August Sales Weak or Strong?

I had to wait one whole year for August 2014 to come along.

I actually began selling Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) in mid August 2013 and I had heard prior to that change in business model from merchant fulfilled to FBA that August can be good.

I ran the business as non pro-seller until March when I turned up the screws a notch opting to pay the $39.99 per month  pro-seller fee. This followed three months of selling more than thirty nine books per month, at an average of 45 sales per month in the first three months of the year I was paying more than the pro-seller fee anyway at $0.99 per sale.

After April sales fell to an average of 35 sales per month but I stuck with the pro-seller fee and still do.

July was on the good side, especially the last few days of the month. Slightly above average sales with an increase in the average selling price of books from $11.87 to $12.42.

Does August Live Up to Expectations?

Bearing in mind we have not yet reached the end of August, but indications are that this month has blown away all planned and budgetted sales.

I was expecting a high thirties sale month.  So far over 50 books have been sold.

Averages sales have been around the $400 gross mark.  August gross sales are $680+

Our current stock level dropped from 760 books to 750 books this despite sending three shipments of books this month already.

What Sold?

During August we continued to sell our normal mixture of books, some fiction in hardcover and paperback, self help and crafting books. These sold at normal levels which would have given us our planned for average.

The additional sales came from a variety of college textbooks,  student advice books and possible assigned texts. 

As foreseen before the summer when I advised getting textbooks to the fulfilment centers, see Textbooks Anyone,  textbooks need to play a part in your late Summer business plan.

How Does This August Set the Plan for Next Year?

The experience of this August does alter my business plan for next year slightly.

• I will actively seek out more recent and high quality textbooks and additional reading books from my sources.
• I will maintain minimum levels of these textbooks at fulfilment centers until April or May 2015.  these books can be large and impact on storage fees, however minor those charges seem. 
• I need to plan more effective re-stocking to maintain levels during such high demand seasons.

August 2014 has taught me a lot about selling FBA. I hope some of this report on my experience may help you.

Please feel free to comment on this and other posts in the comment section.

Textbooks Anyone?

As we draw towards the end of May, it is time for FBA sellers to think of going back to school and college.

Well not for FBA sellers themselves, but for their customers.

In about seven or eight weeks, students will begin looking for their new college and school textbooks.

You will need to be thinking of getting those books into the fulfilment centers in June and early July to catch the new crop of students.

Students can be demanding in that they want their textbooks very quickly so the FBA system is really great. If they want 24 hour shipping, you don't need to worry, amazon has that covered.

Students are happier with FBA sellers for the purpose of getting the book in their hands on time.

Make particularly sure though that the book description is correct. Students often don't check a books edition number. This means the probability that the book is returned, ok if the student bought early and sends the book back quickly. A pain if they wait a week or two and you are left holding a textbook until after the New Year, that is also a very good textbook selling period.

If you are thinking of selling a few textbooks for the first time here are a few tips:

• Buy the most recent editions that you can. If a textbook is on its 8th Edition and you see the 3rd Edition not matter how cheap leave it alon.
• Check the publication year on the front piece. Again get the most recent publication date. Anything earlier than ten years prior to the school year is probably too old.
• Beware the old non core curriculum based textbooks. Most schools are changing curriculum in the next couple of years so current textbooks are nit going to have a long shelf life.

• Invest in some label removing fluid like Goo Gone It works wonders at removing old used college bookstore labels. A bottle can cleans several dozen books and you can upgrade your listing from acceptable to good or better if the book is unmarked.

With all that, the next few weeks are the biggest opportunity for sales before the Holidays. Good Luck and have a great back to school season.

April Came in Winth the Speed of a Slug

April was certainly a slow month to begin  with.

It was the second lowest sales month of the year so far.  Only just over $370 for the whole month.

Sales figures show this month to have only been marginly better than February with $317 in total sales, and remember February has ltwo less days than April this year.

It is not a surprise though, in retail for April there was a lot of competition, from gift sellers, remember Easter and all that lovely chocolate was in the mix.

I did get a boost in sales over Easter too. Selling several religious books and a few childrens books like "The First Easter Egg" over that week-end.

That is a thing to remember, whatever your business model, you can always benefit from cross-over sales.

