7 Amazon FBA mistakes to Avoid as a Beginner | Passive Income League (2024)

Are you just getting started or are interested in starting an Amazon FBA business? If yes, then you may be interested in our list of 7 Amazon FBA mistakes to avoid as a Beginner.

You may have heard of the saying “It’s good to learn from your mistakes but it’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes”

I started my Amazon FBA journey, just over a year ago and have had a few learnings through the process which I thought would be good to share with so you can avoid the same mistakes I made.

So without further ado let’s jump into it.

Not implementing what I learnt

I am one of those people that likes to learn something new all the time, so when I first decided to embark on the Amazon FBA journey, I started by watching a lot of youtube videos. Whilst there are plenty of videos that are super helpful, I found myself getting confused.

So to minimise my confusion and put some structure around my learning I decided to take an Amazon FBA course from Marketplace Superheroes.

The course is very well structured and it definitely helped me put some structure around my learning process but then life started getting in the way and I started losing a bit of focus.

It is part of human nature to see results quickly and because I wasn’t seeing results quickly I started procrastinating.

In order to overcome this, I joined an accountability program that helped me get back on track.

Purchasing a training program definitely has it advantages, because when you apply an already proven model you’re going to get so much more success.

Don’t try and innovate until you have implemented what you have learnt and are seeing consistent results. If you want to innovate down the line then go for it.

If you do invest in education whether that is through Marketplace Superheroes or any other reputable course, make sure you stick with the program and take consistent action!

Jumping from one business model to another business model.

This mistake kind of ties into the one above.

After I started learning about how to sell on Amazon, I came across the concept of drop-shipping and I started digging into that only to realise its not as easy as it seems.

Then I started looking at affiliate marketing, then creating info products and then I’d go and look at something else.

It got to a point where I started to feel so overwhelmed that I completely lost focus.

Fortunately, I went away on a family holiday which gave me some time out from it all.

I used this time to reflect and understand why I was doing what I was doing i.e. trying to jump from one system to another.

It was then that I realised I was becoming desperate to start making money online and I was becoming a serial information junkie or as my mentor Stephen say “Infojunkie”.

Basically consuming information and not implementing much or implementing something and not really giving it the time it deserves to build and mature.

During my time off, I came across the concept of the One Thing and that’s when I decided to only focus on my Amazon FBA business and to work on my blog and website over the weekends or during my spare time.

I got myself off unnecessary email lists to minimise distractions and from the moment I made my decision i.e. to focus on the one thing I saw huge progress.

This really helped me regain my confidence and feel more content within myself.

I would still like to do multiple businesses in the future but not until I have fully established my Amazon FBA business and get it to a point that it is profitable and sustainable.

Sticking to Old belief systems

As I mentioned before, I was making good progress with the Marketplace Superheroes training course but then life started getting in the way and self doubt started creeping in.

I started questioning the whole Amazon FBA business model, the process and whether it works, whether this is the right business or not.

Looking at other sources of information like forums and reading some of the negative comments hurt my confidence even more.

Fortunately, the team at Marketplace Superheroes are very supportive. Every now and then Robert and Stephen (the founders) will jump on and run these value sessions.

It was during one of these value sessions that I realised what was actually holding me back is my old belief systems.

We all have our belief systems that have been passed down to us from our Family, Friends, co-workers etc.

So what I decided to do is rather than asking myself negative questions like

“Will this work?”, “Have I made the right decision?

I started asking my self empowering questions such as

“How can I make this work?”, “What will my successful Amazon FBA business look like?”

“What will I do when I achieve financial freedom?”

In addition to this, I decided to join Marketplace Superheroes mentoring program and worked with an experienced mentor.

This helped me navigate through all the mental barriers and kept me focused and accountable.

Trying to pick trendy or home run products

Another Amazon FBA mistake that I made at the start was trying to pick trendy or home run products.

Products that basically had a large profit margin around 250%-300%, so I could try and make as much money as I possibly could in the shortest possible time.

What I quickly realised is that these products are few and far in between and I’d be incredibly lucky to find them as a beginner.

Although Marketplace Superheroes have their proven research strategy to find products, I was trying to innovate and combine strategies from other sources such as YouTube or other facebook groups and trying to mix and match.

