How To Sell On Amazon Without Inventory (Step By Step Beginner Guide)
Isn't being able to sell on Amazon without having goods at a warehouse every retailer's dream? This sales concept - buying from lower-cost suppliers, keeping them in stock at fulfilment centres, and selling them for a price high enough to make the model profitable - has been around for a long, but it is no more the only way to do business! So buckle yourself up, as in this article we will tell you how to sell on Amazon without an inventory!
Of course, money is needed to launch a firm. But those times, when you needed a sizeable amount of cash in your bank account to start anything from scratch or to construct something of your own, are long gone.
Modern technology's advancement has also created opportunities. People like you and I have a lot of possibilities to start a business even if you can not afford to spend lakh of rupees worth of money thanks to the e-commerce industry.
It might be intimidating to start as an FBA Amazon seller. How to sell on Amazon without keeping inventory in-house is a concern for individuals who do not already have an established e-commerce company but wish to break into the industry.
The Amazon FBA platform, fortunately, is designed to support an Amazon seller at any stage of their entrepreneurial career. Without having any internal inventory, there are ways to sell on Amazon.
You can also use several tools and reports to get advice on which selling strategy might be most effective for you, the benefits and drawbacks of each, and how to find and set the price for the products you want to sell on Amazon. In this post, we discuss several ways you may run your Amazon business without keeping inventory on hand.
Selling without an inventory also includes dropshipping. We urge you to continue even if you do not know what dropshipping is. In this piece, we will examine:
- Describe dropshipping.
- Is drop shipping acceptable? (What precise guidelines does Amazon have?)
- Cons and benefits
- Should a merchant on Amazon begin dropshipping?
- How to be effective at dropshipping
Comparing Amazon FBM and FBA
There are methods to establish a brand in the realm of e-commerce without owning any stock. FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) and FMB (Fulfillment by Merchant) are two options available to Amazon merchants (Fulfillment by Merchant).
Individual sellers that utilise Amazon FBA deliver their items directly to Amazon's warehouse. These goods may be shipped straight from the seller's preferred supplier or from their residence, a storage facility, or both. Then, Amazon takes care of all the shipping, packing, storage, and customer service.
As an alternative, FBM vendors offer their goods on Amazon but handle all shipping, storage, and customer service tasks independently. There are undoubtedly benefits and drawbacks to each of these choices.
How Does Amazon FBM Operate?
There are two ways an FBM seller might manage shipping and handling to expand and create a seamless operational workflow. First, you may choose to collaborate with a third-party fulfilment centre, and second, you can decide to dropship your items.
Understanding How Third-Party Fulfillment Centers Works
Outsourced product management systems are available from third-party fulfilment centres, where a business keeps your inventory, packs orders, and manages the shipping, tracking, and customer service procedures.
The greatest prospects for this option are merchants who do not operate their businesses from their homes or merchants who have grown their businesses and need additional assistance to handle large order volumes.
Third-Party Fulfillment Centers: Pros
- Working with third-party fulfilment centres is advantageous for most businesses, especially if they expect a significant number of sales during a certain season of the year.
- Additionally, businesses that are growing year over year quickly may discover that their present infrastructure cannot keep up with demand and turn to fulfilment centres as a solution.
- Using third-party fulfilment centres also reduces the amount of time that sellers must spend on logistics, allowing them to concentrate on other aspects of expanding their Amazon FBA business.
Third-Party Fulfillment Centers: Cons
- Since the fulfilment centre will be in charge of all logistics, you will need to be prepared to hand over control.
- To maintain storage and service expenses, a preliminary investment is also required. When you are in the position of expanding and developing your internet business, the advantages much outweigh the disadvantages.
- Your business depends on your ability to maintain high levels of consumer demand and service quality, which is easier to do with Amazon FBA.
How Does Amazon FBA Operate?
Even though there are several regional and local fulfilment centres to suit your requirements, Amazon FBA is perhaps the most popular choice because of its well-known brand, dependability, and extensive resources.
The main advantage of using Amazon to fill your orders is that you will not have to worry about anything between the time you deliver your inventory to them and any potential customer refunds. Amazon handles all the steps between these two, including processing accepted orders, packing, shipping, and delivery.
Why this is advantageous is obvious, right?
Retailers use the company's shipping and storage facilities while fulfilment businesses charge fees to retailers and take advantage of bulk shipment savings. Fulfilment companies will be around for a long time.
FBA differs differently from traditional fulfilment because, as a marketplace, Amazon has a vested interest in the success of the items listed on its website. An extra benefit is that you do not have to look for your consumers.
Three Advantages Of Adopting FBA Are As Follows:
- Think about the following two situations: scenario 1: you are a normal Amazon seller; scenario 2: you are an FBA seller. The majority of FBA goods are eligible for Amazon Prime and super saver delivery.
