Introduction
- As you all know, e-commerce has become an amazing part of our lives. We simply browse websites from our phone and with a couple of clicks, a package end up at our doorstep in a couple of days. More variety of products you cannot find at your local store, better pricing, free shipping…. all of the great things we have grown to love. Without a doubt, Amazon has become the biggest and fastest growing e-commerce company out there.
- You have probably seen it all over Youtube, Tiktok and Instagram. Sell on Amazon without inventory! Learn how to dropship and make thousands. Lots of gurus out there trying to sell you a course on how to get rich quick. Have you ever stopped to think if it was so easy and great….would they sell you the secret? Wouldn’t they just get rich themselves and not share the profits with you? You can sell on Amazon without inventory through dropshipping, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.
- Amazon has millions of customers at your fingertips. How can you embrace the powerful platform and get in on the sales action? Keep on reading, we are going to show you how.
Understanding the Dropshipping Model
What is Dropshipping?
- Dropshipping is the process of selling products to people without actually ever having it in your hands. Lets take a step back and see how normal retail and even e-commerce businesses work. First the retailer buys their product from the manufacturer or a distributor. They use their money (capital) to buy products (cost of goods) and then they resell them to a customer (you). The key difference between traditional commerce and dropshipping is the fact the retailer (Walmart, grocery store, etc.) actually buys the products, hold the products at their warehouse, then sell the products to customers.
- With dropshipping, the products go from the manufacturer or distributor directly to the customer. The retailer never holds the products.
- Dropshipping sounds AMAZING right? You don’t have to buy anything until the customer buys it from you, then you don’t have to hold the products at your house or warehouse, then you don’t even have to ship the product to the customer!
- Not so fast….its not quite that easy. This is the reality part that the guru’s don’t want to tell you. What they are setting you up for is likely the “bad” style of dropshipping and will get you in trouble with Amazon very quickly.
How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory: the right and wrong way.
The right way: Using proper suppliers such as a manufacturer or distributor of a product to ship the products to your customers.
- Amazon requires the products be authentic and follow a chain of custody
- Only authorized distributors of products are allowed to ship these products.
- Warranties are often not conveyed (transferred) from one consumer to another. (if you buy products as a consumer and sell them, the are often considered used)
The wrong way: This is often what the gurus you see all over social media teaching people to do in their Amazon dropshipping course.
- Finding products from other retail websites (Walmart, Home Depot, Ebay, etc.) that have a good spread (difference in your purchase price versus the price on Amazon)
- Having the other retailer ship the product to your customer.
- Get rich
How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory the wrong way.
There are a few reasons that this is not allowed on Amazon. First off a customer will receive their product they bought on Amazon in a Walmart or Home Depot box. This often confuses customers. Second, the customer will check to find out they could have bought the product on Walmart or Home Depot significantly cheaper on the other website. Third, the customer will feel as if they were ripped off. Amazon has a reputation to maintain as a top ecommerce platform with a wide variety and low prices.
Why Choose Dropshipping for Amazon?
- Discuss the advantages of dropshipping on Amazon.
- Highlight the potential for lower upfront costs and reduced risk.
Setting Up Your Amazon Seller Account
Step-by-Step Guide on How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory
- Setting up an account on Amazon is easy. Simply go to the Seller sign up page
- Walk through the sign up page.
- If you are going to sell products under your personal name, you will sign up for a personal account. If you are going to use your business account, make sure you use your business details when signing up
- Amazon will ask you to do an account verification in which you will need your ID and a webcam to interview with an Amazon associate. Don’t worry, they are just checking to make sure you are a real person.
- Once you verify all of your information, you can start selling!
Choosing a Niche
Amazon is a giant. Their product selection is hundreds of millions of products and you need to select something to get started. So if you want to know how to sell on Amazon without inventory, step 1 is finding a niche. A niche is simply a category or type of product you want to sell. There are tons of categories such as toys, makeup, appliances..it’s endless. The best niche is something you like. Nothing worse that looking at products all day long that you don’t even like. Its important to find a niche you like because you will need to find supplies.
Sourcing Products and Suppliers
Identifying Reliable Suppliers
How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory; finding authorized suppliers is the key. There are several ways to find suppliers and we cover them in our free Amazon FBA course. There are several factors to look for such as: Do the vendors actually stock the products? Or how often do they run out of stock? Are they an authorized vendor of that products? Do they accept returns?