Slow Sales

There is a lot of talk on the amazon seller forums in recent days of slowing sales. People say that they saw very high sales throughout January until March, now those sales levels have fallen off a cliff.

I saw very high sales levels too in the  first quarter of the year.

It was actually those sales levels that pushed me towards switching over to a pro-seller account on April 1.

People often see a fall in sales as a result of something either they are doing wrong or something that someone else is doing to disrupt their business, but I do not feel that is the case here.

The first quarter saw very poor weather across the U.S. people spent well at Christmas and the amazon gift card was a common purchase. All that money has to go somewhere before it gets lost at the back of a drawer. So people shopped at amazon.

I have been in the retail business for thirty some years and the period from March to late May was alwys a tricky period to call. It always saw a fall in sales  even in England, a nice spike for me in my newsagent/sweet shop was an April Easter, lots of chocolate to sell then. Today with books it is not so easy.

Anyway we have funds to continue our stocking plan to have over 1,000 items in inventory by the 31st August this year.

Ups and downs are all part of life and this is just one more down.  Without downs would we even know what up is?

Goodbye Packing Slip

Over the weekend I was preparing a couple of boxes  to send to the amazon fulfilment center, when I came across a problem. Or so I thought.

There was no longer an option to print a packing slip!

I hunted and searched everywhere. No print option.

Then in small print, in a greyed out box, in grey print, a note said,

:Packing Slips No longer required."

Err? Last week I needed one?

For a year I've needed one.

Now suddenly, without warning, no big song and dance as they usually  do, after all for three months now they have been telling me they are updating the FBA shipment procedure. But on packing slips nada, nothing, silence. They let it slip away without fanfare, but  not without half an hour of frustration and irritation on my part as I searched fruitlessly for a packing slip print option.

In the end it is  nice not to have to print that extra piece of paper, a mere barcode, it is probably nice for amazon not to have to dispose of that piece of paper too.  Can you imagine that paper mountain?

So goodbye and farewell packing slip. I for one brief moment did suffer at your loss.

How Soon Do Items Post After Being Received at a Fulfilment Center?

I have found a wide range of times for my items to post in my storefront after delivery of a shipment.

I always set up a delivery alert with UPS to tell me when a shipment has been delivered to the dock area of the Fulfilment Center. This alert generally comes to me within a few minutes of the actual delivery.

Amazon itself also informs me of the delivery, but this can be several hours later. Remember the Fulfilment Center may have received hundreds of shipments allof which take time to leave the dock area.

I have had occassions when amazon actually tell me of the delivery first. But it generally takes up to six hours, that was in late November during the pre-Christmas rush.

After delivery amazon say it can take up to 48 hours for a shipment to process. I have had all shipments even at the busiest times process well within that time.

On average I see items posting about twelve hours after the amazon delivered notice arrives.

One time however I received a delivery notice from amazon and all the items were up on my storefront two hours after delivery was confirmed by UPS. Now that is very fast. I can only guess my shipment was last off the delivery and so on top of the pile and processed first.

Cheap Packing for Your FBA Shipment Boxes

When packing boxes with your items for shipment to an amazon fulfillment center there are often small spaces which can allow shipped items to shift and become damaged.


Having spaces happens all the time with my book shipments. No matter how carefully I pack similar sized items a small gap remains and I am searching for a packing item.


Amazon doesn't allow packing peanuts and bubble wrap or plastic air bags are expensive when you are building a business. By all means put these items to one side when you received them and recycle used portions of bubble wrap and air bags.


An addition to your armoury of packing materials can be the thin plastic carrier bags that you may receive at the supermarket.


Roll these into a tight ball. you can fill one bag with two or three others to make a large packing filler. Tie the handles around the ball or sausage shape and use this to fill those small area.


Remember preventing slippage and damage will mean less items are damaged in transit. Less damages mean better prices for you.

Gaining the Buy Box

There is much talk about "Gaining the Buy Box" among FBA sellers.

What is the "Buy Box"?

The "Buy Box appears on all amazon product screens, it is to the right of a product photograph and directly beneath the title of the product. Amazon often are the first choice to buy from in the box, but they also provide alternate sellers. Most of the time these sellers will be FBA sellers, not always, but most of the time they  are.

