell the store any time.
        2. Ryan Moran sold his Amazon business / brand for $1 MILLION after a few years. This is the overall goal of The Amazon Method. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIsHX7vpse9loebbUy45LGooLV6-G1U89
  1.  Be DIFFERENT – STAND OUT.
    1. Add a feature that makes your product UNIQUE
      1. Avoid having the same exact product as another seller
      2. There are always shoppers looking for exactly what you have, that nobody else has.
      3. Go ABOVE AND BEYOND with your listing: BETTER, SEXIER product images, more EXCITING copy, CLEANER graphics, and overall SMARTER marketing will set you apart. Most sellers on Amazon don’t do the extra stuff to stand out.
      4. Adding accessories: The Bundle Method – worked for us (more on that in my course)
  2. Build a BRAND of related products.
    1. Start with one product
    2. Use your profits to start another product in the same category, same target customer
    3. Also use profits to buy more and more inventory at a time, increasing margins
    4. Keep adding products until your monthly cash-flow goals are met
  3. AUTOMATE your Income. FREE up your Life.
    1. If this wasn’t an automated Cash-Flow business, we wouldn’t be doing it. Automation is the whole point.
    2. It’s about freeing your time to do what you want – travel long-term, start a passion business, sleep in, whatever.
    3. After the first year you can outsource customer messages to a VA in the Philippines  – this is not meant to be a time-consuming business – it’s a lifestyle business. All you need to focus on is the Marketing, Managing inventory orders, and Adding New Products.

The 2-5 Year Vision

After your first product is up and running smoothly, you then launch another related product under the same brand. Then launch another, and another.

You are building an actual brand that you can sell in a few years, or build up huge if you want.

Our 2-5 year plan: SELL OUR SMALL BRAND FOR A MILLION BUCKS. 

Ryan Moran did it with ZenActive Yoga Mats.

You OWN a brand-name. That’s the beauty of it. Build a popular enough brand-name and you’re home free.

In summary: This strategy is essentially just jumping into a flood of sales of a product that is already selling off the shelves, and just catching a piece of the pie. There’s so much volume done on Amazon every day, theres plenty of thousands in revenue to go around. The top selling items on Amazon make millions per year.

Aside from getting the startup capital, the hardest part is picking a product opportunity b/c there are so many options, which is why I think its better to just go with something you’re interested in or would personally buy/use.

FAQ:

Can you do this in Australia? 

Yes. You can do this from any country as far as I know, as long as you can set up a US bank account to open your Amazon Seller Account.  I have a few Aussie friends that do this, on Amazon.com.

Did you have doubts about Amazon?

Seeing friends succeed is believing, so, not really….  It’s a relatively safe investment. Even if your product doesn’t sell as hot as expected, it will eventually sell out and you will get your investment back. Even the worst listings on page 15 still sell.  How fast you will make your return on investment is up to your market research and marketing.

How much money did you invest, product, advertising etc?

$2,000 initial investment for 300 units, then got a business loan from a family friend for $16,000 for 1000 units. Also have $1000 for PPC payments for your first month (PPC ad clicks cost are taken every few days directly from your credit card, not deducted from your payout balance, so make sure you have extra cash your first month for that).

Duration till profitable?

    • 3 months til we made our investment back (selling avg 10-15 units a day)
    • We launched mid July, made 17k back from amazon by the end of October (minus PPC spend, maybe a few grand)
    • Holiday season is 2 – 10x the sales
  • Sold 10/day after 2 months, 15/day after 3 months

How long to set it all up?

    • Give yourself around 4 – 6 months from idea to launch
  • We researched our first product opportunity for 1 month, starting December 2014 launched 3 months later in March 2015 (our first prototype test order). Second product launched in 4 months from idea to launch.

Other than money, what else is needed to get started?

    • Ideally, like minded people to do it with
    • People around you on the same mission makes it easier
    • A deep desire to make a location-independent automated income
  • I’m not an online marketing expert by any means. I knew nothing about SEO or internet marketing or importing before October 2014. But I DID really fuckin want to travel long term and not have a job.

Is is a secret? – Eric (how to pick a winning product)

No. There’s no secret to what will sell. You just have to learn from the mistakes of others. Our second try failed because it was not UNIQUE enough. It was the SAME as other products out there. I can’t hammer that home enough.

How safe is Alibaba.com? You or your friends had any negative experience with the Sellers?

Alibaba.com is perfectly safe… It’s just like the Amazon.com for wholesale… Sellers are very professional. You message them within Alibaba.com initially and then take it to emailing back and forth and Skype messenger. They are usually very responsive. Use as many pictures and diagrams as possible when explaining packaging/logo placement/design stuff. I haven’t heard of anything crazy like the supplier never delivered an order or anything like that. It’s actually relatively straightforward. 