Not all vendors will drop ship products for you. In fact, most won’t. Most manufacturers and distributors like to deal with products in bulk. They want a single customer to buy thousands of dollars in products at once. Finding vendors who will drop ship (the proper way, not retail stores) can be difficult. You can simply search google for terms such as “dropshipping supplier” “toy dropshipping supplier” and so on. Some manufacturer and distributors will list this on their website.
Another type of product that often is dropshipping are LARGE products. Truck bed covers, boxes, etc are often dropshipped due to the extreme cost to ship from the manufacturer, to a distributor, to a retailer, then ultimately the customer. The shipping costs would make prices exponential. Finding companies that sell these products often have systems in place to dropship products.
Product Research and Trend Analysis
So how to sell on Amazon without inventory starts with picking a niche. If you got here by the means of social media guru’s trying to sell you a ‘sell on Amazon without inventory’ course, you are likely already in the places you should be to find hot trending items. When you get into business, finding products you can sell is rule #1. Finding trending products on social media can be a great start into finding the niche and the products people are looking for.
You can also try Google Trends to see what are products that are becoming more popular. Follow your celebrities to see what they are doing.
Listing and Marketing Your Products
Crafting Compelling Listings
When you find the products you want to sell, you will need to find great ways to describe the products so people will want to buy them. Each page on Amazon with a products is called a listing. Listing creation is an important skill to learn and maintain. There are a few important rules to make sure your listings are successful
- Write a great description, bullet points and description. If you need help with this, never fear, AI is here. Use Google Bard or ChatGPT to help you. They are amazing at this. Even better, check out AMZ Fusion’s custom GPT: Listing Wizard for free. Its already optimized to create great listings!
- Have great images. Images are the first thing people look at so make sure the first image (also known as a hero image) is perfect.
- Fill in all of the detailed information such as the UPC, manufacturer, model number, etc are all proper.
Very Important Things to Know About Listing Creation
- Copying and using images from websites such as the manufacturer without their permission is copyright infringement.
- Make sure you are using valid information. Many people love to use UPC numbers that don’t match the product because Amazon won’t let them sell a specific brand. (this is known as gating)
- Use your own words and don’t copy descriptions from other websites.
Managing Orders
Order Fulfillment Process
- Make sure you develop a strict process to handle order fulfillment.
- You will need a system to make sure your manufacturer or distributor is in stock so you don’t accidentally sell products you cannot fulfill.
- Customers love updates. As soon as you get a tracking number from your vendor, make sure you update your order.
Key Takeaways
- Dropshipping can be a great way to make money selling on Amazon but doing it the RIGHT way is the key.
- Make sure you are using legitimate, authorized vendor who specialize in dropshipping
- Do NOT dropship from retailers. If this is really what you want to do, try Ebay instead.
- Don’t pay for a course from a social media guru. We have a completely free Amazon FBA course where we teach you everything you need to know… for FREE.
- Dropshipping is not a get rich quick game regardless of what influencers tell you. It takes time and effort to build a successful business.
FAQ
- Many people ask how to sell on Amazon from Alibaba. Don’t. Dropshipping from China will only lead to upset customers. Poor quality control and intellectual property claim issues will also arise.
- How much money do you need to start? Technically you can start with an Amazon seller account for free but a pro account is the better approach if you sell more than a few products a month.
- Do you need an LLC to sell on Amazon? No you dont but check out our video on Entity Registration to learn about the pros and cons about selling under your personal name.
- Can you recommend any Amazon FBA course? Sure, ours…its FREE
- What happens if you get caught dropshipping from retail stores? Amazon will shut down your store and keep any money that is in your account. This is part of their business solutions agreement. Dropshipping the wrong way can lead you into massive credit card debt with a shut down Amazon account and now way to pay off that debt. Do it the right way!
- How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory if you don’t have any money? Simple answer is, you can’t. You need to have some money to get started. If you sell cheap products, you will need less money. Larger and more expensive products will require more money to get started.
So How to Sell on Amazon Without Inventory in conclusion
- Dropshipping is a legitimate way to sell on Amazon though its not as easy as most people make it out to be.
- If you are up for the challenge of becoming an entrepreneur and making money, its way to get started.
- Make sure you spend the time and effort to properly educate yourself about how to sell on Amazon without inventory before you jump in. There is a lot to learn if you want to be successful.