Gaining the Buy Box on  mosst occassions is luck of the draw with a little help from an amazon algorithm that examines your data. The Buy Box cycles through several sellers on items where there are several FBA sellers. Each appearing in turn, to different customers or the same customer returning to a product page at a later time.

One good way to secure the Buy Box though is to be the ONLY FBA seller of an item.

I have noticed on several items where I have been the only FBA seller, that my name is appearing in the Buy Box, more often. Some of the Fulfilled by Merchant offers have appeared but more often it is my name that appears.

So Why is the Buy Box Good for Business?

Having the Buy Box is good for your business because, buyers don't have to find your listing, amazon have put you right there on the product page and a buyer may even click on your item without realising that  they are not buying from amazon themselves.

Do I need to be the LOWEST PRICE to gain the Buy Box?

No you don't need to have the lowest price. I have sold items against penny sellers, some priced at over $10 or $20. The Buy Box is a nice place to get a sale from. Being an FBA sellers gives you that little extra chance of gaining this powerful online selling real estate.

So in your future stock buying trips look for items with as few FBA sellers as possible. Best of all those where there are No FBA sellers.

This raises your odds at  gaining the Buy Box and hopefully catching the sale.

Please feel free to offer any feedback on this subject. Help your fellow sellers, make a decent living from FBA.

Amazon FBA Smarter Scouting Tips

For those of you thinking about usingg  Amazon FBA shipment as a business model. Take a look at this very educational video about using scouting apps on your phone or tablet.

I personally do not take advice from any scouting app, I do check prices on amazon's website when looking for stock, but I often go against the advice given by the app as to a hot buy or leave it alone item.

This video helps to explain why apps are merely tools to be used and should not be used to make serious business decisions.

Aren't There Too Many Sellers Already?

A few days ago I was browsing my YouTube reccomendations list and came across a few rants and complaints from other fulfilment by Amazon sellers who complained of too many people now coming into online selling to make a fast buck.

Their major complaint was that these people make it harder to find items at good (low) prices and that they drive down prices on Amazon.

I do agree that there are a lot of people now taking up selling on Amazon. I see new sellers everytime I log in. It is also true that prices are falling in some categories. I notice books which once sold on F.B.A. for a minimum of $6.00 selling at $3.99.

But the complainers forget several things.

1. Every seller is different. I could guarantee that we could both go into a thrift store and come out with a very different selection of items. Even if we scoured the same bookshelves your selection of books would be different from mine.

2. I cannot buy all of the supply of saleable items in an area, and the same applies to you. Even if you or I were as rich as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet combined. The world is full of resellable goods.

3. Falling prices mean lower margins. A seller who sells at the lowest margins will eventually run out of cash. Amazon's costs are rising and they are passing on some of the cost to sellers. The prices of storage and handling at Amazon Fulfilment Centers rose on February 18, 2014. Though the rise was only pennies, it still costs more to sell via FBA. A seller chasing the lowest price will make less money per sale. So needs to fface economic reality. Set profitable prices or fail.

4. There is an old saying, "Mind your own business." Basically you can only control your own actions, you know your costs, you know your goals and you know your own risk assessment.  Set your prices to suit your business and let the competition do the same.

5. "Never interrupt an opponent when he is making a mistake." This saying is sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. If you see your opposition making decisions to cut their own throat, let them do it. Don't worry that they are probably saying that you are pricing too high. You will get a sale on your terms, at your profit margins. You may have to wait awhile but you will get the sale, unless you look to sell a $1 mass market paperback for $5,000, then you may have to wait a very long time.

6. The resale market is a "Free-Market," It exists because of market inefficiencies in all areas. If I see a book on the History of Maine on sale in California I realisze this books market in a store in California is limited. I buy it and send it to Amazon. In the end I may sell it to a buyer anywhere in the world but  the probability is high the buyer might live in Maine.

To be serious that scenario actually did occur. I bought a book in California on anther states history and sold it within days to a person living in that very state.

7. Some people come to the business seeing it as a way to make easy money. In some ways it is easy money. Buy something, post it online and send the item when it sells or send it to an FBA center. Kerrching.

