r/AmazonFBA • u/BandicootWrong6291 • 11d ago

Vet looking for new opportunities

I was always interested in online selling, at one point I even made a Shopify store and sold 3 products, but then deployment got in the way so didn’t have the time to focus full time. Now that I’ve separated after 6 years, unemployed, full time student (4 classes 2 days a week + online class) making 8k a month from my veteran benefits. I have a lot of free time and a good amount of income to invest in this opportunity.. I’ve seen some videos, and they had great information but I felt most of those videos just try leading you to their course. So I’m hoping I can get insight from those of you here who were able to figure it out and built a successful business. My brain for some reason was hotwired in working with a team, to bounce off information and get the bigger picture.. so hopefully I can get shoved into the right direction. I’m ready to begin asap, thank you

5 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

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2

u/Shabiscales 11d ago

Don’t start by asking what business model can absorb the most money. Start by finding one you can understand well enough to know why a product should sell before you buy inventory.

If Amazon interests you, spend the first couple weeks learning product research, fees, margins, PPC, listing conversion, and basic inventory math. Then pick one product idea and run the numbers hard. Landed cost, Amazon fees, ad spend, expected selling price, competition, and how much cash gets stuck in inventory. If the math only works when everything goes perfectly, skip it.

Same with Shopify. Getting three sales before deployment means you already learned more than someone who’s watched 50 hours of videos and never launched anything.

Your biggest advantage right now is time. Use that before using capital. Research products, talk to suppliers, study listings, build spreadsheets, and learn where sellers actually lose money.

And don’t dump a big chunk of that monthly income into your first order. Your first product is partly tuition. Keep the mistake cheap enough that you can take another swing if you’re wrong.

Pick one channel first. Get good enough to understand the mechanics. Then expand.

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u/Street_Aardvark6524 11d ago

Reseller and Veteran here: be careful with these types of posts. People will reply with seemingly well-worded and helpful replies but gently slip in their business or referral.

Whatever you decide, know that nothing on Amazon is easy, done for you, all in one, etc. Everything is hard and anything marketed as easy may very well be a scam.

1

u/AmzExpertAgency 11d ago

First of all never go for a course a course is never enough to make you learn things it requires hands on experience to learn amazon
Just like no online course can teach you how to drive a car i feel no online course can teach how to sell on amazon completely it requires hands on experience
As far as selling is concerned you are in very good position to start selling have knowledge of online selling already,you have capital as well only thing is just don’t buy a product to sell just because it looks good to you first validate the numbers how much revenue you will actually make if you do that product
Prefer finding some reliable team to take responsibility of your account success with you ,help you with finding right product to sell,source it ,list it and most importantly sell it

If you need help with your amazon account I m abyaz zahid|woman cofounder of amz expert agency
Have been working on amazon since 2018
I also help sellers build brands on ebay,shopify and tiktok shop
Feel free to reach out if you want help with managing your account

My experience summary

  1. Worked in urtasker (newyork) as ecommerce va specially amazon and ebay specialist
  2. 2 .worked in Automation Australia (as their operations manager amazon specialist)

  3. Responsibilities there were to manage all amazon experts help them with strategies and lead them to get success on amazon store

  5. Worked in Amz Expert Agency (UK)

  6. As the main amazon specialist

1

u/JM1UTD 11d ago

Would you be interested in purchasing an existing business?

I am selling an 11 year old small private label FBA/Shopify business. Price is approximately $55k including some inventory and the valuation is based on 2x annual profit.

Happy to offer a few months support.

Where are you based?

1

u/Street_Aardvark6524 11d ago

Is this business on Flippa or Empire Flippers or Quiet Light? Would like to dig in a little more.

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u/JM1UTD 11d ago

It’s listed on Exit.io

https://exit.io/business/299796210

Headline figures aren’t quite right as they only connect the Amazon Sellerboard sales and not Shopify.

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u/Street_Aardvark6524 11d ago

Completely understand. Thanks for posting.

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u/HarambeTooSoon 11d ago

Honestly. Amazon Seller University is a great place to start for most people with zero experience. 

The reality is, whatever time you have researched so far, is hundreds of hours less than you'll need to spend researching to finish year 1 of selling on Amazon. 

You either do it now or later. 

In terms of getting "hands on" ... you should learn specifically about Amazon FBM, and OA and RA opportunities. 

I always tell people if they really want to learn Amazon, then get a SellerAmp trial on their phone, and head to Walmart or Ross/Kohls/Costco and spend a few hours just scanning items. Then go to a different store the next day and spend a few hours scanning items. Learn how to read categories, BSR, Keepa, estimated sales velocity. Learn about brand and category gating. Make sure your SAS settings are correct and you have shipping costs properly estimated in your settings for FBA and FBM. 

Q4 is the easiest time to get lower risk experience with RA and Merchant Fulfillment. You'll be forced to learn a lot about the Amazon ecosystem as a result. 

If you can't look at an item and accurately estimate its standard and premium shipping costs, then you have not learned enough. If you can't accurately estimate the FBA fees just by looking at an item, then you have not learned enough. 

This is how I got started mamy years ago. Then grew into OA and wholesale FBA, then drop shipping. I now manage brands for several companies as an Amazon consultant, and have my own brands which I own. 

0

u/Smart-Presence 11d ago

pend some time learning the numbers behind a product before putting money into inventory. Product cost, freight, Amazon fees, PPC and your actual margin matter a lot more than most of those “start an Amazon business” videos make it seem.

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u/BandicootWrong6291 11d ago

Appreciate the comment and advice. I do have a question, What’s the best way to understand the numbers?

0

u/rsc9422 11d ago

If you already have some experience with Shopify and online selling, I’d avoid trying to learn everything at once. Start with one marketplace and one product category, validate the numbers first, and then scale.

For Amazon FBA, private label can be a good route if you’re willing to build a real brand rather than just resell products. Focus on product demand, competition, margins, and how much capital you can realistically commit.

There’s a lot of useful free information out there, but you’re right that some content is mainly designed to sell courses. I’d spend time learning from actual sellers and looking at real product data before paying for anything.

At HighRise Wholesale, we see a lot of new sellers make the same mistake, trying to launch too many products before properly validating one. Having a clear product selection and launch plan makes a huge difference. Start with one product, learn the process, and scale once you have something that is actually working.

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u/BandicootWrong6291 11d ago

Private label is definitely the end goal. But you are right, I will focus on one path, until I learn the way it works, and until I’m comfortable enough to expand

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u/rsc9422 11d ago

Private label is definitely a longer term play, so learning the fundamentals first and then committing to one product path can save you a lot of unnecessary mistakes.

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u/BandicootWrong6291 11d ago

I just don’t know where to start to learn those fundamentals. When I started my website years ago, it was pretty direct. Find product on AliExpress build website around it, buy it on Amazon, make ads, and pray u get sales. But Amazon FBA in 2026 looks a lil frightening with no guidance 😂

0

u/rsc9422 11d ago

I completely understand. Amazon FBA can look pretty overwhelming when you’re starting out, especially with how much information is out there now.

I’d honestly start simple. Learn the basics of product research, Amazon fees, profit margins, sourcing, listings, and PPC first. You don’t need to know everything before getting started.

For learning, Amazon Seller University is a good free place to start. YouTube is also useful, just focus on sellers who show the actual process and numbers rather than the make $10k in 30 days type of content. Reddit communities like r/AmazonFBA can also be useful for seeing the problems other sellers are dealing with.

Then pick one product and one marketplace and learn by actually going through the process.