How We Started E-Commerce With Little Money?
Five years ago, my friend and I decided to do something to earn extra income on the side. As a result of a month of research, we met with e-commerce.
We started researching how to start and found an e-commerce course that teaches how to sell on Amazon.
Everything was going very well until we decided to finish the course and start work, we saw that we did not have enough capital to produce the products.
And our other mutual friend invested his money in the business (estimated 3000 dollars) and became a partner of ours.
Yes, we were excited and as three innocent young people, we chose amazon as our first place. But we were not aware of what was going to happen.
What Did We Decide To Sell?
We decided that the first product we would sell was the defrosting tray with the software that shows the best-selling products on Amazon, called Jungle Scout.
Because it was selling well at that time and it was one of the products with the lowest production cost since the capital we had was low.
We contacted the manufacturers through Alibaba in China and ordered our first 100 products. After an estimated 1 month, the products were ready and on their way to amazon warehouses.
Amazon Shipment Process
Yes, we were excited and we had our first venture as teenagers at the age of 18 and had no clue what was going to happen. We thought that only the products would be sold and we would make money.
Now the items were in the amazon warehouse and waiting for us to list them. We put the products on sale with beautiful designs and listing. We did the listing and seo so well that we didn't even spend a dollar on advertising.
Our E-Commerce Profit Margin
And yes, it's hard to believe, but at the end of the first day, our first sales came and 5 of our products were sold. We were so excited that we were now dreaming big.
In the first week, our sales went very well and we had an estimated profit of 2 times the capital we had put in.
At the end of 1 week, we had 8 products left and we didn't know what to do. Because amazon wouldn't let us transfer the money to the account immediately. And we wanted to order the second part products.
We decided to borrow again because we would pay the debts when amazon deposited our money in our account. We collected the money and ordered the second batch of products. Yes, we ordered 100 of the same product again.
While the products were on the way, some of the first 100 products sold began to get feedback from customers about the delivery issues. We got feedback from about 15 customers and they were giving us low stars on amazon.
Even though we talked to some of them and sorted it out, amazon suspended our account. And we didn't know what to do. We were 18 years old and we were in debt as university students.
While our 2nd part products were on their way to amazon warehouses, we were talking to amazon support and trying to explain the situation.
And about 1 week later, our account was reopened and they said that they would permanently freeze our account if the same situation was repeated again.
After the profit from our first sale was deposited in our bank account, we settled some of the debts. And we were waiting for our second order to be sold.
Since our account's rank dropped by amazon algorithms, our sales were not the same as before, and sometimes we were selling 3 units a day, sometimes not at all.
And things turned out to be more difficult than we had hoped. Lessons, on the one hand, amazon on the one hand, and debts on the other. But we had been working non-stop and we were determined to get through it.
We learned that things didn't always go as we hoped, and we had our first lesson. Then I will share the article about what happened, what we did, and how we got here in the second article.
And with the experience of 5 years, I will continue to share what I want to do here.
Maybe my story will be a motivation for some and hope for others. This blog is not just mine, it's our blog.
If you write in the comments how your first attempt was, others will benefit from your experience. Thank you for reading.
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