11-YFBA-November-2021.Pdf

A Year in FBA - November

The Reseller’s Guide to A Year in FBA: A Month by Month Guide to a Profitable Amazon Business

Stephen Smotherman

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Table of Contents Chapter 11: November ...... 4 Welcome to November! ...... 4 Thankful...... 4 Post Halloween ...... 4 More than Just Toys ...... 5 Baby, It’s Cold Outside ...... 5 Summer in November? ...... 6 Grocery ...... 7 Correct Q4 Expectations ...... 7 Online Arbitrage Tips for Q4 ...... 8 Toy Sourcing in Q4...... 9 Black Friday ...... 10 Black Friday Preparation ...... 11 Black Friday Shopping Day ...... 12 Hiring Help for Black Friday ...... 13 Bonus Black Friday Tips ...... 13 Better Prices Before AND After Black Friday? ...... 15 Go At Your Own Pace ...... 15 Rock Black Friday Sales Every Year ...... 15 After Thanksgiving ...... 16 Cyber Monday ...... 16 Holiday Prep for Next Year ...... 17 Quick Q4 Tips for November ...... 18 What NOT to Do During Q4...... 19 Final Thoughts about November ...... 20 Important Dates ...... 20 Recommended Resources ...... 21

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Chapter 11: November

Welcome to November!

Thankful

Before we get into all of the ways we can make this November the most profitable month ever, I want to take a moment to say thank you. I know Thanksgiving isn’t until later this month, but I wanted to take the time right now to express my thanks to you. You are what drives me to continually put out fresh and relevant content on my blog. I truly enjoy helping people, and I really hope that this book helps you and your FBA business in ways that dramatically improve your life. Thank you so much for buying this book and for being a reader on my blog.

Thankfulness is amazing. I want to encourage you right now to take a moment and think about things you are grateful for. I’d even go so far as to ask you to write these things down. Think about the people you are thankful for… the things you have been blessed with… the quality of life you currently have… and anything else you are thankful for. I know our lives are not as perfect as we wish they could be, but pausing to be thankful can bring us a proper perspective on what in life truly matters. One of the main reasons people lose their enthusiasm for life is they become ungrateful. We get used to all of the great things and people around us and lose sight of what an incredible gift they truly are. So take a moment to dwell on the things you are thankful for… and if you need to, put this book down and go share that thankfulness with some friends or loved ones.

“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” Harry A. Ironside

Post Halloween

Like I mentioned near the end of the October chapter, now is the perfect time to grab Halloween candy, costumes, and decor at some incredible mark-down prices. People still like to buy costumes for their kids as Christmas or birthday gifts, and they also love to eat candy corn year-round. Many www.fulltimefba.com 4 A Year in FBA - November

Halloween-related items are 50% off on November 1, and the percentage off just keeps getting larger as the days increase. Usually by November 7, the Halloween items have disappeared.

In years past, I have bought many children’s costumes on the day after Halloween. I mostly picked character costumes from popular movies and TV shows. These seem to provide the best ROI over the generic vampire, pirate, or hot dog with mustard costume. One year I stored all of the costumes in a few plastic bins in my garage. I didn’t try to sell them until the next September came. The following year, I tried something different. Right after I bought them on clearance, I sent all of the costumes I had to FBA and was pleasantly surprised to see them sell throughout the year. The costumes won’t sell in your garage; they must be sent to a FBA warehouse so someone can buy them whenever they want year-round!

More than Just Toys

It’s officially Q4, and while most resellers are focusing on toys, toys, and more toys, I want to help broaden your thinking on other ways to make this Q4 profitable. Yes, toys are awesome to sell during Q4, but if you only look at toys, you are leaving a lot of other money making opportunities on the table. Let’s talk about this in a bit more detail as we try to think outside of the box.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

November is here, and so is the cold. In many places across the US, arctic fronts are hitting soon (or have already been), and this signals a huge increase in sales of winter- related products. If you see anything on clearance that is winter-related, scan it as soon as possible. This especially includes themed winter merchandise such as blankets with children’s characters on them (e.g., Peppa Pig Fleece Throw), Snuggies (with the local college logo all over it), and anything else winter-related with a TV, movie, music, or sports theme.

