Sajag Agarwal

Selling on Amazon is Getting Difficult? Think Again… The New Fees in 2024 are going to bring some serious improvements. Amazon has introduced new fees in 2024, including: → Referral fee reductions for apparel products priced below $20 → FBA fulfillment fee changes → FBA monthly storage fee and aged inventory surcharge changes → FBA New Selection program changes → FBA fee changes for removals, disposals, and manual processing fee Amazon has also reduced fees in certain areas and removed others. For example, off-peak monthly inventory storage fees for standard-size products will be reduced by $0.09 per cubic foot starting April 1, 2024. Additionally, Amazon has removed some fees, such as the high-volume listing fee for sellers with fewer than 100,000 products listed. #amazonseller #ecommercegrowth #feechanges #amazonupdates

2

1 Comment

Why ship FBA when you have all the tools you need to do FBM? We’ve done the math. It’s a winning move. With all the cost additions Amazon is adding to FBA: incoming fees, distribution to other DC fees, storage fees, return fees, lost products, lost pallets, lost, damaged by Amazon, etc etc etc. One topic I rarely see discussed: Amazon charges per unit FBA fulfilment fees regardless if a customer buys multiples. Say a customer buys 3 products from the same vendor…with FBA they will charge the FBA fee and fulfillment fees x3. If you ship FBM, there is no fulfilment fee, just the Amazon fee and your shipping costs. All 3 can go in one box. Example: $29.99 item with a 15% Amazon fee ($4.50) plus $9.43 Fulfilment fee. $29.99x3=$89.97 minus $41.79($4.50+$9.43x3) nets you $48.18. FBM: $89.97-$13.50- $10.50 (box,tape,shipping) nets you $65.97. $3.50 per unit shipping cost! Our average shipping/handling cost per unit is dramatically lower than we expected do to so many customers buying multiples! Average of 1.4 units per order is typical….so we reep the benefit. So we aren’t on Prime…who cares. We have total control. We ship 5 other webstores…why give up so much margin? If you’re shipping over $1M a year, get your own warehouse, if you are less, call me, we’ll talk dollars and SENSE! Maybe we ship for you? We have warehouse space and all the tools. 3PL is too expensive too. Don’t give Bezos more money for his next yacht, either create your own jobs or let us help you. #amazonsellers #amazon #dtc #sellercentral #walmartmarketplace #amazonprime #amazonFBA #entrepreneur

6

🚀💈 Ever wondered how a gas station frustration turned into a $750M business? Let's dive into Harry's Inc.—one of the most disruptive DTC brands shaking up the razor industry! #ecommerce #startups #entrepreneurship

12

1 Comment

Inventory management for DTC brands is hard: Predicting demand is hard. Long lead times are hard. Managing cash flow is hard. Balancing stock across channels is hard. Avoiding stockouts is hard. Optimizing reorders is hard. Tracking multi-location inventory is hard. Managing product variations is hard. Handling excess stock is hard. Tracking costs is hard. Managing perishable inventory is hard. Scaling inventory management is hard. Coordinating with suppliers is hard. Responding to demand spikes is hard. Discontinuing slow-movers is hard. Forecasting new launch demand is hard. Managing seasonal inventory is hard. Handling design changes is hard. Managing international inventory is hard. Balancing inventory and costs is hard. But, do you know what’s even harder? (some may say insane). Using Excel to manage all of this... 😱

9

DTC vs. physical retail vs. wholesale vs. social retail … This ongoing conversation is meaningless. Retail is multichannel/omnichannel by nature. The only reason products aren’t sold everywhere is operational complexities. According to this article, DTC-native companies are migrating to wholesale. And the reason is obvious: they need volume. Volume is still a massive advantage in the retail space. • Shipping a full container vs. sending a single pallet. • Filling out a full truckload (FTL) vs. a less-than-truckload (LTL). • Leasing a big warehouse vs. a small space. All those things still make a huge difference and give a huge advantage to whoever has volume. But DTC is lean by nature. It's a low-volume, high-margin play. For the business model to really work, DTC brands need volume. That's why many of them are trying to move into wholesale despite lower margins. Let's see how this will all play out. https://lnkd.in/e5M6xHqA