- Therefore, consumers who want goods right away will always pick FBA over a traditional merchant. A scenario 2 vendor can raise the price to compete and earn a greater payout whereas a scenario 1 seller is required to include delivery in his product cost.
- All seven days a week, customers may order and have Amazon fulfil their orders for products. You are finished after you deliver your goods to Amazon's warehouse. We're talking about increased visibility with less labour.
- About half of all Amazon consumers prefer FBA because they are certain that Amazon will handle their order and that it will come quickly. Furthermore, the same buyers are even prepared to pay more for Amazon to transport their same product than for a seller from a third party.
Purchasing and Pricing Your Products For FBA
The essential principle of retail arbitrage is that you, the retailer, would buy things at a competitively lower price and sell them where their perceived worth is higher. As a result, your manufacturer probably has a factory on the other side of the globe.
Amazon neither assumes ownership of your items nor will it serve as the authorised importer. You should consider what this implies to you before we continue to discuss import laws in India.
You can import goods and cover all customs duties if you live in the United States or the European Union. If you reside somewhere else yet want to sell here in these areas, you will be needing to hire an agent.
This agency may act as your importer, handle all paperwork, pay the necessary fees, and assist with shipping your goods to Amazon fulfilment facilities. Naturally, an agent will charge a fee, so you would also need to include this when determining your profitability. Let us look at what Amazon charges and what services are included in this cost before moving on to select the pricing.
Beginning in November, Amazon's FBA charge underwent its most recent modification. They are advising sellers to send in just those things they anticipate selling before the end of 2016, as some of their warehouses are already fully loaded. This is not meant to imply that all other items are being turned down; rather, shipping stocks for the following year may now be subject to a higher cost.
The cost of monthly storage has increased by more than $1.15 for every cubic foot used. To counteract this rise in the fee-by-storage space, Amazon has nonetheless also decreased the fee-by-weight.
A commission is the portion of your product profit that you give Amazon in exchange for increased visibility. Fees cover the cost of delivery, shipping, and storage. You would have probably learned that items with bigger profit margins are most suited for selling through FBA if you had attempted figuring out fees for a couple of your products.
Consider the following when setting a product's price for FBA:
Always use a pricing calculator if you are unsure.
- A commission is what Amazon charges for providing you with a sales window; fees are what it costs for performing part of the work for you. While fees are assessed on items in the Amazon warehouse, the commission is assessed on goods that are sold.
- Amazon often changes its fees, even if just a little.
- The greatest items to sell through FBA are those with larger profits.
- To compete with other vendors, you need either match their prices or those of Amazon, based on who your rivals are.
Regulations and Rules
Naturally, there are some guidelines to adhere to if you hope to make sales with this strategy.
FBA Regulations in India:
- If you decide to send goods back to the manufacturer from the warehouse, Amazon will stop delivering to foreign countries. You must give the manufacturer a return address, gather the shipment, and mail it back to them.
- Amazon alone is in charge of selecting the fulfilment facility.
- Even if a product is not eligible for FBA, you can still offer it as a third-party seller.
Keeping Risk to a Minimum When Selling on FBA
Rarely do FBA merchants express dissatisfaction with Amazon's service. Anyone who has used Amazon knows that they often arrive inside the window indicated, even though they do not offer any assurances regarding delivery times.
Making the incorrect decisions, however, as a merchant may be expensive, particularly when considering the charge element. Here are a few dangers you would be wise to avoid:
- Do not go out with full force. It could or might not work, but choosing fifty items from worldwide manufacturers and listing them all will cost you a fortune in fees.
- Additionally, consider the expense of returning the goods to the manufacturer if they do not sell. Start instead with a modestly sized inventory and a limited product variety.
- Pick product categories with a bigger margin wherever possible. By doing this, you may compensate for Amazon's charges and commission.
- Avoid pricing conflicts.
- A high sales rank for a product indicates that it has recently sold. This is not a promise that the same thing will sell again, only an indication.
Maintaining Your FBA Orders
Even if Amazon handles the delivery and handling, you will be the one to receive reviews because the goods being sold are yours. This is the cost of using a warehouse that is out of your control. Although accounting and billing for goods sold through FBA may appear difficult, it may also be extremely simple:
Amazon's cost varies greatly. Let us say that someone buys one unit of your goods, and Amazon costs you INR 500. If they ordered two goods, Amazon's charge would not be INR 1000; it would likely be less.
This may be a hassle for accounting as you would have to record the cost of each unit of product separately.
- Making your accounting spreadsheet with Amazon as the buyer may be helpful in such circumstances.
- You may rapidly connect invoices for all FBA orders into your preferred accounting software with the assistance of certain retail software.
How Do You Maintain Track Of Returns And Replacements If Amazon Is The Fulfilment Partner?
