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How to Start Amazon FBA Without Money in 2024

by Jessica Clark | Last Updated: January 11, 2024
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How to Start Amazon FBA Without Money in 2024

Are you looking to sell on Amazon FBA, but don’t have a lot of money?

This is a common problem for many people looking to start an Amazon FBA have.

There are proven sellers that started with nothing but managed to make a lot. 1,000 Amazon sellers were surveyed and the results are surprising.

55% of sellers who started with $500 or less have been selling for three years or longer and 38% of the respondents who started with $500 or less earn $5,000 or more per month.

Before you call your bank and ask for a loan, let’s discuss first how to start Amazon FBA with little to no money.

How to Sell on Amazon with No Money

Let’s get down to business! You might be surprised how easy it would be to make money on Amazon with no money!

You only need to follow these steps to get started:

  • Create an Amazon seller account - Membership is free! No need to pay upfront charges.
  • Sell Free Products - How do you do that? There are things around your house that you no longer need or use but still in good condition. Sell it!
  • List Your Product - There are 166 million products sold on Amazon so there’s already one listed just like yours, so listing it under the same category is free!
  • Ship the product!

Take advantage of social media too! Your Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts are you free advertising tool. You can tell your friends and the rest of the world what you are selling on Amazon.

Before we discuss in detail the four easy steps above, let’s answer the following questions that have been itching you as well:

  • How much does it cost to start Amazon FBA?
  • Is there still money in Amazon FBA?
  • What are Amazon’s fees?

How much Does it Cost to Start Amazon FBA?

You don’t need to pay upfront to start Amazon FBA. But there are fees to pay, depending on the account you signed up for.

Individual Seller Account
$0.99 per item sold. Limited to 40 items and below.
Professional Seller Account
$39.99 per month. For 40 items and above sold every month.

Since you are just a beginner, we highly recommend you choose the Individual plan. Amazon FBA fees but it will only be deducted after a successful sale, not before you list a product.

These fees will be explained further. During your research, you learned that Amazon has more than 2.5 million sellers currently actively selling, so is there still money in Amazon FBA?

Is there Still Money in Amazon FBA?

Yes, and still yes!. Only lazy sellers would say that there’s no more money in Amazon FBA. Statistics speak for itself and they show amazing figures!

average monthly sales for amazon fba sellers
  1. The most important factors driving U.S. buyer decisions on Amazon are price (82%), low shipping costs (70%), positive product reviews (57%), and flexible return policy (49%).
  2. 86% of Amazon sellers are profitable
  3. 67% Amazon sellers are profitable within their first year selling
  4. 61% Sellers say their Amazon profits increased during 2021
  5. 92% Amazon sellers are planning to continue to sell on Amazon in 2022
  6. More than 50% of all Amazon sales come from third-party sellers. Amazon does not limit you, you can use multi-platforms to sell your product, totally expanding your market.

Did you notice #5?

92% of Amazon sellers are planning to continue to sell on Amazon in 2022.

Why? Because Amazon works, it has unbelievable customer reach. You just need the confidence and discipline to be successful and we can help by teaching you how to sell on Amazon FBA. You’d be surprised how much you can learn!

What are Amazon's Fees?

Account type fees:
Individual Plan
$0.99 per item sold. Limited to 40 items and below.
Business Plan
$39.99 per month. For 40 items and above sold every month.
Refund Fees
$5.00 or 20% of the refund charge for processing it on your behalf.
Monthly storage fees:
Standard
January – September: $0.69 per cubic foot
October – December: $2.40 per cubic foot
Oversized
January – September: $0.48 per cubic foot
October – December $1.20 per cubic foot
Long term: if your product has been in the warehouse for a minimum of 1 year, you will get another fee, $0.15 per unit.
Removal fees – charged when you pull-out your product from the warehouse.
Standard
$0.25 – $0.40 per unit charge depending on the weight.
Oversized & Special Handling
$0.60 – $1.90 per unit charge depending on the weight.

You don’t have to pay these fees upfront. That’s the beauty of Amazon, it will be deducted from your Amazon account funds or charged to your registered credit card.

Want to know how to compute the fees for a specific product? Want to check the margin of revenue and profit that you can possibly make? Take advantage of the free Amazon FBA Calculator! A good tool to help you be successful in sales. Now that you’re aware of the fees, let’s discuss how you can find free products to sell on Amazon.

