Although I haven't really done much with Amazon FBA recently due to budget restraints I have still been researching like crazy. I've been reading blogs, joined facebook groups, and reading books on the subject. Mainly soaking in sourcing products, what kinds to find, what sells, how to make bundles, etc. So the last couple weeks I've been keeping my eyes peeled, and visiting possible sourcing stores for products. I feel at this point that I have a good idea of what I'm looking for and what I'd like to focus on. Now, I'm gathering local info on prices and availability to see what if I can find the different things I want to look for.
There are a bunch of different ways you can find products to sell on FBA, and a bunch of different routes you can take, including different budget considerations. I'll run through a few that I'm mainly interested in, and my thought process when looking through stores.
Retail Arbitrage: Sourcing products that are new, and sold in traditional stores (think Walmart and Target). Generally clearance items that are still commanding top dollar online.
- Tuesday Morning - This store was fun for me to look through! I had been in there once, like 5 years ago when they opened. They have a decent selection of items to sell, mainly household, but what was exciting for me was their small toy area and their pet area. People spend money on their kids and their pets. It's a fact, and most of the toys and such that I found were at least 50% off retail! Including popular, namebrand toys and character toys. On a side note, I also discovered where I will be Christmas shopping this year ;)
- Marshalls - Marshalls is mainly for clothing, and hey, they had some great deals on namebrand clothing. However, clothing is a gated category to sell in on FBA, meaning you have to be approved, and from what I understand it's extremely hard to get approved for. So, clothing was not what I was looking for, but from research and groups I knew that they offered a small selection of toys. I wasn't that excited about the toy selection or prices, but what did surprise was their small natural foods area! Soy, gluten free, healthy and natural foods are hot right now, and finding this little gem of specialty foods in a completely unexpected store makes me very happy.
- Big Retailers (Target, Walmart, Dillons) - Pretty much exactly what you would expect from these stores. Just from experience over the years I know that their clearance isles are usually well picked over, at least in my area, but if I'm going to source I'm going to look everywhere!
Used Items - You can sell items that are used on Amazon. This includes toys, puzzles, board games, videos, and books. I'm mainly focusing on books.
- Goodwill - I had rather low expectations for this store, mainly because the only used items I plan on focusing on to start are books, and college textbooks at that. I forgot that the town I shop in though has a vocational college, and outreach campus for one of our state universities, AND another small college. It's not really "known" as a college town, so I was surprised when I found quite a few textbooks in Goodwill, a lot of them for nursing. Once I thought about it though, it made sense, we have two different schools that offer the nursing program, and two that offer business degrees, which was the majority of the other books. We're talking most were only $2.99 or less, a couple were a dollar or two more, but not bad at all. There was also a small selection of audio books, which I would also like to try and sell, as well as VHS and c.d.s. Neither of those are real high on my list, but money can still be made on those items, and they are next to the books and audiobooks, so I'll probably scan and check them all out whenever I go to source. I also found that they have "loyalty card" that gives me 10% off all the time when I shop there. I only paid $4 to get it for a year, and I'm sure I'll easily make back that $4 and then some.
- Local Thrift Store - The goodwill is actually 45 miles away from me, but I go to that town to shop all the time, so I consider it local lol. Anyways, there is a small one here in town, and I've been scoping it out to get a feel for it. Really the pickings are slim, selection is small and so is the building. What I do like about them though is that they count the puzzle pieces and tell you if a puzzle is complete or not! So, scanning used puzzles and checking out their small book and media selection from time to time is worth it. They're only 6 blocks away from me, and they are often running different specials on different items. The hours suck though, especially if you work nights like me. Mon, Wed, and Friday they are open from 8-12, and the occasional four hours on Saturdays. Still, it would only take a few items here and there to justify the small expense of going.
- Local Library - My local library has a small room that is always open to the public that has their Friends of the Library books. A small selection of DVDs and the occasional audiobook as well. Most of the titles are mainstream, and not worth much, but again, it's close and convenient and the potential is always there for a score. They price soft backs @ .50, and hardbacks at $1, and sometimes they'll mark a book a little higher, but the highest I've ever seen is $3. At prices like that, and the fact that I'm in the library all the time anyways, I'll be sure to swing through and check out the selection from time to time.
Other stores and avenues.
- Dollar Tree - You're probably think WHAT! They don't have anything people will pay good money for, and mostly you are right. I'm going to encourage you to rethink that opinion though, if you've never been in a Dollar store you should go with a different mind set. While most is offbrand items, they do have small selection of namebrand food, and small toys. I've gotten little paint by numbers sets that were popular Disney characters there before. They also have namebrand health and beauty items. So don't discount them off hand.
- Yard Sales - We already talked about how you can look for used items to sell at garage sales, again I'm mainly thinking media items, especially books. Still, the amount of stuff you can get cheap on a good day of garage saleing is limitless! Most people just want this stuff gone! Make a decent enough (don't be insulting) offer on an item, or group of items, and a lot of times they're happy to take it.
- Auctions - I'm not sure on this one. I've only been to two or three auctions, and I was not looking at them through the FBA sourcing lense. What I do know is that the all of the ones I went to had a selection of books. I'm sure there are other things (like vintage toys) you can find, but be aware that there are likely other dealers and sellers in the crowd, so know your price before you start bidding! I personally find auctions fun, and with garage sale season slowly coming to a close over the next couple months, I'll have to start really researching finding things this way. I'll share my findings when I do of course ;)
There are of course a lot of other stores around me, and a lot of places I haven't found yet I'm sure. Still, it's a good start for when I start buying. One thing has become painfully obvious to me though through this process. I need a smartphone with a scouting app! A scouting app scans the barcode on an item, and will look up how much it is selling for on Amazon. They do other stuff as well, but that's the gist of it. Originally my plan had been to get a smartphone in the winter with my tax return. This has made me change my mind and realize I need one sooner. In Oct I will be getting a small bonus and the plan was to take $500 to spend on sourcing products and shipping products. Now I will be taking part of that $500 to get a smartphone, buy 3 months on a month to month plan, and buy a scouting app. I'm hoping to stay around $200 for all three, and that will still leave me with $300 for sourcing products. There are just to many things I could buy to sell that if I don't have that scouting app I'll be returning a bunch of duds all the time! Not a good use of my time when a small investment in a phone and app can easily cure most of that.
It's a start for me, and while I'm moving slow on this as long as I'm still moving forward it's all good. My suggestion for you is to read, and research! While there is such a thing as researching to the point you never do anything, when it comes to FBA a lot of research is needed! There are so many different ways source products, sell products, bundle products, and on and on that really research is king. Scout around your local shopping area, even if it's mostly 45 miles away like mine, and see what you can find. Then you can make a better plan on what you can get and what you can sell.
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