The best thing about winter-related items is that they will still sell year-round, even during the hot summer months. It’s still cold somewhere in the world, and customers want to get their winter- related items from Amazon. You want them to buy from you! I’ve sold Thomas the Train fleece throws and Hello Kitty Snuggies both in November and in July. So while the next three months are

www.fulltimefba.com 5 A Year in FBA - November going to be the best time to sell winter-themed items, you don’t have to worry if they don’t sell now… because it’s likely to still sell (if priced competitively) sometime later.

Of course, there are a million other winter-related items that sell well while it’s freezing outside other than blankets, fleeces, and Snuggies. Put on your thinking cap and think of other cold-related items that people buy between November and February. Just brainstorming, I can think of winter boots, vaporizers, ice scrapers, wool socks, lotions and skin moisturizers for dry skin, ice fishing supplies, car covers, snow blowers, ice skates, hot chocolate mixes, hand warmers, fireplace tools, bags of rock salt, cough and cold medicines, and space heaters… and that’s just off the top of my head. Keep your eyes open for these items (some regular price, but especially clearance priced) because they may sell very quickly.

Summer in November?

It might seem obvious to sell winter-related items during the winter, but did you know that some summer items sell well too? In fact, it’s more likely that you’ll find summer items that are clearanced up to 75% or even 90% off retail prices. Even though it may be winter weather where you are, there are many places where it’s still warm. I’ll never forget when I was in middle school and went swimming on Christmas day in Houston, Texas. Sure, it was a rare winter season where the temps never got close to being cold, but I know there are plenty of states in the U.S. (think of Florida, Arizona, and Hawaii) that stay warmer than the rest of the U.S., and they still might be buying summer items right now. And with people from all over the world buying from Amazon, customers from all over the globe can buy your summer-related items while it’s summer weather for them.

Again, put on your FBA thinking cap and think of all the spring and summer items that sell well. Inflatable pool toys, sandals, grilling tools, grilling seasonings, swimsuits, air conditioners, box fans, camping gear, water balloon and squirt gun toys, sprinklers, plant seeds, lawn tools, lawn ornaments, car wax, beach towels, baseball gear, sunglasses, wedding related items (most weddings are in the summer), swimming pool supplies, and coolers are just a few ideas to get you thinking of summer items.

Of course, not all of your summer merchandise will sell during the winter months, but just think how awesome it is that for only a few pennies a month Amazon will store these items for you until they eventually sell. Come spring or summertime, these items will be back to flying off the shelves, and the ROI you get will make your wallet very happy.

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Grocery

Q4 is an amazing time to sell groceries on Amazon. With Thanksgiving meals, Hanukkah meals, Christmas parties, Christmas meals, and the list goes on… the opportunity for fast grocery sales is alive and well this time of year. No idea where to start? Think about what you enjoy eating during the holidays and see if those items are selling well on Amazon for a profit. Other profitable items might be grocery items that are local to your area only. Just keep scanning and you’ll start to find profitable grocery items.

Correct Q4 Expectations

When November hits, your sales will really begin to increase substantially. In fact, some of your inventory that has been sitting in a FBA warehouse for months finally starts to sell – and sell quickly. It’s so important that you have as much inventory at the FBA warehouses as you can. I’ve heard a few stories of sellers who sell out of almost all of their inventory by the first of December, and have nothing left to sell. While this is probably a very rare instance, it still is a good reminder to keep feeding the Amazon beast as much as you can.

According to this article, Amazon hired 80% more holiday workers for the holiday season. Every year, Amazon hires more and more workers to work in their FBA warehouses. I assume that every year to come will also bring about even more seasonal workers as Amazon continues to build new fulfillment centers across the U.S. The additional number of workers is supposed to be increasing the speed, productivity, and efficiency of each FBA warehouse. Unfortunately, however, there is a learning curve before this goal is reached. The influx of new FBA warehouse workers actually makes check-in time for many warehouses slow down a bit. The new people need to be trained, so be aware of slower check-in times at some warehouses during Q4.

New FBA warehouse workers also tend to make more mistakes as they are learning the system. Most of the seasonal workers know that they will only be working there a few months, and they are not overly motivated to do their best in their job. Because of these new seasonal workers, there is an increase of items that are lost or damaged by warehouse worker mistakes. Again, Amazon is supposed to automatically reimburse you for these lost/damaged items, but you still need to stay on top of your inventory and make sure you are actually reimbursed for anything that goes missing or gets damaged. Click here for an easy step-by-step blog post I did about getting reimbursed for these items.

