Dropshipping on Amazon: The Secret to Success

Michael Anderson reveals how to build a hands-free dropshipping empire on Amazon through automation and integration

This post is by Michael Anderson the CEO and co-founder of Etail Solutions, a SaaS sales and supply chain management platform.

The dropshipping business model is tough and it can be a difficult one to make profitable. Despite getting wholesale pricing, your product costs are likely to be the same as many other sellers, if not more.

In addition, suppliers will charge a per-order fee ranging from $2 to $10 for storage, shipping and handling. By the time these costs have been factored in, sellers all too often find themselves in uncompetitive positions, very close to being unprofitable.

But, as you’re about to discover, there is a way to make the dropshipping business model work. In fact, a few dropshippers have turned this highly competitive, low-margin model into lucrative seven-figure-per-month businesses that practically run by themselves!

In this article, you’ll find out what it takes from an operations standpoint, to go from a handful of SKUs to a hands-free dropshipping empire. You’ll discover how to leverage integration and automation to drive up sales and purchasing volume at the same time as driving down costs.

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5 Ways Amazon Private Label Selling is Under Attack

Private labeling seemed like the perfect business model for the Amazon marketplace. But has the whole private label ethos now had its day?

Private labeling has long been seen as the golden child of business models for Amazon sellers. It allows you to create your own brand and a unique listing, then use some simple marketing methods to push it to success.

For a long time private labelers have had an open playing field to take advantage of the Amazon marketplace. However, a number of changes and challenges are making it increasingly difficult to prosper.

Competition is higher than ever, the market is oversaturated in many product categories, and it is becoming harder than ever to find new products. This has forced prices down and caused profit margins to shrink. Dirty tricks from some sellers are rampant and, overall, the marketplace today is far more aggressive and hostile than it once was.

In this article we discuss the changes which have most affected the Amazon private label business model. So much has changed, is it still possible to succeed as a private label seller?

Amazon’s Fake Review Problem is Worse Than Ever. Here’s Why.

Amazon’s efforts to clean up product reviews have sent the problem underground. Fake reviews are still around, but are harder to detect.

This post is by Chris McCabe, a former Investigation Specialist for Amazon’s Seller Performance team and founder of ecommerceChris.com.

Amazon has had a fake review problem for a long time. Up until late 2016, Amazon allowed sellers to give away products in return for a review. Those reviews were “honest and unbiased”, at least according to the disclaimers that reviewers sometimes added.

Back then, many sellers used product giveaways to increase their positive reviews. Amazon’s algorithms acted on the review data, search visibility went up, and buyers bought those items more often. Everyone went away happy, right? Well, at least the sellers did.

Then Amazon prohibited all incentivized reviews, and the problem swiftly went underground. Incentives continued to be offered, but away from the official discount code system, so Amazon couldn’t see the activity at all.

Fast forward to today, and a whole black market ecosystem has evolved. It’s focused on manipulating the Amazon reviews and search ranking systems, using a vast range of nefarious techniques. Amazon’s ban, ironically, has resulted in a fake review problem that makes the old behavior look quaint by comparison.