The returned item will be restocked in Amazon's inventory and a replacement will be sent out in the majority of situations without your involvement. On your FBA inventory page, you will be able to keep track of these modifications.
Amazon has two different strategies for returned goods:
- Amazon often allows refunds within 30 days. It could occasionally deviate from its return policy. If it happens, you will not have to take money out of your wallet to cover the return.
- Even though the majority of personal hygiene items are not returnable, if they are accepted, they will not be placed back in your inventory.
Selling On Other Online Markets Using FBA
Through its fulfilment facilities, Amazon enables you to fulfil orders submitted through other channels. The most obvious benefit of this is that your inventory and goods are not restricted to Amazon alone.
Instead, you may utilise Amazon just as a fulfilment centre to fulfil orders from other channels. Even though Amazon does not impose a commission on these sales, there are still costs that must be paid: order management, "pick and pack," and weight handling fees.
Your shipping costs are much lower when you utilise Amazon to sell through numerous channels than when you try to fulfil an order on your own. Additionally, they could show up sooner. The majority of buyers are prepared to pay extra for this benefit, so even if you price your goods competitively with another supplier, you still stand to gain more.
It is crucial to keep in mind that FBA presently only fulfils purchases from other channels when domestic shipping is involved. Therefore, this alternative will not work if you have a large foreign customer base for these items.
When Should I Use Amazon FBA?
Using FBA as opposed to conventional online shopping allows you to concentrate just on three activities: finding the ideal items, adding them to Amazon, and selling them. Someone else is in charge of everything else.
You may compare the sales of your products with those of other bestselling things by carefully checking your product inventory and the sales rankings for various products. You can adjust your product mix as a result of this.
As with any retail venture, you must choose reliable manufacturers that can offer you their goods at reasonable pricing. Never let these magic manufacturers go if you do locate them.
How Does Dropshipping Work?
Dropshipping is a business strategy that enables anybody to lock in earnings while expecting nothing in the way of financial compensation. Dropshipping can be a terrific way to start accumulating some of the cash you need if you have been wanting to launch a private label business but do not necessarily have the means to do so.
It makes sense, doesn't it? This is how the dropshipping model operates:
- You choose a product and a provider.
- Create a listing for the item with a margin already included.
- Bring more people there.
- Any clients you have converted receive the merchandise straight from your supplier (after you have given the customer's shipping details).
Consider this for a second: Customers who visit your online storefront on a marketplace as Amazon can still get things from you using the dropshipping model without you needing to hold inventory on hand. To deliver customers the things they want, you are utilising the strength of a third-party supplier (whether it be a merchant, distribution centre, or factory).
Your only responsibility would be to promote your listing. As soon as a potential customer places an order, you give the manufacturer, merchant, or wholesaler their order information and shipping information so they may complete the order or "drop ship" the product to the client. The client is content. Both the provider and you are pleased!
Because you marked up the items from your chosen supplier, you were able to benefit from any sales you made, while also enabling the consumer to purchase the item they want and the supplier to make a sale.
Watch Out For Different Dropshipping Schemes
Be wary, though, since several dropshipping differences might affect your performance in the long run, depending on both the platform you decide to sell on and the method of product acquisition. If you dropship on Amazon, for instance, you must choose between working with an international supplier and making use of a big box store like Walmart or Home Depot nearby.
Using a supplier from abroad could result in lower prices for you but longer shipping times for the customer. Alternatively, using a large box shop can result in easier access and quick shipment.
Unfortunately, it creates the chance that brands may flag you as a seller of fake goods, large box shops will run out of your stock, and you will have overall worse margins since taxes will eat up more of your profit.
Dropshipping: Pros
Dropshipping has several advantages.
- Since you are not warehousing or delivering the goods, you can keep your overhead expenses minimal.
- Second, initial expenses are cheap since there is no need to purchase inventory or make facility investments before selling.
- To reach a wider audience, dropshipping also enables you to sell through a variety of sales channels, such as social media, your e-commerce website, and Amazon.
- Additionally, since all business-related transactions and logistics are handled online, you may run your company from almost anywhere, offering you the freedom and scalability to grow your company at your speed.
Dropshipping: Cons
The competitiveness, timescale for the fulfilment, and inventory management are the other side disadvantages.
- Dropshipping is a common choice for many merchants looking to enter the e-commerce market because it requires little upfront expenditure.
- Because of the competition, it could be more difficult to find things, you might have to cut your pricing to remain competitive, and it might be more difficult for customers to tell your products apart from those of other vendors.
- Furthermore, dropshipping denies you control over the timing of the selection, packaging, and shipment of your products.
- Additionally, there is a delay in real-time stock updates, which might deter customers if your business is frequently out-of-stock or has a poor turnaround time.
Is There A Better Way To Sell Without An Inventory Than On Amazon?