But behind the easy money, doing the job properly is hard work. Accounts to keep, managing taxes, finding supplies of stock. That is a lot of hours for what may be a dollar or two of profit, if you are chasing a low price.

Don't forgeet that if you do begin to make money in a serious way, you will come under the scrutiny of the Internal Revenue Service and State authorities. Amazon is bound by law to inform of your activities and Amazon is not in the business of breaking the law.

When the "Fast Buck" folks realize the I.R.S. is wanting a piece of the action, many will no longer see onlinne selling in quite a rosey light.

8. A market needs a constant supply of new blood in the shape of both buyers and sellers. Saying I don't want competition is foolish, competition is a fact of life. In a stagnent market with no new sellers there is no choice for the buyer and so quality falls and prices at least stay the same or rise, see the old Communist centrally controlled markets. Capatalist markets demand competition on quality and price, we want the best quality for a reasonable price.

What is a "Reasonable Price"? Who knows it is a price where you as a buyer  see the cost of ownership[ as being more  valuable to you than the cost to you of losing the item of transaction.

You may see two items almost identical one new for $10 the other in Good condition for $5.  For you used and good may be of great enough value to convince you to buy. Another person may only want a new item and would pay the $10 happily.

In conclusion. I do not think that we should rant and complain of people who come to selling online. Those who are out for a "Quick Buck" will soon fall away. Those looking for "Easy Money" will do likewise. Business has always seen these people. It is human nature to follow the rumors. "There's gold in them thar hills!" but when most get to the hills they find the gold is buried and it takes some damned hard work to dig it out.

The shirkers and lazy folk go home, to be replaced by another batch of wide eyed speculators. Some will stay but why waste time worrying about the many who won't be around next week. I for one have stock to buy, books to list and accounts to file.

Do you have any thoughts on this matter?

Is it Possible to Build a Bookstore by Bootstrapping?

First what is Bootstrapping?


Bootstrapping is merely a method of building a business at minimal cost. You can easily bootstrap a business by constantly reinvesting income from sales.


I opened Bretsuki's Books last year with just seventeen old used textbooks and which I had been trying to sell on amazon.com privately for a few months.


I changed the supply status from merchant fulfilled at the end of August to fulfilled by amazon. Within days of going to this new mode of selling fourteen of the books had sold and I began building my store.


Fulfilment by amazon does come with some costs, I received about one third of my asking prices for those books, but the income was such that I went out to local thrift stores and bought new stock with the income.


Again using some of the income to pay shipping fees and storage fees, as each batch of books sold I bought new stock.


On the whole I look for new looking books or at worst very good, if they are in quick selling areas.


I generally avoid hardback fiction and biographies unless they are in popular sub categories, Civil War Generals are popular, especially Robert E. Lee and President Lincoln is another good prospect.


My online stock levels are now about to top the five hundred book mark. All of this made possible by bootstrapping and reinvesting as much of the income generated into re-stocking my store.

Pricing

When purchasing books for resale pricing is very important.

Recently I went on a trip to find some new sourcesof books. I don't like to visit my sources too often because I tend to see less stock potential if I visit more than twice per month.

My usual sources, thrift stores and libraries have good value books at very competative prices. My average purchase price is just over $1.00 per item.

This last weekend I moved my region of search to the Central California coast. I had little expectations of finding deeply discounted bargains there. Sadly I was not in for a shock.

Book prices there were in the region of $4.00 per hardback and $2.00 for a paper back. Tough pricing means less chance of a long shot purchase.

A long shot purchase is a book of marginal interest that I decide to risk a dollar on. At four dollars a book I am very risk averse if my profit may only be $1.00/

I did come away from the coast with fofty books. for $100 so I aveaged $2 per book, many of these were made up of hardbacks from a store which had a half price sale  on Saturday. Normal prices reduced from $4.70 per book.

Contrast that to a trip on Superbowl weekend to thrift store just forty miles inland from the coast at which I bought 60 books for $83.48. All of equal quality, at least Used Very Good if not Used Like New.

This weekend's trip will need to see some higher pricing to maintain margins.

Remember if you figure 33% of your sale cost will probably be taken up in FBA fees, Amazon partnered shipping will cost about another 33% Leaving you with about 33% to cover costs and profit.

