The Smartest Amazon Seller
Scott Needham is the Founder of SmartScout. An Amazon software developer for 10 years his company BuyBoxer has done over $300m in sales on Amazon. Scott has accumulated a deep knowledge about selling product online, and in the podcast he shares his knowledge with you to help you become a better Amazon seller.
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Episodes
Tuesday Aug 11, 2020
Tuesday Aug 11, 2020
Today I start off by discussing how important it is to educate yourself and that the purpose of this podcast is to help you learn and be prepared for your own business. I discuss what’s going on right now in our economy. Amazon fulfillment centers are overflowing and products are getting restrictions on what we can send in to Amazon. I talk about how much the centers have grown this year versus how much they have grown in the past. I talk over what you should be doing right now to react to this explosion of growth. I give advice on some things you should be doing, such as checking on your inventory frequently so that you don’t forget what you have and miss opportunities to sell. I discuss the pandemic and that it isn’t going to go away soon, but we at least have a few more months, meaning Amazon likely will continue to grow and E-commerce will continue to do really well. I talk about the buy box and how things have been changing in favor of larger companies. I bring up the issue of how much power Amazon has gained and equality in the marketplace. Recap of how we got where we are with restrictions 2:12What you should be doing to react to the explosive growth of Amazon 5:12Larger sellers with larger feedback scores get more of the buy box 10:15Equal marketplace and the congressional hearing 12:10“Understand that Amazon this last year has opened up 50% more fulfillment center space in just a year, and it’s already filled it up. I don’t know if that rings a bell to you, because it should. We’re talking about the best logistics network in the world grew by 50% percent in a single year.” 3:58Socialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Aug 04, 2020
Tuesday Aug 04, 2020
Sometimes requesting for a refund can get you a lot of money. This is one of the things Scott has learned as he has been an Amazon seller. Amazonlit made their first million in 2015, which was all retail arbitrage. Trademark infringement has become a bigger issue over time. Now they pay more attention to this problem and they have drastically reduced those claims. 9 times out of 10, people you talk to over the phone will not be a jerk. If a certain brand complains, you can get them on the phone and sell the products back to them or work out a deal. Having a little bit of personality doesn’t hurt when trying to sell. Never take a no as a hard no. Brands can turn into your suppliers years down the road after having said no to you. Their sales have gone up as their inventory has increased. As companies have been growing online, they need more sellers, so keeping a positive communication with them has caused them to reach out down the line. Erik and Sebastian have created a mastermind group for Amazon sellers to provide the knowledge they need to become successful. Amazon is large enough that everyone can get a piece of the pie. Their mastermind group covers everything an Amazon seller will need to make their business as efficient and lucrative as possible. Their first million 2:53Pivoting - the word of 2020 16:44Sharing secrets doesn’t negatively impact your business 20:56“We use keepa and we look at that third chart, the offer listings. And when we see that there’s a dramatic decrease that happens and the sales rank hasn’t decreased as well at the same time… if the sales ranks stays the same, or goes up and the offers slide down drastically, then that tells us an IP was filed at that time. Follow Eric Castellanos and Sebastian Quik:Instagram: @Amazon_litamazonlit.comhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Jul 28, 2020
Tuesday Jul 28, 2020
You make money on the buying side. Scott has been profitable from the start. From day one, they have been making purchases that are more valuable on the streets than from where they bought it. Scott went to China and spent a lot of time with a Chinese supplier. This built a strong relationship and made them eager to do business with one another. Don’t give people an out, or an opportunity to say no by posing the wrong questions. Think about what they care about. If you can solve your suppliers’ problems, then there’s no reason they will say no. Invest in relationships with your suppliers if you want the best results. People like to think they’re unique, so let them prove it to you. Ask yourself how you’re adding value to their brand. Write yourself a script to help you hit your best points and help them talk about themselves. Get talking a lot on social media. People are often willing to share their suppliers. Go back and listen to previous episodes. They have proven very useful and lucrative for Scott’s listeners. Trip to China 2:38Don’t make this mistake 6:35How to get the best prices 8:08Something to help improve your calls 14:51Using Instagram to get suppliers’ names 16:36“You should not forget this. If you are hungry for someone’s products and their business, you can prove to them that you will make their product pages better. You’ll invest in their brand, you’ll create bundles, and kits, and variations. And all of that to increase the exposure. The likelihood of shoppers purchasing that brand.” 11:31https://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Jul 21, 2020
