How Silvia Started with $1,000 and made $436,000 in 3 Years of Selling on Amazon

Selling on Amazon as a beginner can be difficult. That is why looking at other sellers' experience may help learn what to do (and what not to do) to build your own profitable business.

In this article Silvia, a seller from Mexico was kind enough to tell us what she did to start making money on Amazon and where it got her so far.

How I got the idea to start selling on Amazon

Before selling on Amazon I worked as a consultant for different brands. I’ve always been passionate about sales, and in recent years I dedicated myself to forming groups of salespeople to train others and demonstrate the products we sold.

Along with a career in sales, I was also a yoga instructor and I cleaned houses. But even with all these jobs I still lived day by day.

Then three years ago I went to a conference on how to sell products on Amazon, and it pushed me to pursue this new business opportunity.

My strategy for selling on Amazon

I began selling in July of 2018. I encountered some difficulties straight away, since I’m not great with computers and English isn’t my first language.

I started my business with just $1,000 and have used credit cards to fund most of my inventory and equipment. In the beginning I just had a few products, but then little by little I build my business. This strategy has worked well for me.

My other expenses included a laptop, a printer, ink, and labels for packaging.

My products were purchased directly from manufacturers and wholesalers and I fulfilled my orders with Fulfillment by Amazon. This has been profitable for me, however, I’m still working on better understanding my profits. I always have enough money to pay off the credit cards though, and then I still have profit left over, so that’s all that matters.

I haven’t had to promote my products much. I only use ads when I have excess inventory that I need to get rid of.

How I performed product research

Early on I learned that Amazon product research tools bring a lot of value and are essential to selecting profitable products.

When I was just getting started someone recommended AMZScout to me, and it’s been a huge asset. With their tools I’m able to determine how much my FBA fees will be, how many other sellers are in my niche, and how many sales an item gets every month.

As I mentioned before, one of my jobs was cleaning houses so I was very familiar with cleaning products. I decided to focus on this niche and looked for products that would make my job easier. Once I found some products I was even able to recommend them to my clients, which helped with sales early on.

AMZScout is still an important part of my business and I use it to continually find new products to add to my inventory. In addition to calculating my fees and estimating monthly sales, I’m also able to see sales trends over the last two years, which is super valuable.

Results and future plans

In my first year, I made $60,000. I followed that up with $220,000 in my second year and $156,000 in my third year.

My most successful items were weight loss products. I offered those in 2019 and they sold like hotcakes, leading to my best year ever. However, I no longer sell them and have moved on to other products.

I’m always on the lookout for the perfect product and continue to add new items to my inventory. I’d also like to be able to move more products, but I’m pretty satisfied with my progress so far.

I still run into some challenges, no business is perfect. Communication with Amazon isn’t always the best and they can sometimes complicate sales for sellers. But overall I’m very optimistic about the future of my business.

Advice for new sellers

I think the main key to success is to keep learning and never give up. Don’t get down on yourself if you run into problems. Push through and persevere. Your mistakes will bear fruit over time and if you stick with it you’ll eventually find success.