Since this business makes you think in terms of averages it is safer to look at the overall selling prices. All of those books bought this week end need to sell at $6.00 or more.

50x6.00=$300.00

$100 each to UPS and me for transport, $100 to Amazon for fees and commissions, $100 to me to just retain cost of items.

Of course I plan to sell some items for $7 or $8, a couple of the best items may sell for up to $30 but if I had bought them  at a lower price I would have had much more leeway to sell at lower prices at the same margins.

Reasons to Consider Fulfilment by Amazon

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a remarkable tool for the small business owner.


Since joining FBA wholeheartedly last year I have seen my online book selling business grow by multiples.


Books that had stood months on my shelves as a merchant fulfilled retailer, fly out of the Amazon fulfillment centers.


OK so costs, as in fees to Amazon have increased. I now allow abvout 33% of my selling price as a cost to cover fees.  That is up from about 25% as a merchant fulfilled seller.


Other costs have shrunk though.


I do not have storage problems.


I could not physically ship the volume of books per day that I now regularly ship.


Amazon cover the packing and delivery and offer a good retail experience.


I can go away from my business for a day or two anmd not come back to dozens of angry customers, waiting upon their orders.


I now only spend about ten hours per week actually working. Nine of those hours sourcing new stock and one hour packing and shipping consignment to an Amazon Fulfilment Center.


The system is fully expandable. It can create the business that you weant, you are in command of the ship, it is not in charge of you.


I can plan a schedule, no calls from customers to distract, no dealing with suppliers, for my business model.


FBA is just a fun way to manage a business. My only regret is that I didn't begin sooner.

Protect the Top Layer of Books in Your FBA Shipment

Once in a while a shipment of books can be damaged upon opening at the FBA Fulfilment Center, by an over zealous box cutter or knofe.


This has happened to me twice since last August.


While I suffered no financial loss. Amazon paid me the full value of both books, Amazon are very honest about damages at their end of the transaction.


Now when completing a box of new stock I top off the piles of books with a strip of corrugated cardboard.


I use old delivery boxes for a supply of card strips. One box can be torn into several strips for several shipments.


I complete my packing as normal with the FBA shipment paperwork and then as I close the box I lay the corrugated card over the books but under where the taped seam of the lid will be.


This means that when the box is opened with a sharp blade, the corrugated card will take the brunt of any damage and not the covers of the books beneath.


Since employing this tactic, I have not lost a book to accidental cutting. Better for me in that I have one more happy customer and better for Amazon in that they are not having to pay me for accidental damage.

Very Good December

As we reach mid January, I am looking back at the December figures for sales.


I am very pleased with the figures. We increased sales over 100% from our previous best months September and October,  500% over Novembers sales.


Totals were very good all around, the good December figures are also reflected in higher than expected cash income.


While early in the month saw a steady increase in childrens books and books that may have been bought as gifts; the last week of the month and first week of January saw a marked increase in the sales of used textbooks. Many of which retail over $20.


This was my first Christmas with Fulfilment by Amazon and I am really happy with the results.


Sales  levels have been good after the start of the new semester at schools too, though I am expecting a fall off of sales shortly as we return to normal non holiday trading.


We'll see how the Winter and Spring play out.

Mailing Books to a FBA Center

In recent weeks I have conducted an experiment in delivery times to FBA fulfilment centers across the country.

One thing surprised me. A major towns UPS Store added three whole days to delivery time over my usual drop off at a mailbox store.

We had two boxes of books going from here in California to Chatanooga TN.

We mailed one box from a UPS store just seventy miles East of  my home town, the second box was mailed at a small mail box eental store in my home town, my regular drop off.

I expected the boxes to arrive on the same day. In reality my box posated at my regular drop off point arrived in Chatanooga two whole days earlier.

This is not so much of a problem if I had normal supplies of books, but if the books were time sensative for arrival, Holiday supplies for example, the extra delay takes away a whole week-end of possible sales. Seventy-two hours of money making opportunity.

From now on, I know I can rely on my more local drop -off point.

Try this experimeent for yourselves. Find the fastest point for UPS delivery. You maybe as surprised as I was at the three day difference in speed.

All the best with your sales.