How I Got $500 from Amazon Over the Weekend

If you sell with Amazon's FBA program, do you ever feel like something is missing? Maybe you should be seeing bigger payouts based on the amount of inventory you are sending in? Me, too. I decided to do some snooping around last weekend and discovered quite a bit of inventory was either lost, damaged, or had been destroyed without my knowledge.

On April 5, I opened about 20 support tickets with Amazon for further investigation. Many of these items had been sent in as long as 3 months ago but fell through the cracks for various reasons. Here is a screen shot of some of my support requests:

In just a few hours, the reimbursements started coming in! As of today, April 10 , I have received $545.61 in reimbursements on items that Amazon would not have reimbursed me for if I hadn't brought it to their attention. Take a look at what I have received so far:

 

This process only took about 2 hours and I have received over $500 in reimbursements so far (some tickets are still outstanding). Not a bad hourly rate to put some extra cash in my account - cash that I was due but probably wouldn't have ever seen if I hadn't researched it myself.

Sometimes, we get so focused on scouting for inventory, sending in shipments, and keeping up with replenishments, we lose track of what has already been sent into Amazon warehouses. If you are not keeping a close eye on your Amazon business, it can get away from you in a hurry.

I have taken the time to share this process with you. If you aren't familiar with how to keep tabs on your FBA inventory, I have created a Lesson on Demand to show you the exact process for researching lost, damaged, or destroyed inventory that you could be getting reimbursed for. Remember, when Amazon is at fault and loses or damages inventory, you are reimbursed the same as if your item sold, not just the price you paid for the item.

This lesson includes a 20 minute video showing:

How to determine if inventory is missing.

How to use different reports to discover lost, damaged, or destroyed inventory.

How to navigate the Amazon Seller Dashboard to find information needed for support requests.

How to file Amazon FBA support requests for lost, damaged, or destroyed inventory.

8 step process I use to get money back from Amazon.

Also includes PDF file with reimbursement request process outlined.

The cost of this lesson is $19.95 and is an instant download. You will be redirected to e-Junkie to make the purchase. Learn how to research your own Amazon FBA inventory and start filing for reimbursements today!

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Ramping Up 2013 - April

Can you believe we are already four months into 2013? How are things going so far for you? Hopefully sales are going well. Now would be a good time to start increase inventory or with the Spring season upon us (even if it does not look like it). Take advantage of spring cleaning to find new items for eBay or Amazon. If you are not sure where to start, let’s take a look at this month’s “Ramping Up” tips.

Sign up for coachingI have been sharing tips from my blogs for many years. There is a lot of information here to consider. If you are at a point where you do not know where to start or where to turn, consider asking for help. I have coached many sellers. Many were just starting out, some were looking for direction for their established business, some were very experienced. No matter where you are on your path to a successful business, I can help. If you would like to schedule a free coaching consultation, click .

Get ready for Mother’s DayMother’s Day is one of the busiest seasons of the year. Not only can you sell the items Moms want, also consider offering gift-wrapping as well. Make sure this is something you do well. Your customers will not be happy with less-than perfectly wrapped gifts. If your talents lie outside wrapping gifts, you may consider using gift boxes or bags for the gift just make sure your listings details your services. If you would like a few suggestions on what items may sell well, here is a list:

Handbags

Watches

Jewelry

Cell Phones and Accessories

Fragrances

Consider selling in a new categoryEven if it is sometime temporary, you could increase your earnings through a new niche product line. April is when people start thinking about their upcoming vacations. You could start selling things like shorts, short-sleeved shirts, or bathing suits as people build their summer wardrobes. Don’t forget things like beach towels, lunch bags (for the car rides), swim shoes, and flip flops. If you are crafty, you may even consider making uniquely decorated flip flops and selling them on Etsy.

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Learn To Make Your Own Inventory

If you are thinking of expanding the inventory you offer, you may not have to look far. You may have sourced inventory in the past but there is an alternative. Maybe making your own inventory is the way to go.

This could be a great option if you are in a remote location from the stores where you usually source your items. Maybe the weather is keeping you close to home or creating items is a way for you to wind down. Either way the outcome could help you increase your inventory.

