Friday, March 21, 2014

Making $1200 in One Week on Amazon - My Way

 How to Have a Profitable Home Based Business - Part One

I'm sure I'm not the only person who wants to make money from home and build a successful home-based business. I've attempted several times to craft my own business model with mixed results.

This Keurig has been a very big seller
In February of this year, I started selling items on Amazon.  In a little over one week, I was able to PROFIT over $1000 but not without taking some lumps. Here's some of what I learned:

  1. Amazon has "velocity limits" that, until I reached them, are not posted anywhere that I knew about. When a seller reaches a velocity limit, their account is suspended until Amazon has the time to investigate if you are delivering your sold products or just pocketing the money. There are ways to avoid the velocity limit and continue selling without getting temporarily suspended.
  2. After selling 20 or so of the same item, I was contacted by a legal team for said company and asked to either prove I was a certified reseller of their product or cease and desist. Turns out I was acting legally and I can show you how I covered myself.
  3. Out of 157 items sold in a very short period of time, one (ONE!) buyer contacted me to say they never received their item EVEN THOUGH the UPS tracking number shows it was not only delivered ON TIME but left on their porch and the Buyer confirmed the delivery addres on the UPS tracking receipt. Amazon does not consider this as "Proof of Delivery" and will not back me up as the seller. I had to refund the buyer in full but can tell you how to make this most unpleasant scandal as easy to handle as possible. In short, they took advantage of the system but we all know there are people like that out there. You'll need to plan for them if you attempt this type of home business.
  4. Amazon suspended my account for investigation but let 34 orders pile up in the "Pending" category. After four days of those live orders sitting, Amazon released them all to me AT ONE TIME. I now had to fill 34 orders with a time clock that had begun ticking four days prior. To the Buyer, it shows they placed their orders on a Friday. The orders weren't released to me until Monday night the next week. I had to quickly cover a lot of ground and can tell you how.
  5. Before suspending my account, Amazon froze the money account where all the money had been paid by the Buyer and was waiting to be transferred to my bank account. When they froze it due to velocity limits, they don't tell you for how long it is frozen. It now sits at several thousand dollars and all I've been told is that it will be released when they see that all my Buyers have received their packages and nobody needs a refund. I'll tell you how I kept selling products even though Amazon was sitting on MY money.
  6. I found several sources to buy products for reselling. Once Amazon suspended my selling ability until their investigation is over, I bounced over to eBay and picked right up where I left off with Amazon. I've made $160 in one day so far. I'll tell you where I got my products to sell and the difference between selling on Amazon and eBay.
I'm not trying to sound like I'm about to sell something. There's nothing to sell. I'm just trying to put as many of my thoughts to paper right now as I can so I don't forget what's been happening. I'll cover all this stuff and more over the next several posts because I truly believe anyone can make money this way but there are several things to learn to avoid headaches.

Quickly selling 53 items caused Amazon to sit on 34
This blog has always been about sharing what I learn and making money has always been kind of a knack for me. My mom says it started when I went door to door at the age of seven trying to sell her shoes. The ACTUAL shoes from her closet. Then I filled my lunchbox full of $0.05 seed packets and sold them door to door for a quarter.

I sold on eBay for many years and did quite well. I've had numerous websites and learned a ton about eCommerce, SEO, web design, and all the other technical stuff that goes with selling products on the internet. Hopefully it will help some of you out there to start your own online venture and make a little cash on the side. In my opinion, if you can sit at home, in your pajamas and make even an extra $200 a month profit...they why not do it? Every income stream you can create gets you that much closer to financial independence.

So if you are interested in this topic, leave a comment about what interests you the most and I'll cover it. From picking a company name and URL to grab attention , how to accept money over the internet, how to advertise or where to find products to resell. Let me know and I'll share the knowledge. 

This isn't the usual prepper/homesteading stuff you're used to reading here but making an income from home is essential to becoming self sufficient. If choose not to follow this series, I'll understand. I'm still working on a rainwater collection system, upgrading my chicken coop and other fun homesteading stuff.

