3:21 a.m. and Amazon FBA – How technology is transformational

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” 
― Winston S. Churchill

Well, well, well. It's 3:21 a.m. and I sit in my magical beanbag chair typing these words. My 5:00 a.m. Fitbit alarm went off.

I got up, made coffee, I am now drinking said coffee when I noticed that my laptop shows 5:21 a.m.

My laptop is set to Indiana time and I’m sitting in Colorado. Upon checking my phone, I see it’s actually 3 a.m., not 5 a.m. Lesson learned, sync the Fitbit when landing in Colorado or get up at 3:00 a.m.

Oh well, I’ve got work to do. It looks like a midday nap is in my future.

So I learned about something new yesterday. 

It’s called FBA or Fulfillment by Amazon. I was riding in an Uber from our Indianapolis home and along the way, I started talking to my driver.

A young man named Zakk, well-spoken and entrepreneurial. I asked if Uber was his only gig; he said he had a few. 

He didn’t prescribe to the “get a job” mentality, and he was using technology to “make a job” to carve out a nice existence for his family.

He was an Uber driver, but also an FBA. Here is what Zakk told me about it:

Zakk and his wife started an Amazon FBA business. They got online, set it up and now are FBA sellers. 

They spend a little time each week going from store to store scanning clearance items using the new Amazon Seller app. 

The app tells them the actual value of the items they’re selling on Amazon.

If you download the app, next time you are shopping, you can check the price of any item you find with what it sells for on Amazon. Never overpay for an item again. 

If the store price is too high, buy it from your phone and save the money. Only when you need an item this second should you pay more than the Amazon listed price.

Zakk explained the night prior he bought a tent from Menards for $10.00. It was a clearance tent, but when he scanned it on the Amazon app, it showed $80.00. So, he bought the tent for $10.00. 

He then shiped said tent with a lot of other items he had bought to Amazon. According to Zakk, all fees, shipping and costs are taken from his FBA account. So in his mind, it’s free. 

Amazon catalogs his items and puts them up for sale. When someone buys the tent for $80.00 (and they will), he gets paid.

Zakk thought he would get about $60.00 net on that tent. With high margin items, you don’t have to spend too much time to make an extra $500.00 to $1,000.00 a week.

One of my mantras is don’t get a job, make a job. With new ideas like fulfillment by Amazon, there are jobs that can be created that can keep the next generation out of a cubicle and out in nature, the nature of the big box stores that have things on clearance.

I’m sure the stores will soon wise up. Stores will eventually no longer put things on clearance. They will simply ship everything to Amazon and have Amazon get them full price for their outdated merchandise.

I did research Amazon FBA. I’ve included a couple of links if you would like to learn more. 

I think this is a year of two opportunities. But when the retail giants figure this out, there be better opportunities that allow one to replace this flow of money with something that will be created with a new technology.

The world is moving faster than many realize. There are opportunities for every man, woman and child.

If you are an owner of a business, have one of your people research FBA and start selling your out-of-stock merchandise using the online retail giant. 

If you are bored or looking for another stream of income, set up an Amazon FBA business. If you are retired and looking for something to do, set up an Amazon FBA account. If you are in college and looking for some extra money, set up an FBA business today.

There is money to be made with a little bit of motivation, a laptop and a cell phone. Quit complaining about your lot in life and get busy.