If you are thinking this is a good idea but do not know what to make or how to make it, you should take a look at Craftsy.com. Crafty is a directory of crafting classes you can attend online. The site offers classes on everything from knitting and crocheting to cake decorating and weaving. For the experienced, crafter the site offers projects and patterns to help you find new items to make.

Once you have your items, you could use them as gifts or sell them on sites like Etsy.com, Goodsmiths.com, or TopHatter.com. Craftsy is currently offering free mini-workshops. Click here to see a list of the free classes.

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Etsy Wholesale to Connect Crafters and Sellers

Image courtesy of DeMoss Designs

As we find ways to build our inventory, we can often find ourselves moving along with the pack. Sometimes we find what we sell is being sold by many other sellers as well. It can be a waiting game. That is okay. But there are other items you could consider.

Marketplace sites like Etsy, Goodsmith, and Bonanza give crafters and other creative artists the opportunity to offer their wares to a large community of shoppers who are looking for something original. This is also an opportunity for you as a seller to find an original product to offer. Many Etsy sellers are offering wholesale pricing on the products when they are sold in lots. You may find woodcrafted items or sewn items that may be great to offer during the holiday season.

For the Etsy sellers who are looking for a little help in getting started selling wholesale, Etsy is creating a wholesale marketplace. While the site has not launched yet, Etsy is accepting sign-up for both wholesale vendors and buyers. Once the site is launched, this will allow you to connect to many sellers in the Etsy community who are looking to connect with sellers. For the crafter, it gives them an opportunity to concentrate on the actual art and not finding the individual customer. For the seller, it is a chance to find unique and uncommon items to offer your buyers. To sign-up, visit this link.

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Hunting for Inventory

I have been finding and selling discontinued products for 6 years online now. People seem to think there is a magic list, or a site you can go to that lists all these things. Don't know where that idea came from, but that isn't how it has worked for me. Here are a few ways I have found out about these things in the past.


1. PAY ATTENTION. Look at store shelves in regular stores (grocery, Wal-Mart, Target, drug stores), especially health and beauty aisles. Look for empty spaces on the shelves where a product should be but it not. Read the tag and research the product. You may be able to find it somewhere else.


2. Along the same lines, look at the signs stores display that say "temporarily unavailable" or "sorry out of stock." Research those. Sometimes the store doesn't know the situation - they just aren't getting any more of a popular product so they put up the sign.


3. Listen to the people around you in the store. This is the best way to find out! This happens to me all the time. People are shopping, the product they want is not there, they either say something out loud to themselves or to the person they are with, or to a nearby stock clerk. I usually go like this, "Ugh! Why are they always out of ______? I am so sick of this! I can't ever find it anymore!" If they don't say the name of the product in their rant, ask them what it is. They will tell you even more about why the product is so great and their frustration finding it.


4. Listen to the national news, or read trusted sites like USA Today, Huffington Post, New York Times. You will find lots of info on products being taken off the market, a plant being moved, an ingredient being investigated. I am not talking about recalls or product bans, but just news about product productions. Happens all the time. Case in point - the Today Sponge shortage was on the news.


5. Pay attention to your own sales. Is something selling unusually fast, or are people buying in larger than normal quantities? Has a slow mover now become a fast mover? Last year I was selling some hard candy, and I noticed as soon as they hit FBA I sold out, and the buyer would buy all I sent. PAY ATTENTION!


6. Talk to stock clerks and understand the store's markdown and tagging system. Ask questions about what the tags mean, DON'T ASSUME. For example, when Wal-Mart is not going to carry a product anymore, they put a red sticker on the shelf where the price is displayed. The sticker is not put on the product, and it is not always marked down. It is not always put in a clearance section. Just the red sticker on the shelf. The product may not be carried anymore because it isn't profitable, it isn't popular, they are making room for something else to go there, or the manufacturer is discontinuing it, there may be a packaging change and it is coming back later, etc.. Look for the red stickers and investigate on your own further. The stock clerk only knows that it is going away from the Wal-Mart shelf.


I have several right now that are in short supply and I learned about them through the methods above. Keep your eyes and ears open!


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