Whether you need extra money at the end of the month for something other than paying bills or you simply want to start earning extra money so you can start saving for your future, there are hundreds of ways to earn extra cash. Unfortunately, some of them require hours upon hours of hard labor only to earn a few dollars. The good news is there are legitimate ways to make money online, and they don’t require you to break out in a sweat.
If you are like thousands of other people, you have probably shopped on Amazon, well; did you know that you can actually make money by selling on Amazon? Most people only think about Amazon as a place to buy items, not sell them. Selling on Amazon does require work and dedication before you will see a return on your time, but the return will be well worth it. If you are intrigued and ready to start earning money on Amazon, here are the basics of getting started.
Take it Seriously
Even if you are looking at selling on Amazon as only a way to make some quick, extra cash, it is important that you take it seriously. Yes, you are applying to work online, so yes you can do the work in your pajama, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a “real” job. You must treat selling on Amazon as a “real” job or it will not be as beneficial for your finances as you think.
There are thousands of other people who also want to work in their pajamas, so the competition can be grueling, but worth it. It is essential that you are professional at all times, especially when dealing with customers. The impression you leave on others can significantly affect your ability to make money while selling online at Amazon, so always be on your best behavior.
Getting Started Selling on Amazon
Selling on Amazon is actually easy and once you get started you will quickly realize how easy it is to make money selling online through their site. There are a couple of different ways to sell on Amazon; you can sell items you already have, you can shop for bargains and resell the items or you can sell other people’s products. Amazon does charge fees to the sellers, so it is important to understand their policies before you jump in.
Although they take out a percentage of the sale, you can still double your money selling items and you won’t be charged any fees until your product sells. Deciding which type of selling is for you is the first step, so to help you understand how it works, here are the two most common ways to make money by selling on Amazon:
Selling Your Own Products
Choosing to list and sell your own products on Amazon is generally the easiest way to get your feet wet. The process is fairly simple; you list an inventory of items you already have available at home, such as a stack of books that you want to get rid of or you can go to thrift stores, garage sales, and even department stores to find great products for cheap prices. Selling your own products typically means you are responsible for packing the item and shipping it to the customer.
However, Amazon has another option, you can package your items up, ship them to Amazon, and they will store the products in their warehouse and ship to the customer when sold. You can make a lot of money if you choose the right things to sell, but you’ll have to decide if you want to deal with shipping to customers or if would prefer Amazon take care of these details for you.
Selling Other Peoples Products
This option is actually the most common choice for many of the sellers on Amazon. You actually sell the product and earn commissions, without having to deal with sourcing the product (which can sometimes get expensive), without dealing with storing and shipping products and you don’t have to deal with issues that may arise from rejected products.
So, how do you make money from other people’s products? You sign up as an affiliate with Amazon Associate, which means you have an account with Amazon to market whatever product you are interested in and when any are sold, you receive a commission.
To sum it up, you can earn money by selling on Amazon, but you need to do your homework before you just jump in. It is essential that you understand the different options of selling on Amazon, that you choose the type of products that are selling and that will you a decent amount of money after the fees and shipping charges.
Susan McCullah is an established writer who has created dozens of informative articles about credit scoring, identity theft, budgeting, taxes, debt, and finance. She has worked in the Credit Reporting industry for 15+ years and is FCRA certified. Susan regularly conducts in-person presentations and webinars on the topics of credit scoring formulation, raising credit scores, and identity theft.
