Welcome back!
Millions of people around the world are spending their days stuck at home, experiencing the total boredom of 24/7 television, internet and negative news. Add screaming kids to the mix and you get a perfect life, right? Well, not for me. Right now, I’m working more hours than ever because Amazon sales are skyrocketing!
Due to all of the restrictions, people are beginning to do more and more of their shopping online. And this does not just apply to food. People are buying household items, furniture, clothing and other goods—goods that they would usually go to a brick-and-mortar store to buy.
Just take a look at one of my Amazon FBA businesses and how sales have increased over the last 10 days:
I’m now close to Q4/Christmas sales levels! If we take a look at Google Trends, it’s even more obvious why. For example, look at the “amazon” search term. Its popularity has now reached the same level as before Christmas 2019! Most likely, it will exceed that trend if the situation continues without major changes in April:
It makes perfect sense, right? While brick-and-mortar businesses are closed down OR suffering a massive decline in foot traffic, online stores are seeing phenomenal growth! Many food delivery services can’t cope with the demand, and even Amazon itself had to put some restrictions on their FBA activities because they can’t cope with such a sudden increase in sales.
Why am I telling you all of this?
Because I do think that NOW is the perfect time to get into the Amazon FBA business!
Just think about it: most people are afraid of the upcoming crisis, and generally, during such difficult times, most people are not willing to take any risks or invest money. Everyone is trying to save and stay conservative as we don’t really know how this situation will play out.
At the same time, people are still continuing to spend money, no matter how irrational it may seem. Governments are injecting trillions of dollars into economies using all kinds of financial instruments, as well as simply giving money to people, paying their salaries, etc. So, the money is still circulating in the system and is being spent every single minute.
The important thing to be aware of is that most people are staying still and aren’t really thinking about starting a new business. They’re simply too scared. This means that, right now, at this very moment, there are very few people who are doing research for new product opportunities using Jungle Scout. There are very few people exploring the new trends and opportunities that have been created because of the crisis and so on!
On top of that, most people don’t realise that factories in China are working normally now and there are no problems in sourcing goods from China.
All of this combined creates a PERFECT environment for people who are willing to take the risk and start an Amazon FBA business in these uncertain times! And I’m taking my own advice with my own businesses. I’m continuing to work on product research, managing stock levels/manufacturing for the increased demand, etc. I’m not stopping or slowing down whatsoever!
Similar to the stock market, you want to buy when stocks are selling at a discount price (during a crisis). So, you can start a successful Amazon business right now and take advantage of all the new product opportunities and lower competition.
Yes, you do have to understand that there is a risk in doing this. I certainly wouldn’t recommend that you invest your last penny into an Amazon business if you don’t have any income or money to buy food. But if you have at least £1k to £2k (or more) to play with and have an income you can rely on, then Amazon FBA could be a great way to create a nice second-income-generating business or, maybe, in the future, a business that generates a full-time income.
And if you’re already selling on Amazon UK, you absolutely MUST (!!!) consider expanding your business to the EU marketplaces.
The increase in demand for online shopping across Europe is even greater than in the UK, as their baseline online shopping interest was lower than in the UK. This means MASSIVE growth potential in the EU, especially on Amazon DE and Amazon FR.
Even more, with this crisis, the chances of a Brexit agreement being made in time for the 31st of December are close to zero. This means that, most likely, the current free-trade agreement will stay in place for at least the first six months of 2021, if not the whole year. So, there’s no need to worry about any “potential” additional costs with that.
If you have decided to expand your Amazon business with the pan-EU program and are looking for the right company to do your VAT registrations and returns, I can highly recommend the company I personally use for my businesses: VATGlobal.com
While there are currently delays in VAT number registrations, you can still go through the process and be ahead of your competition, who have most likely paused any growth plans at the moment. To get a special/discounted price for VAT returns services, please use this code when contacting VAT Global: ANDYVAT2020
Lastly, if you’re new to all of this and are looking for a step-by-step guide on how to start a profitable Amazon FBA business in 2020, take a look at my Amazon Sharks program.
It’s a 20+ hour video course that will teach you how to properly research, launch and run a successful Amazon FBA business, and how to avoid most common mistakes.
Plus, you will get my personal support in case you get stuck at any stage!
If you’re not ready to spend money on a training course, that’s fine, too. You can check out my blog’s archive page, where you will find 300+ FREE posts/tutorials that will help you better understand how successful Amazon FBA businesses are built.
You are also welcome to leave your questions below the posts and get FREE replies/advice directly from me. If you don’t want your question to be publicly available on the blog, please contact me directly via the help desk here.
Good luck with the businesses—and most importantly, stay strong and healthy!
Hi, Some items (like the one in your post) have increased sales, but others (like anything to do with travel for example) will have no sales. With all past sales data skewed one way or another, then I think its difficult for a new seller to start researching for their first product right now. Do you agree, or if not, how would you do it? Thanks
Hi Andy,
Yes, the market research process is somewhat difficult right now, but you can still do it if you fully understand what goods/categories are most affected by this crisis. As you say, obviously, anything travel-related is out of the window right now. Same would apply to school bags for example or lunch boxes. On the other hand, sales for DIY goods, craft products and many others will be inflated right now.
My advice for anyone just starting out now would be to be patient – do the market research, monitor sales numbers, come up with their branding angle, contact suppliers, get samples etc. etc. but wait out on placing that first real/bulk order. I would monitor the situation and wait until May, before making any final decisions on placing the order. IF the MOQ is small and you can use a courier for shipping, then, of course, you can take more risks and simply go with it sooner. It all comes down to your appetite of risk really.
Andrew
Because I work in HSBC bank and all you can see is Amazon on everyone’s bank statements lol. Just one thing though, I heard they were only letting products in like sanitizers in… are they letting us send other things in now? Do you think I should create a ‘test’ shipping plan to see if it allows me to send them in? Or is there a list of acceptable products somewhere?
Thanks again! Cya soon
Hi Lynden,
The inbound restrictions have been almost completely taken off – most people can send in stock now, especially items that are out of stock or will go out of stock in the near future.
Yes, if you already sell on Amazon, just try creating a shipping plan and if the system allows it, you’re good to go!
There’s no list available, no.
Thanks,
Andrew
Brilliant articles as per usual!
Thanks Minesh! 🙂
Wow your articles are the best!
Thank you for the VAT info as I was most worried about this!
Thanks again take care and Well done!
No problem Lynden & you’re welcome! 🙂
Let me know if I can help with anything else.
Andrew