Diversifying Away From Amazon

[Asad]

Amazon has become one of my main sources of income and that scares me. If they banned me or started screwing around as they are wont to do, my stream dries up. The barrier of entry is also pretty low so any old competitor can start throwing up Amazon links and steal my cookies.

I have two sites - a big authority site that i have been running since 2009, and a food and beverage site that I have been running since 2011. The Food/Bev sells related products from Amazon and I have consistently generated 5 figures in sales per month. (Which, if you are an associate, means you make 6 - 8% of that). I want to sell the Food/Bev site, and my hypothesis is that 1) I can command a higher price for the site with a legit fulfillment system behind my product sales and 2) while I build the asset for sale, I can make more by fulfilling the products with third party platforms.

So here is what I am doing:
I am building a Shopify store ($29 per month + 2.9% + .30) and using Oberlo to fulfill products from Aliexpress. Anyone had any experience here? What are some drawbacks to this approach based on your experience?

 

[Kevin]

How is Oberlo + Aliexpress working for you?

 

[Asad]

How is Oberlo + Aliexpress working for you?

Hadnt started yet. I wanted some feedback from the rest of the community before I invested the time. Have you built any eCommerce fulfillment systems yourself?

 

[Kevin]

Hadnt started yet. I wanted some feedback from the rest of the community before I invested the time. Have you built any eCommerce fulfillment systems yourself?

No, but I am also looking into diversifying - not AWAY from Amazon, but in addition to. Looking into FBA, Aliexpress, Clickbank, etc. Goal is to match monthly Amazon revenues to 2x site valuation but also create a more robust site.

 

[backwoods]

Amazon has become one of my main sources of income and that scares me. If they banned me or started screwing around as they are wont to do, my stream dries up. The barrier of entry is also pretty low so any old competitor can start throwing up Amazon links and steal my cookies.

I have two sites - a big authority site that i have been running since 2009, and a food and beverage site that I have been running since 2011. The Food/Bev sells related products from Amazon and I have consistently generated 5 figures in sales per month. (Which, if you are an associate, means you make 6 - 8% of that). I want to sell the Food/Bev site, and my hypothesis is that 1) I can command a higher price for the site with a legit fulfillment system behind my product sales and 2) while I build the asset for sale, I can make more by fulfilling the products with third party platforms.

So here is what I am doing:
I am building a Shopify store ($29 per month + 2.9% + .30) and using Oberlo to fulfill products from Aliexpress. Anyone had any experience here? What are some drawbacks to this approach based on your experience?

I currently have my own product on Amazon FBA (importing from China) but the Aliexpress model does interest me. The biggest downside (and this is huge) is the shipment times and dealing with customer service.

Looking at the 2 shipping options and the average shipping times stated here-
http://support.oberlo.com/article/54-delivery-times

Free China Post Standard

While every product has different shipping options, most of the sellers offer free China Post Standard delivery. With this option, it usually takes around 30-45 days to receive an order regardless of where you are in the world.

Paid express delivery - ePacket

However, some sellers also offer a free or low-cost express delivery which is called ePacket. It works in certain countries only. For example, the US, Canada and the UK may have ePacket options and it usually takes around 15-25 days

That is an awfully long time for a customer to wait. And then when (not if) there will be shipping logistic issues, lost packages, damaged goods, defective items, missing parts/pieces, etc., it could be 2 months before the customer gets their item.

That product better be very unique and not available anywhere else or be at a very large discount for most people to endure those wait times. What I'm I missing?

Who deals with all the customer complaints, issues, questions, etc?