Online Selling Podcast

If you have heard me talk on my Periscopes, you will know that one of my favorite places to shop for liquidation online is www.boxfox.co. I love the site so much, that I wanted to bring the CEO Chris Palmer onto the Online Selling Podcast to share his story and to shed some light on the process of BoxFox.  Enjoy!

If you want to believe it or not, there are two things that are certain in life. Death and Taxes.  As an online seller, you are actually responsible for paying sales tax on the products you sell in other states (well kinda - I explain more in the podcast).

In this podcast, we talk about all of the money that Chris leaves on the table as he walks through a store scanning items. We then focus on how you can take advantage of this and turn it into a great revenue source. At the end, Cordelia talks about her course and I mention a promo code.  Use code FBAMASTER to save 10% off the course (a $20 savings). http://bit.ly/1q7FTRx

We know it sounds like the American Dream, but do you know what it actually entails to be your own boss? We cover that and much more in this episode.

It's a question that each of us needs to ask ourselves. Why do you FBA? Do you want to leave your full time job? Do you want to make a side income? Do you want a hobby? Ask yourself these questions and see where your answer takes you.

Best Buy wasn't one of my favorite places to source online...until I found out about this secret combo.

In this episode, we chat about the economics behind sunk costs and the way they impact your Amazon business. 

If you aren’t patient enough to wait until the end of the podcast, you can click to the site here. So I got this email about 2 months ago from a guy named Ty. It wasn’t unusual that I received some sort of salesy email, but this one caught my eye.  “Hey Chris, I appreciate the opportunity to tell you more about our business and what we offer. Kole Imports is in its 31st year of business and we are one of the nation’s largest direct importers of general merchandise.  We have products ranging from dollar store merchandise all the way up to $30-$50 retail items.   We sell to everyone from your local discount stores all the way up to national chains like Walmart, Boscov’s, DD’s Discounts and many more. I developed our FBA services here where customers can purchase on our website and we can prep and ship their orders straight in to one or multiple fulfillment centers. We have thousands of products to choose from and a great selection of optional prep services.  Everything from labeling to bundling to repackaging and more.  With our labeling service customers have the option to essentially private label one of our generic products and create their own product pages.  We have seen great results with this approach. The process is super easy and streamlined and is explained in the FBA guide that I wrote here. I can go on but not sure how much detail you are looking for. I think this would be a great opportunity for your members.  We would also be willing to create some custom coupon codes for you that can be given out to the group that would help save even more off our wholesale prices.  I’ve also done webinars and live presentations on our services in the past and would be happy to do the same. Feel free to reach out via phone or email of you have any more questions or need more details. Looking forward to the relationship!” That was word for word the email I received. The part that caught my eye was: “I developed our FBA services here where customers can purchase on our website and we can prep and ship their orders straight in to one or multiple fulfillment centers.” So instead of running into the Facebook group and telling everyone and their brother about this service, I decided to do what I do best: Test, test, test.

Since you are here reading this post, odds are you are a hustler. Like someone who is looking to take their lives into their own hands and looks for ways to make money in every way possible. Not to be confused with the men’s magazine Hustler. There is a problem with us hustlers. We don’t know how to stop the hustle.

Part of my plan for 2016 is to outsource the majority of my daily operations and focus my time on revenue generating operations. One of my major tasks I have started to outsource has been prepping and shipping of my online purchases.  Dustin Buchanan is the owner of Simple Price Prep and is the man I turn to with all of my packing and prepping needs. In this podcast, I ask some of the common questions that most sellers have about using a service like Dustin's. More information about Simple Price Prep can be found here: http://simplepriceprep.com/

FreeeUp is an American based Internet company founded on the principle of wanting to provide a better solution to outsourcing for small business owners around the world. After working with over 200 international freelancers through various international agencies and online working communities, FreeeUp’s founders made the decision that there must be a better way to complement businesses with virtual assistants than what was being offered. The duo had gone through years of successes and failures with outsourcing and wanted to create a solution that was a success 100% of the time. Hence, FreeeUp was born. The company continues to bolster its network of professional freelancers and has its eyes set on placing thousands of workers in small businesses around the world by the end of 2017.

A little about Ryan Grant: I am 25 years old and from a small town in southeastern Minnesota.  I went to college at Winona State University where I graduated in December 2011 with a double major in Accounting and Business Administration and a minor in Management.  I obtained a job in the accounting field working in downtown Minneapolis right out of college.  I worked at this position for a little over a year and a half before I decided that it was time to create my own future and decided to step away from my job. My last day at work was September 20th, 2013.  Quitting my job is allowing me to work on my entrepreneurial pursuits full time.  Some of which are related to buying and selling online which is what I will be writing about on this blog. I have been selling online in some capacity since I was 18, and have gained a level of experience where I feel confident that I can make a decent income without a “normal” job.  I began slowly selling on ebay and amazon and have over the years learned a great deal about what works and what doesn’t.  I will be sharing some of my experiences here. Although this blog will share many financial aspects of the selling online business, there are many other factors that contributed to me wanting to do this full time.  The first of which is freedom.  I now run my own schedule and don’t have to be at work for as many hours as my employer says, and be limited to a few weeks of vacation per year.  This is one of the biggest benefits.  I control my own time, and don’t have anyone telling me when and if I can do certain things.  This is a double edged sword of course, because if I put in no effort then I will not make any money and then I will likely have to go back to a job.  This fact keeps me motivated to working hard for myself. In my free time I enjoy spending time with family and friends, playing sports, being outdoors, and living life.  If you want to know more just ask! Also, here’s a link to my LinkedIn profile if you would like to connect: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-grant/32/82/653. Or feel free to send me an email at grant.ryanj@gmail.com

Our youngest fan Jack joins me for a quick interview. Cuteness overload.