6

2 Comments

When it comes to FBA, your supply chain should consist of products that are available for regular replenishment so you can develop forecasts based on that. This is a minor yet very important part of FBA, the team at UTN constantly tries to introduce new products to our supply chain so our buyers don’t run off somewhere else 😊 #utnwholesale #amazon #amazonfinds #amazonusa #amazonvendor #amazonfbm #amazonmarketplace #amazonselling #amazonfba #amazonwholesale #hustle #mindset #motivation #money #amazonfbasupplier #supplier #distributor

1

DTC Brands Don't wait until you have your new product in hand to market it Hire a marketing agency Hype it up on social media Get consumers interested Take pre orders Continue to market it after your 3PL has received the shipment Do you want to explode or limp out of the gates? I was talking with a guy the other day who is new to Ecommerce. He was hoping his product would just take off and it would be a "side gig" for him. He was discouraged because his consumer product wasn't taking off organically. This was a product who has many competitors. You have to put time and money into it until it gets enough organic traffic and even then you should continue to pump advertising money into it. I think a lot of people jump into ecommerce thinking it will be a breeze.. #ecommerce #ecommercelogistics #dtc #dtcbrands #3pl #fulfillmentcenter #amazonfba #ecommercefulfillment #shopify

1

OtailO's Real-time inspection works for brands, and engages its eco-system to actively optimise and improve the returns journey. Special glasses are not needed, just a mindset for real impact. #nextbestshelf #returnsmanagement #inspection #certification #innovation #customerjourney

4

Selling on Amazon is Getting Difficult? Think Again… The New Fees in 2024 are going to bring some serious improvements. Amazon has introduced new fees in 2024, including: → Referral fee reductions for apparel products priced below $20 → FBA fulfillment fee changes → FBA monthly storage fee and aged inventory surcharge changes → FBA New Selection program changes → FBA fee changes for removals, disposals, and manual processing fee Amazon has also reduced fees in certain areas and removed others. For example, off-peak monthly inventory storage fees for standard-size products will be reduced by $0.09 per cubic foot starting April 1, 2024. Additionally, Amazon has removed some fees, such as the high-volume listing fee for sellers with fewer than 100,000 products listed. Liked it? A repost will help… #amazonfees #amazonseller #business

42

12 Comments

eBay has blocked the use of Aquiline and Bluecare Express, commonly used for #Amazon #dropshipping. This enforcement aims to ensure tracking number validity and compliance with #eBay's policies. But keep in mind Multi-Channel Fulfillment (#MCF) by Amazon can be used, but eBay users must comply with eBay's tracking and shipping requirements, using integrated carriers like #UPS or #FedEx to avoid violations.

3

📦 Me: Hey, Amazon. My shipment is stuck in “delivered” status at the FBA warehouse and is 9 days over SLA. 👹 Seller Support: It is such a pleasure to work with a wonderful seller like you. But here is the thing. We really don’t care. It will get received when it gets received. Thank you for being a beautiful and intelligent seller who is highly valued and loved. 🤯 Me: Dude. I’ve got two shipments like this. They were sent on the same day to 2 different FCs. Can you escalate to the FBA team and find out what the deal is? 👹 Seller Support: Nah. But we are so honored that you allowed us to help you with this issue and hope you will have a glorious day. May you, your children, and your children’s children have many thousands of blessings. Why give SLAs right there in Seller Central if you take no accountability, Amazon?

76

44 Comments

Ecommerce businesses I would NOT start in 2024: - Single SKU with no recurring revenue component. Too much pressure on first purchase and will crush your MER as you scale - AOV below $35. Too much pressure on CPA. - Anything in the game category. Board games, card games, etc. Too many copycats, Amazon-dependent, and the lowest quality customers in ecomm - Sexual health/wellness. All the restrictions on ad platforms as THC/CBD, without the astronomically high LTVs - Any brand with >10 SKUs that is NOT apparel/accessory. It's a drag on your P&L and overcomplicates your acquisition strategy/forecasting tenfold - Anything seasonal or gifting-driven (flowers, holiday, etc). Makes media buying a nightmare. - Any business where your average gross margin is less than 65% - Any non-vertically integrated "marketplace" style business where you aren't making the product yourself (see above) - Anything liquid. Shipping costs are too much of a drag on gross margin, and the beverage category is a nightmare to stick out in Do you disagree? Am I missing anything? Stay tuned for my next post, ecomm business I WOULD start in 2024 😀