Riley, I love your videos and I truly appreciate that you are posting them, but why do you do it? Wouldn’t you want to have less competition? – Rosjalee

I’ve been asked this a few times:) The reality is, there are tens of thousands of product niches, so everyone selling on Amazon is not competing. There’s room for all of us .. (there’s actually very few of us ecommerce ppl in the grand scheme of things anyway;) ..I got into the online game from other bloggers introducing me to what was possible, and I am truly grateful for that. It has given me so much happiness to be able to live my daily life on my own terms and start off my dream of world travel – so if I could help others feel that same sense of happiness / freedom / adventure, then it would make me happy to spread the happiness – that I’ve received via the knowledge of other bloggers – so i feel like I’m just doing what i’m supposed to do, doing my part in passing on life-changing knowledge, aka spreading the love;) ..And making the world a happier place in the end is the ultimate goal in life. Right? ?

I want to build my business. What’s the best way to Learn & Get Started?

I break it down to two ways to go about building an online business nowadays. Either you watch a ton of YouTube videos on how to do it, OR you invest in a course and follow it step by step. Many courses come with Mastermind communities as well. E.g. Get help from someone who has done it before!

Everyone has different learning styles, so it’s up to you. Personally, I got started in Ecommerce in 2013 with a $597 course on Dropshipping. And I’m a huge fan of online courses, not only because it’s the most efficient way to go about it, but that online course ended up changing my life….

What’s the best Amazon FBA course?

I’ve decided to partner with some guys and continue to build out my Amazon course called The Amazon Method 3.0. – all about the step by step of how to identify a profitable private label product opportunity, source it from Alibaba, and sell it successfully on Amazon.

Thanks for reading!

Hit me up on Fb with questions & comments! https://www.fb.com/livinthatlifetv

Join my Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/livinthatlife/

Hit me on Snapchat & Instagram:

Instagram: instagram.com/rileypliezSnapchat: snapchat.com/add/pliez1000

Subscribe on YouTube if ya haven’t!

~Riley aka Pliez

Leave a comment and ask questions PLEASE! My mission is to help as many people as possible do what we’ve done so we can all just travel and do dope shit and really live life instead of slaving away at shitty jobs! XD

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39 Comments

  • Si Le December 7, 2015

    That was informative and comprehensive! Thanks for being dope n selfless Riley!! 🙂
    Ps commented on ur YouTube channel as tony le

  • Dave January 18, 2016

    Hey mate,

    Epic post there…I’ve been reading a lot into selling on Amazon recently and think I will start soon. Not sure if you can help me here mate…but not sure if I can afford the $3500 (I think it’s more now lol!!) for the ASM course….but do you know any others that are good too??

    And, they sell downloads for ASM on sites like ioffer for like $120…offcourse i wont be able to ask questions and get support on that….but do you think its worth me giving that option a try??

    Thanks mate

    • rileygbennett January 18, 2016

      Thanks man. I’m actually in the works of creating my own course for much less than that. Personally after going thru ASM and launching two products, the process can be simplified a lot, it’s not really that complicated. It’s not ready but just email me (rileygbennett at gmail) and i’d be more than happy to help.

  • Dave January 19, 2016

    yah thats there mate 🙂

  • Tai Du Luong February 8, 2016

    Thanks for the great post Riley. I’m trying to absorb all the information I can get my hands on with the goal shipping my first product, but I’m giving myself the suggested 4 to 6 months period from idea to launch. From the posts I’ve came across so far I haven’t found the information on narrowing down the appropriate Alibaba supplier. Using the same fitness belt example, a search on Alibaba brings up a long list of potential suppliers. Are there criteria that you use to dwindle down the list?

  • Amelia April 13, 2016

    Hi, this is a really inspiring, clearly-written post! I am also living in Saigon right now as a teacher (Found your youtube and blog through ninja teacher’s latest vid!) but after doing that for quite a few years my boyfriend and I are now looking for other ways to stay living abroad. I felt super defeatist with my lack of coding skills at setting up some kind of digital nomad existence but your story has made me and optimist again lol thank you! I wanted to ask if you have any trouble having samples shipped to saigon as customs can be a nightmare. And also if you outsourced the creation of your logo? 🙂

    • rileygbennett April 21, 2016

      Hey thx for the comment! I’ve had multiple samples shipped to Saigon no prob so far:) .. I’ve outsourced logos and done a few myself. In the end I usually like doing it myself to get it right but Fiverr.com ain’t bad. U can always do a sketch for someone on Fiverr to make

      That’s good to hear ur inspired again hehe. Cool u found me thru Alex .. If u want u can also comment ur questions on YouTube! (I’ll prob respond faster:)

  • […] Livin That Life – How we make money while traveling: The Amazon Method […]

  • rufreespirit May 5, 2016

    Awesome post my man! One question, to sell on amazon.com, you say I need a US bank account, I have researched this, and I can I think use my UK bank account, as long it takes international transactions which most do these days. Can you just confirm if you are dead cert on that aspect, as I would want to sell globally. Keep up the awesome work man, very inspiring!

