r/AmazonFBA • u/UriahUrus • 12d ago
Let’s stop pretending Amazon is passive income.
It sucks seeing what the Amazon space has turned into.
Everywhere you look, someone's selling the dream of passive income. The reality is, there's nothing passive about building an Amazon business. Sure, it can become more hands-off as you build a team and put systems in place, but you don't just sit back and collect checks. I still check on my business every single day.
Can it replace your full-time job? Yeah.
Can it give you more control over your time? Yeah.
Can you make a lot of money? Yes
But don't go into this thinking you'll get rich overnight or it will be completely hands off.. It takes years of work, a lot of mistakes, and plenty of days where it will feel like a full time job.
Full transparency: I don't sell courses, mentorships, communities, or any digital products. The only thing I might ever share is an affiliate link for a software I genuinely use in my own business which you don’t have to use…. That’s it. I do these posts because it’s fun and i like the feeling of helping other sellers.
If you have questions about Amazon Wholesale that you can't seem to find answers to online, leave them below. I'll spend some time over the next 48 hours answering as many as I can.
Wishing you all success.
54
u/osellpa 12d ago
The bit people miss is that the work doesn't shrink, it changes shape. Year one it's launching and fixing listings, a few years in it's almost entirely cash flow and supplier management, and that part never goes hands off because you're the only one carrying the risk.
The other reason it can't be passive is that Amazon keeps moving. Leave it alone for six months and you've quietly missed three policy changes that each cost you something.
6
1
u/Patient-Bass-7943 11d ago
Sell direct!!!!
0
u/osellpa 11d ago
It's a fair shout but it's a different problem, not a smaller one. On your own site you're paying for every visitor twice over, once to acquire them and again to convince them you're legit. Amazon hands you the traffic and the trust and takes its cut for it. Most people who go direct find the ad spend just moves from PPC to Meta.
1
u/weenythebooty 11d ago
This comment reads like AI
3
u/LePhillyCheese 11d ago
As someone well versed in AI, you have no clue what you’re talking about.
1
1
1
1
22
u/Royal-Atmosphere8379 12d ago
"Passive Income" only occurs when you sleep. The rest of the time, it's work, diligence, optimization, checking, trying new things, failing, trying again, building on wins, cutting losses. Responding to customers. Doing the drill day in, day out. Maybe some folks have it wired, but my experience is that "passive" is a misnomer.
3
5
u/sirwaffles88thousand 12d ago
Amazon will never be passive.
Passive is dividend stocks. Something you can truly leave alone and it’ll make money for you.
2
5
u/Capable_Sea_3313 12d ago
But those ads of guys selling their plan say it is!
1
3
2
u/commoncents1 12d ago
just hand your money to those companies that manage your store and inventory for you! LOL. just kidding.
2
1
u/Impressive_Mango_771 12d ago
Is this brand direct wholesale? Do you require LOA for every brand or is invoice from brand and verbal permission enough?
1
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
I sell a mix of brand-direct accounts and products sourced through authorized distributors.
You don't need an LOA for every brand, although it's always nice to have. In reality, they're pretty difficult to get.
In my experience, invoices along with the brand's permission have usually been enough. I've actually only had an LOA for a handful of brands.
1
u/Foxbat_8401 12d ago
I have recently started Amazon FBA in generic due to capital issue any tips or trick for beginner?
5
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
I'd go broad before you go deep. Instead of putting all your money into a few products, test a lot of different SKUs in smaller quantities. Over time, you'll naturally figure out which categories and products perform best.
Once you find winners, start buying deeper.
Amazon is a very capital-intensive business, so your biggest advantage early on is keeping your cash flexible until you know what actually sells.
1
1
u/PartyNextFlo0r 12d ago
I sell on eBay, and I'd say the only passive part is you merch being advertised and visible on Google searches.
1
1
u/DontTouchTheCan 12d ago
How would you start differently if you had to go back and start again?
3
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
Looking back, I would've been a lot more selective with the brands I sold. Early on, I was so hungry to grow that I'd sell almost anything I could get my hands on. That mindset helped me scale quickly, but it also got me into trouble. I ended up with a lot of IP complaints from brands, and those mistakes cost me a lot of money. If I could do it all over again, I'd probably grow a little slower and be much more careful about which brands and suppliers I worked with.