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Each FBA warehouse has its own personality, and check-in times will vary from warehouse to warehouse. There is not a lot you can do to combat the slower check-in times. The best thing you can do is focus on sending your inventory to Amazon as soon as possible. Don’t let inventory sit in your house or garage for very long. You are missing out on sales and possibly better prices.

Online Arbitrage Tips for Q4

Sometimes in Q4, especially around Black Friday, you might decide not to fight the big crowds at all the retail stores and would rather focus more on doing your inventory sourcing via online arbitrage (OA). Sourcing from the comfort (and safety) of your own home can really lead to some great deals. Here are my top tips for OA sourcing during Q4:

1. Know about all the sales - Sign up for as many store email lists as you can. This way, the stores will notify you when certain items will be going on sale. You’ll also get exclusive coupon codes from time to time that will help you save even more. If you don’t want to use your personal email address to sign up for all of the store emails, then think about setting up a special email that you only use for online arbitrage. You can set up a free email and call it something like [email protected] (not a real email address…lol).

2. Save more money on your OA purchases - Use the free Google Chrome extensions Honey and Rakuten. Honey is a program that with one click scours the internet looking for every possible coupon code. With just one click you can save some serious money. Rakuten (formerly called Ebates) is a program that gets you cash back on your purchases. Different stores offer different cash back percentages, but they all add up. Each quarter we get a check in the mail for hundreds of dollars based on our OA buys by just clicking the Rakuten link and activating the cash back.

3. Consider upgrading your shipping to get your inventory sooner - Most of the time when we do OA we like to buy enough items to quality for free shipping. But during Q4, time is of utmost importance. Consider upgrading to two-day or next day shipping to get your items delivered to you faster. The faster you get your items, the faster you can prep them and send them to Amazon, and the faster they can sell.

4. Keep an eye on your accounts - We got an email one November morning a few years ago that our buying account at Walmart.com was compromised and we needed to create a new password. We went to the website (NOT through the link in the email, in case it was spam), and sure enough, we were locked out of the account and needed to get a verification code to reset the password. It's especially important this time of year with all the online buying frenzy to make sure your passwords are strong and you keep an eye on all your card balances.

5. Save time on your OA sourcing by using Tactical Arbitrage - Let's face it, sourcing via online arbitrage can take up a lot of time. But using Tactical Arbitrage can literally turn 4 hours of sourcing into about 20 minutes. Tactical Arbitrage is online software that allows

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you to scan an entire category of a store’s website to find matches in the Amazon catalog, either by UPC or by product title. Tactical Arbitrage allows you to set up bulk scans of multiple pages and multiple websites to scan at one time, so that you can start a scan and come back to it later after it has finished. The results of a Tactical Arbitrage scan show you links to product pages on the online store’s site and Amazon, links to Keepa, and columns of info on pricing, sales rank, profit, and ROI, among other things. Tactical Arbitrage has other features and methods for doing reverse scans, Amazon flips, and more. For our blog post with a more detailed review of Tactical Arbitrage, click here. Seriously, the time you can save using Tactical Arbitrage adds up to multiple hours per day. If you want to check out an extended free trial of Tactical Arbitrage, be sure to use the code FULLTIME10 when signing up at www.fulltimefba.com/TA.

Toy Sourcing in Q4

Q4 is an amazing time to sell the latest hot toys, but timing is key. Like I said before, Rebecca and I have used the Proven Q4 Plan and the Q4 Strategy Guide to make sure we are well prepared for how to approach selling toys during Q4. These guides are a real eye opener in many ways. Of course, actually getting out there into stores and putting the lessons into action taught us even more valuable lessons.

The hottest toys to sell on Amazon each holiday season are always a mystery. Some toys are very popular with amazing sales ranks, but there are so many resellers selling those toys that they’re just never profitable to sell – while other toys are very hot sellers on Amazon and the ROI is out of this world! It takes time to learn what hot toys are worth selling and which ones are not.

The best tip for selling toys that I can pass on to you is this: make sure you have as many as you can in stock at Amazon before Thanksgiving. Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales will be amazing, and for many of the toys you will be able to make an amazing ROI for each one. But something crazy happens with prices when December comes – I’ll talk more about this in the December chapter, but here is the summary I want you to know now. In December, many Amazon sellers get very nervous and begin to lower their prices dramatically to get the next sale. What happens is a frustrating race to the bottom that profits nobody. This does not happen with every hot toy, but it happens enough that you need to keep an eye on things. We’ll talk more about this topic in December.

