Up Fuel I can’t believe it’s been a full half a year that I’ve been selling on Amazon because I feel like I’ve spent hardly any time on this business and yet it continues to do well. December was a holiday month so the only question is was I able to beat my last month sales?
Missed the other updates? Read these first:
Month #1, Month #2, Month #3, Month #4, Month #5
Table Of Contents
January 2015 Report:
[yellowbox]BONUS: Click here to access your free video training on how to create a 6 figure plus Amazon FBA business in your spare time.
This step by step guide is the exact formula I’ve used to create my Amazon business[/yellowbox]
I ended the month with total sales of $26,527.41:
To be completely transparent and for verification purposes I also like to film a quick video walk through of my numbers as well:
I had around 40 percent profit margins on that number (after inventory costs, FBA fees, Amazon ad spend etc). So $10k+ in profit roughly.
Amazon also messed up and lost some of my inventory and so that contributed another $2k profit on top of the $10k (but if they find the items they will give them back and I’ll have to give back the $2k).
Why no exact number? Inventory purchases month to month can skew numbers e.g. 30% down payment one month and 70% the next month.
Five figure profit month? Sure I’ll take it
Ongoing Monthly Amazon Charts:
My first sale came on July 28th. To keep it simple I removed July from the chart.
Common Question: How do I actually make money selling physical products on Amazon?
The short answer is that I created my own brand of products to sell on Amazon. I recorded a podcast which provides a great overview of the business model and how it works which you can listen to here. But I got started because podcast 17 guest Brian told me about this business model and how he learned how to do it. I went through the same course he learned from and then took action with the information.
Want To Learn How To Do This?
I run a mastermind group with a friend where we teach others how to build Amazon businesses (Brian from Podcast 17). In fact, on February 4th we just got done with our very first live event. I had a blast presenting and teaching folks how to build their Amazon businesses:
I’m getting ready to say something funny
Our coaching group is currently closed but we’ll open the group again on April 22nd, 2015. This will be your last chance to join the group before the group closes down again for an unforeseen period of time.
Waiting list to work with us is here.
More $5k Club Members
We have several more entrants to the $5k per month club. These three are just the most recent ones I took screenshots of. They all came from our last mastermind group (which opened in late October). Names blacked out for obvious reasons.
*AzonLaunch is our private to coaching members only launching platform that helps a product get initial sales, reviews and can help kick start organic natural sales.
There were actually several more that surpassed $5k in sales that I spoke with, had lunch / dinner etc with in Vegas last week but they just haven’t posted stats yet. It’s so fun being a part of their success even if it’s a small part.
Analysis Of January Results
Double digit growth numbers again over December stats. Breaking the $25k mark puts me closer to my 2015 goal. January also marked my first five figure profit month.
January was a very busy month with the launch of EasyAzon v4 as well.
My objectives for January from last month were:
Objective 1: Create listing for new product
I didn’t do this, but I will in February. Moving forward I won’t be sharing the exact total number of products I have though.
Objective 2: Try something to market my product(s) besides relying on Amazon (round 2)
Hah, this has been on my list for over 90 days. I’m still just getting traffic from Amazon to drive my sales. February is a busy month for the other 3 businesses I’m involved in but I may get to this.
My Long Term 2015 Goal:
I’m confident that before the end of 2015 I’ll have at least one $100,000 month in sales. I’d like to hit the $100k mark before November though since the holidays is sort of cheating with people buying anything and everything.
For the first month of the year I’m already off to a good start at 25% of my goal. I will keep executing on my long term growth plans and have a ton of fun doing it too.
Need help finding a product or market to target on Amazon?
We’ve already created tools to help you find the right product to sell.
Check out a preview and join the wait list here.
If you have any questions, comments or feedback I’d love to hear them.
[yellowbox]BONUS: Click here to access your free video training on how to create a 6 figure plus Amazon FBA business in your spare time.
This step by step guide is the exact formula I’ve used to create my Amazon business[/yellowbox]
Nice job Chris! Incredible results! Question is, what’s your products Best Sellers Rank in main category? I’m not asking for a specific number but maybe range 1-1000?
