This is a question I get asked all the time, and this is the answer I give:
YES! But like my life – it’s complicated 😀
Amazon is an great place to sell products and build a business. It’s the biggest marketplace on the internet, more than 197 million people shop on Amazon every month – that’s bigger than the population of Russia!
But, be under no delusions. Selling on Amazon is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme. And I know… I’ve had my share of trials and tribulations, which I’m open about in this blog (it’s cheaper than therapy…). begnners with these far-fetched expectations are often disappointed, and as a result, give up before things really start moving.
Yes, there’s money to be made on Amazon but it probably won’t happen overnight.
Think of Amazon as one HUGE shopping mall. Everyone goes to this mall, some with a view to buy something, some to kill time, some go just to annoy the mall cop. Okay, the last one doesn’t apply.
The mall is full of different shops, some even sell the same thing. Do you think ALL these shops are successful? Of course not! The ones that are doing well are those that have researched their market, they’ve niched their product down and they’ve gone after the right customer in the right way. They’re smart and thought of things their competitors haven’t.
Shops that are doing dumb or lazy things are going to fail. It’s Darwin baby. Dog eat dog.
Let’s compare Amazon to a market in which many of us have had experience, real estate.
If somebody asks me, ‘Can I make money from real estate in 2019?’ I’d give the same answer as before: Yes…with a caveat. Are you making good decisions? Have you thoroughly researched the market? Do you know what the frig you’re doing?
I know a little about the apartment market in Sydney. Experts agree, for various reasons, that the market has reached its zenith and apartments are as expensive as they’re going to be. It’s not a good time to be buying apartments but there’s still a chance to make money. For example, a mate of mine is now shorting. He is in effect betting on the real estate market going down. (They made a pretty good movie about this called The Big Short – check it out.)
So my point is yes, you can still make money from Sydney real estate but you have to be smart and do things that others aren’t doing.
In other cities, for example, Lisbon, Portugal, it’s a great time to be buying apartments and renting them out. I’ve a friend who’s buying big homes and converting them into student accommodation and he’s killing it. But would this work in London? Or Paris? Probably not. He’s seen the opportunity in Lisbon and grabbed it.
The media might say the real estate market in your country is going down. Really? The whole country? I’m sure there are towns and suburbs where there’s still plenty of opportunities to win big. Or maybe you know something they don’t and can capitalize on it.
In the same way that real estate isn’t a broad market, Amazon isn’t either.
There’s a myriad of different products and categories as well as marketplaces to sell to. Some will work and some won’t. For example, selling yoga mats in America is a saturated market and a newcomer is unlikely to do well. But what about selling them in Mexico? Or Brazil? Do your research and maybe it’ll work.
Instead of thinking of Amazon as a whole, think of it as thousands of tiny opportunities.
With the right product in the right place at the right price, you stand a real chance of being successful on Amazon in 2019 and beyond.
Good luck out there!
Hugs Stacey x