    • rileygbennett May 5, 2016

      Yo maneee. Ya I’m not exaaaacly sure about this one. Dawg ask around in the Amazon Sellwr Facebook groups. Like The Amazong Seller. And use the search to look for the discussion about it. ?

  • Rio May 7, 2016

    Hi man, really good sharing post (y). I just graduated from uni and really want to get rid of daily work to do my own business. I am living Australia and I’m thinking about doing online business with Ebay which I think a quite similar platform in comparison with Amazon coz Amazon in not really popular in Australia right now. Do you have any experience or idea about doing business on ebay or know anyone sources that I can get the information from?
    Btw, thanks a lot for sharing your valuable experience with us! Keep it up man, hopefully I’ll be in your shoes some day 😉

    • rileygbennett May 8, 2016

      Hey man, that’s awesome. I don’t have any close friends who do eBay. Everyone out here does Amazon. I have met a couple people who do eBay dropshipping successfully, I’d google it to look for some info on that or maybe a course. But I also have several Aussie friends who do Amazon in the states, so it can be done if u wanna. Cheers man keep the questions comin.

  • […] Livin That Life – How we make money while traveling: The Amazon Method […]

    • rileygbennett May 11, 2016

      Cool website Sharon, I’m guna refer ppl there for your list of resources:) Feel free to comment here or on my YouTube if u have any questions! Let’s git it!?

  • Drew May 14, 2016

    Hey Riley, awesome blog. I’ve also enjoyed your youtube vids. Really motivating forme to go out there soon! I wanted to ask some questions to you as I am about to embark on FBA myself with a buddy. I also am in DSL and met Johnny in LA, great guy! How would I be able to contact you with some questions? Would love to get some advice from you man. Thanks!

  • Drew May 14, 2016

    Hey man, great blog! Also enjoy your youtube vids, really inspiring for me to get out there. Is there a way to get in touch with you? I am ready to get into FBA myself and wanted to get some advice. I also am a DSL’er and met Johnny in LA, great guy. Thanks man.

    • rileygbennett May 15, 2016

      Yuppppp that’s dope mannn. Yea feel free to comment all your questions on YouTube ! It’s all an open discussion! ☺️

  • Daithi May 21, 2016

    Hey man,just wondering how it is dealing with us customs?what kind of charges do they hit you with? Great blog by the way

    • rileygbennett May 21, 2016

      Hey thx man. Yea they def hit ya with some charges. But the shipping company takes care of all customs charges and other charges, they give us one set price for shipping to FBA from the supplier in China and they deliver it and that’s it. Whether it’s UPS or DHL or other. Via express air takes 1-2 weeks to arrive at Amazon. ??

      • Daithi May 22, 2016

        Thanks for the reply,I think sea freight is different,might be worth talking to a customs broker as there seems to be a lot of paperwork involved.it probably works out cheaper but it’s slower to get your product to Amazon.might catch you in Vietnam in a few months ?

  • Gt29 September 27, 2016

    Hi

    Nice post just have a quick question what about import tax, if you shipping from China to US you should be paying customs taxes. How it works with taxes?

    Thanks

    • rileygbennett September 27, 2016

      Hey man.
      We have been using UPS Express Air and they handle all the customs stuff and include that in the price you pay them. Our Alibaba supplier arranges it all. Whatever shipping company you use, air or sea, they handle all customs stuff and you just pay the shipping company one price for everything.

  • luvs1c September 28, 2016

    Ayo Riley,

    Thanks for all your great info. Coming from someone who has consumed a lot of content from many different entrepreneurs online, you are one of the most relatable for me. I’ve started to use your template to compile a list for product research and I was just curious about what the no more than 50% of top 4 highest revenue part meant? Also, for the tabs in your doc with the data from unicorn smasher, did you just export the info into your spreadsheet somehow?

    Anyway, thanks again man and keep on livin’ that life!

    • rileygbennett September 30, 2016

      Yooo dope man that’s great to hear.

      That one was to check if the top 4 sellers in revenue on page 1 aren’t taking more than half the revenue of the whole first page. Aka are 4 or less sellers running away with all the sales? It’s just a metric to check domination not necessary to check every time.

      Keep me updated on how research goes !

      • luvs1c September 30, 2016

        Ok, cool that’s what I was thinking, but just wanted to make sure. I’ll be sure to keep you updated thanks!

