Are you looking to start a business or grow your income? If you’re thinking of using Amazon, that’s a great way to achieve your goals. Amazon offers many ways to leverage its services to market products to make money. We’ll cover them all in the how to sell on Amazon without inventory guide.
One of the biggest blockers for people looking to sell on Amazon is the initial investment required to get started. Selling with no inventory offers a great alternative for people limited by their budget. That’s because inventory and storage are expensive.
There are four different solutions to sell products without inventory on Amazon. You can use dropshipping, sell digital products, leverage Kindle Digital Publishing (KDP), and use Merch by Amazon (Print on Demand).
Should I Keep Inventory Or Not
Keeping your inventory is costly because it requires both time and money. You need storage space to buy the products you want, a fulfillment team, and to organize these products. Also, if you’re running a small operation, you’re probably not benefiting from the best shipping rates from shipping suppliers or services.
To start your own business with your inventory and storage, you need to start with at least $10,000 as an initial investment. Plan for more, just in case. Consider the cost of a whole shipment to ensure you don’t have an empty inventory when clients want to buy your products. This can be risky for businesses starting. What’s worse than an empty inventory? A full one you can’t get rid of.
Thankfully for businesses, there’s a 90-day supply minimum rule to follow to ensure you have items in stock. To make a 90-day supply estimation, multiply the expected number of sales per day by 90. This will tell you the total amount of items you should buy to fill your inventory. If you think you will sell 5 items per day, for a 90-day supply, you will need 450 items in your inventory. If these cost $20, you will need to pay $9,000 only for the items. You also need to consider other fees, like shipping fees, taxes, marketing spending, and maybe even supplier fees.
Unfortunately, this is a consequential budget that not everyone can justify spending to start their business.
The good news is that you don’t always have to buy a product before selling it. Selling this type of product is perfect for people with a limited budget to start their business. You can sell t-shirts, eBooks, and other products that don’t need an inventory. This is a great solution. Especially if you intend to create your own products to deal with in the future.
Four Different Ways How To Sell On Amazon Without Inventory
1. Dropshipping
It’s gained a lot of popularity over the last few years by helping people access all kinds of products. But also by helping people run their businesses online. Instead of paying for storage, people can store their items in a supplier’s warehouse and only pay for shipping. The great point is that since dropshipping suppliers rely on many clients and businesses, they ship out many items. They are pros with better shipping rates, services, and quality. The easiest way to dropship is through Amazon dropshipping.
If you don’t know. Amazon dropshipping is when a product manufacturer generates a product and ships it to your clients for you. This model is used by millions of sellers worldwide. Thanks to fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), people don’t have to take care of their own warehouse and logistics. FBA is a great solution because one of Amazon’s pros is logistics. It’s the perfect third party for dropshipping management. Relying on FBA more than a small business’s own logistics is much safer.
A seller can find the products they want to offer on Amazon and then choose the suppliers they trust. Then, the seller only needs to find customers by promoting the product on Amazon. As soon as customers buy it, sellers order the items from their suppliers for a cheaper cost. To make money selling products with Amazon dropshipping, sellers have to sell large volumes to make a profit. Each product sold brings in profit, but it’s small. Quantities bring a larger profit.
There are many advantages to using Amazon dropshipping. The main one is that you avoid having to store physical products and shipping them thanks to FBA. You no longer need to worry about fulfillment. Market your products using different methods. Reach international customers where there is demand. It does not demand a big budget to get started and can help you earn passive income for your business expansion.
There are some cons to Amazon dropshipping. The main cons are the difficulty in controlling the quality of a product, low profit per item, high competition, and no control of the supply chain. Set yourself apart from other sellers by treating your customers well and ensuring they enjoy your service. Get lots of positive reviews to show potential customers don’t have to fear cons or low-quality support.
2. Print on Demand and Merch by Amazon
Merch by Amazon (also sometimes referred to as Merch on Demand) is a service that proposes print-on-demand to sellers. Creators and graphic designers can use this model to offer their unique designs on Amazon. When customers buy their products, Amazon will print the designs chosen on the items sellers want to offer.
