Amazon PPC Software: Q&A with Rick Wong from SellerMetrics

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Rick Wong from SellerMetrics

Rick Wong is the founder of SellerMetrics, an Amazon PPC Software. Having worked in some of the world’s largest financial institutions in Canada, he ventured into Amazon selling in 2017 and sold his Amazon business 4 years later.

He currently resides in Hong Kong with his wife and 1 yr old daughter, on days that he is not in his office you can find him playing golf with his friends or watching the newest show on Netflix with his family.

In this interview, he explains how Amazon PPC software can help you as a seller to reach more customers. He also introduces his latest venture – SellerMetrics. Continue reading Amazon PPC Software: Q&A with Rick Wong from SellerMetrics

List of Amazon FBA Prep Companies in China: Our Top 8 Picks

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Amazon Prep Services
Shipping products directly from your manufacturer in China to an Amazon FBA warehouse in the United States and Europe leaves little room for mistakes. Failing to get the packaging materials, dimensions and printed labels right can result in your shipment being rejected upon arrival.

In this article, we list Amazon FBA prep companies in Mainland China and Hong Kong, which can help you make sure that your products are correctly packed and labeled before it’s too late.

Listed Companies

  • FBA Bee
  • Joy Max Asia Pacific
  • Leeline Sourcing
  • My Home Freight Forwarder HK
  • QC Advisor
  • Freight Hub
  • China Purchasing Agent
  • FBA Sourcing China

Continue reading List of Amazon FBA Prep Companies in China: Our Top 8 Picks

How to Compete With Chinese Sellers on Amazon: By Starlity

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Chinese sellers are gaining market share on Amazon, at the expense of sellers in other countries. That said, it’s not always the usual suspect, the manufacturers, that drive this trend.

In this Q&A with Edward Li, a former Amazon employee and co-founder of Starlity.com in his native Hong Kong, you will learn what’s actually going on and how you can play to your strengths as an American, European or Australian seller on Amazon.com.

Here are some topics we cover:

  • Why is Amazon trying to get more Chinese sellers onboard?
  • What advantages do Chinese sellers have?
  • What advantages do Western sellers have?
  • Are Chinese sellers manufacturers or ‘regular’ e-commerce companies?

Edward, please tell us about yourself and your background working for Amazon UK

After graduating with an economics degree at the London School of Economics, I joined Amazon through their graduate program. I started in their consumer electronics retail business. I was promoted quite quickly through the ranks and very quickly started managing several product categories with multi-million-pound turnover.

It was very interesting working in consumer electronics as it gave me the opportunity to work with some of the largest global brands such as Sony, Apple, and LG.

After a few years, I moved across Amazon and took on a new role to launch an online-to-offline business in 15 UK cities.

Amazon has been rather active in getting Chinese sellers onboard. Why do you think that’s the case?

There is a well-known quote from Jeff Bezos: “In our retail business, we know that customers want low prices… They want fast delivery; they want vast selection.”

Expanding product selection has always been a priority for Amazon’s retail business because this is what consumers want. I think Amazon is recruiting many Chinese sellers because they offer consumers selection.

What advantages do, for example, Hong Kong and Shenzhen based Amazon sellers have compared to overseas companies importing from China?

Shenzhen is a global hardware hub. For electronics sellers, there is one major advantage in basing near Shenzhen – speed. One of the most important differentiators of a successful seller is their ability to select or design unique products that consumers want. For most of the unique products, new tools need to be designed and various materials need to be tested.

If you cannot reach Shenzhen easily, you will have to wait for days or weeks before you get your hands on tools and materials for your experiment. They add up very quickly. You don’t have this problem if you are based near Shenzhen. Continue reading How to Compete With Chinese Sellers on Amazon: By Starlity

VAT on Imported Goods from China: A Complete Guide

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Suggestion: Watch the 10 minutes video tutorial before reading this article

Imported from Asia to the EU, or selling cross-border? In this guide, we explain what importers, Amazon sellers, and cross-border e-commerce companies must know about the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the European Union.

We also collaborated with Alex Wyatt from SimplyVAT and Dr. Matthias Oldiges from KMLZ, two of Europes leading experts, to create this comprehensive VAT guide.

