Hello & Welcome!

I started this blog to share my experience and knowledge in Amazon/eBay with other people, especially ones that are just starting out and need that little push to get them started. While you can read more about my story on About Me page, I created this “Start Here” section to help you quicker find topics and articles you’re interested in.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them below each article in comments section. I always try to answer all comments within 24 hours, Monday-Friday.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Best Regards,

CLICK Below to select a TOPIC!

General Amazon FBA Business

Amazon NEWS

MY Amazon Business UPDATES!

Amazon Product Research

General Business

Product Sourcing & Importing

eBay Listings & Seller Hub

Product Photography

Running an eBay Business

eCommerce

Branding

Time Management & Self Help

Questions & Answers

News & Announcements

35 Comments
Click Here to Leave a Comment

  1. ogai
    3 years ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew,

    I have been looking for some face products in alibaba site i crossed a supplier who has 4 years gold and in Trade Assurance Business Type: Manufacturer, Trading Company, Buying Office
    and assessed supplier too, but i am just very surprised to see most best selling beauty products in amazon they have it not with the same logo even i found clinique face wash that currently i use it but not with clinique logo, do you think its fake site? its too good to be true,
    how can i find out if its fake, can i share the company link if you can look at it, i was almost ordering a sample,

    kind regards

    1. Andrew Minalto
      3 years ago
      Reply

      Hi Ogai,

      It is most likely FAKE/scam, yes!

      You can’t get genuine BRANDED products from Mainland China- they will be fakes/copies or pure scam.

      Andrew

  2. Mark Tankard
    3 years ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew
    We deal with a reputable medical supplier from China and noticed that Insulin syringes with needles were a good seller on Amazon and e-bay. We watched the sales for months and decided to order some to sell along with our other products.
    They arrived and we were having good sales until suddenly our listing was removed and e-bay told us it was a restricted item and banned us stating that someone had reported us.
    This was a suprise to us as there were many other sellers selling similar items. We do not want to jepordise our other products that we sell but we cannot fail to notice that even though some sellers get removed shortly after listing other sellers seem immune and continue to sell without ever being removed.
    Amazon is the same. Our listing was removed after we sent some stock to them to be despatched FBA. We even checked with them first if it was ok to send the stock after our dealings with e-bay and they said yes but then removed our listing and now we have stranded inventory.
    What confuses me again is that there are other sellers of similar items to ours selling Insulin syringes on Amazon including FBA and have been on years.
    Why do Amazon keep telling me it a restricted item but ignore their own rules for other sellers?

    1. Andrew Minalto
      3 years ago
      Reply

      Hi Mark,

      Thanks for your comment.

      Hard to say, could it be that the product itself carries some patents? OR only medical companies can sell it? Or there’s a brand name on it?

      My guess is that as this is a HIGHLY risky product, that needs to be properly certified/tested, Amazon only allows few companies to sell it or at least ones that can provide solid proof of product source, on-going testing etc.

      That’s my guess.

      Andrew

  3. Mike C
    3 years ago
    Reply

    Here’s another story which may make you even happier you quit eBay–and it’s from the buyer’s perspective yet. I never received an item I bought after numerous attempts so finally had to get a refund via eBay. The seller had never even shipped the item, and had loaded several bogus tracking numbers.

    Because of this experience I left a neutral FB for the seller–not a negative. Guess what the seller did? Gave away my personal contact info (phone number, house location, email etc) to online spammers and now I’m being harassed 24/7.

    I contacted eBay and they said they’ll “report” the event, which I know means nothing at all will happen. It’s not even clear that any laws were broken. But if you think you can’t get negative FB as a buyer, think again.

    I should have known not to give accurate info to eBay (but then how to get deliveries?) and especially not to use a valuable email address with them.
    Lesson learned.

    1. Andrew Minalto
      3 years ago
      Reply

      Thanks for sharing this with us Mike.

      Andrew

  4. Elliot Campbell
    2 years ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew,

    I’m looking to start an ebay/amazon business from the very beginning, could you advise what the first steps would be? I have begun by buying a couple of cheap things on ebay to get some rep just wondering where to go from here.
    Thanks!

    Elliot

    1. Andrew Minalto
      2 years ago
      Reply

      Hi Elliot,

      Thanks for stopping by!

      I don’t sell on eBay anymore so can’t help with that (even though I have tons of articles published on eBay topic on my blog).