  • Daniel October 3, 2016

    Thanks for this post and the video you made to go a long with it. Is there any way you could do a video about the product that didn’t succeed. I figure it’s far more likely I’ll pick a bad product or a less than ideal one and would learn a lot from knowing what the product was, how/why you picked it, how/when you knew things weren’t going well and what you’ve learned and applied moving forward (I know that’s a lot to ask).

    By the way I hope you tried canyoning while you were in Dalat!!

    • rileygbennett October 5, 2016

      Yoo tks for the comment mane.

      I can’t say the product unfortunately cuz I’m in partnerships with other ppl and we have agreements about sharing the niche but, all I can say like I said in the video is hat it wasn’t different. Another seller or two had the same model. It had no unique features. All it had was a sexy logo on it and sexy packaging and sexy models in the pictures , but that wasn’t enough to justify a premium price in the shoppers minds. And the other guys who had the same model were selling at much lower price so we couldn’t afford to go that low.. it really never passed more than 5 per day, and does 0-2 per day now, selling at a low price where we’re getting back a few bucks but not a net profit.

      Hope that helps. Differentiate or die;)

  • kineticmate October 12, 2016

    Hey Riley! Just watched your youtube video regarding shipping air express vs. freight. Great video btw… Was wondering what was the name of the forwarding company you use through your supplier? Much appreciated!

    • rileygbennett February 11, 2017

      hey there! sry late reply. It’s Topway Freight 🙂
      Shud b in video desctiption now

  • Justin November 30, 2016

    “…then got a business loan from a family friend for $16,000 for 1000 units.”

    I feel like that is a really big thing to just barely mention during all of this. That’s no small loan and being able to get that from family (likely interest free) is a game changer. No everyone has that opportunity and really….you’d be nowhere without that.

    • rileygbennett February 11, 2017

      yeah u right, totally. It was obv a huge part of it all. And yeah not everyone would have access to it – but thats the reality, lot of times it takes a loan to start a biz. Reminds me that i shud to a video on strategies to search for biz loans

  • Cameron Chaloux February 13, 2017

    Recently came across your blog and YouTube channel. I used to live in Asia and have traveled a lot, including all over SE Asia. But never really thought of having an location independent income source before. Thanks for the advice buddy!

  • Anna February 21, 2017

    Hi Riley,
    Thank you for your blog, it inspired me.
    As you said, I been looking for a business that give me freedom. This looks very good.
    I’m from Barcelona and I’m thinking to sell products in Amazon Spain and Europe. Do you know people doing the same method in Europe? I’m not sure if the amount of reviews, sellers and prices you said are the same in Europe.
    Enjoy the travelling!

    • rileygbennett March 24, 2017

      Hey Anna! Sorry for the late reply! Yes i know tons of people selling on Amazon FBA in Europe! I am actually setting up my Europe account now. It’s all the same! Each niche is different! If the search volume is there and sales demand is there, come in with a unique product!
      Keep us updated and ask more questions in our FB group! – https://www.facebook.com/groups/517030031824245/
      Riley

  • Donald Shimoda March 6, 2017

    Great post but…it seems to be you are able to ‘live that life’ only because the people working at chinese factories, at Amazon, at Alibaba and the ones doing customer service in the Pihilippines…are not.

    But in the end it’s all about making the world a better place and spreading the love, right? 😉

    • rileygbennett March 24, 2017

      Yeah thanks for mentioning that. Yes it’s an unfortunate truth #sbt #sadbuttrue…. If we could do something to change the way it works and not have any people working in horrible labor conditions than we would … but the reality is there’s nothing we can do about it … if we ourselves decide not to import our product from China then someone else will … so we are not contributing to the problem … it’s out of our control … hopefully we can source from the US eventually, that would be ideal, but it doesnt make business sense, the margins arent there ….. but what we CAN do to do make the world a better place is help other people like me break free from the 9-to-5 paradigm and create their own independent small online businesses so they can actually live their lives and not be corporate slaves …. THAT is what we CAN help the world with … and every person who our videos have inspired to take action towards doing so .. I consider that a huge accomplishment and giving value to the world … potentially changing one person’s live forever is invaluable… the other horrible things about this world we cannot change. Hope that makes sense. We do that we can. We all wish the world was perfect.

  • samuel June 19, 2017

    Hi Rileygbennett, Thanks for your post. , it’ s really kind of inspiring. First of all, should I only buy things from Alibaba in China as the main product resource? Is it permitted to buy things from other countries like Indonesia?– a
    s I am living in Indonesia now.

  • online arbitrage June 9, 2018

    Hey, Riley, An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a colleague who was conducting a little research on this. thanx for spending some time to discuss this subject here on How we make money while traveling: The Amazon Method.

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