Keep up the good work!
I don’t share the range or category. We are building a tool that will help you estimate sales volume by category and will be offering it for our bonus members.
Awesome update.
I’m still waiting on two more samples before I decide on a supplier but I look at your results (and the results of others) and it lights such a huge fire under me. What’s funny is that i told my husband some months back that I wanted to one day make $100,000/month (I swear I have that number written on our vision board). At the time I just had no idea how I was going to make that happen. But here you are with the exact same income goal, making me that much more excited for your success – AND MINE!
I’m sooo glad to be learning the ropes from those who are already doing it. I’ll even give you an update of my own once I start making sales ๐
Awesome – yah I mean my target of $100k per month would put it at a 7 figure business mark (if the sales stayed the same) but of course the goal would be to grow beyond that. Additionally, $100k would just be revenue but that’d still be a very solid mid range 6 figure per year profit not to mention the value of the asset itself.
This was nice for early 2015. Hope that you will exceed your goal – $100K with the Amazon in this year. Keep your good work!
Thanks – I’m pushing for it! ๐
Hey man,
Great post as per usual regarding your Amazon business. You are an awesome inspiration to me. I’ve been following your Amazon journey for a while now and I think the way you’re growing, you will definitely hit the 100K mark soon.
Quick question – I’m ready to join ASM 5 when it opens and I’ve also just signed up for your private mastermind waiting list. You mention that it opens on 22nd April which is really exciting. Is this also the date that ASM 5 launch?
Thanks.
Hey Yaasin,
Thanks – yah I’m pushing for it.
RE: ASM 5 – Yes last I heard the doors open on April 22nd. So that’d be the first day that you can join.
Look forward to having you. This will be our 3rd time opening and each time we solve ever more pain points with starting this type of business.
Chris
Cheers mate.
๐
Wow, that is awesome Chris. Even with a 40% profit margin that’s still some great earnings. I’ve been researching the Amazon FBA stuff lately and I’ve been considering the idea of jumping in and giving it a shot. Thanks for all the inspiring updates.
Awesome Chris. We’ll have our group opening in April if you’d like more hands on help – the group has been a ton of fun to help run (but dang it’s a lot of work hah hah).
Amazing how you have grown this so quickly man. From $0 to over $26k in turnover in only 6 months – and that with spending a very limited time on it. Do you see this carrying on for the remainder of the year or is this a seasonal product that does better in the winter months?
I wish I could attend the session in April but unfortunately I’ll be getting married at that time so won’t be able to join. You mention that there isn’t another one planned for the time being. Are there any other recommendations that you have to get started on this and to get it right? I have been linking with Chinese suppliers and have a product that I’m happy with now, but I could use a little help on the launch of it.
Hey Tom,
It’s not seasonal so it should continue to do well and yes this is only one of four businesses that I own or have a stake in so it represents a smaller share of earnings / attention at this time but I am slowly spending more time (too much potential).
Quite frankly, the reason why I run the group is because it’s very easy to waste thousands of dollars if you have no idea what you’re doing in this business model. So my recommendation? Join our group hah.
There is a ton of stuff we do to help our new sellers that we’ll never share outside of the group – because it’s so effective and we don’t want strategies we’ve learned to be used by others.
I’m not sure when we’ll open the group after the April 22nd one, as it is right now that’s the only way to make sure you get in but I would like to open it again sometime in the future just not sure.
Chris
Really looking forward to joining the group when it reopens. With summer break from graduate school should be a perfect time to get most of it in place to make in manageable when school starts again in the fall.
Boo yah. It’s been a ton of fun helping folks in our group and every time people post a sales screenshot I love it.
Congrats Chris on your success and on your January results. Great “Boo-Yow” moment towards the naysayer. Love it. I am looking forward to becoming a member of the mastermind group once it opens in April.
Hey Damon,
Thanks for the encouragement – now I will say that you’re a little off on your Boo Yah’s though so correct those and you’re on the right path hah.
