FBA Coaching
with Chris Green
CEO of FBAPower
Part 3:
Retailer Secrets & How
To Lower Your Costs
Already Gone Through PAC
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How do I sell on Amazon?
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What is FBA?
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How do I use FBA?
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What tools & programs do I use?
FBAPower & FBAScout Support
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Support: email info@fbapower.com
Watch the Videos
http://fbapower.com/home/fbapower-videos/
FBAPower support staff happy to help
Lowering Your Costs
&
Retailer Secrets
Where Did I Learn All This Stuff?
I worked for Bosch Power Tools for five years
Vendor for Home Depot and Lowe’s
Started as a Sales Rep, then Territory Manager,
then District Manager
Won Salesman Of The Year in 2006
Saw product cycles, seasonal cycles, clearance
items over and over again
Lowering Your Costs
Resellers don’t pay sales tax
Discounts, Coupons
Military, Senior, Student (if legit)
Rewards, Points, Credit Cards, Store Club
Special Buys, BOGO
CHOP SHOP
Rebates
Price Matches
Watch for Price Drops
Online tricks
How To Buy Tax Free
Comptroller’s Office (Google it)
Get a tax ID
Ask each store how they handle tax exempt
purchases
Require tax ID certificate
Setup an internal account
Fill out state provided paperwork
Learn your state’s rules and each store’s rules
When To Pay Tax
Some stores don’t do this very often
Can take a long time
If the tax savings are not worth the time, pay
and move on
You can request credit for sales tax later, but I
see it as better to not pay than to pay and
have to file to get it back
Implications of Not Paying Sales Tax
Items have to be for resale
You have to collect sales tax on items sold within your
state and remit to the government
Items sold across state lines are tax exempt
KEEP TRACK: even if you don’t collect sales tax on
Amazon sales within your state, you should still pay
the sales tax on those purchases to the state
Sound complex? It’s really pretty easy
Find a CPA to help
Discounts
Volume Discounts
Buy in bulk, get better rate
Direct Purchase Discounts
Special Order – never on sales floor
Active Items – limited number on shelf, but
store can order as many as they want to
Simply ask the manager
Coupons
Coupons can save you big bucks!
#1 Easy Coupon – Lowe’s 10% off
In USPS Mover’s Packet – just pick up at Post
Office and look inside
10% off entire purchase at Lowe’s
Accepted at Home Depot as well
Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s
Special Days
Military Discount – Lowe’s & Home Depot
Senior Citizen’s days – thrift stores
Student Discounts – computers
Rewards
Stores with Rewards Cards or Club Cards
Send you coupons in the mail or email
Points to redeem for cash or merchandise
Credit Cards points, miles, rebates
Home Depot Mastercard (no longer, booooo)
Special Buys/BOGO
Retailers will have ‘Special Buys’ that are in-andout special deals
Usually advertised – can be ‘loss leaders’
Once sold out, no more available
DeWalt radio with free 18 volt battery ($80)
BOGO – Buy One, Get One (free)
Grinder two-pack – split them up to sell online
CHOP SHOP
This is where we made a small fortune on eBay
Parts are worth more than the whole thing
Example: Power tool combo kits
We buy (with lowest cost using same strategies here)
and then break it into all pieces
Sell to people who just want one piece at a higher price
You can do this with any product that has multiple,
saleable pieces inside
Rebates
Mail in rebates
In-store instant rebates
Manufacturer rebates
Can be stacked, double-dipped, and exploited
Read the details: limit per household?
Email or call manufacturer to ask for exception
Ryobi deals example
Price Matches
Many stores will price match their competitors
Many stores will also BEAT their competitors on
a price match
So one store wants to take a loss on an item,
you then get another store to take the same
loss plus an additional discount (+coupon?)
Read your local flyers and learn each stores’
policies – make a notebook for each store
Price Drops
Most stores have a price drop guarantee
If a price drops within 30 days (or whatever the
store’s policy is) they will refund you the
difference
Keep your receipts!
Near the end of the price drop window, call to
verify prices. If lower, go get your refund!
Stack and Exploit
Try to stack rebates with in store discounts and
coupons
Tell the store personnel what you want to do –
they want to sell you a ton of stuff and will try
to make it happen
Keep it related to the numbers – at a certain
price, you’ll buy $XXXX. If not, then it’s not
profitable for you. Don’t get ‘sold’
Online Tricks
Google ‘coupon code’ + website
Google ‘discount’ + website
Just ask! Ask for a discount (email or chat)
Homedepot.com – chat popup
Just ask for 10% off code and you’ll get it
Can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars
Retailer Secrets
How, when, and why items are clearanced
How to get all the store’s inventory
How to hunt with radar at other stores
(Work smart while your competition works
hard)
Retailer Secrets
How to get your hands on all of the inventory
Keep it simple – find great products (not just
good) and get tons of them
Easy to list one item 100 times than 100
different items
Check the Computer
So simple, but even I forget to do this
sometimes
Almost all stores have an in-store inventory
system
Find an item you like? Ask someone if they have
more (they WANT to sell you things)
Voila! They have more in the back or overhead
May be an ‘Active Item’ – order more!
Next Step: Check Other Stores
Most of the large retailers link their store
inventories
Stores that are sold out can send customers to
other stores for items
Use this to find what you want!
Home Depot Example – 60 stores with one hour
drive. I went to the 15 stores with the most
inventory. Don’t waste time going in ‘just to
check’. Go with certainty!
Call Ahead - YES
Tie up inventory
Pay over the phone
Verify on-hand quantities
Verify in-store price
Call Ahead - NO
Deals that are TOO GOOD
Store employees may buy for themselves (even
if not allowed)
Store employees may alert their friends
Store management may decide to not sell if
price mistake
(Worry about this more with technology items)
Buy & Hold Strategy
Sometimes best to ‘buy & hold’
Retail clearance deals can be picked up by many
people
You may encounter some irrational competition
Let them cut price and margin, you focus on
maintaining margins and profits
Example: Ryobi Auto Hammer
Bought 200 from HomeDepot.com for $20 each
Tax free, free shipping, $20 cost
Many other sellers did same thing (although I’d
be surprised if they all got tax refunded)
So many sellers competing for the next sale that
price was down at $27.95.
I held my 200 for about 4 months and sold them
all for $84.95
Don’t ‘Chase the Next Sale’
Amazon marketplace is dynamic
Items sell, sellers sell out
Prices rise and fall
Don’t get in pricing wars
Don’t try to see who can make the LEAST
amount of money
Ultimate Backup Plan
Since you purchased items at retail, you have a
receipt and a return policy
Learn the returns rules for each store
Evaluate inventory for acceptable profitability
prior to expiration of return policy
..but don’t make a habit of this. Stay in good
graces with store personnel. Buy good stuff
and you’ll never return anything. Just use as a
safety net.
FBACoaching Parts 4 & 5
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Part 4: There is always gold, lazy scanners,
advanced FBA
Part 5: Open questions. Send them in ahead of
time. No time limit; I’ll answer them all!
Questions?