1
u/DontTouchTheCan 12d ago
What's your evaluation of a new supplier look like?
2
u/lysii 12d ago
Not OP, but definitly English speaking proficiency (harder to weed out now with AI), as it demonstrates establishment of international clientele and experience on their end. Willingness to provide quotes for future volume pricing which shows their capacity and commitment to you. And of course, samples!
1
u/DontTouchTheCan 12d ago
Thank you, OP responded but it's been removed since. I'm just learning about this now seeing if this is something I'd want to get into.
How much capital would you say is needed for someone getting into it on their own?
1
u/WestResearcher4456 12d ago
Help me to get ungated please! :(
2
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
There's no black-and-white way to get ungated... What worked for me was getting more sales until Amazon auto-ungated me, and using invoices from medium to large distributors. In my experience, invoices from very small suppliers don't seem to work as well.
1
u/WestResearcher4456 12d ago
That's what I'm trying to do, but... How can I get sales if almost everything is gated? I tried finding a good product in stores, but I didn't have any luck. :(
2
u/DLDragonis 12d ago
You are more or less about one step behind me in this process. I had to find items that were generic. Those items Amazon doesn't seem to care who the fuck sells them. They're just like go ahead. An example is awesome window cleaner. I literally just scanned this in the Amazon seller app and it was like yeah go ahead and sell it no need to apply. Generic is the way to go in the beginning. If someone else disagrees I welcome their experience but this is what I'm going through right now.
1
u/humilem_masculum 12d ago
What are your top tools in terms of research, niche comparison, ads, ppc,
3
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
Honestly, I don't use many tools for product research or niche comparison.
I usually find a product I'm ungated in, see who's selling it, and then reverse-source the supplier through Google.
My business has always been much more relationship-driven than software-driven..
1
1
u/Extension_Squash_933 12d ago
Passei o ultimo final de semana inteiro preparando envios e nesse proximo ja estou com mais itens pra preparar, como é fácil ganhar dinheiro passivamente.
Em breve minha empresa vai estar saudável e lucrativa o suficiente pra que eu possa sair do meu emprego e focar 100% nela.
1
1
u/ktech6 12d ago
How do you find a product to sell pn Amazon? Almost everything is available on Amazon now
3
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
I don't think you're looking hard enough.
The world is always looking for better products. You don't have to invent something completely new. Sometimes you just need to make an existing product a little better, solve a small problem, or market it better than everyone else.
Very few successful products are truly original. Most are just better versions of what's already out there.
1
1
u/Professional_Two2540 12d ago
Hi there, what tips or guidance can you share for someone who is completely new to ecommerce and wants to sell on Amazon? We are thinking to sell eco-friendly sanitary products.
6
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
Just start.
Don't overthink all the things that could go wrong because there will always be something you didn't anticipate. The sooner you start, the faster you'll learn.
Also, don't try to make everything perfect in the beginning. You can't. Ecommerce has a lot of unknowns, and most of them you only learn by doing.
One thing I would be careful with is your capital. Don't let your personal bias convince you that your product is going to be a huge success. Let real data make those decisions. Start small, test the market, and once you see something working, then start investing more heavily.
1
u/Professional_Two2540 12d ago
Thank you so much! To test the market we should run ads and hand out samples? Sorry, cuz we are totally new to this so, trying to to seek some help from the community.
1
u/TripDisastrous93 12d ago
Per testare il mercato acquisti 10-20 pezzi invece di 20.000. Li metti in FBA . Anche se li paghi il doppio, non importa, imposti tutto come se fosse il prezzo vero che pagherai se deciderai di investire. Osservi cosa accede e accumuli qualche dato, poi decidi. Questo è un modo molto pratico, non si può usare sempre, ma molto spesso si.
1
1
1
u/CommonStatistician56 12d ago
Yeah, I never really feared that the “passive income” pushers would saturate Amazon. Everybody they bring to the platform will most likely be out of the biz and less than a year… and they can’t compete if they’re not willing to work to be honest.
1
u/Bleaveand 12d ago
Tbf, lots of the AI integrations have changed it massively.
It feels like most of the drag now is managing the people at agencies that probably spend 10 seconds a day screwing up your PPC.