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Black Friday

Another big event in the life of a reseller in the month of November is Black Friday. I personally don’t shop on Black Friday anymore. It’s just too crazy of a time fighting the crowds and the lines in order to get only a few really good deals. I’d much rather stay home and spend the time with my family eating Thanksgiving leftovers.

Just because I don’t like to go out and shop on Black Friday, doesn’t mean that I don’t take advantage of the Black Friday advertisements and sales. Did you know that many of the Black Friday deals are honored online? That’s right, you can order from home many of the same deals that others are camping out overnight to get. Another way to take advantage of Black Friday deals is that Amazon often price- matches Black Friday ads. Do your due diligence to find out which ads they are matching, but for many items, it’s well worth the time to get Amazon to price match. You could buy from the retailer (who will often limit your purchase to a small quantity) and you could buy from Amazon (who will also limit your purchasing numbers). This way, you could get double what you would normally get if you only shopped from the retail store’s website.

Some online retail store websites give you the option either to have the items mailed to you or for you to pick them up at the store yourself. If you decide to pick up your online order in person, be sure you call ahead to make sure they have indeed pulled your order and indeed have it held for you. Most of the time, they will hold your items and you can pick up your order on Saturday following Black Friday (a much less busy day, of course), but you want to make sure you don’t waste your time going to get the items if they failed to (or “forgot” to) pull your merchandise.

Just because I choose to stay home on Black Friday doesn’t meant that you should, too. Everyone has a different business model, and if you want to take advantage of Black Friday deals in person, then go for it. Here are a multitude of tips I’ve learned along the way to make the most out of retail store shopping on Black Friday.

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Black Friday Preparation

Usually, the first Black Friday ads are “leaked” some time around mid-October. I put “leaked” in quotes because sometimes a Black Friday ad is truly leaked before the store wants people to know about it, and sometimes the store “leaks” it on purpose to generate buzz and the feeling that “you found out before anyone else.” Eventually they hope that excitement gets people to buy more on the big day.

There are a multitude of Black Friday websites and smart phone apps out there that post all of the advertisements, as well as ideas on how to best handle the craziest shopping day of the year. The absolute best Black Friday website I’ve ever seen is blackfriday.com. If you want to see the Black Friday ads before they are officially published, as well as all of the official Black Friday ads, then this is the place to go. This site seems to provide the most up-to-date Black Friday ad listings, ad scans, hot deals, and coupons. You can even sign up for their free email service where they notify you of the newest ads for the stores that you select, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and even Amazon. Once you get the information about all the ads, then you can create shopping lists on their site. Finally, they can give you a little history on the prices from last year’s Black Friday to help you predict price drops on certain products.

Once you have the information about what is on sale and for what price, you will then want to make a plan. A Black Friday plan of attack is a must if you want to maximize your money, time, and energy.

Some online sellers borrow or rent a van for Black Friday shopping. Whatever you end up driving, I would suggest you use the largest vehicle you have access to. You don’t want to be in the position where you need to come home and unload your car before you can go back out and buy more items. I’ve even heard of some experienced Black Friday shoppers who rent a U-Haul or Penske truck for the day. I would only suggest renting a huge truck or trailer if you already have one year of Black Friday shopping experience as a reseller and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would actually be able to fill it up. If you decide to rent a van, be sure to rent a cargo van, as these don’t have the seats in the back. Also, if you do rent a vehicle, make sure that mileage is included in the price. Paying for miles could really eat into your profits.

If you’re shopping and hoping to buy tax free, make sure you have many copies of your tax exemption paperwork. Some stores require you to submit some paperwork before you can be approved to buy tax free, so be sure you have that completed well before Black Friday.

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Black Friday Shopping Day

It’s the big day. You’re prepared with your list and your route. You know exactly what you want to buy and where to get it. Your adrenaline is running at full-steam, and you’re ready to go. Before you head out, though, be sure to read through these tips thoroughly so that you make the most out of your big shopping day.

1. Wear comfortable shoes. Layer your clothing as you’ll be going in and out of the cold all day.

2. Bring a backpack with bottled water and snacks. You need to keep hydrated and energized. Some stores might not allow you to bring in a backpack, so call the store ahead of time to make sure it’s ok. If you can’t bring in a backpack, you could keep a bottle of water and an energy bar in a purse or fanny pack.

