Today, I want to share a new way to make money online that I’ve been trying out for the past few weeks. I’ve always been interested in selling on Amazon, especially after reading about bloggers who made enough to quit their day jobs!
### Sell on Amazon for Profit
A common business model for selling on Amazon is retail arbitrage. This involves buying items on sale in stores and selling them on Amazon for a higher price. For those looking to step it up, you can even import products wholesale from suppliers in China through Alibaba. This can be a lucrative side hustle and potentially a full-time job if you scale it up.
However, two main issues held me back:
1. **Upfront Cost**: You need a few hundred pounds to buy stock, with the risk of it not selling and being stuck with unsold products.
2. **Convenience**: I prefer side hustles that I can do from home, as I have a demanding day job. The idea of constantly shopping for deals and shipping products was not appealing.
Then, I discovered a method for selling on Amazon with no upfront costs, no physical stock, and without handling any products. After the initial setup, it’s almost passive income—my dream!
### Print on Demand
This business model revolves around print-on-demand (POD) products. Companies like Zazzle, Cafepress, Teelaunch, Teespring, and Gearbubble allow you to upload your designs to be printed on items like T-shirts, mugs, phone cases, and posters. You sell these items through various platforms, including Amazon.
The POD sites provide mock-ups of your designs on products, which you can use on your sales page. They only print the item once a sale is made. The customer pays you first, then the POD company prints and ships the item directly to them. You pay the POD company at the end of the month for any products shipped. This means no inventory, no shipping hassles, and no risk if you don’t make a sale.
### How to Sell on Amazon Without Stock
Here’s a quick rundown of the process:
1. Open a seller account on Amazon.com.
2. Set up a free Shopify account.
3. Add the Teelaunch app in Shopify.
4. Create or source some designs.
5. Upload your designs to Teelaunch and apply them to products like T-shirts and mugs.
6. Sync your Shopify and Amazon Seller accounts.
7. For T-shirts, sync automatically to Amazon; for other products, create listings on Amazon and connect them to Shopify.
The key to this nearly passive income is integration. Thanks to the integration between Amazon, Shopify, and Teelaunch, any sales on Amazon are automatically sent to Teelaunch for fulfillment. You handle customer support, but not inventory, payments, or shipping.
### Costs
This business model is very cheap to start since you don’t need physical stock. Here’s what you need:
– Amazon seller account: $39.99/month for US residents, $47.99 for EU residents.
– Shopify Lite account: First 14 days free, then $9/month.
– Canva for Work: First month free, then $12.95/month (or hire a designer on Fiverr starting at $5 per design).
– UPC codes: Approx $5 for a batch on eBay.
### Potential Profits
Teelaunch offers a variety of products with fixed prices. You set your own prices on Amazon. For example, I’m selling mugs for $14.95 + $4.49 delivery, making a profit of $8.27 per mug after costs.
### How’s it Working for Me?
I’ve been at this for two or three weeks and have 18 products listed. While I haven’t made any sales yet, most of my products are newly listed. Setting up took about 7 hours initially, but now I can list four or five products in an hour.
### Sourcing Your Designs
You can create your own designs if you’re an artist or hire freelancers on Fiverr or Upwork. I use Canva for simple text-based designs. Creating variations of a single design can quickly expand your product range.
### Promoting Your Products
Promoting your products is crucial, especially at the beginning. Use Pinterest, paid Facebook ads, social media profiles, relevant subreddits, or pay an Instagram influencer. Research trending topics and use good keywords in your titles and descriptions.
### Merch by Amazon
Sign up for Merch by Amazon, a T-shirt print-on-demand system run by Amazon with no monthly fees. They handle everything, making it even more passive than the Teelaunch method. Merch allows you to sell in the US, UK, and Germany, and you can be based anywhere in the world.
### Final Thoughts
This method of selling on Amazon is a low-risk way to dip your toes into online business. While it requires effort to create and list products, the initial investment is minimal. I plan to test this out for three months to see if it’s profitable. Follow along for updates and see if this side hustle could work for you!