The Two Things That Make It Impossible To Lose Money On Amazon

There are only two things that matter in any Amazon business. You can do everything else wrong, and if you get these two things right – it’s impossible to not make money.

Video: It’s impossible to fail on Amazon if you get these things right

Amazon success through extreme simplicity

After this article, your business will become massively simpler.

Starting today, you will be able to ignore dozens of small distractions that eat up your attention, and focus on the only two things that matter in your Amazon business.

These are two things that allow you to do everything else wrong, and still make money.

This is not an exaggeration. There are literally only two things.

But first…

Why does everyone make selling Amazon so complicated?

Here’s my theory:

If you spend time researching how to sell on Amazon across Google, Facebook forums, YouTube, etc; you’ll notice that just about everyone is trying to sell something.

Which is fine. But a lot of them claim you need *Their Thing* or your Amazon business will suffer. And even that is fine, as long as they are honest about how badly you need it, and why.

The problem is that you’re likely to come away from any Facebook group or YouTube rabbit hole feeling totally overwhelmed with the sense you need alllll these things to run an Amazon business or you won’t succeed.

You need listing tools. You need scanning apps. You need feedback management software. You need accounting software. You need inventory management tools. You need repricing tools. You need paid coaches. Everyone is yelling at you that you need soooooo many things.

And the impression left is that an Amazon business is like a dozen spinning plates, and you have to run from one to the next or the whole thing will collapse.

What’s the truth?

You barely need any of it. Almost everything is a distraction.

It’s possible to focus on exactly two things, and as long as you get those right, it’s impossible to lose money on Amazon.

What are the two things?

The only two things that matter in an Amazon business

Ready?

1. Sourcing.
2. Repricing.

Sourcing quality inventory and repricing it regularly and intelligently. That’s it.

Sourcing and repricing are the only two things that matter.

Not hyperbole. Not “these are probably the two most important things.” Not “try to put most of your attention on these things.”

I’m saying you can literally neglect and ignore everything in your Amazon business, and as long as you focus on sourcing and repricing, it’s impossible to lose money.

It’s literally this simple.

Let’s examine both…

Why sourcing matters

If you put all your weight behind sourcing inventory, you can ignore (almost) everything else.

This is where 90% of your effort should be applied. Become a sourcing machine, and its almost impossible to lose money on Amazon.

Under the umbrella of “inventory sourcing,” what must you master?

Sourcing quality inventory: This is accomplished by understanding how to read scanning app data, and mastering the science of spotting value.

Sourcing abundant inventory: This is accomplished by having as many sources as possible, and utilizing them consistently.

Mastering sourcing is the first priority for any Amazon seller. Your only mission when you start is to obsessively dial in your inventory sources. Every moment spent on anything else in the beginning is wasted time.

Why repricing matters

As soon as you get inventory, you start repricing it.

You reprice it intelligently (not just dropping prices like a robot). And you reprice it consistently (daily).

On Amazon, prices go up and down constantly. Sometimes hundreds of times a day for a single item.

Shortly after you list something for sale, prices start to shift.

If you aren’t raising your prices for some inventory, you are leaving money on the table.

If you aren’t lowering prices as new competing offers go up on Amazon, then your inventory is effectively not for sale.

Not repricing is the same as the majority of your inventory not being for sale at all.

Repricing is a non-negotiable part of any Amazon business.

You just got an hour of $200 coaching – free

You’ll notice I don’t promote “coaching” or anything like that on this site. People ask sometimes, and I (almost) always say “no.”

A handful of times over the years (usually when I’m on vacation and have an unusual amount of free time), I’ve said “yes.”

I almost feel bad when I do, because my coaching methodology is extremely simple. In fact, its essentially identical to what you’re reading in this article.

Amazon seller: “I want to grow my Amazon business.”

Me: “Tell me how often you’re sourcing, where you’re sourcing, what your buying criteria are, how often you’re repricing, and what your repricing methodology is.”

And then all I do is spend the next hour hammering away at those two subjects.

Sourcing. Repricing. Sourcing. Repricing.

Inevitably, the seller wants to take the conversation other directions. Like “optimizing listing flow” or “improving their feedback score.” And I tell them: If you’re spending your time “tweaking” and “optimizing,” then that’s your problem.

To improve your Amazon business, you focus on those two things and ignore everything else.

Nothing should get your attention until you have mastered sourcing and repricing.

Sourcing vs Repricing: Which is more important?

Obvious answer here: Neither.

They are two sides of the same coin.

Ignore sourcing, and you’ll have nothing to reprice.

Ignore repricing, and you may as well not have any inventory because no one will buy it.

Sourcing and repricing are equal.

Sourcing & Repricing are your entire business

You can put these on a Post-It above your computer, so you focus on them obsessively and forget everything else.

These Two Things are now your North Star.

-Peter Valley