Why Selling on Amazon Isn't Always Profitable

Steven Pope, founder of My Amazon Guy, shares the hard lessons learned from costly mistakes in Amazon selling, including product selection, branding, and warehousing. Find out why selling on Amazon is challenging and how to avoid the same pitfalls.

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Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: Learning from Mistakes
00:19 - Overview: From Profit to Loss on Amazon
00:40 - Impact of Amazon's Fees and Category Challenges
01:00 - The Fall of Parody Tumblers and Brand Challenges
02:01 - Transitioning Away from Direct Involvement in Age of Sage
02:14 - Mistakes Made: Product Selection and Manufacturing
03:02 - Competing Against Low-Cost Sellers and Market Preferences
03:25 - The Success and Decline of the Wine Glass Brand
04:06 - Losing Brand Registry and Its Consequences
04:29 - Reflecting on Personal Failures and Lessons Learned
05:10 - Starting a Soap Brand: Challenges and Outcomes
05:58 - The Warehouse Mistake: Costs and Manufacturing Challenges
07:00 - Learning from Product and Packaging Mistakes
08:21 - Agency vs. Product Business: Understanding Strengths
09:02 - The Importance of Specialization in Business Success
10:00 - The Partnership Transition and the Value of Collaboration
10:33 - Recap: Key Mistakes and Learning Points
11:58 - The Importance of Branding and Market Adaptation
12:50 - Influencer Marketing and Its Impact
13:33 - Product Passion vs. Market Demand: A Critical Balance
14:02 - Hot Sauce Shipping Debacle and Lessons in Packaging
15:00 - Understanding Amazon's Lack of Seller Support
16:17 - Personal Growth and Focus on Agency Success
18:50 - Insights on Selling on Amazon and the Importance of Adaptation
20:56 - Conclusion: Reflecting on Lessons Learned and Asking for Viewer Engagement

#AmazonSellingTips #EcommerceMistakes #AmazonSellingJourney #MyAmazonGuy #AmazonSellers

[MyAmazonGuy]

I made mistakes selling on Amazon—learn from them. Leave a comment sharing one lesson you’ve learned from this video, and help others avoid these pitfalls!

[vaughanferguson]

Steve, I love your honesty. Your content is well structured and easy to follow. You are also brutally honest Amazon and it's substandard seller support.
I am only a starter in this space, but thanks to presenters and educators like yourself, people like me are saved in time from significant losses. You are also an advocate of great branding, that's obvious, but even you admit that unless most of the Amazon boxes are ticked, one is likely to lose money.
I would like to thank you for all the time, energy and cost of course, you spend helping people like me make better decisions.
Thank you kindly - Vaughan

[KeithCoppuck]

I have been selling on the amazon (note the small "a" due to lack of respect for the monopoly) since August 2015, started off like most people with arbitrage, then "white label" and now have my own brand and manufacture my own products. It's so damn hard and frustrating and only getting worse. I completely understand why you have thrown the towel in and I look forward to selling up in the next few years. For me closely monitoring all costs is key to maintaining any kind of margin in a very price sensitive market. Thank you for your openness and education.

[retrodesignstudio]

Hey Steve, man did I need to hear this today.. I have been working as an Amazon Account Manager to several brands all over the world for the last 6 years. Also been trying to open up my own for the last 2 years. I am at that point were I want to throw in the towel, the stress of keeping my head above the water is crazy. But anyways, thanks for being real !!

[ervnqte]

i switched from Amazon to retail locations. 2650 retail locations now. better margins, good forecasts and an overal healthier business.

[BillKozdron]

Great video. Thanks for being so honest. I'm a few years into my journey and I've had some ups and downs for sure. I think the biggest thing about your videos, especially this one, is it's ok to make mistakes and it's part of the process. It's a shame that Amazon really has a monopoly on online shopping. You can't compete with a store front that gets over 1 Billion visitors/ month. You almost have to be on there if you are trying to build a brand. Thanks again for this honest video. Very refreshing.

[middleeasternmall]

You have no idea how much you've helped me. In fact, my Amazon advisor I had when I was in incorporate learned from you. It's a ripple effect. I can't wait to dig further into your teachings to tighten up my company's Amazon business. This video in particular is very helpful because my husband and I manufacture our own products. Thank you for all that you do!

[cliveramsay]

You are an honest inspiration Steve 👌 this video is so so helpful . Keep up your great work but also look after yourself

[Stockfish-kr]

A new seller here: I am just wondering after 6 month into FBA, how crazy it is to be in a business owned not by you, where customers (Competitors) abuse and return your product without you being able to speak with them to know their problems, giving you negative voices (NCX) and then Amazon shut down your listing which you paid tons of money on it. How crazier this can be?

[TheJosa]

I am going at it with two more items this year. If at the end of this year, i see no money, it could be a break for me. I am just one guy who is trying to get out of the rat race. God speed Steve

[eyedantt]

Great video and I appreciate you being open and honest about both your success and failures. Very helpful!! I'm dealing with my own glass break issue at the moment, although the bottles are much smaller. Bubblewrapping myself now because Amazon keeps shipping in padded envelopes.

[rRelaxInLuxury]

Hi Steven. One of the most important things I learned from you is improving your main image CTR. I hired your company to do this for me. Thanks for sharing! 👍

[DanishAfridi-qdie]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and valuable advice with such transparency.

[cee]

I work for one of those "Amazon gurus" and his orange bars are so high, even he's still on the game. Like, that's how you can tell a person is legit if they're teaching u the strategies that worked for them.

[omarmohammad]

very good to realise our own mistakes and take full ownership

[april]

There are so many things you've helped me with I almost don't know where to start... Adding your main keywords in the actual images to help with conversion.

[patrickcardon]

If you are failing on Amazon, it sure makes you think to even start on the platform as a newbie

[winglam]

The packaging alone costs more than the product itself, and the shipping costs are even higher especially for items under $35, it’s very tough for e-commerce now

[mzkinisium]

Hi Steve, We're one of your clients. I'm curious if you have tips on your efforts to market your holsters, when any mention of guns can derail ads and listings. We have a product that is well suited for gun owners - a device that texts you when your kids pick up your gun, or get into your gun safe, or discover your other hiding spots - but we have a hard time getting our marketing not get flagged on Amazon, or our advertising rejected, because they automatically infer that we are selling firearms and weapons!
Any thoughts?

[youtube-Tanaview]

Thank you for sharing , ,,,the new comers will learn a lot from your experience !!!!