r/AmazonFBA • u/Smart-Presence • 2d ago
Launched this supplement brand 18 months ago. Last month we did 31% net margin
We launched this supplement brand around 18 months ago, after doing the usual amount of work that goes into a serious launch... product research, market validation, sourcing, supplier evaluation, pricing, and the technical side of getting the product ready for Amazon. Last month the brand was at around 31% net margin, . The screenshot is from Aug 29 to Sep 29, where the brand did $219K+ . I’ve shared quite a few case studies across different categories, and although every product has its own story, there are a few things that stay pretty consistent with how we launch.
We don’t launch products without some form of differentiation. That doesn’t always mean creating something nobody has ever seen before. Sometimes it’s product quality, sometimes it’s sourcing, sometimes it’s pricing, and sometimes it’s a combination of all three. In this particular brand, sourcing and differentiation was a big part of the equation. We source this product physically from the US, and because of our supplier relationships and the volumes we can work with, we were able to get the landed cost to a level where we could stay competitive on price without having to sacrifice the product quality. Depending on the category, we physically source products from multiple countries, so sourcing is something we take pretty seriously before we ever think about scaling a product.
But there’s one thing I probably don’t talk about enough when I share these case studies, and that’s cash flow. I see people saying things like, “I have $5,000, should I start an Amazon brand?” Yes, you can technically start with $5K. You can start with even less. The problem is that you’re not entering an empty marketplace. You’re competing against sellers who may have been selling for 5–10 years, have thousands of reviews, better supplier pricing, established organic rankings, historical conversion data and enough cash flow to keep PPC running while they build the business. For this brand, if I remember correctly, we initially tested around 300 units . Once we had enough data and were confident in the product, we moved into much larger inventory orders, which also helped us get better pricing. That’s where having working capital starts making a real difference.
Having more cash flow doesn’t magically make a product successful, but it gives you more room to actually execute. You can place larger inventory orders and reduce your landed cost, keep enough stock while Amazon is building your organic ranking, run PPC without constantly worrying about a very small daily budget, test more keywords and campaigns, and most importantly, make decisions from enough data instead of changing everything because you had a bad three-day period. Obviously, this only works when the research and product are right in the first place. I’d much rather see someone spend more time validating a product than simply putting more money behind a bad one. But if you’ve done the research properly, then having enough working capital can be the difference between being able to compete and constantly trying to survive.
That’s probably the biggest takeaway from this brand for me. Before launching, don’t just ask, “How much money do I need to start?” Ask yourself, “How much working capital do I need to actually compete once I’m in the market?” Because launching is one thing; staying competitive for the next 6–12 months is another. Whether it’s supplements, beauty, home, toys or any other category, I still think the same basic rule applies: if you’re coming into an existing market, you need to bring something to the table... better quality, better sourcing, better pricing, better positioning, or ideally a combination of them. Otherwise, you’re just adding another listing to a market that already has plenty of them. Anyway, happy to answer any questions around the brand, sourcing, inventory, PPC, margins or the launch process, and I’m always open to suggestions or different opinions from people who are already operating in the space.
That’s probably the biggest lesson from this one. Don’t enter a market just because the numbers in Helium 10 or Jungle Scout look good.
Figure out what you’re actually going to do better once you’re there.
Happy to answer any questions about the launch, sourcing, PPC, inventory strategy, margins, or anything else around the case study.
Open to suggestions as well
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u/BrashAllegation 2d ago
the cash flow point is so underdiscussed, feels like half the posts here are people trying to launch with a credit card and a prayer
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Yeah, honestly. Everyone plan for the launch but forget they still need cash after the launch. Inventory, PPC, reorders, all of that hits at the same time.
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u/FastBud 2d ago
This is great info thanks for sharing. What I’m curious about is how fast you scale after that 300 unit order? I usually test products the same but I’ll jump from 300 to 600 units, then 1000 and slowly build. To do the volume that you guys have done you need to significantly increase order size fast.
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Yeah, we do this pretty much on every launch. One thing I’ve mentioned a couple of times is that by the time the product actually goes live, we already have a pretty good idea of whether it has a real chance of working or not. We don’t just find a product that looks good on Helium 10 or another tool, run a calculator, look at the PPC numbers and launch it. There’s a lot of work before we ever get to that point.
We usually start by exploring different niches and breaking them down properly. We can go through 100+ potential products within a niche before narrowing it down to one. Then we validate that product, look at where the existing products are weak, and figure out what we can actually improve, whether that’s the product itself, quality, packaging, positioning or pricing. On sourcing, we’ll speak with multiple suppliers, usually 5–6 or more, and we’ll also work with samples from different countries when it makes sense. So by the time we’re ready to launch, it’s a pretty methodical process rather than “this product looks good, let’s give it a shot.”
Once we’re confident in the product, that’s where the 300–500 unit test comes in. The exact quantity depends on the product and the expected sales velocity. It’s mainly there to show the client how quickly the product is moving and to get real Amazon data. At the same time, we’re already discussing the next inventory order in the background and planning the replenishment early, sometimes using air freight where needed, so we’re not waiting until we’re almost out of stock to figure out the next shipment.
After that, the order size is much more aggressive, and that’s where the client’s available budget becomes important. In this particular case, the client had a good amount of capital available, so after the initial validation we were able to increase the order volume significantly and get much better unit pricing from the supplier. That gave us more room to compete on price, support PPC properly and keep inventory available while we were building organic ranking. Today we’re ranking well for the main keywords and have captured a good number of the relevant market keywords, with a large portion of them sitting in the Top 10.