Tuesday Jul 21, 2020
In today’s episode, we hype up our upcoming episodes and invite the listeners to stay tuned. We talk about how scaling and growing your business is made easier on Amazon. We talk about how we’ve scaled our own business. Scott announces a tour of BuyBoxer’s warehouses, facilities, and distributions teams in Logan, Utah and Indianapolis at the end of August (reach out to Scott at scottneedham@buyboxer.com, or find him on instagram). We’ll explain ways we cut our shipping costs, as well as explain our software and ordering systems. We then discuss scaling your business with Amazon FBA within 4 categories: sourcing, inventory management and ordering, Amazon marketing, and distribution. We explain how we have built custom software to scale our business from $2 million in sales to $60 million. We announce that we are going to start licensing that software out. We compare our software to the Bloomberg Terminal, and explain how useful it can be to anyone trying to scale within Amazon FBA. It works well for larger teams trying to save on time. We finish by sharing the features of the software, announcing that if you mention this podcast, you’ll receive 10% off the beta suite. Exciting Things To Come On This Podcast! 0:27Scaling Your Business; Come Tour Our Warehouses! 1:31Amazon FBA Announcement: We’re Licensing Our Software Suite!! 7:07“Once you start to use it and see it in action, you will start to see these efficiencies, and how you can manage dozens, hundreds of skews across different suppliers and really see what’s going on. You can find out what’s your worst performing inventory and how you can improve it. How do you do reorders on a timely basis, and get inventory just in time?” 11:51“Socialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Today, Scott breaks the fourth wall and is completely transparent as he talks about his podcast. He tells us his reasons for starting the podcast, which includes greater visibility for his company and its investments. He shares how he realized its potential as a valuable marketing tool after he saw the attention he got from a Reddit post he made. He explains the value and insights he tries to share, and what his strategy is with his show, trying to cover topics and disclose secrets that will be impossible to ignore for any seller trying to get ahead with their business. Scott then answers the question, ‘Wholesale or Private Label?’ He explains the advantages, advanced strategies, and challenges involved in both. He shares how if you’re able to distill what happens on Amazon into the discoverability of a product, the click-through of a product, and your ability to convert them, then you will be prepared to dissect any tool out there, and it will change how you organize your business. He explains the value of coupons in increasing your click-through rate. He shares the news that NARF (Amazon’s North American Remote Fulfilment Program) is live and operating again. He finishes the episode by announcing that he is beefing up his Youtube content, and promises that the best is yet to come in valuable content designed to help increase your profits. Why This Podcast? 0:36The Value We Offer With This Podcast 5:31Wholesale or Private Label? 7:31Breaking News: NARF is Live Again 14:28“My company has gone in a lot of different directions -- I have a lot of insights. We have wholesale business. We have private label. We’re actually in the process of launching a new brand (I was looking at logos this morning). We have an agency with a marketing team and an account management team, we have a dev team, and now, we are pushing out content.” 4:15Socialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
In today’s episode, we talk with Ken Kubec from Thrasio (https://www.thras.io/), a fast-growing acquirer of Amazon FBA businesses. He explains the growth and development of Thrasio, as well as its structure and operation. We talk about the advantages of acquiring businesses as opposed to starting them. We discuss the red flags when doing due diligence with suppliers. We explain how Thrasio will turn away brands employing black hat tactics such as review manipulation. We talk about hero skews as an ideal quality for businesses that Thrasio acquires, as well as acquiring brands working with brokers. We break down market multiples and earn-outs for the listeners, explaining how you can maximize these when you sell your business. We clarify that Thrasio works exclusively with private label products. Ken shares the strengths and expertise of his company’s team, and how that gives them confidence to be bold and decisive with growing businesses and dealing with risk. Origin and Future of Thrasio; How Thrasio Operates 1:47Due Diligence With Suppliers; Which Brands Does Thrasio Look For? 5:57Maximizing Your Market Multiples; Sellers, Post-acquisition 16:51Dealing With Risk; Growing Businesses 22:13“So that’s a normal market multiple, depending on your size, growth trajectory, recent trends, etc.” 17:52Email Ken: ken@thras.ioSocialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Jun 30, 2020
