With this year of self-isolation and isolation giving everyone more time to stay at home, now is a great opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to launch their dream Amazon venture.

From March to April, Amazon FBA restricts the purchase of non-essential items. Depending on what you want to start selling, you may have to start not using FBA during this time. Here's how to do it.

What is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)?

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is a service provided by Amazon for sellers. Sellers send their inventory to FBA warehouses across the country, and Amazon will complete your store's purchase orders.

FBA services include warehousing, picking, packing, shipping, tracking, and handling returns. This is ideal for those who are just getting started selling on Amazon. You don’t need to worry about getting storage space, learning logistics, or breaking the bank to get orders out quickly.

While FBA is slowly recovering, it’s not what it used to be. If you're starting an Amazon business, some limitations can prevent you from taking full advantage of FBA and creating new sales by offering fast shipping.

Start selling on Amazon with Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), no FBA required.

Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) means that you handle the storage, picking, packing, shipping, and returns of Amazon orders instead of outsourcing to Amazon FBA.

This approach, both now and in the long term, has many benefits.

1) Overcoming current FBA restrictions

FBM immediately overcomes the current FBA limitations, which means you can ship new products immediately, replenish inventory, and provide customers with fast shipping speeds.

2) More control

While FBA is certainly an easy option for new Amazon sellers, it involves handing a lot of control directly to Amazon. FBM allows you to test different fulfillment methods and practices before deciding who to commit to.

3) Reduced the cost of some products

FBM allows you to find the fulfillment solution that works best for your products and budget without worrying about Amazon’s high fees for bulky, bulky, slow products or multi-channel products.

4) Flexible growth

FBM is perfect for new Amazon sellers, especially those who now have the time and space to fulfill orders themselves. Your fulfillment method can grow with your business as your business grows, or you can use FBA or outsource FBM later on.

5) Increase sales

FBM sellers currently have a greater chance of winning, and can also qualify for the Prime label through the Seller Fulfilled Prime label, providing more opportunities to increase sales.

How does FBM work?

There are two ways to start selling with FBM on Amazon: selling in-house or outsourcing.

1. Internal financial management system

In-house FBM involves handling the entire fulfillment process with your own facilities, software, manpower (or manpower), and the shipping company of your choice.

The benefits of In-house FBM are keeping your costs low by using your garage, your family and a carrier within your budget to ship items and teaching you the principles of Amazon fulfillment while you are young basic knowledge.

However, in-house FBM is not for everyone. Issues such as lack of space, limited cash flow, and inexperience can lead to substandard shipping, slow deliveries, and time consuming, all of which are best bets for investing in business growth.

2. Outsource FBM

Outsourced FBM involves using an outsourced fulfillment partner to handle the entire fulfillment process for you, just like Amazon FBA.

Outsourced FBM has the advantage of existing space, tools, people, locations and expertise to deliver projects faster, more efficiently and satisfactorily than in-house.

There is a reason new sellers use outsourced FBM, especially when they are small with limited product lines and cash, new sellers are wary of using outsourced FBM.

However, with the right partner in place, no one is too small to start using outsourcing. Also, by choosing a provider with all-inclusive pricing, no additional costs, long-term contracts, or hidden fees, no one should be held back from outsourcing because they are strapped for cash.

How to set up FBM

It's good practice to get your FBM operations in place before you start selling on Amazon - it's not something you have to worry about after you receive your first order.

Build an internal FBM

Establishing an internal financial management system requires:

Provide storage space for your inventory.

The packing space for the packing order.

A method or tool to synchronize inventory levels on Amazon.

A reliable carrier that enables 2-day shipping speeds; and

Complete the efficient process from receipt to dispatch in the shortest possible time.

Build outsourced FBM

Here are a few things to consider when choosing a partner.

Shipping speed - how quickly can they fulfill the order?

Warehouse location - which areas of the country are covered?

Adaptability - Can it handle peaks and troughs in demand?

Pricing - Is their pricing model clear and affordable?

Coronavirus - Are their warehouses operating during COVID-19?

How to Start Selling on Amazon Using FBM

Starting to sell on Amazon with FBM is basically similar to starting with FBA.

1. Choose a selling plan

There are two Amazon selling programs.

Personal -- $0.99 each time you sell an item.

Professional - $39.99 per month

Both plans also charge a percentage of referral fees for each sale.

2. Create an Amazon seller account

Go to sell.amazon.com, click Sign Up, and enter your email address and password.

You will be prompted to fill in the information, including .

your business name

Your business address, phone number and website (if applicable).

chargeable credit card

Government ID

tax information

Bank account for sales proceeds

3.3. Adding your products

After you’ve done your Amazon product research and found the best-selling products on the platform, you can add them to your Amazon store.

COVID-19 has changed buying behavior, resulting in different product trends. This may require rethinking your product line.

Use Seller Central's Add Product tool to create a product listing, including a title, description, photo, and keywords. You must also create a SKU for each product --- a unique product ID that allows you or your FBM supplier to track inventory and fulfill orders.

NOTE: Don't forget to mark the product as FBM on Amazon.

4. Attract customers

Once your product is live on Amazon, you can start using the flywheel effect to attract customers to your listing.

This includes the use of tactics such as:

Fast Delivery - Items delivered in 2 days or less are eligible for Seller Fulfilled Prime.

Marketplace Ads - Increase impressions with sponsored product and sponsored brand ads.

Competitive Pricing --- Use Amazon Flip Maker to keep prices competitive and put you in a good position to buy.

5. Execution of orders

Depending on the FBM method chosen, you will need to execute Amazon orders as follows.

internal

Download the relevant order information, then pick, pack, and ship using your in-house fulfillment process and carrier of choice. Don't forget to update the tracking information on your order.

outsourcing

If using Amazon's FBM outsourced fulfillment specialists, work with them to transfer inventory into their network and set up order tracking. Outsourced fulfillment means that the order will be delivered to the customer and you only need to deal with any returns or exchanges.

The current FBA restrictions may not be ideal for new sellers on Amazon, but the extra time, volume, and opportunity that FBM affords means that FBM can help you start selling on Amazon in a fraction of the time if you choose. Extra trouble is required.