Surviving can be pretty tricky. Starting a business to meet ends meet can also be challenging if there’s no capital to start. How can you now subdue the challenge of no capital? Looking to start an e-commerce business on Amazon with no capital is feasible. Getting started on Amazon without opening a wallet will make you feel how Amazon works before you start investing the little money you have into your business. This article will teach you how you can get started on Amazon realistically for free.
How Much Does It Cost to Start Amazon FBA?
While selling on Amazon can cost tons of money, selling without a dine of lesser capital is feasible than you might expect. Fact-finding, over 4000 Amazon sellers started with little or no capital, and they are thriving in the long run. A few of the things they achieved are
- Quality time to get involved in other profitable activities. This is one of the advantages of selling on Amazon; you will have time to see other essential things, especially for parents whose children are still underage and can’t look after themselves.
- Huge retirement savings opportunity. Sellers on Amazon also have the benefit of saving for the future and other specific reasons.
When starting, you need to consider fees and the cost of your products. There are two fees you need to contemplate, they are:
- Referral fees: Referral fees are simply Amazon’s commission, often around 15% of the sales price.
- The Individual per-item fees: These fees are flat fees you pay if you are not a proficient seller. The price is fixed; thus, you will have to pay $0.99 per item.
The above fees are deducted after every sale, so you do not have to pay them in advance. Although some other fees are affected, those who sell more than 40 products per month are affected. As an individual Amazon seller who sells below 40 products in a month, you do not have to worry about such fees.
How To Sell on Amazon with No Money
To get started on Amazon, below are four simple steps you will need to take.
1. Get a Product to Market
This step is very crucial and vital. Finding a product to sell on Amazon needs to be looked into from different perspectives. You will need to ask yourself questions like how valuable the product is, how marketable It is, good quality, etc. Because you are looking to start selling with zero money, you can check out things you have in your house that you no longer use but are still in good condition.
The following are factors you need to consider when choosing a product to sell
- Size: The size of a product needs to be considered. The size and weight of a product will determine your shipping costs. A reasonably light product that fit in a shoebox will have a lesser shipping fee than a weighty and significant product.
- Seasonality: some products are seasonal. That is, they do not sell all year round. You will have to consider the seasonality of a product before sticking to it.
- Usability; The more often or regularly a product is used will determine the rate of demand. The higher the demand, the more chances you have to record moiré success. Therefore, look out for the usability of a product before making a decision.
- Risk: fragile or breakable products are to be handled with care, and the chances of shipping products like this without breaking are very slim. Therefore, stick to products that transport well and can withstand rough handling.
- Competition: Some categories of products are more competitive than others; getting a product with a high level of competition isn’t a good idea. Standing out by adding some features will be a good idea, but not for someone who is running a free account.
After you have answered all the above questions, you can now take the step of choosing a product that will bring you good sales, having considered all factors.
2. Create a Free Amazon Account
After you have found a product to market, you can proceed to create an Individual seller account. It’s free, all you have to do is provide some information, and you are good to go.
- List your Products
After creating a free account, the next thing you have to do is list out your items. Fact-finding, there are over 166 million products on Amazon so doubtlessly; whatever you hope to sell is already listed. If this occurs, all you have to do is add your name to the list of sellers already selling the product.
You can list your products on Amazon for free by doing the following:
- Find your product using the search bar. Take your time scrolling through the products to find the product that matches yours and select it.
- Click on the “sell on Amazon” button you can find on the lower right hand of your screen on the product page.
- You will be directed to a new page, where you will be asked to input your product information. fill in the information’s accordingly, and then you are good to go .
- Lastly, click on the save option and expect your product to display on the listing within 2 hours.
The last step is to ship the product once it sells. After you made a sale, all you have to do is ship the item down to the end-user. Using FBA will help you with your shipping and handling; you send your product to Amazon for storage then they look out for the shipment once a purchase is made. Shipping with FBA costs less than you shipping yourself.
Conclusion
After accumulating enough capital from selling for free on Amazon, you can now use the Amazon FBA business. Switching to Amazon FBA will give you the avenue to make more money. Treat it as a real business, and you will be amazed at your sales and income stream.