3. Don’t forget to bring a charger or extra battery for your smart phone. Most of what you’re going to be shopping for will be planned out ahead of time, but you don’t want a dying phone in case you want to scan some more items.

4. If you see any shopping carts in the parking lot, go ahead and grab one or two before you head into the store. Not only can you find a good shopping cart that doesn’t have the wobbly wheel, you also won’t have to return to the parking lot when you find out the store has all of their shopping carts in use already.

5. If at all possible, don’t go at it alone. Imagine all of the ways that having a helper with you could make things easier. Your helper could hold your place in line (believe me, the lines are looooong) while you grab a few more items (or run to the bathroom). You and your helper could work together and make much better use of your time than if you were doing everything by yourself.

6. Be sure you bring plenty of patience. There will be crazy people out there who do crazy things. You want to avoid crazy, and you definitely don’t want to join in on the craziness. Remember to take deep breaths and count to ten if you need to.

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Hiring Help for Black Friday

You can’t be in every store right when they open, so it might be wise to hire some help. Whether it’s a local college student, neighborhood friend, or someone you know from church, there are many people out there who you could hire to do some of your Black Friday shopping for you. You can pay them per hour, per store, per item they find, or one lump sum for the whole day. A friend of mine gave one of his college student helpers a few gift cards to local restaurants as payment. Remember, if you ever need to buy gift cards, buy them at sites such as Raise so that you can buy them at a discount.

Here are some ways you could utilize hired helpers for Black Friday:

1. Hire someone to shop for you. You can give them the stores you want them to go to, the list of items to buy, and the funds needed to buy the items. Obviously, only hire those who you trust to do this, as you’ll be giving them a lot of cash or store gift cards.

2. Hire a few helpers to wait in line for you. You do all the shopping, and when you’re halfway done, send them to wait in line. You could then finish your shopping and add items to their cart. If you trust this helper, you could also leave with them some form of payment (cash or gift card), and have them wait in line and pay while you head out to your next store. They could then meet you at the next store and help you wait in line at that store. Again, this will need to be someone you trust.

3. Hire someone to prep and ship your items on Black Friday. You could shop in the morning and then drop off your stuff to be prepped and shipped by a helper while you head back out for more sourcing.

Bonus Black Friday Tips

Practice - Have you ever tried to use two shopping carts at once? I have perfected the skill of pushing a cart with one hand while simultaneously pulling another cart with the other hand. It’s not easy to do, but it’s a skill that could help you out on Black Friday. Practice the next time you’re in a store with shopping carts.

Ship Inventory ASAP - The faster you get your inventory to Amazon, the faster it will sell, and you’ll have a much better chance of getting the higher sales price you want. Remember, if you can get these items at such a great discount, so can other resellers. www.fulltimefba.com 13 A Year in FBA - November

Ship Inventory Same Day – Did you know that UPS offers ground shipping on Black Friday? If at all possible, you could source in the morning, pack/ship in the afternoon, and send off your inventory a day earlier that most other Black Friday reselling shoppers. Getting your items into a FBA warehouse even one day earlier can have a massive impact on your next disbursement. Note: UPS has shipped out on Black Friday for a few years now, but it would still be a good idea to call and double check that they will be doing so again this year.

Keep Yourself Informed - If you’re wondering what to do while you’re waiting in line to pay for your Black Friday finds, get out your smartphone and check some of the reseller Facebook groups. One year, Target offered a “Come back next week and get 20% off of all toys” coupon. This coupon alone helped reroute many Black Friday shoppers towards Target, just to get the coveted coupon. You might want to follow suit, or you might want to avoid Target and avoid the reselling competition – it’s up to you. Just be sure you check out what people are posting on Facebook, and you might just make your Black Friday shopping even more profitable. Check the Year in FBA Facebook group to see if anyone is posting any tips – and don’t forget to leave some tips for others too!

Pay Sales Tax? - Paying sales tax costs you money, but time is also money. Some stores are notoriously slow and uninformed when it comes to checking out a customer using a tax exemption form. Some cashiers need to call for a manager (who is already under a lot of stress because they’ve been dealing with a lot of crazy customers all day), and it just takes a long time to process. If your time is worth more than the tax savings, then forget about trying to get your items tax free and move on to the next store. If you’re interested in a guide to help walk you through how to get and use a Sales Tax Certificate, then click here.

Family First - When you get home from your shopping day, be sure you still have some patience and attention stored up for your family. I’m sure you’ll want to just drop on the couch and zone out, but your family has missed you during the day, and you need to be sure they realize how important they are to you. Save some energy for them, and your family will be glad you did.