Chris Potter, the mind behind the Grow Your Online Business community of Facebook, joins me for a wonderful tale of success, failures, and a lot of other great topics. This is one episode you don't want to miss. 

I am the first to admit that I am someone that focuses on FBA in the areas of retails arbitrage and online arbitrage. My guest in this podcast is a master at thrifting and sourcing items that I would never even scan. Jim takes a few minutes to explain his methods to make money from things like garage sales and storage lockers. 

What happens if you want to start selling items online, but you live in a state such as Alaska? This is the exact question I had when I started talking with Tyler Nelson. This podcast covers the struggles he faces as an online seller and also dives into his hidden gem for sourcing - eBay.  

It's coming, but how should you start preparing for the busiest time of the year for an online seller? Q4 is the time that every seller dreams about and looks forward to each year. This podcast walks you through the steps you need to take to prepare for this holiday season and set yourself up for success. 

When it comes to selling online, there are just some people who seem to provide a great amount of insight into the process and the steps to get to that point. Mike Garner, professional poker player, join me in this episode to talk about life as an online seller and the lessons learned along the way. 

Every great business needs a plan that guides it towards success. In this episode of the Online Selling Podcast, Chris walks you through the questions you need to ask yourself about your new online selling venture. He walks through 9 questions every Amazon Seller (MF or FBA) should ask themselves at the start of the year. He then goes through his business model as an example of what you should have for your own business.

Earlier this year, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made the comment "R-E-L-A-X" to some local press after a rough start to the season. At a time where it is extremely stressful for online sellers, I want to stress the same message. R-E-L-A-X - Everything is going to be ok. Through the discussions I have had with members of my online communities, I realize that the majority of them have the knowledge to start selling online. The real issue comes that they don't trust themselves to actually do it. I urge you to RELAX and trust yourself as we enter the new year. I hope we can make it the most successful year to date!   

The first store that I purchased products from when I started selling items online was Walgreens. I have since grown my love for the store and my it a regular visit during my sourcing trips. I wanted to walk through the store and let you know what catches my eye and what I am looking for during my trips to Walgreens.  I literally take you from the time you enter the store until I leave with a cart full of goods. I tell you about the signs I look for when sourcing and also how I use Balance Rewards to make a little extra money on my purchases.  

During my time as an online seller, I have made my fair share of mistakes. Most people won't admit that mistakes were made, but I embrace them and try to learn a lesson from each mistake I make.  In this episode, you will hear about a handful of mistake that have been made over the past few month and the lessons you can learn from each of them.  Like always, please feel free to visit www.fbamaster.com for more information about online selling.

If you have been selling on Amazon for any amount of time, you have heard the term "gated." Most people see this as a hurdle for their business and others see it as a way Amazon is trying to hurt their business. I look at it a bit differently. This podcast covers the reasoning behind the gating of certain categories and also explores the reasons you might want to apply to be ungated. I also walk through the ungating process with 3 different case studies to show you what I have learned about the way Amazon operates in regards to their approval process.  I highly encourage anyone who listens to this podcast to take some time and read through all of the rules on Amazon Seller Central and also some time to consider if expanding into additional catagories is right for your business model. Like always: If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to send me an email, reach me on Facebook, or leave a comment on the blog at www.fbamaster.com.

If you are new to online selling, you obviously want to make as much money as possible. You are willing to go to the extremes to find new items to sell and places to source. You dream of being able to leave your day job and travel the world and paying for it by sellling items online. Though this sounds like the perfect plan, there is a lot of hardwork that must go into building an online business. Instead of jumping to the level of the professionals, this episode walks you through the stages that you most likely will go through during your online selling career. It is possible to start off in wholesale, but it is much more likely for you to start by sourcing at a local thrift store or by selling items laying around your house. I walk you through the seven stages of online selling and what you should expect at each step.  

Welcome to the Online Selling Podcast with Chris Wilkey! This is the first of many episodes that will help teach you to sell products online through different e-commerece platforms such as Amazon and eBay. In this episode, Chris gives information about his background, how the show will be laid out, and what to look for in upcoming episodes.  Chris got his start by buying and selling textbooks during his time in college and has grown his business to include over $100,000 worth of sales during his first year. His goal is to teach others how to do the same thing. Learn more about Chris and the Online Selling podcast at www.fbamaster.com