See you in April,
Chris
Well done Chris. Got your Amazon software last month and very happy with it. Also got my first product samples so hope to follow in your footsteps. Looking forward to the mastermind…good luck for 2015!
Boo yah
Chris,
Great post. Have been following the progress for few months now. It’s really great to see. Quick question if you don’t mind answering:
You mention your margins are about 40%. Is this what you had projected when you started? Or did you think this product would return 50-60% but some unknown expenses popped up or the average sales price was lower than planned?
I’m eager to participate in the next mastermind, but am too impatient to wait to get started! I’ve been looking at products, talking with manufacturers and modeling out what I think the costs will be (manufacture, ship/freight, Amazon FBA, Amazon referral). I’m sure there are unknowns that I’m not aware of so don’t know if I should move forward with a product that appears to give me a 40% return or if I should wait until I find something with 50-60% margins, knowing there will be additional costs that pop up along the way.
I would love your perspective.
Thx
Brent
Hey Brent,
Hah you sound like Clif (member in our group from the last batch). He got started a little early researching niches etc before joining our group and I know he just posted his $5k badge. He has massive goals (even beyond mine) hah hah. One of the nights in Vegas I told him that perhaps I need to be going bigger than I am trying to now.
Back to your question: I knew that I’d be somewhere between 40 – 50 percent and that even if that dropped to 20 or 30 percent it wouldn’t matter because I’d still be making money with a relatively hands off business. After playing with price I found I’d make more selling more units with a slightly lower price than if I kept it where it was (not to mention the benefit of pushing more volume = more reviews and more seller feedback).
So it wasn’t any cost just that I noticed after playing with price I found I could make more money selling more units – fine with me.
Chris
Thanks Chris. That’s great feedback. And your right – if you think its 40-50% and it comes back at 20-30%, big deal? Its still 20-30% more than you had before you took action and pulled the trigger.
Yah I mean ultimately as long as I’m making at least some money it’s worth it because more seller feedback for example will help other products I launch. If I were only making 10% but had product 2 and 3 doing 40% who cares.
Congrats Chris, looks like 2015 will be a bumper year for you! Appreciate you posting your journey, a real eye-opener.
A few questions if that’s ok.
1. The obvious question is how saturated is this model with all the ASM graduates getting into it?
2. Is there much market consolidation with big brands buying their way in?
3. Can I get your Amazon tools/suite today? Would love to test the water.
2. Is your mastermind an affiliate bonus or is there a payment?
3. I think ASM is 3k, where is the value if you already have a good knowledge of marketing tactics? Sourcing a product shouldn’t be that hard.
Thanks!
Ciaran
Hey Ciaran,
Thanks
1 / 2. Are there more people than 2 years ago? More people than 1 year ago? Sure. But I still think we’re in gold rush era mode. I believe it will be a few years from now before we look back and say “remember when with only 500 units you could start small and build up a huge business and now it takes a much much larger investment to break in?”
I’ve lived through cycles before like with Google trends etc and quite frankly I didn’t take enough advantage in hindsight so I’m going to build it big while it’s easier. I believe this will still be doable for the next few years and if we shut the mastermind for good is when it’s over but I still think that’s a way out. I wouldn’t run this mastermind if it weren’t still doable.
3. Yes – check your email
4. Mastermind is an affiliate bonus
5. Yes it’s $3,500 or 4 x $997.
There is a lot more to Amazon than what I’ve briefly covered on my blog. There are things that work exceptionally well that I’d never share publicly because I keep using them (along with our group). It takes fairly minor success to earn your investment back and ultimately just comes back to the fact that if you’re out on your own as an individual trying things and failing you’re going to waste a lot more time than if you have a massive community you can get value from.
Beyond our community there is also the larger ASM group where everything worth asking has been asked and been answered really well.
The longer we run the group the less I have to convince people of it’s value. We more than doubled our numbers last time and we’ll more than double them again this time.
