Pay very close attention to where they leave out the words “Sellers in the U.S.”
Ya, because most foreign products start their domestic supply chain in California, not because Amazon empowered American business to do the same thing or even survive.
I want to point out, that the “average seller” selling 250K / year @ 10% net margin means they’re making 25K / year.
Working for $15 / hour, 40 hours a week, you make 31K / year.
Yeah, MAKING 250K / year is a lot of money and a good job. Selling 250K / year gross is a joke if you have any real overhead, like warehouse rent to pay. Considering that the average seller spends roughly half that directly to Amazon for referral fees, fulfillment costs, and PPC, that’s 125K disbursed to them to cover all business expenses,
Roughly the same, there’s always new sellers to replace ones that drop out. And it can take a while before people realize they’re losing money or that they’d make more money working at 7-11.
Just a friendly reminder that this whole report is an Amazon propaganda piece. Yes, the stats are certainly accurate and verifiable, but also yes, these are the stats Amazon wants to highlight and spin for their own reasons, and they do not tell the whole story.
I mean…the name of this “report” (press release) is the Small Business Empowerment Report lololololol
Number 1 alone is laughable. “Sales” ain’t profit, salary, or a standalone measure of success for any retailer who knows what they’re doing.
I didn’t say “sales” was unimportant; I said it doesn’t tell the whole story and might not actually be something to brag about, even when it’s a high number.
I believe they’re comparing it to 2 day shipping options. I assure you this number is accurate since UPS/fedex 2-day and USPS priority mail express rates are sky high and is what any other fulfillment service would bill you for. It’s just an intentionally flawed comparison since very few merchants would promise 2 day shipping nationwide outside of Amazon.
They aren’t counting the initial cost of shipping it to the Fulfillment center, then the pick and pack fee, The shipping fee, the transferring it to other FBA centers fee, the Fee fi fo fumb fee.
They’re talking about other 3P fulfillment centers/services (like FBA, with warehousing, pick and pack, labeling, customer service, etc) that offer “premium options” for fulfillment service, not (merely) carrier shipping options for delivery.
FBA not only competes with merchants warehousing and shipping themselves but also other full-service fulfillment providers. FBM isn’t always Seller DIY.
Right, I was referring to the premium shipping options that 3P FCs offer, which usually utilize those services I mentioned. And they pass through the cost to you for using those services.
As expected, the spot where Amazon mentions the 70% stat lacks both clarity and sourcing. So perhaps that unverified stat does refer solely to shipping options, but the text as written could be read both ways and maybe more.
Either way, I’m not interested in relying on Amazon’s press release for valid, replicable data.