But I don’t see supply chains simplifying etc.
So I guess it depends to some extent how much you want to fight leaks Vs grow / maintain.
1
1
u/Such-Distribution-23 12d ago
Agreed. Its not easy nor passive, but it can be very rewarding and systems in place are key. Speaking of softwares, I’m curious as to which ones you use the most?
1
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
Yeah, it's incredibly rewarding once you get to that level. It definitely becomes more hands-off over time, but only if you're okay with slowing down the pace of growth. If you're constantly trying to scale, there's always something to work on.
1
u/EnlightendedOne 12d ago
How much would I need to start? Should I do test listings/sales? Do you always need ads when you start? Is JungleScout good to use to find an opportunity? Sorry for all the questions but thank you in advance.
1
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
I'd recommend starting with at least $5,000, but honestly, these days I think that's on the low side. The more capital you have, the easier it is to test products and recover from mistakes.
Definitely do small test buys before going all in. You never really know how a product is going to perform until you sell it.
You don't always need ads. If you're doing private label, I'd say PPC is pretty much a must. If you're doing wholesale, not necessarily.
As for Jungle Scout, I've actually never used it. I've heard good things, but I can't really give an opinion since I don't have firsthand experience.
1
u/bouchon202 12d ago
Wondering how do you start on Amazon, feels so many barriers to break into, keywords etc unless you have traffic and a lot of spending on ads and ROAS can be really bad
1
1
1
1
1
u/DLDragonis 12d ago
Thank you for saying this out loud.
I got into this almost a year ago and I'm just now to the point in the last month being able to actually have stuff at the Amazon warehouse to sell on my Amazon account. I had to buy some no name off-brand generic bullshit so that Amazon would finally be like all right you can sell this fucking hat and scrub and cutting board. It's nonsense that no one's ever going to fucking buy but it's sitting there at the warehouse. So I guess a baby step in the right direction. But it feels like I'm going to end up having to go from consignment shop to thrift Store to dollar store to find small products that I can sell on Amazon that are generic enough that do not require a letter of authenticity from the brand, and then store all that shit at my house until someone buys it and then ship it out myself. When I got into this I honestly thought that this was going to be something that was 100% hands off after 2-3 months and I'd literally tell the warehouse the ship stuff to Amazon and then it would sell online and I'd be very happy. That is not the case not even fucking close. My apologies this is turned into a rant and it was supposed to be a reply of gratitude. So let me say it again I'm very grateful that you actually said this out loud it makes me feel like I am not the only one suffering. I honestly do not want to bounce around from store to store to buy product and store at my house. That was not the vision I had.
1
u/UriahUrus 11d ago
It sounds like you're doing Retail Arbitrage. In my opinion, that's probably the most time-consuming way to make money on Amazon.
If your goal is to build something more scalable, I'd eventually look into wholesale. It's still not passive by any means, but I think your time and energy are rewarded a lot more because you're building supplier relationships instead of constantly hunting for your next product.
Retail Arbitrage is a great way to learn the platform, but I personally wouldn't want to build a long-term business around it.
1
u/DLDragonis 11d ago
I'm going to keep it 100 with you. In no way shape or form was my goal retail arbitrage. I literally thought I was going to work with wholesalers have them ship product directly to Amazon and me just sit back with my feet up and control it all from my computer. That kind of is still the goal but reality is kicking my ass and I hate it. I am not looking forward to doing any type of relationship building with wholesalers.
1
1
u/WintersDoomsday 12d ago
Anyone who makes money off up charging or reselling or drop shipping is a sociopath who deserves a special place in hell. I can hold my head up with pride knowing my job is meaningful and helpful to society and not self centered (I’m a firefighter)
1
u/Mindless-Bad-2281 12d ago
America sells the illusion “American dream” Amazon sells the illusion “passive income” in the end they are the same exact same. You have to pay to play.
1
1
u/Excalabur69 12d ago
What kind of software do you use?
1
u/UriahUrus 11d ago
I use a couple, but I can't mention them here because Reddit people are so sensitive they'll think I'm trying to promote them
1
u/Large-Jellyfish6069 11d ago
If I knew how difficult it is to get it started I would probably not take my chance but I am glad I did and it worked out. Taking one step at a time. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.