When you join the Facebook group you’ll see near universal satisfaction. I’m not doing your work for you, but if you put in the effort we can guide you along the best path.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the detailed answers and the link. Definitely given me something to think through.
All the best
Ciaran
Yep – and when we get closer to the course opening we’ll cover a whole lot more of what we’ll be doing for our bonuses etc.
Since this is our third time doing it we have a considerable number of success stories and quite frankly I’m even more confident of our value this time around then in previous times.
Enjoy your weekend,
Chris
Ciaran,
I had a lot of the same questions before I joined ASM4. If you put the work in, it is tough to fail at this.
I don’t think the market is saturated at all. Amazon is growing much faster than ASM or any other private label program.
I also felt the 4k was a steep price when I signed up. I think you can learn how to sell on amazon on your own, but it would probably take longer and cost you more. The wealth of knowledge indexed in out mastermind and the main ASM group is worth the 4k by itself. Then you have the people in the group. I’ve never been around such a large group of extremely successful people that are all willing to share their knowledge and experience to help you be successful.
I can’t speak for others, but I have no regrets. My wife and I were able to match our monthly income in our first month selling on amazon, not to mention covering the cost of ASM. This has been life changing for us. Now I’m just trying to catch Chris!
Boo yah Zach!
Hi Zach/Chris,
Thank you both for your comments.
Zach, well done on your success hope you catch Chris in 2015 :). Really appreciate you providing your experience of ASM, sounds like you made a wise investment.
Ciaran
Yep – hope you join us in this next group. Quite frankly if I calculate out all the hours that I spend in the group sure I’m making money but I’m 100% positive that my Amazon business would be much larger if I were quietly building it.
So that begs the question “Why do it then?”
For the same reason I do the blog. I love it. It’s fun to help those that want to be helped and the more I help others in our group the more I learn to apply in my own business.
In any case it’s been a lot of fun so far.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Yep thought this through and will be joining you in next group – looking forward to it.
I picked up your Amasuite tools and training (nicely packaged by the way) and have a question.
Do I have enough info from the training to get started now or should I wait till Apr 22nd?
Regards
Ciaran
Main thing would be to start thinking about products. We’re so close to the group starting but if you wanted to start going with a product it wouldn’t be so bad to get some samples at least perhaps.
Good place to start, thanks.
Chris I can’t wait to join. I’m ready to contact some suppliers and get samples. I hope to have a product on Amazon by end of the month. You have inspired me to get going. I can see where the mastermind cluster of info would really be helpful. Wish it was opening sooner, Ted
Awesome
Chris, I started my Amazon FBA business after I red your interview on “Niche Persuit” It almost 8 days my products are up but got no sell , can you help me? bcz i already invested around $600 in the business and i Think i will loose those.
Thanks
Sachin
I only do Amazon consulting via our mastermind at this point, but check previous posts and podcasts I’ve done as they highlight a lot of the strategies I’ve recommended.
[…] his latest income report, which you can read here, he shares that he๏ฟฝsold $26,527.21 in product in the month of […]
H chris,
question when you say that you only right now get your traffic from amazon is that with paid ads?? and if so is your profit excluding the money spent on these ads??
thank you
Yes and yes
Is there a place to learn how to make an ad with amazon?
Thank you
It’s very straight forward. You just go into your advertising tab and set up an ad. You can do manual or automatic targeting.
Hi again Chris!
Looks like I am very likely taking the course starting in April, my wife and I are both very eager!
Since I’ve (unfortunately) been through a couple “online marketing” courses that have had upsells, I am wondering if there are any in ASM, and if so, what they are and how much. ๐
In no way is an upsell going to keep me from taking the course as is, but information is helpful, and will keep my budget in line!
And reading the comments, second quick question: The conference is in Vegas? Thought I read somewhere that it was in Texas… Don’t know why. Any knowledge on when the dates are? Or close to the dates?
Thanks!
-Matthew
There is no upsell with ASM. We give a plethora of bonuses when people join via our link (to the point that quite frankly we could even just sell our bonuses for a substantial sum of money) but I believe access to the ASM community is a huge advantage.
