Many sellers have launched their Amazon FBA businesses with a budget of fewer than one thousand dollars.
Is it possible to spend less? If you follow the right processes, the answer is “yes.”
To start an Amazon FBA business with little money, you only need to follow a few simple steps.
Step: 1 Find a product that you don’t have to pay for
- Choose any product that hasn’t been used in a long time. It may be clothing, utensils, appliances, or even books you no longer need. It’s also an excellent way to make money while helping you eliminate unwanted items around the house.
- If you’re creative, you can make your Etsy-style products. The only out-of-pocket expense is the cost of materials and then listing on Amazon Handmade or Merch by Amazon.
- You can write a book (novel, book series, children’s books, comics, cookbooks, etc.) and publish it on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) for free if you are a writer or a friend of a writer.
- Partnership: Visit a nearby store that sells various things that can be sold on Amazon. The store owner has the goods to sell, and you are familiar with selling on Amazon. You just need to persuade the owner to trust your skills; from there, you can divide the profits. This way, you can start an Amazon FBA business with little money.
Step: 2 Create a Free Amazon Seller Account to Sell Your Products
Becoming an individual Amazon seller is free of charge. Simply provide some personal information to create an account (along with your banking information).
Step: 3 Free Product Listing
The third step is to list a product on Amazon, and it’s free. Include high-resolution images of the item and a clear, bulleted product description. Clarify as many of your target audience’s concerns as you can.
You can do that yourself without the help of a professional. With some research and practice, you can do it on your own. In the same way, you don’t have to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of your products. Your smartphone camera will be enough for this at home.
Step: 4 Earn Money, Give It to Amazon, and Keep the Rest.
The $0.99 Amazon account fee will be charged at the time of sale. These costs, together with the FBA fee and referral fees, will be subtracted from your margin. You can keep the profit after these deductions.
How to Save Money While Selling on Amazon FBA?
You can quickly lower the cost of running any Amazon business plan by wisely selecting your FBA products.
It’s crucial to keep the following guidelines in mind while selecting a product to help you avoid making financial mistakes.
● Product Size
Lightweight, small-sized items are suitable for Amazon sellers on a budget. If you can make your product smaller, it will reduce the shipping expenses that you have to pay.
● Product Category
Some categories have costly and competitive markets. For example, it can be expensive to launch an Amazon FBA business selling electronic goods, and sellers often find it challenging to rank highly due to competition.
Choose an item with lesser buyers and fewer sellers. Additionally, it should be simple to purchase with your limited resources and can provide a good profit.
● Product Seasonality
Choose a product that sells all year consistently long rather than seasonal products. You need a consistent number of customers all year rather than big sales in a few months of the year.
● Product Usability
If your Amazon FBA product is of everyday use, it may be successful. Your sales won’t fall off at any time of the year if you have a useful product that the majority of your customers use every day.
When you don’t have much money available, you should also avoid selling one-time items (such as lawnmowers, winter coats, and large electronics) on Amazon.
● Brands
The wholesale or arbitrage model is a good option if you have a limited budget because it allows you to stick with well-known products. By doing this, you can save a large amount of product packaging and advertising costs.
However, keep in mind that there is strong competition when selling well-known brands of products.
● Product Fragility
Last but not least, you shouldn’t sell fragile products that might break in shipping. Instead, choose a product that can withstand handling while being transported. Although fragile products have a big market, one with a low budget shouldn’t invest in them.
● Use the FBA Calculator
FBA income calculator is a tool provided by Amazon that may be used to estimate Amazon FBA fees, analyze the profitability of a product, and compare various fulfilment processes.
You should be able to precisely establish the price range for your product using these analytic data points. In a word, this calculator estimates whether a product is worth your time and effort.
You can estimate the profit by entering your product’s ASIN code, dimensions, category, and weight. It should show how cost-effective your choice is. This calculator is simple and helps select the best product for any business.
Amazon FBA Business Prerequisites
When you have a limited budget, there is little margin for error. Every miscalculated step could result in a loss or unexpected issue, so plan to keep your business under control.
Every Amazon FBA seller needs to follow a few guidelines, especially those who don’t have a lot of startup money.
1. Choose Individual Seller Account
This is a crucial decision when starting an Amazon FBA business.
Amazon has Individual and Professional Seller Plans. So why use an Individual Seller Account when you have less money to start your business?
Most Amazon sellers who make fewer than 40 sales per month use the individual seller account. While the professional seller account plan is designed for business owners that sell more than 40 units of the product each month and have a higher monthly sales rate.