By doing this I basically ended up wasting even more time.

The biggest learning for me here was to stick to the program and try to find products that meet the Marketplace Superheroes criteria i.e. to find B.E.S.T products which stands for Boring, Established, Sustainable and Tangible.

It has to be a physical product with a physical bonus

The reason behind this is boring products are less competitive and if there are everyday products they are more sustainable to sell.

Don’t repeat the same mistakes I made, it is understandable that most of us want to see results quickly but product research is the most important Part of the Amazon FBA business model.

You may have heard of the saying “Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

You don’t want to be that type of person, you want to have a system for your research process that you can go through everyday.

Following a systematic research process will help you find good products with healthy profit margins.

If you don’t have one right now then you can learn from the guys at Marketplace Superheroesas below.

Learning through Trial and Error

This is one of the mistakes I made early on when I started to learn about Amazon FBA, there is nothing wrong with it but it is extremely time consuming.

Some people might prefer this method and might be ok with it.

In my case I decided to cut the learning curve and enrolled in a training program because I do well learning in a structured and systematic way.

Having a proven research system and a system for growing my business really helped me, even during the times I got distracted and lost focus.

Because everytime, I referred to the material I was able to bring myself back on track.

Additionally the support available through Marketplace Superheroes facebook group and their support team proved to be invaluable.

The other advantage of being in a training program is you get to work with like minded entrepreneurs, who have the same goals and can support you through your struggles.

They are there to cheer you on when you do well and to help you pick yourself up when things aren’t going according to plan.

Unfortunately that is one disadvantage when you are trying to figure it all out on your own.

Letting other people choose products for you

When it comes to Amazon FBA this is one of the mistakes you should definitely avoid.

As entrepreneurs we are often advised to outsource as much as possible.

Whilst this is a good thing, there are somethings that shouldn’t be outsourced.

Product research is one of them.

Why? Because products are the lifeline of your business.

When I joined the program early on, as a bonus, I was given a list of potential products I could consider selling and whilst this was a good bonus, I quickly realised that many other people would have received the same list.

What that meant is if we all launched products in the same niche, we would saturate the market and end up in a price war.

I’ll be honest with you, I also made the mistake of outsourcing my product research at one stage because product research can be a bit discouraging.

I quickly learnt though, there are no shortcuts to success and I have now committed to put in the time and effort into finding unique and profitable products myself.

Knowing when and how much profits to take out of the business

To be honest with you, I’m not quite at the stage where I’m ready to take profits out of my business but this is one of the common mistakes that I see come up from members on various forums and Facebook groups.

I thought I’d throw this lesson in here because it’s something I’d rather learn from others’ mistakes and I thought it would be a good idea to share this with you so you too can avoid making this mistake.

I have read many stories about people making good money and getting carried away. They took their profits and splurged on themselves rather than reinvesting in the business.

By doing this many sellers ended up strangling their business and ran into cash flow problems.

You need money to buy new inventory and grow your business.

If you run into cash flow problems you cannot buy more inventory which could really hurt your business and all the progress you made.

Understandably we all want to get financial freedom but making some sacrifices early on to bring in some more products until you’re making $5,000 or $10,000 a month in revenue is the way to do it.

The team at Marketplace Superheroes highly recommend the following

• Leave your profits in the business for at least a year if not 18 months.

• If you are absolutely feel like you must take something only take about 33% of your profit for yourself.

It doesn’t mean you can never take money out. No!

What it means is, you want to get your business to a place where

• All your products are selling well and you can afford to reorder them.
• You’re in a position where you can bring in some new items

Now incase you are wondering and saying aren’t we meant to pay ourselves first?

This is true, but there’s a time and place to do it. The best time to do that is when you are

• Consistently selling at 5-10K per month,
• Managing your inventory well and your products are staying in stock
• Bringing in some new items on a regular basis.

Conclusion

My journey as an entrepreneur has been exciting and challenging at the same time but I like to step out of my comfort zone and learn new things because that’s where the magic happens.

I hope that by sharing my mistakes and learnings I can help you avoid the same mistakes and encourage you to back yourself and keep moving forward with your Amazon FBA business.

Please do feel free to share your learnings and triumphs in the comments section below.

To your success!