THE DIFFERENT E-COMMERCE BUSINESS MODELS

3) RETAIL ARBITRAGE

4) DROPSHIPPING ON AMAZON

5) SELLING PRIVATE LABEL GOODS ON AMAZON

1) DROPSHIPPING WITH YOUR OWN WEBSITE

8) SELLING PRIVATE LABEL PRODUCTS ON YOUR OWN WEBSITE

7) SELLING WHOLESALE ON YOUR OWN WEBSITE

Description

  • traditional e-commerce business models
  • the way domestic wholesale works:
    • margins are 50% range and sell using our own website
    • handle your own inventory
    • or use 3PL

6) SELLING WHOLESALE GOODS ON AMAZON

Descriptions

  • put up a website to take orders online without carrying any inventory
  • instead of fulfilling products yourself, send orders over to your vendor, vendor is responsible for shipping

Advantages

  • no inventory
  • no order fulfillment
  • low start up costs
  • simple to start

Disadvantages

  • margins are super low (others storing your inventory, profit margins from 10-30%)
  • not in control of your product mix (inventory & customer support will be an issue)

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 8/10
  • profit velocity: 3/10
  • sustainability and risk: 6/10
  • level of competition: 3/10

Description

  • find distributors who offer a variety of products for sale to help you find them then buy those products & list them on amazon using fba and margins are typically on the order of 50%

Advantages

  • few barriers to entry
  • no need for a website
  • all you need to do is to find wholesalers with large product catalogs- often have to buy extremely low unit quantities
  • turn around time is fast!

Disadvantages

  • selling the exact same products as other sellers which will eventually lead to rolling prices

Scales on its factors

  • ease of launch: 7/10
  • profit velocity: 7/10
  • sustainability and risk: 3/10
  • level of competition: 3/10

Description

  • highest long-term potential
  • upfront capital & investment
  • greatest long-term sustainability
  • you control everything
  • most secure way to run an e-commerce business

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 4/10
  • profit velocity: 7/10
  • sustainability and risk: 10/10
  • level of competition: 9/10

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 5/10
  • profit velocity: 4/10
  • sustainability and risk: 6/10
  • level of competition: 5/10

Description

  • private level is the act of placing your own brand or label on a product that you manufacture yourself
  • ship your goods off to amazon fba
  • much larger upfront cost
  • willing to invest a minimum of $1000-$2000

Advantages

  • few barriers to entry
  • no need for a website
  • no need to generate your own traffic
  • no inventory requirements
  • you own your product / brands and the margins are super high greater than 66%
  • can make it a lot of money very quickly
  • you can sell on your own website
  • most sustainable way on making money on amazon

Disadvantages

  • you are depending on amazon
  • attracting piggybackers & hijackers
  • encountered many unscrupulous sellers

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 6/10
  • profit velocity: 10/10
  • sustainability and risk: 7/10
  • level of competition: 8/10

Description

  • liquidation stores often sell products far lower than amazon retail prices
  • customers don't have access to liquidation outlets

Advantages

  • you do not need a website
  • you can leverage amazon's huge marketplace for instant sales
  • few start up costs except for your inventory

Disadvantages

  • business is 100% at the mercy of amazon
  • very difficult to scale because spending most of time for bargain
  • preventing sellers from selling certain brands without express approval from the manufacturer
  • retail arbitrage is at great risk
  • amazon supporting brands which does not favor those who sell other people's products
  • charging a large up front cost to sell certain brands on the order of $1000

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 8/10
  • profit velocity: 5/10
  • sustainability and risk: 2/10
  • level of competition: 5/10

Description

  • similar to dropshipping on your own website but the main difference is dropshipping directly to amazon customers.
  • its works when you find distributors willing to dropship on your behalf then you list the item on amazon as merchant fulfilled. Contact distributor when you get sales and the distributor ships product to customers
  • does not use fba or fulfilled by amazon

Advantages

  • no start up costs
  • no need for a website
  • have 100s of products
  • easy to start a dropshipping business on amazon
  • profit potential is good

Disadvantages

  • amazon has very stringent requirements on seller quality and on time shipment
  • amazon will ban your account if anytime if the shipment is cancel or delayed, you run a risk of getting banned
  • way to risky
  • anyone can contact the exact same wholesaler and get access to exact same product

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 8/10
  • profit velocity: 7/10
  • sustainability and risk: 1/10
  • level of competition: 3/10

2) DROPSHIPPING FROM AMAZON TO EBAY

Description

  • it works when someone find products in amazon that selling higher than ebay, then they steal the images and the product copy from the amazon product and post an ebay listing that's significantly higher in cost.
  • also known as amazon / ebay arbitrage
  • people who shop at ebay, tend to shop at amazon

Advantages

  • zero overhead costs
  • no website required
  • don't need to find vendors
  • very easy to get started
  • great on cashflow

Disadvantages

  • customers can complain about the image & copyright theft
  • ebay sellers have been banned for copyright / trademark infringement
  • this business model isillegal & against ebay's terms of service
  • has very poor long term business potential

Scales of its factors

  • ease of launch: 10/10
  • profit velocity: 2/10
  • sustainability and risk: 1/10
  • level of competition: 2/10