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Better Prices Before AND After Black Friday?

One last thought about Black Friday. Just because you find an item on sale on Black Friday doesn’t mean that it’s going to be the best price for that item. When looking through your Black Friday ads, be sure you look at the items on sale the week of Black Friday. It might surprise you that the absolute best sale prices are actually the Sunday to Wednesday before Black Friday… or possibly the week after. Again, research and compare. Don’t just assume you’ll get the best price on Black Friday.

Go At Your Own Pace

All of this talk about Black Friday might seem overwhelming to you. If you read through all of this and feel like there is too much to do, too much to think about, or too much money to save up, then take a deep breath and let go of your anxiety. As an online seller, it’s not a necessity to take part in the Black Friday sales. You could easily find a lot of inventory by other means during the month of November. I would only do everything I suggested above if I was 100% prepared financially, physically, and emotionally. If all of this seems overwhelming, then just take it easy. You don’t have to do this full-force. You could go out and take your time on Black Friday and just hit a few stores if you want to. I’ve given you advice in case you wanted to maximize the opportunity that Black Friday offers, but I don’t want to make you think that if you don’t do all of it you’re missing out. Pick and choose how you’d like to do Black Friday, and then go at your own pace. Do what works for you.

Rock Black Friday Sales Every Year

The previous six sections about Black Friday are really only the beginning of the knowledge I’d love to share with you about making big money on Black Friday. In fact, there is so much I want to tell you that it would fill up a whole book on the topic. That’s why I teamed up with the Queen of Black Friday herself, Kristin Ostrander, and we published the definitive guide on Black Friday. It’s called The Reseller’s Guide to Black Friday: The Fool-proof Guide to Rock Black Friday Sales Every Year.

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The Reseller's Guide to Black Friday is an ebook and video master class that will help you be properly prepared for all you need to do (and avoid doing) in order to help you save time and maximize your profits on Black Friday. From the "leaked" pre-Black Friday ads to the big shopping day and beyond, we'll walk you through everything you need to know. Covering important deadlines, multiple sourcing strategies, and how to make the absolute best use of your time and capital, this ebook and master class will help you know how to rock Black Friday sales year in and year out. The course also comes with multiple special bonuses that will help you make Black Friday your best Friday ever.

Note: This book is only available for a few weeks in late October and early November. To access the book, all you need to do is click here. If the book is not available for sale right now, you can click here to sign up for a mailing list to be notified when the book goes on sale again. If you sign up for the mailing list, you might even get a coupon code to use when the Black Friday guide cart opens up again.

After Thanksgiving

Again, once Thanksgiving is over, all of the Thanksgiving decor goes on sale at massively reduced discounts. Some of these items might be good to look into to resell next year. Also look at some of the grocery items some stores try to push around Thanksgiving because after the big day, those items might be on clearance. People will still want to buy pumpkin pie mixes all year long.

Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is usually the number one online sales day of the year. Not only do many stores have great sales in their online stores, but people seem to come out of the woodwork to buy items on Amazon as well. Personally, my Cyber Monday sales are amazing! One year, my Cyber Monday sales were more than double that of my highest sales day from the previous days of that year. It seems like every year, my Cyber Monday sales are by far the highest sales days of the year. These big sales numbers are mainly because I make sure I have as many profitable items as possible that are active at FBA warehouses on this day.

Now here are some tips for you to save on sourcing inventory on Cyber Monday. In fact, some of these tips can be used year-round… but your chances for success increase around Cyber Monday:

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1. Doing some OA (online arbitrage)? Use the Live Chat feature on websites (if applicable) and ask the operator for a coupon code or free shipping.

2. Surprisingly, sometimes retailers use eBay to unload remaining Black Friday inventory, so check eBay for some of the advertised Black Friday deals you were looking for during your Black Friday sourcing.

3. Don’t just look for inventory at the “big” retail stores. Most people are looking there too. Go where other Amazon sellers are not going. Find niche-type stores and websites to source for profitable inventory.

4. Don’t just focus on toys. Sure, toys are a great Q4 category to find profitable items, but branch out into other categories.

5. Also, don’t just focus on Q4 sales… think about what’s going to be selling in January. Items include fitness, health, organization, planning, goal setting, calendars, and more.

6. Wholesaler? Check in with them to see if they have any special Cyber Monday deals. Even if they don’t, they might come up with their own just for you!