~OJD

25 comments:

  1. you go right ahead...part of prepping is actually making an honest buck to finance it...teach on brother. I am reading.

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  2. To learn from someone who has been there, done that, yes, I want to learn. Every little bit helps these days, I will be here following with 100% interest.

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  3. Even if nobody else posts a comment, I'll do it just for you two. Thanks Anon and Warlock, for hanging in there with me.

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  4. Love to read about this. I heard that everyone should have 5 sources of income; that way if one cuts off, you will still have money coming in. How often has any and every one gotten into trouble counting on "only" that 9-5 paycheck? (Re: your previous post). I'd be curious about what items you decided to sell, what was the criteria for buying wholesale and selling retail?
    Always enjoy your blog. -Stealth Spaniel

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  5. I'm listening too!

    I've started an Etsy store to sell some of my grandmother's things that we don't have room for. I've sold some stuff on eBay. But I'd love to find something that I could reliably buy and sell.

    The whole business thing scares me. We got audited once, even though we had a CPA. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I'm scared I'll forget to dot an i or cross a t. But I'm willing to try, if I have someone to guide me.

    I desperately want to get this mortgage paid off as quickly as possible, and relieve my good husband of a lot of his stress!

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  6. Count me in. I'm a younger guy trying to start out on his own with my collection of machining and welding skills. What I lack most is the ins and outs of buying, selling, invoicing, taxes, ecommerce, and the like. I will read with great interest!

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  7. I've been selling on Etsy (AtticJoys1) for about 2 years now doing some handmade wood items and refurbishing other items. Have reached the point where I can reliably count on about $1700 per month revenue stream. Also, do some minor selling on Ebay with "found" items. Would like info on where to get other items to sell for profit.

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  8. I would very much like to get as much info on this as possible.
    Thanks OJD. You keep your head up. We're praying for you and the family.
    The Old Man in Florida

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  9. I would like to know how best to sell on Amazon and Ebay.

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  10. Having just gotten out of a violent marital situation, I can really use some good advice to make some money. Thank you for taking your experience and using it to help others!

    DJ

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  11. I also have started selling on Etsy and Ebay, but on a very small scale. I would love to get your advice on reselling items on these sites. I suspended my Amazon account because they were very problematic and refused to pay me for the last order I sold because their system suddenly had a problem reading my credit card info.

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  12. My wife and I have had several conversations about getting into selling on the internet, but have never found the "right" thing. I would definitely like to learn more. Thank you for sharing.

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  13. I'd definitely love to learn more!

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  14. Count me in too. I'd like to hear about how you successfully sell on the internet.

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  15. Waiting to hear more. Always interested in multiple streams of income

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  16. Aww man! I would love to find out where to find some good places to buy products to resell! Please do share more!

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  17. Count me in! I don't even know where to start!

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  18. I have been selling on Ebay for years and had the same experience you had on Amazon. I sold an item and the guy said he never received it, Ebay just refunded his money and debited me; even though he received the item. I would like to find out where to buy better items than I am getting.

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  19. I would love to know more. I recently moved and hit every bump along the way. From having the vehicle break down along the way to the rental place being a scam to actually getting robbed....this move got me back home but lead me way off track. I am determined not to lose the place we found but no one is calling me for a job and bills are coming due. I am turning to the internet in hopes of making some bill money. So I am listening!

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  20. I found this blog because I've run into the same issue myself. We have had awesome success in the last 3 months on Amazon and have undergone multi "velocity limit" reviews. We currently have 272 order pending and climbing which is very nerve racking.

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    1. Wow. That's terrific that you have found such a strong niche. The velocity limit imposed by Amazon can sure strangle you though. Care to share your successful niche?

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  21. im interested in knowing as well im actually experiencing the same issue you did amazon decided to keep my money on researve and now I am seeing a pending order because of velocity limit I also have an account with ebay but unfortunately it does not work as fast as amazon.

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Don't you spam me...I'll just delete it!