Amazon Returns to the Lone Star State

It was just a few years ago (2011) when Amazon closed its Dallas-based fulfillment center due to a disagreement over state taxes. Now it appears that Texas and Amazon have reconciled. Amazon has just announced that it will be opening three new fulfillment centers in Texas in the upcoming months.
Amazon has recently changed its opinion on state tax collection in other states (including New Jersey, California , and Pennsylvania). With the opportunity to move into these states, Amazon opened more than 20 new fulfillment centers in 2012. The three in Texas will add an additional 3.3 million square feet of warehouse space. The new locations will be:

• Schertz (near San Antonio)
1.2 Million square feet
Will handle large items

• Coppell (near Dallas)
1 Million square feet
Will handle large items

• Haslet (also near Dallas)
1.1 Million square feet
Will handle smaller items like books, small electronics and DVDs

Having more fulfillment centers helped Amazon dropping the amount of shipping costs within its yearly budget. In 2011, the shipping costs for the holiday season covered 5.4% of Amazon’s budget for that quarter. In 2012, the amount for that same time period was only 4.5%.

Not only will the state benefit from the taxes collected, the three locations are projecting to hire more than 1000 workers (and this number will most likely increase dramatically during the holiday seasons).

Around the world, Amazon currently operates 79 fulfillment centers.

Related links:

List of eBay Friendly Wholesalers
 
Amazon Fulfillment Course – Automate and Grow Your Business with FBA
 
Amazon FBA Recipe for Success

Read More

What is the Deal with Penny Book Sellers?

One of the more common questions I get is about penny books and penny book sellers. They are plentiful on both eBay and Amazon. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you continuously run across them on both marketplaces:

1)If you look at the penny book sellers, they usually have thousands of books for sale and a large feedback number. These people are buying by the tractor trailer load, pallet, gaylord, or getting all the leftovers from library sales or storage unit auctions. Some books in those lots will be good to sell, some won't. They can make a few cents on a penny book sale rather than throwing them away. They have huge operations with warehouses and many employees processing books. It works for them to make a few cents on hundreds or thousands of sales a day.

2)Many also use repricers and the prices spiral down to a penny. If you have 3-4 large sellers all using repricers, and no one has set a cut off for the price, the automation of a repricer will allow the price to go to a penny. And these large sellers don't care.

3)There are lots of large sellers using Amazon and eBay for customer harvesting. They can get a sale, and include promotional material in the shipment to entice the buyer to go to their website (20% off your first order!!). Rather than trash a worthless book, they use it to reach a new customer who may become a valuable repeat customer on their own personal website.

Bottom line - don't assume everyone on eBay or Amazon is there to make money, and don't assume they are there for the same reasons you are.


Related posts:

How to Market Your eBay Store/Listings

Marketing During the Summer

How to Sell on Etsy – Part One

Read More

Amazon 90-Day Experiment Nets $80 Per Hour

I have been a casual seller on Amazon for almost a year selling my own items including books, DVDs, CDs, and a few toys I found at clearance sales. My selling experience on Amazon was really only an informal venture to understand how Amazon works so that I could teach others the basics of Amazon selling.

As I worked with my coaching clients over the past year, they began sharing their Amazon success stories with me. I was inspired by their success and the money they were generating with the Amazon business. Out of curiosity, I decided to take the plunge and try selling on Amazon using their techniques and selling strategies. I gave myself three months (90 days) to fine-tune the process just to see what one person could do with an Amazon business only devoting a few hours a week.

This experiment is based on what one person can do with the proper equipment, information, and devoting about 5 hours a week to the business. My Amazon business model takes into account that some eBay sellers want to expand into other online selling arenas and leverage the power of Amazon without having to set up or maintain their own website. The profit from this business model can multiplied exponentially fairly easily by adding more time, more equipment, and more people (employees or compensated helpers) to the plan.

No business is an exact science. This business takes physical work, dedication, and consistency to build and maintain. That being said, here are the results of my experiment.

Download the free eBook here

Read More