7. Think about buying more than just inventory. Maybe there is a Cyber Monday sale on printer ink, a new laptop, Dymo printer, and more. The more you save on your office supplies, the more you can spend your business capital on profitable inventory.

Do you have any good Cyber Monday tips? Please share your Cyber Monday strategies with those in the Year in FBA Facebook group. Not in the group yet? Instructions can be found in the introduction chapter of this book. Who knows, your tip might end up in the next edition of The Reseller’s Guide to a Year in FBA.

Holiday Prep for Next Year

It’s so easy to get lost in all of the Q4 craziness that we can sometimes forget sales opportunities will continue into the next year well after Christmastime has passed. Even though you might be swamped with RA and OA sourcing opportunities, it might be a good idea to look to the Q1 holidays coming up early next year and start preparing for what you’re going to sell at that time.

If you’re a wholesale seller (or even a RA or OA seller who likes to source in advance) now is a good time to look into the profit possibilities of New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, St.

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Patrick’s Day, and other holidays that might be profitable. Be thinking past Q4 so that when the time comes, you’re not too late to the Q1 holiday profit party.

Quick Q4 Tips for November

Lower your ROI sourcing guidelines - In November, I might lower my ROI requirements if an item looks like it will sell very quickly. If you usually want to double your money (100% ROI), then in November I suggest buying items with an ROI of 50%. If you’re already comfortable with sourcing items at 50% ROI, then try lowering it to 30%. Q4 is a great time to try lowering your ROI sourcing parameters.

Raise your maximum sales rank parameters – Just like you can be more comfortable selling items with lower ROI during Q4, you also might want to expand your comfort zone to source higher ranking items. I suggest this strategy for a few reasons. First, during Q4, the sales velocity of products increases substantially. A toy ranked 250,000 might sell three times a month in January through October, but come late November and December that same toy could sell three or more times a day. The second reason to expand your sales rank comfort zone is because some of the more popular items will sell out in December. When those items sell out, it means customers will have to find other items to buy instead. This means higher sales rank items will show up in search results sooner, since Amazon does not show sold out item in their search results.

Only buy what will sell now - Many times during Q3 (July, August, September), I’ll buy some items to resell that I think will increase in price come Q4. In fact, I do that quite often. I love to buy some items at really low prices in the summer that will most likely sell for double or triple during Q4. Well, by November I no longer use this strategy. Even if Keepa shows that the price has a history of increasing during Q4, if it has not already begun to increase by November, then I pass and spend all of my capital on items that will sell right now (and not at some future date when prices might go up).

Sell seasonal items - Be on the lookout for anything seasonal. It seems like any grocery item with the word "pumpkin" in it sells. Keep your eyes open for items that only come out during these holidays and might be good resellers.

Hire help – It’s really good advice to only do the activities in your business that only you can do. Pretty much anyone can take stickers off of inventory and pack boxes. Maybe now is the time to hire help so that you can do more sourcing. I’m sure you have some friends or family members who’d like to make a little extra money doing some easy labor this time of year. You could also www.fulltimefba.com 18 A Year in FBA - November consider using a prep center to prep and ship your inventory to Amazon for you. For our business, we use MyPrepCenter and we love letting someone else do that work for us.

Source and ship ASAP! - You’ll hear me say this over and over… but it’s key. Source as much as you can, and ship it to Amazon as fast as you can. Your inventory won’t sell if it’s still sitting in your garage waiting to be processed and sent to FBA.

What NOT to Do During Q4

With all the activities I’m suggesting you do during Q4, I think it’s also important to share my top seven things to avoid during Q4 so that you’ll be able to maximize your time and money for Q4 profits. Here’s what not to do:

1. Check your sales constantly – You might not even realize it, but it’s possible to get addicted to checking your pending sales all day long. With the increase in Q4 sales, seeing pages of pending orders can possibly be a dopamine hit to your brain. While checking your sales once or maybe twice a day is ok to do, checking them constantly can distract you from doing actions that are actually profitable for your business. Focus on the profitable actions and not on the action of checking on your profits all day.

2. Implement a new strategy – Q4 is a time to focus on making profits from what you already know, not a time to learn new strategies or branch out into new categories. While learning new things is usually a good thing, doing so during Q4 is not the best use of your time.