23

9 Comments

Time for part 2... Ecomm businesses that I WOULD start in 2024: - Supplements in underserved categories with massive TAMs and a demo that spends time on Facebook (think: cholesterol, menopause, etc) - Visually driven apparel (streetwear, escapewear, graphic tees, hats) is still the best category to scale on Meta if you have design chops. Low CPMs and unbelievably forgiving of poor website experiences - THC/CBD brands are well worth the compliance headaches thanks to their insane LTVs. You're literally selling drugs. - Anything in telemedicine/telehealth. Go after the long tail prescriptions that Hims & Hers/Ro haven't dominated yet. - Anything with a genuine R&D moat or a new form factor that isn't a liquid in an existing category ("the world's first _____" is compelling for ads, landing pages, and PR) - Anything in the pet category (zero price sensitivity, still growing) - Anything made-to-order or personalized, like astrology jewelery or personally inscribed products (this is a massive acquisition lever) assuming margins aren't terrible - Anything where you have a competitive channel advantage. Are you a paid search/SEO wiz? Launch a line of niche, high-priced chandeliers and dominate the search landscape - Any creator-led business where you're partnering with a celeb with a built-in, relevant audience who understands their role as a content creator for the biz

6

1 Comment

Inventory tracking tool recommendation wanted. 📦 I'm looking for a multi-channel inventory tool which can help track current inventory levels, inventory runway based on 30 / 60 / 90 day sales, and make recommendations on inventory replenishment and rebalancing across channels. It must integrate with Amazon FBA, Flexport, Shopify, Walmart WFS, and ideally TikTok Shop. Closest thing I've found is Zoho Inventory? My manual Excel sheet is simply not cutting it anymore.... #inventory #inventorymanagement #multichannel #ecommercetools

1

3 Comments

This is why I'm a FBA > FBM advocate. Yes, FBA is an additional fee (fulfillment) but the increased buy-box share & quicker shipping speeds outweigh the benefits of FBM. Plus reviews are easier to remove. Now, I'm not saying FBM is bad. It's definitely useful. But the increased shipping costs for MF orders are negated by the lack of fulfillment fees. Considering labor costs, storage costs, & more, this is why I'm a firm believer that you should always prioritize FBA. Focus on high-ROI tasks like opening accounts, buying inventory, going through reports, etc. But I am open to opinions. Prove me wrong! buff.ly/3Itibtz

6

3 Comments

We get the most sign ups in months April, May, and June at Getida. There are two reasons why Q2 is the busiest for FBA Reimbursements ↴ 1. The FBA Seller Cycle 2. Certain Claim Types Expire After 18 Months Let’s dive into these two reasons: 1. The FBA Seller Cycle This is what a typical year looks like for FBA sellers. Q1 - They recalibrate and take stock after the holiday season Q2 - They look at their numbers and how to improve the business Q3 - They strategize and prepare for the busy upcoming holiday season Q4 - They deal with all the challenges that come with the holiday season Therefore we see a rise in new sign ups in Q2 because this is when Sellers really look at the value they’d get if they sort out their FBA Auditing & Reimbursements. Partnering with a provider like Getida is an easy and great way to improve bottom-line Revenue and MRR to your FBA business. 2. Certain Claim Types Expire After 18 Months Here are some of the claim types that expire after 18 months passed: → Lost and damaged units → FBA customer refunds → FBA removal orders On top of that, the holiday season is the busiest Sales months for FBA Sellers which means there’s more room for errors and mistakes to happen in Amazon’s warehouses. So if you take this info into consideration, FBA sellers get the most value from working with a new FBA Refund provider in Q2 as they can go back and Audit two holiday season periods. To bring this point out, if a seller signed up with Getida in April 2024, we can Audit their account for the Holiday Season of 2023 AND 2022 for specific claim types. So these two reasons explain why Getida experiences the highest numbers of sign ups and revenue in Q2. I’d be interested to hear from other Amazon service providers if they observe the same in Q2. Let me know below ↓

29

4 Comments

When it comes to FBA, your supply chain should consist of products that are available for regular replenishment so you can develop forecasts based on that. This is a minor yet very important part of FBA, the team at UTN constantly tries to introduce new products to our supply chain so our buyers don’t run off somewhere else 😊 #utnwholesale #amazon #amazonfinds #amazonusa #amazonvendor #amazonfbm #amazonmarketplace #amazonselling #amazonfba #amazonwholesale #hustle #mindset #motivation #money #amazonfbasupplier #supplier #distributor

1