When a customer buys a product, the seller earns some royalties from Amazon. It’s perfect for sellers to sell their designs without having inventory or to store them.
The main advantage is that you don’t need to invest anything to start. Products are sold to the long customer list Amazon has access to. You get a consequential part of the profit for each sale without having to worry about storage, fulfillment, and inventory. There’s a mockup generator to see how products will appear.
There are also some cons. You need to have accepted an invitation request to join. There’s not a lot of product variety. You can’t trade on multiple platforms. These cons are small compared to the advantage of having access to FBA to have the best fulfillment.
If you’re not a designer or creator but still want to use this model, you can use ComeUp to find a designer to create a unique design that you can use for Amazon Merch. In fact, there are many services related to Amazon available on ComeUp.
3. Kindle Digital Publishing (KDP)
More commonly known as Amazon KDP, Kindle Digital Publishing is a self-publishing service that enables publishers and writers to publish and sell their own books on Amazon. Books are published digitally or physically in print. This third method is a great way to get your work out there and not rely on a supplier. Use Amazon as the third party service to connect you with a large customer base.
With KDP, you can easily add your work on Amazon with your name and a cover. Then, you set your price and publish it for Amazon customers all around the world to buy. It’s so easy to leverage this platform to get your work published.
The platform has many advantages. With little to no fees, it’s simple and quick to get started, you have access to a large worldwide audience, KDP gives you control, and you can market your book thanks to analytics.
The only disadvantage is that the platform is super competitive. But since it requires little to no investment to get started, that’s not a lot of cons.
If you want to succeed on this platform. You’re going to have to pull out all the stops. ComeUp has all the tools to help you succeed. With freelance services at your fingertips, you can get a high-quality eBook cover, have your text proofread and edited, and you can find an advertising management expert to market your book. Leverage all the digital experts at your disposal on ComeUp to increase your chances of selling thousands of copies.
4. Digital products
While Kindle books are digital products, there are other kinds of digital products you can offer. These are dematerialized goods generated and shared digitally. They can be educational, for entertainment, valuable, or solve customer problems.
What types of digital products are for sale on Amazon?
Music
If you’re a musician, you can sell your music on Amazon Music. It’s a great way to reach a worldwide audience.
Art
Amazon may not be the first thing you connect with art. But you can actually sell your artwork on the platform. If you are an artist, don’t forget to also leverage Amazon Merch for the best results.
eBooks
eBooks can be sold on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
Audiobooks
There are a lot of audiobook fans on Amazon. You can access this audience by transforming your book into an audiobook.
Games
As a game developer, you can sell your games on Amazon easily to reach a broad audience around the world.
Since these products are all digital, they don’t need inventory or storage. Which means more profit and less fees for you.
They have many advantages. The main one is that a digital product is immediately accessible to customers. No need for inventory or shipping. They can also be sold to many customers without any stock running out. It puts sellers in control as they decide what they sell when they sell it and has management of recurring income thanks to licenses.
Nonetheless, be careful of copyright infringement and pirates who could steal and leak your work.
How to sell on Amazon without inventory: Important Information
Now that you know how to sell on Amazon without inventory in four different ways. Choose the one that’s right for you. Try to identify and understand demand. More importantly, consider your strengths. If you’re a designer. Maybe Merch by Amazon is more suited for you. If you’ve studied business at university, then dropshipping might be a better alternative. You’re going to have to invest time into making your business successful. Make sure you choose something you like. That way, it won’t feel only like work. But also something you enjoy.
Selling without inventory will help you avoid fees and maximize your profit. But, you shouldn’t just be passive and wait for the money to roll in. Instead, choose to be excellent in all areas where you can provide added value. Emphasize effective communication. Make sure your customers are always satisfied.
Improve the experience for your clients as much as possible. Provide them with the best payment methods. Use tools to improve their experience and your efficiency. The same goes when you choose which products to sell. Research which products are high in demand and have a high potential to be sold. There are lots of free tools available to support you in your research.
