E541: How Many People are Losing Money Selling on Amazon?

In today's episode, Dave and I discuss why there are so many sellers on Amazon losing money on each product? Because the lower prices do not make any sense at all. 

 

Today's topic is something that I've been thinking about for awhile: how many people are losing money selling on Amazon? 

 

You're probably thinking that this question sounds ridiculous, but if you think about the increasing amount of competition and the higher platform fees, there does seem to be some basis for the question. 

 

Which begs the question: how many people are losing money selling on Amazon? Are they selling old inventory that isn't profitable anymore? Is the competition everywhere at this point? 

 

I thought this would be a topic that my partner Dave could chime in on from his perspective as a Canadian Seller, and also as someone who frequently visits China. 

 

Timestamps: 

• Intro - 0:00 
• Catching up with Dave - 0:30 
• How Many People are Losing Money Selling on Amazon? - 1:55
• The Types of Sellers Losing Money & Competition on Amazon - 3:57
• Sacrificing Margins for Brand Equity - 6:04 
• Fishy Practices to Avoid Paying Duties - 8:00 
• The Chinese Government is Providing Subsidies for Exporters?? - 8:51
• The Numbers Don't Make Sense - 11:02 
• Every Seller Has an Unprofitable SKU - 16:26
• The Problem with Product Research Tools - 19:53
• Bad Business People - 20:52 
• What Amazon's Q4 Earnings Report Tells Us - 23:09 
• Legacy Sellers Who've Suffered Through Events - 26:01
• Shortened Product Life Cycles - 30:47 
• What should happen to old products? - 32:27
• Prices are 20% lower than they should be - 33:37 

 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [e-mail]. 

 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well!

 

Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

 

Thanks for listening!