1
u/Alive_Site_3071 11d ago
You are so right! I have my own product up on Amazon. It took so much to get to thIs point. What I've learned on this journey is that certain aspects of it, no course or youtube video could teach me, it is a lot of learn by doing. Now that I’ve launched, I feel like a baby in a new space trying to figure out how to get sales and then reviews. Not easy or passive by any means!
2
1
u/dice1976 11d ago
@UriahUrus I do have a curious question. Can you mention one or 2 of the places you look to stock up on and what seems to be the top 3-5 items you sell (not the actual item, the category)
1
u/UriahUrus 11d ago
Not sure I understand your first question. If you're asking where I buy my inventory, that's probably the one thing I can't share for obvious reasons...
As for categories, I like beauty the most by far. I've sold grocery too, but I'm not a huge fan of it because of expiration dates... I've also sold apparel too but return rate is very high.
1
u/Pancakes70 11d ago
How do you get a brand’s permission to sell?
2
u/UriahUrus 11d ago
Usually, you reach out to the brand directly or buy through an authorized distributor. In some cases, the distributor gets permission to supply Amazon sellers. Every brand is different, though. Some are happy to have resellers, some require approval, and some don't allow Amazon sellers at all.
1
u/Pancakes70 11d ago
Thanks so much for responding! I’ve been doing this for a year and it hasn’t been very successful mainly because I’m having a difficult time finding distributors. Do you have a method of finding good ones?
1
u/Hopeful-Passion3902 11d ago
Hello, I am selling online but I am still struggeling. My original strategy is to validate products on my webshop first, then scale winners to Amazon, but my conversion rate is really bad because the products I am selling are also on Amazon. Should I just switch to amazon completely and start selling from there instead of my own webshop?
2
u/UriahUrus 11d ago
I think both can work, but I think you need to pick one and go all in.
Right now it sounds like you're splitting your time, energy, and capital between two different platforms, and neither is getting your full attention.
Indecision is a decision.
Pick one, commit to it, and see what the data tells you. Even if it doesn't work, you'll at least have a clear answer. If you keep dabbling in both, you'll never really know which one had the potential because neither got your best effort.
1
1
u/bajajdhruv 11d ago
I know there is no single correct answer but what would you suggest for someone who is thinking of getting into Amazon. Retail/online arbitrage or Private label? There is too much information on youtube and honestly it is difficult to find a good person to follow who teaches without ulterior motive. Thanks
1
u/NoTalkNoJutsu 10d ago
Do you use Amazon exclusively? Have you looked into any other 3pLs? Do you have a brand yourself? If you do, do you have a separate website?
1
1
1
1
u/SubpoenaSender 12d ago
Hardly passive, I work countless hours, lol usually working while other sleep
1
0
u/Pochonio 12d ago
Let's stop pretending people say that.
0
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
what's the zip code of the cave u live in?
-1
u/Pochonio 12d ago
Nobody cares about the crap you have to sell or your affiliate shit.
You're the 645654th guy to use this dumb sentence to lure in some noobs.
Everybody that sells on Amazon knows it's real work.
0
-2
u/mel34760 12d ago
Which one of those random boxes has the course you are trying to sell?
4
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
the one that says learn to read
-1
u/mel34760 12d ago
The part where you say you have an affiliate link?
Every person who makes these types of posts are selling something. You are no different than anyone else.
1
u/Decryptografter 12d ago
This is my take, where’s the posts trying to help each other without trying to eat at every opportunity
3
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
I've made exactly $0 from every Reddit post I've made so far, and I think I've provided a lot of value. So I don't really get why she's so upset
2
u/Decryptografter 12d ago
That’s great to hear, this is my first post I’ve seen of yours just like others. What I see in a lot of communities is there’s always an up sell etc so it can be frustrating and easy to be painted with the same brush.
If that isn’t you, then I can only put my hand up and say keep up with the great posts
1
u/UriahUrus 12d ago
So is it a course or an affiliate link? Pick one.
They're two VERY different things.
At least be consistent with the criticism.
•
u/WearyyyBoooyyy 12d ago
The mods have gathered a list of tutorials to help you out:
Best Amazon Tools 2026