If you are a current college student, you already know how difficult it can be to juggle everything. This is especially true in the 21st century, where the cost of goods has risen to ridiculous levels. Managing financial accounts for students may be challenging if you don’t have a supplementary source of income. However, based on Samir’s experience, you can start an eCommerce business as a current student and be successful.
Below, LitExtension – #1 Shopping Cart Migration Expert will interview a successful seller in the eCommerce field to find out about the best business ideas for college students. So if you want to start an online eCommerce business on Amazon, keep reading.
About Samir
To give you a better idea about Samir’s experience, it helps to know a bit about him.
He goes to the University of Georgia (US) and will be a senior soon enough. He used to do Shopify and dropshipping, taking a semester off because he was so far ahead.
During this time, he started an Amazon business, selling his first products by the end of January. As an FBA seller, Samir doesn’t have to worry about managing his warehousing.
Amazon is one of the few eCommerce platforms where you can effectively sell products as an individual. Many sellers start with limited investments (less than $1 thousand) and find themselves excelling.
During this interview, we will provide you with tips from Samir’s experience. This way, you can avoid many of the common mistakes that new eCommerce businesses make.
What Products Do You Need To Sell?
As a college student, Samir shares that he is a current Amazon seller that is not picky about his sales.
Samir does not have a “main product.” Instead, he focuses on selling anything that works. As an Amazon seller, this is an excellent strategy, as you focus on customer needs over personal preference.
One of Samir’s focuses is toys, which is an excellent choice due to their smaller size and simple instructions. For product instructions, you can ask any writers for assignment writing help. However, some toys are mechanical and more complicated, so be picky to join the toys market.
Samir’s “selling what works” strategy displays in one case where he sold Barbie Ken dolls. Barbie dolls are popular and are already well known. You can follow this selling style by going through retail or online arbitrage.
Retail arbitrage is the process of buying products at a deep discount and selling later at a local retailer (online is buying these from companies you find through Google searches). Your second option is wholesale, where you buy from distributors who require minimum order quantities.
In Samir’s case, all he had to do was provide the invoice to Amazon, making it an incredibly straightforward process.
Here are a few other popular categories you can consider:
- Home and kitchen
- Stationary
- Sports products (i.e., water bottles, waist trainers, etc.)
- Beauty products (great for influencers)
How Do You Find The Right Products?
Product research is a crucial element when it comes to finding the right products. Samir shares that he uses AMZScout daily.
Samir shares that he uses AMZScout because of the historical data. Looking up the history of how many sales a product had years ago enables him to get a “big picture” idea of how these products work.
This becomes especially important when it comes to seasonable data. Seeing that the products have declined from Winter to Summer through historical data will enable you to make better decisions on what to buy. For example, you would not want to buy sandals in preparation for the winter rush.
Ideally, it would be best if you used Amazon analytical tools to find out how you can acquire a product with consistent sales. If you can find something that doesn’t have seasonal fluctuations, you’ll have better results. On the other hand, there are B2B marketplaces that bring wholesale vendors together to offer products in bulk.
If you are looking for free tools, you can start with data here:
- Google Trends
- The Amazon Trend Report
- The Best Sellers Category
- Amazon Movers and Shakers
Finding The Right Suppliers
Another essential aspect to having quality products is finding someone to provide them. Finding suitable suppliers is one of the trickiest aspects of selling on Amazon. Samir agrees, even after having some experience working with many suppliers.
One experience Samir shared with us is ordering a January product and not receiving it until the end of February. Sometimes, it can take up to three months for you to get a product. By that time, the inventory you receive might not be as valuable.
On paper, choosing a supplier doesn’t seem hard. However, Samir’s experience tells us that finding a good supplier is challenging. Many of these suppliers don’t sell anything worth troubling with. Samir shares that it is challenging to find someone worth working with.
Unlike most buyers, Samir sticks with US-based suppliers. Using Google is an excellent starting point, something which Samir states as their primary method for finding suppliers they like.
You can use this short checklist ready to ask the supplier:
- Do you have a license?
- Can you provide me with evidence of liability insurance (certificate)
- What are your safety standards? (more applicable when speaking with a product manufacturer)
- Can you send me a sample of your product and packaging to verify quality?
- What time can you make the delivery by?
- What is your minimum quantity?
- How much will this cost?
Using the checklist above, you can avoid some of the more common headaches manufacturers, and distributors can cause. As a seller, you must establish qualifications before selecting a permanent supplier.
Promoting Your Products (Amazon Advertising)
When it comes to paying for Amazon advertising, paying for PPC campaigns depends on your product. In Samir’s experience, he has never had to pay for PPC to sell his products.
Utilizing Amazon Analytics tools is crucial to this process, allowing you to compare prospective products by their sales rank. Sales rank includes aspects like the number of sales, reviews, and overall market competitiveness.
Samir calculates the profit before buying but has a bottom-out limit by refusing to sell products that do not already make about 20 sales per day. If it isn’t selling, you will need to convince people to buy it, which increases your effort.
If you are a private label seller, this strategy doesn’t apply to you. Establishing your brand on Amazon means you will need to pay for advertisement, as that’s the only way you can get your first product reviews.
When finding potential customers, it is vital to differentiate your strategy depending on what you sell. In the case of Samir, his marketing strategy refers to selling products that already work. You can do this through both wholesale and retail or online arbitrage.
Tips To Start An eCommerce Business For Beginners
In our interview with Samir, his last piece of advice is simple: Keep your head up.
Continuing to put in the effort and the time will eventually result in… well… results. You get out of it as much as you put in.
Samir also shares that you do not want to put all of your money in one place. Diversifying your product selection by buying multiple items increases your chance of making a profit.
Using Amazon analytical tools will enable you to expedite your product research process. Through this, you will find products that work for you and a strategy that makes you money.
Regardless of being a prominent eCommerce business owner or a student, you can get it done. So we hope this has helped you in finding out how to start an eCommerce business.
Thanks for reading!