The past two conferences have been in Vegas. They ran out of space in Austin TX (which is where it was last time). I don’t know if there is a live event planned for this one or not yet.
I do know the course opens April 22nd though.
Chris
Damn, I have been waiting for ur azonmasters for really long time, Chris please let me in !
April 22nd is when it will open ๐
With you now having experience working with Alibaba. Do you have any plans to start doing affiliate marketing for AliExpress? If not, do have any plans of releasing software similar to EasyAzon for AliExpress marketing? I would be the first one to BUY if this is something you created.
What do you mean? You want an affiliate plugin for AliExpress instead of Amazon.com?
hi mate.
How many reviews do you have on your product?
Thanks
I don’t share specific number of reviews – ultimately the advice is the same. The more the better.
[…] My solution is always to just start taking action.๏ฟฝ I did this recently because I’ve been interested in the Amazon FBA business after hearing about Chris Guthrie’s success. […]
I’ve tried for years…literally years….to make money as an Amazon Affiliate. Nothing works. I’ve bought various Amazon tools still nothing works. So I’ve started your 10 day course, and I’m curious to know how you do it. I’m really skeptical!!
Well it can be done or there wouldn’t be so many bloggers like me talking about stuff they’re doing online to make money. Ultimately if you approach it like you would a business and focus on the activities that can help you generate revenue (and if you don’t know these – figuring out what they are) then you’re several steps ahead of where most people are.
Unfortunately, just because you’ve tried your hand at something unsuccessfully that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. There are too many people (myself included) that have seen their Amazon businesses take off. So, instead of being a skeptic you could take each failure as an excuse to try harder. I tried to earn my first dollar online at least 37 different ways for 6 straight years – and none of them worked, until I started following the specific steps of those who were already doing what I was so desperately trying to do myself.
Selling on Amazon is my latest business venture and it’s working. Not because I want it so bad I can taste it. Not because I’ve spent “x” amount of dollars in record time. And its not working just because I NEED it to work. My Amazon buziness is working because I stopped reading vague blogs and general advice about online busineses and started following the step by step advice of those doing (and making) exactly what i want to do (and earn). Maybe you’ve been trying things out on your own grit for too long. Maybe you’re really only skeptical in yourself.
Hi Nita,
..no I’m not skeptical in myself, I’m sure of that. I try harder and harder each round. Send me your site name that’s making all the money. I’d love to see what the differences are between a money making site or sites and mine. Thanks for the pep talk!! D
Like I said in my original comment, selling on Amazon is my latest business venture. So the website I would lead you to is Amazon.com.
Any websites that I own will never be shared with an audience like this because people like to copy things until they stop working or even sabotage a sites rankings with negative SEO. I’ve seen this happen too many times to be that dumb again. If you’re trying to start off with websites I’d strongly suggest reading NichePursuits.com. The case studies this guy does should really come with a membership fee.
Ok. Let me explain to you and the world why I believe no one wants to reveal their successful Amazon affiliate site–because these sites don’t exist. More money is made off tools, ebooks, marketing campaigns, etc for creating a site, than the site itself. I’ve bought hundreds of dollars in tools that say “I made 10000 in one month” and other bogus claims. Spent a lot of time lost a lot of sleep using the tools, nothing works. But the vendor who sold the product made his/her profit. So here’s the plan: I bought a domain name, and I’m working on the site, that is going to scrutinize these products. Sort of a review site for this type of item. The reluctance to reveal these “money making” sites is just more proof that it’s all looking like a big scam. Prove me wrong….
Hey Donna, well the post you’re commenting under is in relation to my Amazon physical products business. I don’t reveal the products I’m selling because I’m not an idiot, but I do log into my Seller Central account and film a video to show people that I am selling on Amazon / show the successes or failures of the month.
If you’re referring to Amazon affiliate stuff well I sold this site for six figures.
Is that enough? ๐
Obviously I make money from software that I sell, but developers don’t work for free. Sure there are some people that will buy it and do nothing with it but there are others that will use it to great success.