Amazon FBA For Beginners: Should You Skip Online Arbitrage And Go Straight to Wholesale?

Is it possible to start straight away in wholesale instead of online arbitrage and retail arbitrage on Amazon FBA? That is what this blog post is going to answer today. 

Kev got a great question asked on one of his YouTube videos from Midger 55, and it said this, "Great video mate, I've been learning about FBA and OA/RA and wholesale the last months. Was just wondering if it's possible to start straight into wholesale instead of starting up with OA/RA?"

That is a great question and I am going to answer that question here for you here today, because you may right now be thinking that you want to start your Amazon FBA business, and this is something which resonates with you, which you could start as a side-hustle - as a part-time thing. Maybe you want to get out of your career or build a business in eCommerce. 

Surface level answer straight away is YES, yes it is possible to get started in wholesale instead of online arbitrage or retail arbitrage. You can start whatever business model that you wish on Amazon, and you don't have to go through and unlock different business models. You don't have to start for example retail arbitrage and once you have got started, then it unlocks and allows you to start online arbitrage, then once you have got started and built up, then it allows you to unlock and go into wholesale. That is not how it works.You can go into whatever business model which you choose to go into straight away. That is the surface level, and obviously there is more of a conversation to be have here. The necessity of this deeper conversation comes from ultimately what you want, what your goals are, why you are here, and what your desires are.

Different business models all have different pros and cons, and your ways of working and your everyday life is going to be different - the actions that you take will be different based on the business model which you take.

First and foremost, yes it is possible. It is also important to know that there are different business models, it is also then necessary to know the differences of the business models, then once you know the differences of the business models, to know the pros and cons to the business models. Then ultimately, the line of work which attracts the most. 

There are different business models on Amazon:

Retail Arbitrage 

This is you physically walking into stores, any supermarket or store around your town. You leave your house, get into your car, drive to the shopping centre, and you go into the store, get your phone out and scan products. Scanning products to see whether they match a criteria for you that you are going to be able to sell them profitably on Amazon. That is retail arbitrage.

Online Arbitrage

Online arbitrage is instead of you going into your car and driving physically to the store, you are going to open up your laptop or go on your phone instead, and you are going to go to their website, and go through their pages instead. So instead of going through isles and scanning, online arbitrage is going through pages of products instead. 

Depending on what attracts you the most and your line of work - what you want to get interested in and passionate about, that obviously changes. 

Wholesale

Wholesale is now instead of you working with retailers, going into their stores or onto their websites, you are now working with suppliers and distributors. You are working with wholesalers. You might be going to trade shows, onto their websites, virtual trade shows, you are talking to suppliers, they are coming to your place of work to talk to you about brochures. 

Knowing the differences between the 3 is very important. 

 Then, it is also important to do one more step which is to know the supply chain as a whole. If you think of what the supply chain is, it is from the manufacturer of goods, the supply chain takes all the way through to the consumer, to peoples' homes. And throughout that supply train, you have got different levels, layers or phases of what that product makes. So, it goes from manufacturing to consuming, but in between, you have got from a customer or consumer, usually they would go to a retailer, and they would go to their local supermarket.

Ungate Your Account

As you start your account, and you start on Amazon, Amazon has got a wide catalogue, and there are going to be some products which you won't be able to sell. Over the years, Amazon has put in what they call a gating process, and that is restrictions on what you can and can't sell for protection purposes. The reason why this is important is because as you get started, you are going to have to ungate yourself depending on what it is that you are selling. Amazon go through this gating process by requesting approved documentation from your suppliers to prove who it is that you are purchasing from. 

So, Can You Skip Online Arbitrage and Go Straight To Wholesale?

Yes it is possible to just start directly with wholesale; Yes it is possible that you can open up accounts; Yes it is possible if you can meet that criteria to either getting shipped directly to your home, whether they will or not. A part of Kev's business, he helps sellers and partners via what he calls a prep service. This can help you to just get straight into wholesale, and you can just directly get your products shipped to Kev's business, where he has got a warehouse, and supports all his partners when it comes to resources and training. 

If you are interested in this, check out his website here: https://www.systemisefulfilment.co.uk/

Further reading:

https://www.systemisefulfilment.co.uk/blog/how-to-10x-your-business-with-virtual-assistants

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