3. Stop sending in inventory – Some Amazon FBA sellers think that if they can’t get inventory to Amazon by mid-November, they won’t be able to sell it during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or the first few weeks of December. This is not true at all. While shipping inventory to Amazon during November and December can be a slower process because of overload at the fulfillment centers, it’s still super important to “feed the beast.” Sales do not stop after the first three weeks of December. Sure, sales slowdown around Christmas, but they soon pick back up at full-force because of all the Amazon gift cards people got for the holidays. Be sure you keep sending items to Amazon and never slow down… especially during Q4.

4. Blindly lower your prices – Some sellers assume they need to lower their prices to get the next sale during Q4. They don’t realize that during Q4, the sales velocity for almost all items on Amazon increases. When sales increase, supply goes down. Usually, when supply goes down then sales prices go up. If you’re not seeing the sales prices you want right now, be patient. Check Keepa to see if you can expect a sales price increase in your future. If you can wait for the higher sales prices for your inventory, then wait it out. Your next disbursement will thank you for it. www.fulltimefba.com 19 A Year in FBA - November

5. Compare yourselves to others – This is a sure-fire way to ruin your Q4. If you spend any time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media forums and groups, then you’re bound to see people posting pictures of their huge RA haul… or their massive sales day. Some people view these posts as inspiring signs of the possibilities to succeed at FBA, but others are discouraged by them, thinking they could “never get to that level.” Remember this: When you see people post their pictures of huge sales or 8-foot-long RA receipts, you don’t know the whole story. You don’t know their buy cost or if they are making wise sourcing decisions. You don’t know how many years they’ve worked to build up to this level. Don’t compare your chapter 2 with someone else’s chapter 12. For more on this topic of comparison, read this blog post.

6. Chase the hot toys – I’ve already mentioned this in the Hot Toy Lists section in the October chapter, but I almost never focus on sourcing the “hot toys.” Since the stores create the “hot toy” lists, then they are almost always fully stocked with those items for the holidays. Instead, I look for items that are related to the “hot toys.”

7. Neglect your family – Q4 is such an amazing time to grow your business that sometimes we can easily neglect those we love and care for the most: our family and friends. Be sure that your family knows they are more important to you than your FBA business. They need to know not just by your words, but by your actions. Don’t lose contact with your friends as you immerse yourselves in the Q4 sales frenzy. Be sure to spend quality time with your friends so that they are still around come the new year.

Final Thoughts about November

I really love sourcing in November. Amazon’s Q4 sales have really started to increase, and there is more money to source with than usual. The more money you can source with in November, the faster you can get inventory into Amazon to flip… which leads to even bigger payouts and more capital to source with from the next disbursement… and then the cycle starts over again and again! Keep working hard and pricing smart, and I promise it will pay off.

Important Dates

November 1 – Big sales on Halloween items (costumes and candy)

November 2 - The day in 2020 when Amazon started letting only approved sellers Merchant Fulfill toys

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November 7 – The day Amazon suggests having inventory at FBA warehouse to sell for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (they like you to have your stuff there early).

November 11 – Veterans Day

November 14 – Last day of Inventory Cleanup for November. Create removal orders for any items at an Amazon warehouse for over 12 months that you don’t want to pay a long-term storage fee.

November 15 – Long-term storage fees are calculated

November 15 – Usually the day Amazon emails you your updated IPI and whether you’ll have unlimited FBA storage for the upcoming first quarter of the new year

November 25 – Thanksgiving in the U.S. (fourth Thursday in November)

November 26 – Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving)

November 28 - Cyber Monday (The Monday after Thanksgiving)

Note: Some of the dates above are approximate. Be sure to always do your own due diligence by searching Amazon and Seller Central to get the latest information for your year.

Recommended Resources

1. Q4 Strategy Guide

2. Proven Q4 Plan

3. Q4 Coaching and BOLO Exchange

4. Raise for discounted gift cards

5. How Many? App and Chrome Extension

6. The Reseller’s Guide to Black Friday: The Fool-proof Strategy to Rock Black Friday Sales Every Year

7. Honey

8. Rakuten

9. MyPrepCenter

10. Keepa

11. Tactical Arbitrage

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Did I miss something? I want to make sure that this chapter covers everything FBA sellers need to know during the month of November to create a profitable Amazon business. If I missed something, feel free to post in the Year in FBA Facebook group for others to learn. If you’re not a member of the Year in FBA Facebook group yet, please refer to the introduction of this book for step-by-step instructions for joining this secret group.