TRANSCRIPTION

Now, many coaching companies avoid directly answering concerns people have about setting up an Amazon business, like: What are the risks involved? What do people need to do at various stages of their businesses? Are there things they ought to be careful about? Etc, etc. This is because they want to persuade you to buy their courses.


Now, this is what I don’t like. I believe you should always know what you are signing up for before you make any huge life decisions – especially one like starting an ecommerce business. So in today’s episode, I shall reveal the Top 3 Challenges met by Amazon sellers who are at different stages of their businesses. These are honest opinions gathered from my own experience as a seasoned Amazon seller, and also from coaching hundreds of Amazon sellers to their success. Listen to learn what challenges there are, and be the one to decide if you are game enough to uptake this ecommerce journey yourself.


Do take note that this will be Part 1 of a three-parts podcast series, and in this episode, I will only be talking about the Top 3 Challenges New Amazon Sellers usually meet.


So, here are the Top 3 Challenges new Amazon sellers usually meet.


The first of these challenges would be that they have trouble finding trustworthy Chinese suppliers to work with. Many new sellers like to work with Chinese suppliers because their goods are cheap and have quality, but as they are so new to the ecommerce industry, most of the time these sellers may be confused about what suppliers are talking about when they make an order. For example, what are acceptable MOQs (which means Minimum Order Quantity) for a product? Are there alternative ways of shipment available? Can the prices of certain products be lowered?


And suppliers are shrewd. They can ‘sniff’ the nervousness in you and know you are a new seller from the way you communicate with them. They will take advantage of you, and recommend you stuff that may not necessarily be wrong, but would allow them to make more money off you instead of benefitting you.


So the first thing new sellers ought to do, is to learn how to protect your own rights. And how you do that is by being clear of the standards for working with Chinese suppliers. I will recommend seeking out third-party local auditing firms. These firms will recommend you the things to take note of when you liaise with suppliers, and also help you conduct checks to see if suppliers are working as requested. Finding such companies is easy enough: just google for audit companies, read reviews of them and request for sample reports of their previous work before you decide to hire them. I would normally choose to work with auditing firms that cost about USD100-200 for their services, which I think is quite decent for my needs.


Meanwhile, you also can’t just expect the auditing firms to do everything for you. You still need to take precautions against the suppliers as the last safety net. Don’t ever, ever pay a supplier 100% upfront for your goods – because you never know if the supplier will just run away after getting your money! Arrange for something like a deposit-and-end payment scheme: say, you will give the supplier 30% of the agreed payment as a deposit when you make the order. Only AFTER an audit is carried out by your trusted auditing firm, and when they confirmed that your goods are ready for shipment, then you pay the suppliers the remaining 70% as the end payment. Up to date, my suppliers and I always find this 30% deposit and 70% end payment a reasonable enough arrangement, and I shall stick to it. Remember, no matter what you do, never give 100% payment to your suppliers when you placed an order or before you are done with the audit. I repeat, no 100% payment upfront, alright?

So with that, I will go to the Number 2 Challenge faced by new Amazon sellers, that is, they do not know which product to sell. I have given some suggestions regarding this topic in one of my previous podcast episode, ‘Top 3 Ways To Find the Right Products To Sell On Amazon’, so I won’t repeat it here.


However, here’s something else I like to add on: I noticed a lot of ecommerce coaching companies would tell new Amazon sellers to sell products recommended by online product-seeking websites and tools. But if you think about it, if so many people are following those recommended websites and tools, that means there will be huge competition for the products listed there. And that is NOT going to be good for your business.

One solid principle I will advise then, is to use those recommendations as a GUIDE only. You can still consider products being recommended by those websites or tools, no problem – but you need to know whether you can improvise those products. This is so that at the end of the day, the products you list on Amazon will have unique selling points compared to the products that are being recommended to other sellers. And to improvise products, you must first be very clear about the features they have and what they are used for.


Always sell products with functions and features that you are very sure of, and start by selling small quantities, so you can exit fast if anything happens. For example, buy only about 3 to 5 units of the product at first. You can buy such small quantities from the website 1688.com – don’t go to sourcing websites like Alibaba.com and expect the suppliers listed there to sell in such low quantities. That’s not going to happen, because those suppliers are going to ask you to buy in bulk quantities of hundreds, or even thousands of units. Go to 1688.com, this is the place where you can find suppliers who are willing to sell lesser units of a product to you.


So if you got it already, let’s move on to the Number 3 Challenge faced by new Amazon sellers, that is, they are usually clueless about how to negotiate with suppliers. Now, negotiation with suppliers is an art, and this is something that comes along with experience. For new sellers, I can only say, you must STAND FIRM when you negotiate with suppliers. Ask clearly what the suppliers mean, go through specific terms and don’t agree easily unless you are very sure this is what you want. Suppliers will always urge you to buy products in bulk – because that’s what benefits them – but you have to hold your ground. So far, I found suppliers on 1688.com to be less pushy about this issue, so new sellers would probably feel more comfortable to deal with suppliers from this website.


So, are you clearer of the challenges a new Amazon seller may meet? Stay tune if you want to know the different sets of challenges Amazon sellers may meet as they get more experienced in this path.


See you in the next episode.