How to start selling on Amazon without inventory
1. Create Your Amazon Account
To become an Amazon seller, you’re going to need an Amazon seller account. Go to the Amazon seller homepage and click “Sign Up”. Then, complete the registration procedure to get your own account.
The Amazon Seller Central will be your go-to resource if you’re planning on selling physical products using dropshipping or other methods. It has a dashboard and useful tools. Manage your order list, inventory, and other information from there.
When you sign up as a new seller. You will need to choose between having an individual or professional plan. There are more pros to having a professional account if you want to grow your business.
2. Find the product you’re going to be selling
To make sure you make lots of sales, choose a product people want to order. Carefully research what you’re going to offer. Look at what’s being sold on the platform. There are also many tools you can use to identify demand. For example, ahref’s keyword generator can help you identify products often searched.
Amazon has some free tools like Xray to analyze if a product can be successful on the platform.
3. Generate Your Product
Create your Amazon product following all the best practices. Make sure you craft an attractive title, description, and bullet points. Use the right keywords to optimize it and take delightful product photos to highlight what you are selling. It’s the best way to ensure clients order what you’re selling.
Keyword research is a must for people to find your product. Use free tools like Amazon’s keyword tool and Ahref’s free keyword generator. Don’t just stuff your keywords, but place them strategically.
For images, you need to follow the rules enforced by Amazon. You will need 7 photos with the shortest side being at least 1,000px. In addition, the main image should have a white background.
If you need support to get these photos, you can order a service on ComeUp. Pros will take your Amazon product photos for a reasonable price.
4. Ensure management and grow your sales
Once your product is published, oversee management. As mentioned above. You should do your utmost to keep customer satisfaction high and create the best experience for your clients.
Grow your sales by marketing your product and promoting it. There are many online resources to use to develop a strong product marketing strategy.
Using ComeUp to sell on Amazon without inventory
If you want to grow your business faster or need support to complete some of the work you have fewer skills in. You can leverage ComeUp to help you achieve more work and get more sales. With ComeUp, you have access to freelance pros who know how to get the best results by completing their work step-by-step.
What types of services related to Amazon are there on ComeUp?
There are all kinds of services available on the platform to grow your sales.
Product creation services
Do you need help writing an attractive product description? Or taking high-quality product photos? On ComeUp, freelancers can take delightful photos and write descriptions that convert all visitors into clients.
Browse product creation category
Advertising campaign
A freelance expert can help you grow your sales by advertising your products. It’s the perfect occasion to boost your sales and grow your business.
Amazon KDP
Find all kinds of Amazon KDP services to publish your content or book and get people to order it. The online freelancers on ComeUp are professionals who know every step you need to take to succeed on Amazon KDP.
eBook covers
Nowadays, everything has become very visual. If you want people to order your book, you will need an attractive eBook cover. A freelance designer can create your dream cover.
Customer support
If you want to save time and delight your customers, you can use professional services to take care of your customer support. You’ll get better results and the opportunity to learn from an experienced professional. With freelance experts, customer fulfillment is easily accessible.
Browse customer support category
ComeUp, a trusted third party.
When you buy a service from a freelancer on ComeUp, you pay the total upfront. But, the money is placed in an escrow account, so the freelancer is paid only when they deliver the work agreed upon and you validate it. ComeUp acts as a trusted third party to protect your transactions.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to sell on Amazon without inventory, you can start selling online. With FBA, you no longer need to worry about inventory, a place to store it, or fulfillment. It makes it much easier to start commerce online. You’ve got full control regarding the things you want to sell and leverage fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) at the same time. It’s free or requires very little initial investment to get started so pick the model you want and start your commerce. Focus on every customer and let FBA take care of the fulfillment. That’s the recipe to become a top seller on the platform.
Leverage ComeUp to accelerate your growth. Freelance professionals offer their online services to help you complete your projects with the best results possible.