Anyone who wants to start an online business or grow an existing one online can use an omnichannel e-commerce site called the Fynd Platform. The Platform effectively overcomes the challenges faced by business owners while beginning their online operations.
It functions as an all-in-one eCommerce website solution and helps vendors to create beautiful online stores fast and inexpensively. Businesses may easily create an online store, handle orders, and execute marketing and public relations campaigns for their intended audience. Let's look more closely at some of the main benefits of using the Fynd Platform.
Creating A Brand Just A Few Hours To Complete A Website
Brands may create a website in around 30 minutes by adhering to these easy steps:
Step 1: Put the product catalogue online.
Step 2: Pick a theme.
Step 3: Add your domain in step three.
Step 4: Build the company website in step four.
The Order Management System (Oms) Controls Orders From Various Channels
At Fynd Platform, you are going to be offered a blended OMS for all your different channels. It has the following benefits:
- By eliminating the need to continually enter details like customer and delivery information, automation helps save time.
- Reliable reporting: Brands may follow items from the time of checkout to the point of order shipment & delivery using an OMS.
- It can handle all channels, including brick-and-mortar businesses, online stores, and marketplaces.
Analytics And Tracking May Be Used To Get Insightful Data
Do you find it challenging to keep track of your company's growth? Fear not; the Fynd Platform has analytical tools to efficiently track your business. Data and statistics from the shopping cart, order, and payment are displayed in graphs and tables. Additionally, they come in CSV and PDF forms. For application analytics, brands may use application tokens from Firebase, MoEngage, Segment, and GTM.
Innovative QR Features
If clients are reluctant to look at your products on a communal tablet. The customer may then browse the product directly from their mobile device using the QR code capability of the Fynd Store app, which the store manager can utilise.
The retailer can print out the QR code and post it wherever is most practical inside their store. This simple contactless capability virtually doubles the size of your store because clients may view the products not only there but also at any of the brand's locations across the country.
Simple Marketplace Catalogue Creation
Vendors on Fynd may instantly upload their product inventory to several online retailers, including:
Amazon Merchant Center
Myntra
Fynd
Ajio
Depending on it, promotions may be created and sent to their target customers to boost market sales.
Create Custom Coupon Codes
With the help of the 10+ unique coupon or discount codes offered by Fynd Platform, brands may create deals to entice more customers. To increase the checkout rate and motivate buyers to create greater purchases, we also provide fully personalised vouchers to businesses.
Brands may simply generate a variety of discount coupons using the Fynd platform, including:
X% of anything, and X Rupees.
Discount for packages of X%
Discount on the sum of the bundles
percentage off the total payment for the package
Buy X items and receive Y for free.
Pay the full amount for X goods.
A per cent of the bulk bundle's total value
Bulk up the quality discount %
Create A Targeted Email Campaign For The People You Want To Reach Out To
You can quickly create a social campaign for your target demographic using the built-in email campaign capability. Brands do not need to invest in a separate email promotional tool.
On the Fynd Platform, you can quickly launch an email marketing campaign by following a few easy steps.
- Decide who to address
- List the people you want to reach
- Create an email template.
- Finish setting up the email campaign
When writing the email's text, use the editor to create a quick link for the promotion of products.
The SMS Tool Built-In
Fynd Platform's built-in SMS technology allows customers to stay updated on the status of their purchases. As soon as a customer places or cancels an order, they will get an SMS confirming the order status.
The Best Subscription Model in Terms of Cost
For a small monthly subscription price of Rs 599, Fynd Platform enables a 30-minute website launch. From a single dashboard, brands can simply manage orders, payments, and logistics while putting payment and delivery in the care of Fynd Platform.
Get the most popular features, free of charge, including a custom domain, the Fynd payment gateway, SSL certificates, email and SMS marketing, and much more. You can quickly see the affordable price alternatives that are accessible to you.
Superb Technical Support
Brands may want technical assistance when running an online market with an eCommerce shopping basket. Since Fynd Platform offers technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can contact customer care at any time via email priority support or email support. Since Fynd Platform offers technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can contact customer care at any time via email priority support or email support.
Final Word
Depending on where you are in the lifecycle of your business and how rapidly you want it to expand, you will need to decide how to sell on Amazon without inventory. At Fynd Platform, we try to develop your business into top-tier consumer brands.
Based on the value of their e-commerce firm, we provide enthusiastic entrepreneurs with quick rewards that are efficient and match years' worth of profits. One of the requirements to be eligible is to run a business with at least $200K in net profit over the previous year and at least 70% of sales coming from Amazon FBA.
You may use the extra time and resources you free up by outsourcing your logistics to Amazon FBA to plan for future expansion. Every path is unique, but if selling your Amazon business is your ultimate objective, you must first lay a solid operational foundation before improving and growing it to increase the profit margin.