Day 3

Subject: [firstname]: What sells on Amazon?

Hey [firstname]!

Today I want to talk about the types of stuff you can sell via Amazon FBA.  Like I was saying yesterday, you really have to do your homework here, otherwise it can really hit you in the wallet big-time!

The best thing to sell is your own product.  This has the advantage of being unique to you.  If it's good quality, priced well and customer's can't get it anywhere else, you're definitely on to a winner.  The downside, of course, is you have to do all the R&D and prototyping, as well as carrying all the manufacturing costs.  These can be quite high – especially if you're only selling in small quantities.
So if you're just starting out, it might be better to resell an existing product.  This has the advantage of being tried and tested.  If it's already selling well elsewhere, you can gauge its popularity and plan accordingly.  The downside here is that you're likely to face some pretty stiff competition from already established sellers.  Oftentimes, people try to compete solely on price.  This soon turns into a race to the bottom where margins get squeezed and profitability gets trashed unless you can shift vast quantities of product.  

A good compromise is to offer a custom product.  This offers you the best (and worst) of both worlds.  In this scenario, you find a product that's selling well, contact the manufacturer and get them to make a slightly different version – a custom color, say, or one with your logo or branding on it – exclusively for you. You know it's tried and tested and should do well, but (just like with your own product) you still have to do all the R&D and prototyping, as well as carrying all the manufacturing costs.  It's also worth remembering that a tweak to an existing product is just as likely to decrease its popularity as increase it. Readers of a certain age will remember “new” Coke.  Enough said.

Talk soon!

[Your Name]

PS. Don't forget to grab your copy of my FBA success guide.  Here's the link [link to sales page].
