As 2012 closed I was looking around for new money making opportunities, with only a part-time job and becoming legally blind with a large student loan repayment coming due, there were limits on earning more money and finding time to add more work hours to my day.
I first looked at eBay. I heard stories from friends of great success on eBay. Selling used books on eBay however was more work than reward. Getting photographs of books, uploading inventory and waiting for sales was just too frustrating.
I also posted some of my old textbooks on amazon.com as being fulfilled by merchant. From January to July 2013, things moved at a glacial pace. Books did sell, but not as fast as I had hoped and listing fees with eBay ate into my sales profits.
Amazon however with free listings, until the item sold, did nothing for my cash flow. I was not selling but neither was it costing me money.
Then finally in August I got my first order with amazon.
Excitedly I packed the item and shipped it off to the buyer.
Being a novice did not help me when it turned out that I had misunderstood the e-mail from amazon telling me to dispatch the item within two days.
It also said that the customer required two day shipping. I did not understand that part and shipped the item incorrectly.
A few days later I received an e-mail from a disappointed customer. Seeing my own fault clearly was a no-brainer. I issued a full refund and looked around for a way to improve the situation.
This is when I opted for Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).
With FBA I ship the items to an Amazon fulfillment center and they take care of the mailing.
In a few hours I converted all my previous listings to FBA with a click of the mouse, packed the items in a box and sent them UPS across country.
It took five days for the items to arrive and a further twenty-four hours for them to be entered into inventory at Amazon.
But wonder of wonders, of twenty-one items sent in that first shipment, fifteen had sold within one week. Bear in mind these items had been listed as merchant fulfilled for several months.
I first looked at eBay. I heard stories from friends of great success on eBay. Selling used books on eBay however was more work than reward. Getting photographs of books, uploading inventory and waiting for sales was just too frustrating.
I also posted some of my old textbooks on amazon.com as being fulfilled by merchant. From January to July 2013, things moved at a glacial pace. Books did sell, but not as fast as I had hoped and listing fees with eBay ate into my sales profits.
Amazon however with free listings, until the item sold, did nothing for my cash flow. I was not selling but neither was it costing me money.
Then finally in August I got my first order with amazon.
Excitedly I packed the item and shipped it off to the buyer.
Being a novice did not help me when it turned out that I had misunderstood the e-mail from amazon telling me to dispatch the item within two days.
It also said that the customer required two day shipping. I did not understand that part and shipped the item incorrectly.
A few days later I received an e-mail from a disappointed customer. Seeing my own fault clearly was a no-brainer. I issued a full refund and looked around for a way to improve the situation.
This is when I opted for Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).
With FBA I ship the items to an Amazon fulfillment center and they take care of the mailing.
In a few hours I converted all my previous listings to FBA with a click of the mouse, packed the items in a box and sent them UPS across country.
It took five days for the items to arrive and a further twenty-four hours for them to be entered into inventory at Amazon.
But wonder of wonders, of twenty-one items sent in that first shipment, fifteen had sold within one week. Bear in mind these items had been listed as merchant fulfilled for several months.
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