Find Free Products to Sell on Amazon

find products to sell on amazon fba

Your house is the best place to find free products to sell on Amazon. Do a scavenger hunt! Go to each bedroom, living room, kitchen, basement, and attic.

What are you looking for? Items that you are no longer using but still look decent to sell – books, kitchen utensils, electronic gadgets, and even garden tools.

Expand your search by going to your parents’ or a relative’s house, I am sure they are hoarding a lot of stuff that you can sell on Amazon. Then list the treasures you have found on Amazon and you might be surprised that it can be sold immediately.

If you’re feeling creative, you can craft your own products, like the handmade products you can find on Etsy. The only upfront cost is the materials you need, then list your product to Amazon Handmade or Merch by Amazon.

Now that you have free products to sell, how will you know if your product will sell?

How to know if your product will sell on Amazon?

So after making all that effort, you’d want to make sure that your product is going to sell after you list it on Amazon. This is where Amazon’s Best Seller Rank comes handy.

Every type of product on Amazon has a Best Seller Rank. The lower the rank, the better. You can find the BSR on every product description page.

If the product you want to sell has a low BSR rate, belonging in the top 500 and below, it is selling well. You don’t want to list your product with #300,000 BSR. Remember, the lower the better.

How to List a Product on Amazon for Free

Yes! Another step to do without shedding a dime. Listing your product on Amazon for free! You can do that by going to Amazon as if you’re shopping. For sure, the product you want to sell on can be found on Amazon.

  1. Find your product using the search bar. You’ll have to scroll through the results to find the product that matches yours and select it.
  2. On the product page, look at the lower right hand of your screen, you’ll see the “Sell on Amazon” button, right below the Buy Box, click it.
  3. You’ll be routed to a new page requiring you to enter your product’s information:
    1. Condition: If your product is not new, then use Amazon’s product condition guidelines to specifically determine the quality of your product.
    2. Price: This depends on the quality of the product you are selling. Amazon will suggest a price to help you decide.
    3. Quantity: Leave this blank if you only have one item on stock.
    4. Fulfillment method: Method of sending your item to your customer. Explained further below so keep reading.
  4. Click ‘Save and Finish.’ Expect your product to appear on the listing within or after 2 hours.

How do you Fulfill a Product Once it Sells on Amazon?

Of course, no use selling a product if you can’t ship to your customers. Shipping and handling is a cause of headache on both ends.

Doing it right is your best prevention. Just to set your expectation, you can’t ship for free with Amazon but there are means to lessen the shipment cost.

  1. Start selling products that are small and lightweight. Products that can fit in a shoebox without any struggle. For example, USPS will only charge you $3.00 if the item you’ll ship weighs less than 1 lbs.
  2. Instead of buying brand new boxes. Try to recycle and reuse old boxes that you have. Just make sure it is still in good condition. Do you have old Amazon boxes? Use it! Even better if you have the bubble wraps and shredded papers.
  3. If you’re starting to gain traction with your Amazon business, consider switching to Amazon FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon). Using FBA will help you with your shipping and handling. You send your products to Amazon for storage and inventory, they take care of the shipment once a purchase is made. This costs less than you shipping your products by yourself. Amazon will then deduct the shipment from your Amazon fund or credit card.

How you Can Turn Amazon FBA to a Real Business

amazon fba sellers profit

Now that you have accumulated enough funds from selling for free on Amazon. You can now buy products and sell them through the FBA business.

You need to find suppliers first, or what we usually call private label companies. Private label companies produce blank products that you can put your brand logo on.

For example, Hydro Flask or Kleen Kanteen are possibly ordered from the same manufacturer to produce their tumblers, you can also order from that same company. You can reach out to them in different means but the most popular one is through Alibaba.

Make more money by switching your Amazon account into an Amazon FBA account. It’s like switching your street food stall into a large restaurant, opening doors to more sales.

Treat it as a real business and you’ll get sales and a stream of income that you can use to spend on your wants and needs. But how do you do that?

Why not check out these amazing and best Amazon FBA courses that will help and guide you every step of the way.

Conclusion

So how to start Amazon FBA with no money?

While others would make money first by selling on eBay to get funds before selling on Amazon. Why do that when you can sell directly to Amazon? You can get started by being resourceful instead!

Be one of the many success stories of sellers who made it big without spending a huge amount of money. From this point onwards, your biggest investment will be your time, and you want it to spend it wisely by selling smart.

Give yourself time to learn the business, get an expert opinion, and help through the best Amazon FBA courses!

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