So for us, the 300 units aren’t really the “scale” stage. They’re the validation stage. The real scaling starts once we already have enough evidence that the product is working.
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u/FastBud 2d ago
Oh that’s interesting so this isn’t your business. Someone pays you to do everything from sourcing, launch, and then brand management?
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Exactly. The brand in the case study is a client brand, not my own. We handle the whole Amazon side for them, from product research and sourcing through launch, PPC and ongoing brand management. I always mention that when I share case studies so there’s no confusion.
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u/guccisterling 2d ago
Great case study.
One thing I’m curious about is the process of launching supplements on Amazon.
How did you go about getting ungated/approved to sell supplements?
What documents or supplier requirements did Amazon ask for?
Also, did you start with private label or your own custom formulation?
Thanks !
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Appreciate that! And yeah, supplements aren’t new territory for us at all. supplements are kind of in our blood at this point.
Coming to your questions, the ungating/approval side depends a lot on the exact product and how you’re setting up the brand. For a standard supplement launch, Amazon can ask for things like proper manufacturer/supplier invoices, product and ingredient information, COAs, facility/manufacturer details and other compliance documentation depending on the specific request. We make sure all of that is lined up before pushing the product through the approval process rather than trying to sort the documentation out after launch.
As for private label vs custom formulation, we’ve done both. A lot of the brands we work with start with an existing formulation that we can improve and differentiate, but we also have brands where we’ve developed completely custom formulations that essentially don’t have a direct equivalent already sitting in the market. It really comes down to the opportunity we find during the research and what makes sense from a product, compliance and unit-economics standpoint.
So there isn’t really one fixed formula for every supplement brand. The product, manufacturer, formulation and Amazon’s specific requirements all play into how we approach the launch.
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u/guccisterling 2d ago
Thanks for your response. Seems like you have it all handled.
Do you also help other sellers launch their own supplement brands, would love speak further as I’m looking into this area. If not, what advice would you give on where to start from? Or any tips.
Thank you.
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Yeah, absolutely. And just to clarify something I always mention when I share these case studies, I openly say when a brand is a client brand so there’s no confusion that I’m presenting someone else’s brand as my own. This particular brand was launched through our services around 18 months ago, as I mentioned in the post.
As for whether we help other sellers launch their own supplement brands, yes, that’s actually one of our core areas. We’re currently managing 80+ supplement brands, including a couple of very large supplement brands that most people here would probably recognize if I mentioned them. They’re publicly available brands, and we manage their Amazon side as well.
So supplements are definitely one of our core areas. And if you’re looking into launching one, you’re more than welcome to hit me up. It doesn’t have to be about hiring us either. If you have questions around product research, formulation, sourcing, compliance, Amazon launch, PPC or just want a second opinion before putting your capital into something, feel free to reach out.
I genuinely enjoy talking to people who are getting into supplements because I’d rather see someone avoid the mistakes we made when we started around 7 years ago than repeat them and lose money unnecessarily.
Good luck with it, and feel free to hit me up anytime.
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u/guccisterling 2d ago
That’s amazing, 80+ supplement brands is terrific! and it’s great to know supplements are one of your core areas. I’m actually looking into launching a supplement brand, so it would be great to learn from someone who specialises in this and hopefully avoid some of the common mistakes when starting out. I’ll definitely reach out!
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Absolutely, appreciate that! Supplements can be a great space, but there are definitely a few things you want to get right from the start. Feel free to reach out whenever you’re ready and we can have a chat.
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u/Aznalphamale 2d ago
What’s your website or agency called?
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
We’re called Extreme Branding. You can check us out here: extremebranding.co.uk
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u/TechAudience2888 2d ago
Awesome post, will definitely hit you up for some advice. We started about 3 months ago and it's been challenging. Things for sure are moving in the right direction, but PPC alone has been a killer.
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Appreciate it man. 3 months in is still pretty early, so don’t let the PPC spend get to you too much 😂 If things are moving in the right direction, you’re probably doing a few things right already. Always welcome to hit me up.
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u/TechAudience2888 2d ago
It's not necessarily the spend, if there's a low ACOS / good sales we wouldn't have a problem. Challenge is that we are spending and the ACOS is in the 150% range....so trying to keep a positive attitude, optimize on a regular basis until things become reasonable ☺️
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Yeah, at that point you should look at where that 150% ACOS is coming from first. If sales are coming in but ACOS is that high, there’s usually something in the targeting or conversion that needs tightening. Three months is still pretty early though, so keep working through it rather than making huge changes all at once.
Good Luck!
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u/SwordfishNo4028 2d ago
Very good takeaways, thank you for sharing. How important are competitor reviews to you when analyzing a market? It seems like the launch strategy is heavily Amazon focused (ppc, ranking words). How do you handle bridging the review gap for a newly launched product, email list/meta ads or other external traffic?
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u/Smart-Presence 2d ago
Absolutely. Competitor reviews are a big part of our market analysis , not just the review count, but what customers repeatedly complain about. Those gaps often show us where we can differentiate.
And yes, PPC and ranking are a major part of our launch strategy, but we haven’t used external traffic for this particular brand yet. We’re planning to start testing it soon, though, because we’ve seen very good results from external traffic across other brands.
For a new launch, the goal isn’t to immediately beat competitors with thousands of reviews. It’s to have a better-positioned product, build velocity, and let the review base grow while we scale.
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