Day 2

Subject: What's better, [firstname], FBA or dropshipping?

Hi [firstname],

You may be thinking that Amazon FBA is a bit like dropshipping.  To a certain extent it is, insofar as you're buying from a manufacturer and selling on to the consumer, making your profit from the markup.  However, there are some key differences.  There are also pros and cons, which we're going to explore in today's installment.

Let's start by looking at dropshipping.

Pros.

You don't have to carry inventory. Your customer buys from you, you get paid, take your profit off the top and then order from the dropshipper who ships the item to the customer.

You can sell on multiple platforms – your website and eBay as well as Amazon, for example.

Cons

You have to handle all the payment processing, customer service and so on.
If your dropshipper is in (say) China, there can be a long delivery time and extra taxes and duties for your customers to pay.
Returns can be a nightmare!

Now let's look at FBA.

Pros.

Amazon does all the customer service work for you. FBA handles customer service and returns, and their team is on-hand 24/7.
Amazon has great SEO for their website, making it easy for people to find your products.
As far as the customer is concerned, there's little difference between buying from you and buying direct from Amazon, so trust is already built in.
Amazon fulfillment centers are in the USA, so your customers can get their orders real quick. 


Cons.

You have to buy in bulk and pay your supplier upfront, so you have a lot of money tied up in inventory. 
You need to make sure your product will sell, otherwise you could really take a hit, financially.
If your supplier is overseas, any extra taxes and duties are payable by you and have to be factored in to your price.

While it's not perfect, for my money FBA's pros sure outweigh the cons. They take care of all the hassle, leaving you free to run your business.

Warmly,

[Your Name]

PS. I go into more detail in my FBA success guide.  Find out more here: [link to sales page].