Tuesday Jun 30, 2020
Today, we discuss Intellectual Property in the context of increasing the value of your Amazon business . We talk about copyright protection, design patents, and utility patents, clarifying that while copyright technically exists immediately after creation, it is worth the effort to officially attach intellectual property to your products to make them defendable. We talk about how this applies to the increase of sales in puzzles we’ve seen since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also discuss how to create successful content referencing million dollar industries without infringing on copyright. Protect and Benefit From Your Design, Creation or Product 0:46The Example of Our Puzzles 7:21Riding The Wave of Million Dollar Industries 11:41“I really like the idea -- we are launching some of our own products -- to always attach and add some intellectual property that makes it defendable, because we’ll be able to remove counterfeit or inauthentic products much easier.” 6:58Socialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/Send Scott an Email: scottneedham@buyboxer.com
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Today’s episode covers all things Amazon DSP (demand-side platform) with George Meressa from Clear Ads, an AdWords agency that helps businesses attract new customers and increase sales. We discuss what Amazon DSP is, how it is different from Sponsored Products, and the advantageous data and re-marketing features it provides for creating custom audiences. We talk about how you can start using Amazon DSP through 3rd party agencies like Clear Ads. We speak about some of the bugs that Amazon is working on with DSP (such as attribution issues), and invite you to find out more about advertising by going to https://www.clearads.co.uk/. What is Amazon DSP? 2:55How Can I Start Using Amazon DSP? 12:39Data, Metrics, and Advantages of Amazon DSP 15:50Get Inside Info at https://www.clearads.co.uk/ 20:39“It allows you to capture every other ASIN that sells similar items to you and allows you to re-engage with that audience.” 6:45Socialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/
Tuesday Jun 16, 2020
Tuesday Jun 16, 2020
In today’s episode, we talk with Benjamin Faw, co-founder of BestReviews, a very successful product review company. We talk about how review sites work and the process of getting into Amazon’s Onsite Associates program to bring outside editorial into an Amazon search result. We discuss how this program can increase search volume and sales on a successful product, as well as help take the value of your brand to the next level. We give pointers on how to place your product on a review site, as well as how to determine which site will be most advantageous to you. Growth of Review Sites; Onsite Associates Program 3:01How Onsite Associates Can Multiply Your Search Volume and Sales 14:15Getting Your Product on a Review Site 18:02“Amazon wants people to search for products within their search engine. They don’t want people leaving and going to Google to look at review sites and generating traffic outside of Amazon, when they can capture most of that inside Amazon.” 7:18https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfawSocialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Today, we talk with Paul Rafelson, founder of the Online Merchants Guild, a trade association that gives online merchants a voice. We talk about the achievements of this group, including their instrumental role in the launching of the AB-147 bill and fighting for marketplace facilitator’s laws in 39 states. We talk about Amazon’s “scapegoat” approach to price gouging enforcement. We talk about OMG’s unique and valuable services to the seller community, as well as the affordable and important resources offered at https://sellerbasics.com/. We discuss the need for giving small businesses and sellers a voice in legislation, and share how you can join OMG’s cause. What is the Online Merchants Guild? 1:27 Extraterritoriality in Price Gouging Enforcement 10:32What The OMG Can Do For You 20:52Importance of Giving Sellers a Voice 27:17“It’s a huge benefit for me, as a seller. If I were to, say, start another business, I don’t have to figure out the sales tax issue again, and register in other states. I really did worry -- we’ve done a few million dollars in sales in Pennsylvania over the years -- that they would try to collect on that retroactively.” 7:09Reach Out To OMG: https://onlinemerchantsguild.org/Email Paul: paul@onlinemerchantsguild.org https://sellerbasics.com/Socialhttps://www.instagram.com/smartestseller/https://www.buyboxer.com/