How It Started

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Sam's adventure began in May 2023, on the clearance shelves at Walmart. She only had about $2000 to start her business, but her approach quickly paid off. She found her first profitable items by scanning the barcodes of discounted items, buying anything that apps like SellerAmp showed her sold quickly and profitably

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The real game-changer for Sam was pivoting to online arbitrage (OA), which let her scale without physically driving to stores with retail arbitrage. She started finding products by looking through the storefronts of other sellers doing the same thing. Any time there was a sale on a site like Nike, for example, she opens up the stores of other sellers who sell Nike and then use that as a focused list of items that she can probably find cheaply at Nike and already sell well on Amazon.

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By her third month, not only was she managing a new business already doing $50k/mo, but she also had a newborn that same month!

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Key Strategies for Success

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We talked to Sam and she said her success can be attributed to a few key strategies that she followed:

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1. Focus on Online Arbitrage: By transitioning to OA, Sam was able to expand her sourcing beyond physical stores. She started looking for products online at sites like Kohl’s, Walmart, or Nike to find items she could sell for way more on Amazon

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2. Scaling Fast: One of the biggest aspects of Sam's strategy was her reinvestment of profit. She emphasized the importance of reinvesting earnings to maintain a good pace of growth. Important to remember that sometimes sacrificing today is necessary to have massive growth in the future!

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3. Leveraging Tools: Sam used tools like Keepa and SellerAmp to make informed purchasing decisions, focusing on products that would sell quickly on Amazon. There is NO reason to be guessing what to buy when we can already see exactly how fast your items should be selling, takes a ton of risk and guesswork out

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4. Balancing Family and Business: Despite the demands of a new baby, Sam structured her day to optimize productivity, working during the quiet night hours. She is living proof that “I don’t have time” is a massive excuse…

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The Transition to Big Opportunities

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As her business grew, Sam looked beyond the initial arbitrage strategy. She started exploring more options, such as wholesale. This shift was motivated by the ability to buy as much inventory as she wanted when she finds a winner. When buying from online retailers, order cancels can be an issue, so she started calling the brand owners and distributors of her favorite brands to sell to start working out wholesale contracts with them. She’s hoping this will take her from $200k/mo that she is at now to much bigger numbers! 

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Tips for Aspiring Amazon Sellers

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For those inspired by Sam’s journey and looking to start their own Amazon FBA business, she gave the following advice:

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- Start with Retail Arbitrage: This helps build a fundamental understanding of the market and what products sell well.

-Invest in Learning and Tools:  Use analytics tools and resources to cut your time commitment down significantly

-Focus and Reinvest: Quick reinvestment of profits back into more inventory is crucial for growing quickly.

-Network and Learn: Engage with community groups and other sellers to expand your knowledge, get questions answered, and simply have more fun

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Conclusion

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Sam’s story is proof that Amazon FBA is a fantastic opportunity for people willing to dedicate themselves fully. It’s NOT a “get rich quick scheme” - but her growth after a year of hard work is proof that you can also create the business of your dreams with Amazon!

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