Shortly before quitting my desk job and hitting the road to travel full-time, I heard about people who earn a living by selling on Amazon. Through Amazon FBA, or Fulfilled By Amazon, people are replacing their incomes from ‘regular’ jobs and even double and tripling it! Having worked in the ecommerce field and selling some old books on amazon in the past, I was already familiar with selling there but hadn’t really thought about it as a full-time gig.
How I Earn A Living While Traveling Full-Time
When I initially decided to leave my job to travel, I already worked in a field which could be done remotely. I needed to be earning money while traveling, so I set out to find a job in the ecommerce and affiliate marketing space. While searching for jobs I could do, however, I quickly realized it was not something I WANTED to do.
The whole idea for this RV traveling trip, for me, was to break out of the normal, expected routines and really find what I am passionate about and make money doing that. I have been an entrepreneur from the time I was a kid and knew I can do anything I set my mind to. While I am a great employee for a company, I knew it was only a matter of time until I started a business of my own.
Earn A Living On Amazon
Through the RV Entrepreneur podcast and Facebook group, I found out about the The Selling Family Amazon Bootcamp. I signed up and worked my way through the bootcamp. If you have sold a few things in the past or have absolutely no clue what selling on Amazon even is, Jessica makes it so easy and simple and walks you through every step of it.
The training is all through videos and you can follow along as you setup your business or watch them and do it on your own later. You can go back to them and watch again, as I did many times. PLUS, you are added to the exclusive Facebook group where you get additional help, can ask specific questions, and learn alot from other members. This was the best money I ever spent and set me up to become a successful FBA seller!
Anyone Can Do It
I love to shop and even I went to school to be a merchandise buyer. I obviously had no idea I would end up putting it to use in this way, but I’m not complaining! Once you work through the bootcamp, you’ll quickly see how simple it is and why people shop, and sell, on Amazon.
I earn a living through something called Retail Arbitrage. I buy items from stores on clearance (or sometimes regular price) and then resell them on Amazon. Through FBA, I ship everything to Amazon and they hold it in their warehouses until a customer orders it. By sending it in to be fulfilled by Amazon, customers are seeing my inventory as Prime eligible. This gives me the bonus of selling it with 2-day shipping without actually having to fulfill that myself.
Once a customer buys it, Amazon ships it to them and then gives me my portion of the sale. Of course Amazon is a marketplace so they are taking a cut of the sale, but I only buy items that are profitable with that in mind! A personal reason I love FBA: I live in my RV and while it is a large RV, I don’t have the room to hold inventory until it sells.
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5 Months to Success
I started in August 2017 with an investment of $700 ($200 in supplies and $500 for inventory) plus the cost of the training and in December of 2017 I made back in profit (my new salary) what I was making at that old desk job! You can start with as much or as little initial investment as you want! Many people start with as little as $200 to spend on inventory.
I wish I had started this before I left on my RV travels because this can easily be a side project and still make you some great extra income. Check out my short video on youtube to see my first 5 months and what a day looks like or check out The Selling Family to get started!
I’d love to ask if you break down the time you spend working to your profits what’s an average pay by hour?
Author
Hey Natalie! I don’t really keep track of my hours, somedays I work 12 hours and some days only 2-4, or not at all. It doesn’t feel like a work hour would as an employee… if that makes sense, since I am choosing to work or not. As far as profits, I’m making what I was at my salaried job I left which was well over $30/hr if you broke it down. Hope that helps! Xo
That does help- thanks. You’ve really peaked my interest and next week I plan to take the time to explore and learn more about this and see if it’s something I think I would like to try. I’m a Buyer now for an international women’s apparel retailer and so I feel that I could be good at this. 🙂 And today as I was in Target, I based an end-cap clearance of Oyster 18 gallon turkey roasters and bought them all. You know, just in case. LOL
Hey, found your video on youtube searching for RV related stuff – did you sign up with Amazon as an individual seller or are you doing the $39 a month thing?
Author
Hi Chris! I signed up for the pro, $39 a month one. I think I only “paid” for it in July because I signed up before I started to sell in August. Once you get selling the money comes out of the profits/credits you have in your Amazon account. So you still pay it but you don’t see it on your credit card statements. I know lots of people sign up with the free option to start and I can’t remember the benefits pro has over individual but you can switch back to individual if you want or move up to pro at anytime.
Hi Nikki,
The Selling Family boot camp training is $150(for the cheaper version)- what was it about this training that gave you the confidence to invest that amount? I’m hoping to learn more before spending that much.
Author
I think that is the option without the FB community. I would spend $350 again just for that FB community access. You learn so much you didn’t even know you needed to know. Plus you can have your own small, big, or seamingly silly questions answered almost immediately.
I think the other thing you don’t get is the bonus materials which I didn’t use right away but now four months into it I am using. The training is enough if budgets are tight but then you are kinda on your own once you get going and if you have any questions you don’t have that great group to ask. It was absolutely worth it from my point of view.
Hi Nikki – do you focus on a certain niche for the product you sell on Amazon? Thank you.
Author
Hi Dawn! Nope, I sell everything from baby gear to hardware and grocery!
Nikki, You have definitely piqued my interest. I have been toying with the thought of adding an additional stream of income selling product. I live in a small condo so the idea of keeping inventory put me off. You have me thinking this might be a good option. Thanks!
Author
Nice! If I can do it in an RV you can definitely make it work in your condo 😉 I wish I had done it when I still had my full-time gig just to get the business to a profitable space before quitting. It’s so possible to make good money at this on the side!
Your post is very informative. How did to decide what to sell and where to buy it? Great job!
Your post is very informative! How did you decide on the products to buy and where to get them?
Great job!
This is really fascinating. I never realized that selling for Amazon was something that could be so profitable. I also love to shop and could see myself doing somthing like this. Thank you for sharing your experience and I look forward to hearing more.
Is this boot camp a requirement of Amazon in order to be a fba?
Author
Hi Sarah! No it’s not required by Amazon, you can just set up an account and start selling! The Bootcamp walks you through everything and outlines this specific way of selling and making a living on amazon. It is really valuable information to get you to making a profit quick instead of just winging it on your own if you’re new or pretty new to selling.