This is covered

  • VAT calculations for European importers
  • VAT rates in EU member states
  • How and when to pay VAT
  • VAT registration for EU companies
  • VAT registration for non-EU companies
  • VAT when dropshipping products
  • VAT when selling products online within the EU
  • VAT registration when selling from overseas to the EU
  • VAT when selling on Amazon

What is Value Added Tax (VAT)?

The VAT is a consumption tax in the European Union. In B2C transactions, VAT is always included in the price. If you, for example, buy a product online from an EU based online store, the price you pay includes VAT.

The seller can then subtract the VAT paid on imports, from VAT added on top of the sales price.

Below follows an example:

  • Sales: $10,000 (Including VAT, 20%)
  • Expenses: $5,000 (Including VAT 20%)

This allows us to make the following calculation.

  • Sales VAT: $2,000
  • Paid VAT: $1,000
  • Total: $2,000 – $1,000 = $1,000

Thus, I would need to pay a VAT of $1,000. If I’d spent more on VAT than I added on top of my sales, I would instead get money back from the state.

Continue reading VAT on Imported Goods from China: A Complete Guide

Importing from China and Selling on Amazon.com: A Complete Guide

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amazon importer

Amazon.com is the major league of eCommerce. One late shipment or product compliance issue and your seller’s account might be history. Before you even think about selling imported items on Amazon.com, you need a well-oiled supply chain in place that actively prevents quality issues, compliance issues, and delays.

In this 3-Part guide for Amazon sellers importing from China, you will learn what it truly takes to bring your business to the top marketplace.

This is covered

  • Part 1: FBA, Shipping & Logistics
  • Part 2: Amazon Seller Performance Targets
  • Part 3: Amazon Product Guidelines

Part 1: FBA, Shipping & Logistics

It’s the gold rush of our time (or at least the decade). Seemingly, everyone wants to get their products out on Amazon.com. I’m no stranger to e-commerce myself, as that’s how I started doing business with Chinese suppliers in the first place. However, up until quite recently, E-commerce in Europe and America has been dominated by independent online stores, rather than market platforms. This is about to change.

About Amazon.com

What makes Amazon.com different is that they are not only offering an online platform, but also an integrated logistics system. Ship your bulk cargo to one of Amazon’s warehouses and they take care of the rest, sending your items to your final customers. But that’s only the easy part. Assuming you are buying from China, or any other country outside the United States, you need to get your cargo from a factory floor far away, to an Amazon warehouse. That is often easier said than done, and much can go terribly wrong. Continue reading Importing from China and Selling on Amazon.com: A Complete Guide

How to Start a US Company to Import & Sell on Amazon.com

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John Gordon

It’s increasingly common that ecommerce companies in Europe and the Asia Pacific not only want to sell cross border to the US – but also sell within the country.

By incorporating in the United States, you can import and locally distribute products, for example via an Amazon fulfillment center (FBA) – even if you are based overseas.

In this article, John Gordon, founder of USA Corporate Services, explains what foreign ecommerce companies must know about the following:

  • LLC or Inc?
  • EIN Numbers
  • Incorporation fees
  • Required documentation
  • How to open a business bank account
  • Yearly maintenance costs
  • US taxes (and penalties) for non-resident foreigners

John, please introduce yourself and USA Corporate Services Inc

I’m John Gordon. I started the business now known as USA Corporate Services two years after graduating college. I was working in a low-paid job for a boss I didn’t get along with, and didn’t want to work for another boss ever again.

That was 35 years ago, and although it took several years to really get going, it’s a pleasure to still be here.

Twelve years ago I signed up for the Global Executive MBA program at Columbia Business School and London Business School. This was a very eye-opening experience that taught me more ways to give value to our customers.

Since that time, we have leveraged our knowledge and experience to focus on helping foreign firms and entrepreneurs set up businesses in the US. Continue reading How to Start a US Company to Import & Sell on Amazon.com

How to Find the Right Ecommerce Product: 5 Inspiring Concepts

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Finding the right product

I’ve spent the last 8 years helping Entrepreneurs go from idea to finished product. While I’ve dealt with both good and (really) bad product concepts – I am a firm believer in a more creative product conceptualization approach.

The Entrepreneurs that succeed are not the ones who happen to find a ‘best seller product’, or by chance identify a one in a million market gap on Amazon.com.