Before choosing a seller account plan for your company, consider whether your product will generate 40+ monthly sales.
If not, consider signing up for an individual seller account. Let us explain why.
The monthly subscription cost for the professional seller account on Amazon is $39.99. This implies that each professional seller must pay $39.99 to Amazon at the end of each month, regardless of how many sales they generate.
The individual seller fee structure, on the other hand, includes $0.99 in fee charges for each sale. For example, If your amazon seller account generates 15 sales in a month on an Individual seller plan, you’ll pay (0.99 x 15) $14.85, which is half the fee for a professional seller account.
Therefore, for individuals who cannot afford to pay the monthly subscription charge, initially joining up with an individual account is a good decision.
Additionally, you are not bound to use the Individual Seller Account forever. You can upgrade to the Professional edition if your sales reach 40.
2. Choose the Best Business Model
The business plan you wish to use for your Amazon FBA business must be thoroughly researched. FBA is so popular because it is easy for sellers to use. You can get the most out of it by choosing a suitable business model.
To understand Amazon FBA business concepts, you must know the details and lowest investment needed to start.
3. FBA and Referral Fees
Amazon handles the packaging and delivery for any FBA business, including Private Label, wholesale, and arbitrage. You will pay a fixed fulfilment cost for each sale as an Amazon FBA seller. The price per item might range from $2.92 to $4.52, depending on size and weight.
As Amazon helps sellers make sales, the company charges a referral fee on every sale. Amazon deducts these fees from your sales pay, so you don’t need a separate budget.
4. Shipping
Before sending your products to Amazon’s fulfilment centres, you must prepare them following their requirements.
Amazon will issue you with a shipping label that you’ll attach to your package. After that, you can deliver the parcel to a nearby UPS or any other shipping service.
Keep in mind that the fees related to the unit’s shipping will be your responsibility to pay. Several providers, including UPS, FedEx, and DHL, are available for shipping.
Labels and packaging supplies, if needed, will be covered by your budget as well.
Although Amazon offers some free labelling and packaging supplies, you’ll also need to pay for shipping.
Don’t forget about Amazon’s shipping and routing rules.
Conclusion
To start an Amazon FBA business with little money can be easy but will be a bit tricky. Good management and planning is the key.
If you are going to follow the instructions in this article then it will make it simple for you to launch your business and start making money with Amazon FBA with little money. You’ll end up making more money sooner than you expect if you keep working hard and are willing to learn new things.
FAQS
1. How much can you make with Amazon FBA?
Nearly half of the Amazon sellers polled in 2022 earned between $1,000 and $25k per month, according to the survey. That’s $12,000-$300,000 profit annually.
Furthermore, more than 60% of sellers reported making a profit from their Amazon listings in the first year.
Using these estimates, an Amazon seller can make up to $30,000. This is only possible with a well-planned business idea, a highly demanded product, good marketing, and excellent customer service.
2. Starting Amazon FBA with $500 possible?
Yes, it is possible.
Spending the money in the proper places is more of an issue than having less of it. You might be able to launch your Amazon FBA business with $500 if you pick the correct product, business strategy, shipping method, and marketing campaign.
You can make it work on even the tightest of budgets by sourcing low-value, high-volume products for regular use, conducting effective pay-per-click advertising campaigns, and managing your listings well.
3. Is Amazon FBA a good way to make money?
It’s an excellent way to make money. If you do it right, it’s a low-cost option to start an online business.
Numerous people have made six figures or more annually using Amazon FBA businesses. If you want to increase your financial stability, you should think about it.
4. How long does it take to get paid by Amazon?
Amazon processes payments every two weeks. Following Amazon’s payment initiation, it may take five business days for your money to appear in your bank account.
This timeline depends on your bank’s processes. The time it takes Amazon to pack and ship your purchases should be included as well. When you are making business plans, keep them in mind.
5. Is Amazon FBA worth it in 2022?
Absolutely, yes. By 2025, 23.6% of all retail sales around the world are expected to be done online. Amazon will continue to multiply. Therefore, this is a fantastic choice for anyone interested in launching a business online. Even with a bit of initial investment, your business has the potential to become successful.
Can Amazon FBA make you rich? Like anything in life, Amazon FBA doesn’t guarantee that you’ll become super wealthy. You will need a combination of diligence, timing, and possibly a little luck to succeed with Amazon FBA.
