John Muscarello is a reseller who quit his 9 to 5 job by reselling on Amazon. He started by flipping furniture, moved on to selling books, and now sells various items on Amazon. Today we’re talking to John about how he got started selling on Amazon.
How Did You Get Started Reselling?
John says he first started reselling while doing marketing copywriting. He had moved to Pennsylvania for a job, and they said if he did well in three months, they’d give him a bonus. And they did, but then at the end of the year, everyone was getting bonuses, and they said they already gave him one. That’s the moment he realized he needed to be in control of how much money he could make.
He saw Gary Vee selling flipping garage sale items, so he started doing it too. Furniture was the first niche he dove into. He’d pick things up for free or cheap and flipped them for a couple of hundred dollars. In his first year, he made $25,000 in sales.
Then he went on vacation and couldn’t sell during that time, and he realized he needed to find something to make money while he was gone. He had watched a video about reselling books on Amazon, so he tried that path and found success.
One of the first books he scanned was selling on Amazon for $40, and on the back of the book, the price was $25. Two weeks later, it sold for $40. From there, he kept buying bulk books and working his way up. The business has morphed into online arbitrage. He buys inventory from Target, Walmart, and other stores and lists it as new on Amazon.
Do You Have Anyone Working For You?
John has two virtual assistants and works with a prep center that helps get items checked in quicker.
How Does The Fulfillment System Work Once You Find A Good Item To Buy?
When John buys an item at Walmart, it comes in, and he inspects it. If he purchased 12 of an item, he uses Inventory Labs software to list it on Amazon. It prints out a small label, and he places it on the item, boxes it up, and ships it to a warehouse. When someone buys it, Amazon ships it on his behalf to them.
Does This Work Because Of Convenience?
John says most people want their items as quickly as possible. So a lot of people buy things on Amazon for that reason. Plus, Amazon makes it easy to know what people need and suggests what they use regularly. It’s a convenience factor.
How Do You Deal With Returns?
John says returns can be challenging. When selling apparel, he had $6,000 to $7,000 of returns in one month, but it’s a big numbers game. He could use the software Inventory Labs to see what he sold and what got returned. That allowed him to determine what items were getting returned, and he decided not to rebuy them.
When a return comes in, he has his account set to allow Amazon to inspect it. They’ll put it back in inventory with a return fee if it’s good. They send it back to John to double-check if it’s not good. Sometimes he sends it back if it’s okay; if it’s damaged, he writes it off at the end of the year.
When You Start, Are You Only Allowed To Sell In Certain Categories?
John says that’s typically how it works. Now everyone knows how to get ungated access. Normally when you first start selling on Amazon, Amazon wants to know you’re going to do a good job before they let you sell popular items like Nike.
Are You Physically Sourcing Your Inventory?
John mostly sources his inventory online. If there are limits, like Target only lets you buy two Legos online, he will pick up all the ones on the store’s shelves.
What Numbers Do You Look At?
Profit versus return is an important number to consider. John uses Inventory Labs to track inventory and determine what is worth purchasing again. It’s essential to make sure you are making money and not just buying. It’s a balance because you need to buy enough to make money.
What Is An Average Month Of Revenue For You?
John has been in growth mode, so it’s surpassed $100K in the last 30 days. It was probably $20K a month with books when he was doing books. Once they stopped books and did online arbitrage, it went from $40K to $50K to $70K. An average is $50K. The last few months have been high because of great Black Friday deals.
What Percentage Are You Expecting To Be Profit?
The profit can range. Last month it was 15%; this month 20%. An average profit is between 10-15%, and most sellers are probably around 12%.
Are You Doing This Full-Time?
John has been a full-time Amazon reseller for three years now. He started with books and then went to online arbitrage last year.
Do You Have A Bad Buy You Can Think Of?
John says he’s had some bad buys but none that stand out. He’s occasionally sent something in as a two-pack but only put one because he missed it.
What Advice Do You Have For Someone Interested In Starting With Amazon?
John says just get started. He says many times, people will buy the equipment for shipping and watch videos of how to do it, but then they don’t invest in inventory to get started. Just do the steps and learn as you go.
Show Notes
Side Hustle Experiment: https://sidehustleexperiment.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidehustleexperiment/
Side Hustle Experiment YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SideHustleExperiment
Appliance Flipping Course: http://applianceflipping.com/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleamrktflipper/
Check out our FREE Workshop: https://courses.fleamarketflipper.com/flipper-university-workshop-webinar
You can find us at: https://fleamarketflipper.com/
FURTHER RESOURCES
Let Us Find High Profit Items FOR You!
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
Download These 47 Household Items To Resell TODAY!
RELATED EPISODES
The Best Time To Source Is Now
Comparing 2 Recent Flips: High Value Vs. Low Value
Reselling Video Games & More – Interview W/Will Crawford From Reseller Madness
