bitcoin4all on Nostr: I started selling another companies brand on Amazon. That worked until other sellers ...

I started selling another companies brand on Amazon. That worked until other sellers who had more seniority than me started selling that brand too and siphoned all the sales from the listings I had built. Then I launched my own brand selling a commodity product. I packed and labeled the bottles myself buying the raw materials in bulk. Problem was it was a commodity so even though I control the brand there’s a lot of competition from other brands. The only way to rise to the top was to pay Amazon for advertising which made selling the product unprofitable (I was paying to give it away for a while). Finally I decided to formulate my own specialty product for niche markets. Again, I source blend, fill, label and ship myself. Now I’m running into the problem that there is no brand awareness for my product and I’m back in the position of having to advertise heavily and hope it will work better in the future.

There are people who know the formula and can make Amazon work for them. I’m not one of them. Frankly the wholesale side of my business subsidizes the retail side and I’m not sure how long I’m going to fight the uphill battle. Every time I think I’ve cracked the code, Amazon changes the code.

The wholesale side of my business is pretty light. Just me and a laptop making decent money. The retail side is a monster that’s gotten away from me. I rent a warehouse, own a forklift and packing equipment and carry shitloads of inventory. As I write this I feel like I’m talking myself into hanging it up and focusing on my core business. Haha….we’ll see I guess.

If you do decide to do it I’m happy to offer pointers but you may want to seek out someone who has figured out what to do instead of just what not to do.