      For Amazon – I recommend you watch my FREE video which covers the main principles of a successful Amazon business:

      https://andrewminalto.com/amazon-video/

      Thanks,
      Andrew

  5. Ramachandra Samartha
    2 years ago
    Reply

    Thanks for what you are offering here Andrew. I’m determined to succeed with FBA and so much of what you say rings true. I’ve looked through dozens of sites with various ‘gurus’ and ‘coaches’ who don’t offer much but a slick sales pitch and an obvious desire to part me from what little money I have. I’m doing research with various free tools and none of them seem to offer what I see Jungle Scout can provide, so it’s nice to see you getting straight to the point about what is needed and how much it will cost to get started. I’m trying to save money for the first inventory purchase and initial outlay for Jungle Scout. I like what you have to say and once I get the initial purchase amount for product and launch I look forward to getting going with your Amazon Sharks program. You’ve already helped me more with the free content you offer than any of those other coaches so I look forward to getting into your paid content.
    Regards,
    Ramachandra

    1. Andrew Minalto
      2 years ago
      Reply

      Thanks very much! You made my day! 🙂

      Andrew

  6. Hristiyan
    2 years ago
    Reply

    Hello, Andrew

    I am Hristiyan seller on eBay.
    Could you please tell us more about email marketing. I see that you have used Aweber. Is there some information about how to add the customer emails to the list and promote them.
    I am looking forward to your response, Andrew.

    Have a great day ahead!

    Best Regards,
    Hristiyan

    1. Andrew Minalto
      2 years ago
      Reply

      Hi Hristiyan,

      I’m sorry, but I don’t sell on eBay anymore so don’t really know what’s the latest there…

      Andrew

  7. Karolis
    2 years ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew.
    I was order from Alibaba IQOS HEETS. 40 blocks + 8 blocks free and 3 device free for 400$ (normal price around 1200$). They said its will be on friday and they send it. But after couple hours they told me its a new law to pay extra 350$ for ensurance and tax. And they said now my parcel stay on border and i must to pay. And every day its will growing because of delay for pay. And they not accept paypal. When im asking why they not accept they said because ours bussines accept pays until 1000$ whit WU and after 1000$ bank transfer. But when im asking to prof that they said my parcel they just send me pic of parcel but whithout adress or something else to prof that. And after im ask them about document or even his name he said you are new customer so you dont need to know that. What i need to do ?

    1. Andrew Minalto
      2 years ago
      Reply

      Hi Karolis,

      You have been scammed, plain and simple.

      You will never see that money again nor those goods.

      Please read through my blog posts to learn how to avoid such scams on Alibaba, IF you plan on importing something in the future.

      Andrew

  8. Nadeem Khawaja
    2 years ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew Minalto
    Could you please let me know which products can I import from Pakistan to sell them on Amazon UK. I have very good sources in that country. Thanks.

    1. Andrew Minalto
      2 years ago
      Reply

      Hi Nadeem,

      Thanks for your comment.

      You have to do the product research process on your own, no one will tell you exactly which products you can/should sell. Take a look at the JS app and just start doing the research:

      https://andrewminalto.com/jungle-scout-trial/

      Thanks,
      Andrew

  9. Martim
    1 year ago
    Reply

    Hey Andrew
    I live in Europe.
    I have an Amazon UK seller account with all the marketplaces de,it,fr, etc. Also, I am selling in the Us so my accounts are linked!
    I want to do specifically amazon fba in Germany.
    Is it better to open a Germany seller account or i can sell from my Amazon.co.uk by just sending products to Germany fba?

    1. Andrew Minalto
      1 year ago
      Reply

      Hi Martim,

      Thanks for your comment.

      You don’t have to create a separate Amazon account for Germany, no. You can use your UK account, which is effectively one account used for all European marketplaces.

      Thanks,
      Andrew

  10. Justin Glickman
    1 year ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew,

    Great site, thanks for sharing all these pearls.
    Im new to the ‘import from China’ game. Many of your blog posts have been so useful in answering my many questions.
    However, Im looking to produce a new product (using silicon) and I need to get a mould (aka tooling) made.
    Can you please point me to any posts you’ve done covering this topic.
    (For e.g. the “Trip to China: £3000 vs Factory Inspection: £70” caught my eye becuase I am planning a trip to China. Would you consider this essential?

    Thanks in advance.

    Justin

    1. Andrew Minalto
      1 year ago
      Reply

      Hi Justin,

      Thanks for your comment, it’s great to hear you are getting value out of my blog! 🙂

      But no, unfortunately I don’t have any posts talking specifically about tooling/moulds. I haven’t done them myself, so don’t have much experience with the topic.

      Thanks,
      Andrew

      1. Justin Glickman
        1 year ago

        Thanks for the reply Andrew.

        Before coming across your site, I would have said its a no brainer I need to go to China to ensure the tooling and all around that process is all clear and agreed on in person.
        What would your gut say on this?

        Perhaps, given all you’ve written about the 3rd party inspections and various QC options available, I could get away with not going back a second and third time (ie, when the mould/ tool is ready and then when all the units are produced) and rely on these?

        Warm regards,

        Justin

        PS any other resources you could think of i could refer to help me on this one?