I’d even go as far as saying that I can’t see much of a correlation between how much money they put in, and their chance of success.

I know Entrepreneurs that made it big, investing less than US$10,000 on the whole product launch. I know others that spend ten times that amount, and didn’t even get a final prototype ready.

It’s all about coming up with something new and finding a unique niche in an increasingly crowded ecommerce space.

But, as I will explain in this article, that is a whole lot easier than you probably think.
Continue reading How to Find the Right Ecommerce Product: 5 Inspiring Concepts

Product Liability Insurance For Importers & Amazon Sellers

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product liability insurance

Product liability insurance for Importers (sometimes called Import liability insurance) can save you from financial ruin, in case your products would be the case of injury or property damage.

Falling back on your supplier is never an option, so get used to the fact that you will be on your own to deal with possible product liability claims in the future.

This is covered:

  • What is covered by a product liability insurance?
  • What is not covered?
  • For what kind of products is an insurance necessary?
  • Do I need a product liability insurance to sell on Amazon?
  • Can I get an insurance for the US if I sell in another country?

We also provide a list of companies offering product liability insurance products in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

What is product liability insurance?

A product liability insurance can protect your business against personal injury or property damage claims. If you sell a product that, for any reason, harms a customer or damage property, the insurance covers legal and court fees.

With a product liability insurance, you are unprotected. Injury or damage claims can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s practically impossible to be completely certain that your products don’t pose any risk whatsoever to your customers – regardless of how many quality checks and lab tests you do.

These are a few examples what might go wrong:

a. Li-ion battery powered devices: Fire hazard, explosion hazard

b. Children’s products: Choking hazard

c. Furniture: Fire hazard

d. Apparel: Choking hazard

e. Food contact materials. Food and beverage contamination hazard

While T-shirts are much less prone to explosions, compared to high capacity power banks, the risk that you will face a claim is always present. Continue reading Product Liability Insurance For Importers & Amazon Sellers

Top 10 Wholesale & Dropshipping Websites in China 2020

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Suggestion: Watch the 10 minutes video tutorial before reading this article

Why bother with making custom-designed or private label products when you can simply import off-shelf items from one of the many Chinese wholesale websites?

While importing wholesale products is not as straightforward and risk-free as you might think, you should still be aware of the top China wholesale and dropshipping websites in 2020 – and learn how they all differ.

Alibaba.com

Alibaba is known as the world’s largest B2B supplier directory. While a significant number of wholesalers and trading companies are listed on Alibaba.com – it was not created as a wholesale website.

Since it was launched, and until today, Alibaba.com is primarily a manufacturer directory.

That said, they have implemented some wholesale and payment functions.

In the future, it’s likely that Alibaba.com will evolve into a platform that enables transactions for both off-shelf and ‘make to order’ products – directly on the website.

Notice that you don’t actually do business with Alibaba.com. They provide supplier listings only. Continue reading Top 10 Wholesale & Dropshipping Websites in China 2020

Product Compliance Requirements on Amazon: A Complete Guide

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Suggestion: Watch the 20 minutes video tutorial before reading this article

Importing from Asia and selling on Amazon? That means you are fully responsible for ensuring that your product is fully compliant with all mandatory safety standards, labeling and document requirements.

Keep reading, and you will learn if your product category requires a pre-approval, and the documentation you must provide to Amazon’s category approval team to gain access.

In addition, we also explain why you cannot rely on your supplier to help you out, if something goes wrong – in which case your account may be suspended.

Who is responsible for ensuring compliance of products sold on Amazon.com?

The Seller is always responsible for ensuring that the product is compliant with all mandatory safety standards, labeling requirements and documentation requirements.

The supplier is not responsible, which means that it’s entirely up to you – as an importer and/or Amazon seller – to go through the compliance procedures.

For example, this may include the following steps:

1. Assess all applicable safety standards and chemical restrictions that apply in the target market, and communicate these to your supplier (before production)

2. Confirm all applicable labeling requirements, and create label files that you later send to the supplier (again, before production starts)

3. Follow up with lab tests, after production

4. Create all mandatory documents, such as photocopies and declaration of conformity

What you must do to comply in practical terms depend on the product and market. Continue reading Product Compliance Requirements on Amazon: A Complete Guide