5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Selling on Amazon
Over four years of selling on Amazon, I've done over $5 million in my own store. I've also helped 600+ other people build their businesses. In the process, I made mistakes that cost me time and money I didn't have to lose.
Here are the five things I wish someone had told me before I started.
1. There Are Multiple Amazon Models — Choose the Right One First
When most people think "selling on Amazon," they picture Amazon FBA: buy products in bulk, ship to a warehouse, Amazon handles the rest. That's one model. But it's not the only one, and for most beginners, it's not the right one.
Here's the spectrum from most expensive/time-consuming to least:
Private Label (FBA): You create your own brand, build recognition, run ads, wait months to see results, spend thousands in upfront inventory and trademark fees. Highest potential ceiling, highest barrier to entry.
Wholesale (FBA): You establish wholesale accounts with suppliers, require an LLC, negotiate contracts. Suppliers don't work with new sellers who have no history. Very hard to get started.
Retail Arbitrage (FBM): You physically visit stores — Macy's, Target, Lowe's — scan products, find discounted items, ship them yourself. Requires your physical presence constantly. If you stop going to stores, income stops.
Online Arbitrage (FBM): Like retail arbitrage but online. You buy in bulk before knowing if it sells. Capital risk remains.
Amazon Dropshipping (FBM): You list products from domestic suppliers without buying them first. When someone buys, you order from your supplier and ship to the customer. Zero inventory risk. Zero upfront capital. Work from home.
I chose dropshipping because I lost my job during the pandemic, had almost no money, and needed a risk-free entry point. That same logic applies to most beginners. Start with the model that lets you learn without risking what you can't afford to lose.
2. Trying to Start Your Own Brand Is a Trap (At First)
I actually tried to launch my own branded product in the US market. LED coffee tables sourced from AliExpress. I thought it would be cool — my own brand, friends and family could buy it, build something from the ground up.
Here's what actually happened:
The lesson: creating something new requires solving problems that have nothing to do with selling. Brand recognition. Supply chain reliability. Quality control. These are entirely separate skill sets from e-commerce.
Reselling established brands eliminates every one of those problems. People already know KitchenAid, Ninja, Keurig, DeWalt. The brand recognition is built in. The customer trust is built in. Your only job is to be on the listing at a competitive price.
Build on what already works. Reinvent the wheel later, after you've made real money.
3. Focus on Where Attention Already Goes
Where attention goes, money flows.
I wasted time trying to drive customers to unknown products. Meanwhile, millions of people were searching for brand names they already knew on Amazon every single day.
Walk into your kitchen right now. Look at your coffee maker, your blender, your toaster, your microwave. Those brand names — Keurig, Ninja, Breville, Cuisinart — are what people are searching Amazon for constantly. Not your private label brand they've never heard of.
The fastest path to Amazon income is getting on the right listings — products from brands people already trust — and making sure your price is competitive enough to win the buy box.
You don't create the traffic. Amazon's 300 million customers create the traffic. Your job is to be positioned in the right place when that traffic arrives.
4. Cheap Products Are a Trap
When I was trying to source cheaper products from AliExpress and Alibaba, the math on paper looked attractive: 75% margins, minimal cost, high volume.
In practice, here's what cheap products actually produce:
My AliExpress experiment: 1 in 3 items returned. That's an unsustainable return rate by any standard in any business.
Domestic suppliers cost more per unit. That's the point. You're paying for:
The margins from cheap overseas products are an illusion. The real cost is the account damage that kills your ability to sell long-term.
Use domestic suppliers. Always.
5. You Don't Need Ads
I burned money trying to run ads before I understood organic selling. I thought ads were the answer to products that weren't selling. They weren't — they were an expensive band-aid on a product research problem.
Here's the truth: when you're listing brand-name products on Amazon, ads aren't necessary. Why?
Because people are already searching for those products. They type "Ninja blender" into Amazon and your listing appears. That's organic traffic you didn't pay for — because the brand created that demand years before you listed.
Running ads makes sense when you're trying to build brand awareness for something people don't know exists. For reselling established products? You're inserting yourself into an existing demand flow.
None of my 600+ students run ads. Jean did $40,000 in his first month without ads — as a full-time nurse working five jobs. Ray hit $100,000 in 12 months, no ads. The income-producing activity isn't ad spend. It's product research.
Get better at finding products worth listing. That's where your time and energy belongs.
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I shared these mistakes because they cost me time and money that you don't have to waste. The shortcut is having someone who's already made these mistakes walk you through what to do instead.
If you want the full system — four product research methods, supplier list, account health SOPs, customer service scripts, and direct coaching — apply to the Leading Digital Ecom mentorship program.
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