  11. Deepak Chopra
    1 year ago
    Reply

    Hi Andrew,
    Just been surfing your website and must admit it is very helpful. Thank you for uploading so much helpful info for all the newcomers and existing sellers.

    Wanted to ask about figures for VAT workings on sales on Amazon UK ;
    In Seller Central Amazon page shows the gross sales, expenses, FBA charges, commissions and finally the amount to be transferred into the sellers bank account.

    Is it ok to ignore the gross sales, commissions, labelling etc charges and take the amount to be transferred into the bank as gross sales for VAT preparation and submition or is there another way of processing vat returns?
    Hence in this case we are also ignoring Amazon commission and charge invoices and not claiming any vat charged on Amazon invoices.

    Or is it better to take the figures of gross sales and then claim all the commission charges

    Thanks

    1. Andrew Minalto
      1 year ago
      Reply

      Hi Deepak,

      Thanks for your comment.

      No, you can’t do that. Your gross sales included all the money you receive in selling your items. So, for example, if you sell an item for £10 and sold 100 units per month, your gross sales are £1000. And that’s the number you have to use. Amazon fees and everything else is business expenses and need to be accounted for separately.

      Thanks,
      Andrew

      1. Deepak Chopra
        1 year ago

        Many thanks Andrew.

      2. Deepak
        1 year ago

        Hi Andrew,
        Many thanks for your prompt reply…. I am still intrigued…
        If I have sold 100 items @ £10 each I should have had £1000 in my account which I do not.
        Amazon charge 15% commission and approx 15% handling and postage charge with 0 rated Luxembourg invoice.
        Amazon have credited my account with say £750 after deducting their charges.

        Even though I have made gross sales of £1000 I have only received £750 of those sales.
        Of that I pay the supplier £500 +vat and claim it back.
        On approx £250 I have 0 rated invoices from Amazon, so I have to pay the 20% inclusive VAT on behalf of Amazon too

        Effectively on the rest of £500 I have to pay vat to HMRC amounting to £100.

        Why should I be paying vat for Amazon ? Is my argument..

      3. Andrew Minalto
        1 year ago

        Hi Deepak,

        Please speak with your account on how to properly do your VAT returns, it’s not that simple.

        I really can’t provide such detailed advice as I’m not an accountant.

        Thanks,
        Andrew

  12. Sidney Elmes
    12 months ago
    Reply

    Hey Andrew how’s things?

    I been surfing your page and you seem to be very knowledgeable about e-commerce. Im based in Australia but I’m a UK citizen and I’m trying to set up an amazon sellers account for the US market but for some reason it keeps rejecting my bank statements and ID for the identity verification. Is it because I’ve based my business address in Australia or that I’m a UK citizen in Australia and they won’t allow me to sell from another country? Do I need to set up a US address or would it be easier for me to set up on the UK market because I’m a UK citizen?

    1. Andrew Minalto
      12 months ago
      Reply

      Hi Sidney,

      Thanks for your comment.

      What is the reason Amazon is rejecting your registration? You should be able to sell on Amazon US, using an Australian company. Your citizenship shouldn’t be an issue there.

      Andrew

      1. Sidney Elmes
        12 months ago

        it keeps rejecting the bank statement that I’m providing it says its missing the address of the bank and the account holder, but I have my address on the bank statement and as for the address of the bank my Australian bank (commonwealth) doesn’t put the bank address on the statement and I’ve gone in and asked and they just don’t do it. So I don’t know a way around this I’ve contacted them about it again to see what they say but don’t think its gonna work. Do you know of any Australian based people that have had this problem? Because its very frustrating all I wanna do is get experience and start selling and I can’t even set up an amazon sellers account.

      2. Andrew Minalto
        12 months ago

        Hmm, that’s weird….

        Maybe you can contact your bank, local branch – maybe they can print out some kind of statement that has your address on it?

        Can’t think of anything else at this moment, apart from changing your bank. I have never heard anyone having such an issue.

        Andrew

      3. sidney elmes
        12 months ago

        Also thank you for replying to my first message so quickly.

  13. stephen cooke
    6 months ago
    Reply

    Amazing to have found you and this information! I am carefully reading all and the comment answers! I want to be fully informed on certain aspects of amazon fba sellinf as i shall be using y last money to try to sell a / some product(s).Thanks for doing such a great job!!

    1. Andrew Minalto
      6 months ago
      Reply

      You’re welcome Stephen! 🙂

  14. stephen cooke
    6 months ago
    Reply

    i dont want to start a company yet – is it ok to still start on amazon fba?

    1. Andrew Minalto
      6 months ago
      Reply

      To sell professionally on Amazon, you will have to at least register as a Sole Trader.

      But no, you don’t have to have an Ltd. company.

      Andrew

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: