409 – Bath Bombs and a Million Dollar Amazon Business with Ashley Kinkead

Gift Biz Unwrapped guest,

episode number 409.

Amazon is really simple to get started just for everyday people

who maybe don't have a business yet.

Attention Gifters begs crafters and makers.

Pursuing your dream can be fun.

Whether you have an established business or looking to start one

now you are in the right place.

This is Gift Biz Unwrapped,

helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

Here is your host Gift Biz Gal Sue Moon Height.

Hi there,

it's Sue and welcome to the show.

We've covered so many facets of a handmade product business over

the course of the years,

and today is no exception.

We've talked about how to start and grow your business stories

from many of you who have done just that.

How to choose and use social media sites,

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Now let's move on to what's up.

In today's show,

I'd like to present you with all sorts of options for

starting a business on your own.

And while we focus mostly on traditional handmade product selling,

there are other ways of going about this.

You can start your business being a solo handmade maker,

and this in and of itself can be perfect for you.

It may achieve all your goals even though you're limited in

your growth because let's face it,

as one person,

you can only make so much and still have a life.

If you want to grow past a one person shop,

you can hire people to help you,

a team to assist with making your product or support for

some of the business tasks like bookkeeping and marketing.

You can job out your production to a local factory or

any other variation on this one option is not better than

another. It's all about what you want for your business and

how it fits overall into everything else you have going on

on the personal side.

Today we're gonna dig into another business model that's a spinoff

of handmade.

If you don't have a lot of available time,

our physically limited or simply don't want to make the product

yourself, this is a consideration for you.

One that can bring in big money too.

You're not making,

and you're not going out to craft shows,

but you are deeply involved in other aspects of the business.

This structure allows for more freedom.

So if you wanna travel or are a busy young mom,

it could be exactly what you're looking for.

You'll hear all the details from Ashley who has built not

one but 2 million businesses on Amazon and now shows others

how to do it too.

Ready to hear how Today I'm excited to introduce you to

Ashley Kincaid of Private Label Mastery.

Ashley is one of the premier and rare women in the

Amazon seller in e-commerce space.

She's personally sold over 2 million on amazon.com,

and no other woman has worked with more six,

seven, or eight figure Amazon sellers.

Then Ashley,

she took the earnings from her Amazon bath bomb business to

Her unique photon method helps Amazon sellers launch their products fast

and profitably.

Catch this in 60 days or less.

Ashley also is the host of the podcast Private Label Mastery,

and the author of Million dollar e-com Secrets.

Ashley, welcome to the Gift Biz Unwrapped podcast.

I am so excited to be here,

Sue, thank you for your time today.

I am curious about the conversation we're gonna get into,

so totally equally excited,

but as I shared with you initially,

I like to start off my show's in a little bit

of a different way,

and that is to get a peek into the inner Ashley

through a motivational candle.

So if you were to describe a candle that really would

resonate with you,

what does it look like by a color and a quote?

I would say the quote would be unapologetically ambitious.

That is actually one of our core values at my company

and it just really resonates with me.

So I think any entrepreneur should wanna have that candle,

right? So I would say it's maybe really fragrant,

maybe garden,

like I love floral candles.

That would just kind of be the feminine side of me,

and then the ambitious side of me too.

So that's a really fun question,

Sue. Well,

so I'm curious,

why do you say unapologetically?

I think that's a great question.

I think sometimes women in our space in e-commerce can kind

of apologize or not even see what's possible for them.

And so as a female founder and a female business owner,

I try not to apologize for things that I want business-wise

or success-wise or growth-wise.

So I think it's really important when you have those kind

of goals and you are that ambitious in a company that

you don't apologize for it,

especially when you're out there like I am on podcasts.

So that's one of my goals this year is to,

you know,

share my ambitions and also just be unapologetic about It.

Well, you speak very confidently and bold and proud,

just like you're talking about.

So your actions are already demonstrating that.

I think makers,

I know this to be true,

cuz I talk to,

a lot of them are bashful about their business because they've

heard people around them say,

oh, that's just a small little sideline business.

Or, oh look,

you're doing your cute business,

right? And that then feeds people in to being bashful about

their business,

if you will.

Did you ever have that and how did you overcome it

or what could you speak to with that?

Absolutely. I think that's such a great question.

I, and we have so many students who say the same

thing, you know,

and they're starting up a little business.

It isn't taken seriously by friends and family,

you know,

they can't see it.

You know,

you're working on your computer maybe after hours,

it may not seem legitimate to people who aren't in it

with you.

So I definitely experienced that myself.

Actually, you know,

my family didn't even really know about my Amazon bath bombs

business for a couple of years.

I just kind of kept it to myself.

I didn't really want the shunning,

the judgment,

the questions.

I just found it easier to kind of stay within my

Amazon seller community and people who knew what I was doing.

But you're right,

I think that,

you know,

until you at least made your first dollar,

it doesn't seem legitimate.

That's why I think so many people give up,

Sue, they think that they can't continue.

I think that's why it's so important to have either a

mentor or some kind of community of people who get you,

you know,

support what it is that you're doing if you don't have

the support of your family.

Absolutely. And you know,

I often tell people,

you know,

just keep going.

Don't pay attention to them,

have the support,

but you don't necessarily have to wait like you did and

share with them when you're successful.

You know,

like having done it in the background.

But it is one way to do it.

And you're one of the first people that I've talked to

who's really made a huge success while still shielding a little,

like keeping a little bit of a wall.

Yes. Between.

So I guess you could say you could do it both

ways, but now this brings up a question that I have

to ask you.

We wanna get into all of Amazon,

but share a little bit about bath bombs,

how you started and how that whole business developed.

Well, I never thought when I was a little girl,

I would grow up to sell bath bombs for sure.

That was not the plan or the master goal or anything

like that.

But I love to share about this too,

because I think it's a really good product for people to

consider selling,

and I love to teach people how to get into soaps

and bath bombs and natural making.

They don't necessarily have to take it to,

you know,

a million dollar business like I did,

but it's just a great niche.

But long story short,

about seven years ago I discovered selling on Amazon and had

no intentions of making it a real business.

I literally started it just to make some side money.

I was trying to help my mom go go to college

and was working multiple jobs and really just didn't see a

way out of that.

just searched,

how do you make money online?

So I mean,

it really was like that.

Never had a business before,

didn't have a business degree,

nothing whatsoever.

I was just a working kind of nine to five in

the corporate industry person and I discovered selling on Amazon.

I found a Facebook group about selling on Amazon,

and I'm really lucky because I think a lot of people

don't necessarily find the best methods whenever they do something like

that, or they get stuck in different business opportunities.

But anyway,

I discovered selling on Amazon and I opened my Amazon store

again, just in,

you know,

hoping to make a few thousand dollars maybe.

I really didn't know what it could become,

and I was just very excited when I made my first

sale on amazon.com

through the FBA program,

fulfillment by Amazon.

And my first sale was actually a book,

it was not a bath bomb.

I heard somewhere read someone in the Facebook group said,

oh what?

You can make money selling used books on Amazon.

So I was like,

wow, that sounds really easy to start and I don't have

a business right now and I don't have a lot of

money, so I'm gonna do this.

So I found some used books around the house and just

literally flipped them on Amazon for 10 or 11 bucks,

really easy way to kind of get my feet wet.

And I loved it.

I loved selling books so much that I took it to

like a seven figure book selling business on Amazon in about

two years.

And I had a big team working for me.

I had sourcers here in Dallas,

like going out to book sales.

For me,

I learned so many different ways to get books.

We would go out to local libraries and buy out bookstores.

I would use software online to find books even on Amazon

and flip them on Amazon for profits.

So textbooks,

all kinds of books I would sell on Amazon.

We would be shipping out boxes and boxes and boxes every

single day to Amazon.

And that actually got me to the point to where I

quit my full-time job in about a year and a half.

Then I went from that place to realizing,

wow, I,

selling books is a lot of fun,

but this is really tiring.

So I still look back on the day.

I was like driving around Dallas and my little Nissan versa

with like a four seat car in the middle of the

Dallas summer buying books.

It was pretty intense,

but I had a lot of goals in mind.

I really wanted to support myself and quit my day job.

So I realized I didn't wanna do that forever.

And so I started,

you know,

going back on Facebook and talking to people in the industry

about other ways I could sell on Amazon.

And I started going to a store,

it's called Lush at the mall.

It's a really popular bath bomb store,

soap store your listeners probably know about.

I was shocked to find out that people would buy these

bath bombs for 20 or $25 a piece.

Now these little bath bombs,

little soaps,

really simple products.

And I liked using them.

I used them myself,

and I realized,

wow, these are selling for a lot of money on Amazon.

And so I started a little arbitrage business,

basically buying these bath bombs from Lush and lush.com

and selling them on amazon.com.

And today those are,

I don't think you can even sell lush products on Amazon

several years later.

But anyways,

I realized this is really profitable and really easy.

And so I had a lot of fun doing that.

I really enjoyed making like bundles.

I got really creative with it.

I would make like Halloween packs and Christmas packs and sell

them on Amazon.

I would put like a lush bath bomb with like a

little lofa or different things like that.

And I was actually making a few thousand dollars a month

profit just flipping those bath bombs on Amazon.

And I moved kind of slow.

I realized,

wow, I could do this myself.

Why if Lush can take this bath bomb and sell it

for $25 when their cost is like $3 the manufacturer,

why can't I do something like that?

So I went out on a limb and I found a

manufacturer to make my own bath bombs,

and I found a manufacturer in Georgia,

like a small hometown kind of company that produced my first

private label bath bombs.

And my first couple sets on Amazon were bath bombs for

men and then also bath bombs with jewelry inside of them.

So I was one of the first people that sold those

kinds of products.

My company was one of the first that sold those products

on Amazon.

We were one of the earliest kind of entries into that

private label product and grew that to a seven figure company.

And then I started diversifying into different bath bombs,

had, I think at max about eight different listings on Amazon

of different bath bombs products.

So I had two different private label bath bombs brands on

Amazon. I eventually exited those brands.

It became a lot of work for me to manage.

And I took those funds and I founded Private Label Mastery

five years ago,

and we've now helped over thousands and thousands of people sell

on Amazon too,

in a do private label product.

So it's been a really fun journey,

but it all went back to a bath bomb and just

kind of taking a chance.

And I like to help people.

We've helped a lot of people get into the bath bombs

and soap making niche.

Typically we don't recommend doing it the way I just described

Sue. There's a more legitimate way to find manufacturers and suppliers

and things like that.

But that's how I got into bath bombs.

I love when I'm talking with someone who's had the experience

in what they're teaching now,

and you've done it in several ways,

books and then Bath bombs.

Couple of questions for you.

Why amazon.com

instead of Amazon Handmade?

Or was that not even available at the time?

It wasn't even available at the time,

and I really didn't know a lot about Amazon Handmade.

Typically today,

we don't do a lot of Amazon handmade,

given that my products weren't handmade,

they were manufactured by a supplier.

So we just list them under the regular amazon.com,

they would get a lot more traffic,

they'd get a lot more search velocity and things like that

listed under the main Amazon hand page.

But I do believe I listed a few products under Amazon

Handmade, but there isn't really a particular reason either way.

I have known some sellers who are very successful with a

handmade niche,

which just requires,

to my knowledge,

quite a bit more approval getting into the category and things

like that.

It also,

it does change how your products are indexed.

So generally we do advise people with bath bombs to sell

under amazon.com,

but handmade is definitely an option for some people too.

Okay. So I'd say 75% of my audience are handmade creators.

So they're making their own products.

They might have a team behind them,

but they're doing it all on site in a local production

facility, et cetera.

Wow. But then we have our other portion who are continuing

to grow and see it becomes unmanageable for them to do

it, or they don't wanna control a team and they go

and they outsource production.

So that will be helpful as we continue having the conversation

moving forward,

I think.

But I do have another question for you right here,

and that is,

you were already experienced with Amazon when you started your bath

bombs. Did you ever start thinking,

well, what about some of these other platforms,

Etsy or something else?

Or talk to me a little bit about that.

Absolutely. Actually,

one of the first private label products I manufactured,

again, I didn't hand make it myself,

was going through an Etsy vendor.

I found an Etsy vendor who was the handmade seller.

They made the bath bombs with the jewelry inside of them,

and then I would purchase those at scale from that supplier,

that handmade maker on Etsy,

repackage them,

white labeled them,

and then I sold them on Amazon.

So that's a great opportunity for your listeners to think about,

is those opportunities to maybe partner with an Amazon seller.

Amazon sellers maybe don't necessarily wanna hand make something,

but they see the opportunity to sell it on Amazon partner

or private label with that handmade seller.

So Etsy's great,

Etsy's amazing.

It is such a great platform to build a following and

sell something that's truly unique.

I personally have never sold on Etsy,

but like I said,

I have partnered with a seller that I found on Etsy,

and we work together for over a year and a half.

And this is on my bath bombs with jewelry.

We put necklaces and different things,

created a whole brand out of it called Bliq.

But then my desire wasn't to sell on Etsy.

I like FBA because they can just ship and fulfill everything

for me at scale.

But that's just a great thing for your listeners to think

about. Well,

and I'm also thinking that if someone is a handmade creator

and they wanna keep their brand unique to themselves,

you can still do that while supplying somebody else on Amazon

as you're talking about white labeling.

So you're not limited in that way either.

And maybe there are some things that you just offer that

are yours exclusively under your brand,

but then you can also have the Amazon play as well.

I mean,

Ashley, we talk a lot here about multiple streams of income.

So Amazon could be one,

Etsy could be one.

Absolutely. Local Craft shows could be one.

You know,

there are a lot of ways that you can do things.

Yeah, yeah.

So as we start off,

I'm really,

really excited to get into the photon system.

I'm really excited about that.

But what would you say are the biggest advantages of using

Amazon versus others?

What's the difference and what are the advantages?

I would say if you aren't a creative person,

if you're just someone who wants to get your feet wet

with e-commerce,

maybe you don't have an idea,

Amazon's nine outta 10 times the easiest place for someone to

start. If you're just wanting to make like I was,

you know,

make money with e-commerce,

you don't even know what product to sell.

Amazon provides that data.

Etsy doesn't provide that data in as much extent to sellers.

So if you can literally just open an Amazon FBA account,

set up a simple system like Jungle Scout or Helium 10,

which I use,

and then Amazon will literally feed you the products that are

selling and you just kind of plug in the dots and

sell that product.

So Amazon is really simple to get started just for everyday

people who maybe don't have a business yet.

Now, if you already have a successful handmade store on Etsy,

like I really encourage you to just take that to the

moon. I know some really successful Etsy sellers who have done

really well with that platform.

To me,

it's harder to get started if you're just kind of starting

from square zero.

But Amazon,

I love Amazon because I like to travel.

I don't like to package my products or do anything like

that. I've always spent like about 12 hours a week on

my Amazon business,

even when it was making,

you know,

over six figures a month.

And that was with really no employees once the time I

scaled my private label brand.

So that to me was the appeal of Amazon.

I didn't make as much money like profit as an Etsy

seller does,

I'm sure.

But overall,

just more of a lifestyle choice,

I think.

And I think that's typically why most people do sell on

Amazon. It is more of a lifestyle scaling type of choice.

But I've also heard of Etsy sellers doing really cool things,

like third party fulfillment.

So I'm certainly not judging Etsy seller.

They probably can do a lot that I don't even know

about. But yeah,

I'm just trying to ground everybody in terms of what Amazon

offers that's different than Etsy.

And it sounds like if you are someone who's making a

product and you are becoming overwhelmed with production,

this may be a time where you can make a switch

and have somebody else make it for you.

It's still your recipe,

it's still your creation,

but you have somebody else doing that.

To Ashley's point about lifestyle,

this could be a great solution.

And it sounds like Ashley,

when you're talking about if you don't even know what product

it is,

start resourcing,

finding what product and then sell it.

I think it's more of a commodity play then,

right? Like you're selling the product,

you're offering it,

you're making it attractive and interesting,

and yes,

you're gonna make more mar or less margin than you would

if it's your handmade product,

but you're not hands on with it anymore.

So to your point about lifestyle,

so people who have young children who are growing or you're

just getting tired of making all the time,

this could be something overlay on top of your love of

going to local craft shows,

but also make more money without your time in.

Yeah. So I just wanna position that,

but let me ask you one more question here.

It sounds like,

however, for those folks who don't know what product that you

need a level of resourcefulness as a skill.

Oh, absolutely,

absolutely. I think that yes,

resourcefulness that,

you know,

sometimes people come to me and Ashley and just want the

product, you know,

just tell me what product to sell,

what's a good product to sell the work and the successes

and the ability to find those products,

to identify those cool product ideas.

At Private Label Mastery,

we talk a lot about differentiation.

So that's really where our most successful students always are.

They're always in the place of differentiated product.

Meaning I can go tell people,

yes, you can go on Amazon right now and start bath

bombs with jewelry inside them and probably build a seven figure

business. So you just wanna copy my product idea.

But if you're really thinking in the right way,

you'll think about,

wow, that's a really cool idea.

Ashley sold,

but I'm gonna make it a little bit different.

Maybe I'm gonna do a bath bomb with a toy inside

of it,

or organic bath bombs.

You just take the idea and run with it,

find a little bit of a differentiation opportunity.

That's really where the private label opportunity is on Amazon.

Got it.

Okay. So you find the products that are popular that look

like they'd be a good category,

then you see what else is out there,

but then you make a twist.

You do something special and different and unique,

something that you can become known for.

Yes, it's just a slight differentiation.

And again,

your very first product on Amazon,

you do not have to overthink it.

It could literally be just a quantity difference.

For example,

I found with the bath bombs of jewelry inside of it,

some people weren't selling it in packs.

So a lot of people were Searchie for six packs.

They wanted more bath bombs of jewelry inside of 'em.

So I not just launched one bath bomb,

maybe six.

There's different ways that you can think about that Or different

audience. As you were talking about your bath bomb started to

men. Yes,

I really found that niche was at that time very untapped

on Amazon.

It was literally as simple as I went to amazon.com

and I started Searchie bath bombs,

and I saw all these items pop up,

search queries that I would type in and I would search

it, and there wasn't anything for that product.

So it told me people were Searchie for that product,

but it was not Amazon.

Interesting. All right,

so let's dive into photon the method and tell us all

about that.

Sure. Well,

photon is a really simple five step method where basically,

so you can think about product research in a different way,

finding those unique opportunities,

outsourcing, tapping into secret suppliers only the best,

and then nurture.

So we call that our five step process of how to

think about how to sell Amazon.

It's really simple.

You wanna find,

like I just said,

those unique opportunities.

Like in my case it was bath bombs with an adding

little piece of jewelry inside of it and then wrapping it

up and then outsourcing.

We really believe in outsourcing lifestyle business,

which a lot of your listeners might not be super familiar

with Sue if they're making their own products.

But for example,

most of our,

our businesses,

we don't even touch or see our products.

Everything's just outsourced through Amazon and a third party prep company.

So we literally design our product remotely,

send it to a third party warehouse that packages it from

a supplier,

and then it goes straight to Amazon fba,

tap into secret suppliers.

And a good example of that is what I did in

my business literally went on Etsy.

Like who would think to do that?

Right? Go on Etsy and like find person and ask if

they'll be your manufacturer.

Created a manufacturing agreement with them and they became a manufacturer

for Amazon.

So finding those unique opportunities,

whether it's maybe a domestic supplier or those opportunities as well.

And then nurture your product to success.

That's, and that basically means it takes time to be successful

on Amazon.

It took me a year to grow my private label business.

Didn't happen overnight.

I had some really bad products too that I had to

learn from,

but nurture to success,

like give yourself six months to a year as an Amazon

seller, keep reinvesting that money back in the business.

Don't expect overnight success with like a private label product,

but that's the concepts of photon.

It's just a simple way to think about finding a niche,

nurturing your product and finding a good supplier too.

Okay, I didn't quite catch all the five steps.

You went through 'em real fast.

Can we redefine them?

I got the unique opportunities is first,

outsourcing is second,

right? Outsourcing is the fourth one.

Oh wait,

okay. Unique opportunities is first,

then we're,

okay, what's two and three?

So follow the demand,

only the best products tap into secret suppliers,

outsource and then nurture.

Oh, okay.

Got it.

I might have misplaced it myself.

Okay. I was trying to write it down.

And then when you said you were done,

I was only on three.

I'm like,

wait, what?

Okay. And so when you were talking about really nurturing the

product to success,

do you start with just one product?

Do you only sell one product on Amazon?

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And when my business was the biggest,

I had about seven,

seven private label products on Amazon,

which is a lot.

I mean,

we have students in our program that have anywhere from one

to like 10,000

products. It really just depends on the product itself.

We kind of consider the magic formula to be like three

to five,

three to five private label products on Amazon.

As long as you have good products,

it's really all you need to bring in like at least

$10,000 a month in sales.

And you know,

most people I work with see are pretty thrilled with that.

So that's what we would recommend is like more than one,

one product is really risky because if you go outta stock

on Amazon,

you have no money coming in.

So at least three to five different products.

But as far as starting with one,

it's better to test a few products than to just go

all in on one bath bomb.

For example,

I tested different kinds of bath bombs.

I didn't just list one bath bomb on Amazon,

different quantities,

different necklaces,

different rings,

the men's bath bombs.

We tried different scents and things like that.

So I do believe in testing.

We really believe in testing and then putting it on Amazon

for at least seven days,

seeing which one sells the most consistently every single day,

and then restocking the winners basically.

Okay. I think this is also where Amazon is very,

very different than Etsy.

You know,

when Etsy,

when you're developing a shop,

you wouldn't just put one product on there because people are

going directly to your shop.

It's like,

wait, wait,

they're only selling the one thing.

So this is a different mindset for people who are listening.

So on Etsy,

you're going to have more selection,

more product on Amazon.

I think just the way,

I mean,

I think of my behavior on Amazon when I'm going,

I'm either if,

unless I'm buying something that I've already purchased,

so I know exactly which brand,

which product.

If someone's going on Etsy,

they are Searchie for the product.

And so you need to come up that way.

So someone who is buying bath bombs,

for example,

they see your bath bombs and decide they're gonna buy,

they're not necessarily going to your store to see what else

you have.

They're buying those bath bombs that come up,

right? Yes.

We don't get a lot of store traffic on Amazon,

Right? So it's a different approach and I think that's something

I've talked with other people about Amazon before and that's something

I really didn't recognize until we started having those conversations.

Yeah. Also,

we're limited like Etsy sellers,

gosh, you have so many benefits.

I don't think you don't have storage limits when you saw

an Etsy,

to my understanding.

So at Amazon you have to start small.

You can't just send in,

you know,

a thousand bath bombs to Amazon the first day.

They limit how much you can send in.

Oh, that's interesting.

Is that to see how much product actually moves.

So they're not taking up warehouse space,

Right? So all the products going to Amazon's warehouses,

Amazon obviously doesn't have infinite warehouses.

So if you're a new seller,

they wanna basically make sure you know how to sell items

that are actually gonna sell.

Back in the day,

they didn't have those limits,

but now if they do,

it's still pretty high for a new seller.

But once you prove that your items sell and you move

through your inventory,

they increase your limits.

Okay, well that makes sense too.

I mean,

I think that protects a seller too.

You know,

you're not making so much and then it's just sitting there

and not being used.

And heaven forbid if it's something that diminishes in quality over

time, like cents or things like that,

you don't want them just sitting there.

For sure.

What type of reporting does Amazon give you then of your

sales? Because if they're fulfilling,

how do you know what selling?

Sure. So you get all kinds of reports from Amazon,

from a sell through rate,

inventory levels on a monthly basis.

So Amazon actually provides probably a lot more insight than Etsy

does. I'm not really familiar.

I'm, I'm sure Etsy sellers at certain levels get really good

reporting too.

But Amazon provides extensive reporting.

You have to keep a pretty good sell through rate.

I believe it's at least two to 3% today,

meaning at a monthly basis,

like your items have to sell at Amazon.

So they provide extensive reporting where you're able to really see

like how much of an inventory is selling through every month,

what are my best selling SKUs?

So Amazon makes it almost dummy proof to not know,

you know,

what's selling,

but that's really the whole game of being an Amazon seller,

just being able to manage your inventory and ideally trying to

sell through things pretty quickly.

Keeping the cash flow going in the business,

Managing your inventory,

but not physically,

which is what a lot of people are doing now.

Yeah, Not physically.

We just send it into Amazon and then we manage it

through the Amazon seller system and we know how many units

are in stock.

We are able to directly in Amazon manage that.

And what happens if you don't hit the sell through rates?

Do they drop you or what happens there?

They force you to destroy the inventory eventually.

Or you can just pay really high storage rates.

We pay storage rates anyway every month at Amazon.

Basically buy square cubic feet.

It's like renting a storage unit,

literally like how much feet you're taking up on Amazon.

And then if your items don't sell in a certain amount

of time,

you'll start getting the extended storage rates.

I, I believe it's over six months if items sell over

six months.

I could be wrong on that today,

but, so that's why your motivation is to sell through stuff

faster, sell through your inventory faster.

So this is not a type of business structure where you're

just gonna send the product over and then think you're done.

Amazon doesn't do the work for you.

You have to do that work.

And that's probably part of what you teach,

right, Ashley?

Yeah, we do teach people.

I think that's really the name of the game is managing

your inventory.

Well, thinking about it as a real business,

Amazon does a lot of the heavy lifting,

the storage,

they do all the customer service,

90% of it,

they do all the fulfillment.

So you don't actually have to box and ship your bath

bombs to each individual person.

That would be really crazy.

So if you don't really know our customers in that level

or talk to 'em,

but we just get do the fun stuff like product research,

making the listings,

getting the photos taken,

designing everything,

the logos.

Yeah. Okay.

And you bring up a good point that I was gonna

wanna talk with you about.

You never have the customer contact information,

so in terms of developing an email list or anything like

that, that's not part of the system with Amazon,

right? It is not.

And then it's one of the big downsides of being an

Amazon seller.

I'm, I'm not aware if Etsy sellers can do that as

well. No,

they can't either.

Yeah. Yeah.

So I mean that's why I think it's so smart for

people to,

one, if you have a private label brand,

you're welcome to put your website on your products on Amazon,

you're absolutely allowed to do that.

So most of us,

we will direct customers that can go to the website and

capture their email there when we do that.

But Amazon does not have like an internal system where you

instantly get a customer's email?

No, they're Amazon's customers.

Okay. And it's okay if you put your website on your

product, are you able to put any pamphlets or literature in

with the packets?

You can.

And that's always a little bit of a gray area with

Amazon. Most private label sellers definitely do direct.

You can absolutely direct traffic to your website.

Now if you can't put a little pamphlet in that says

like, you know,

give me your email now I really wanna contact you.

That kind of stuff.

It has to be a little bit more indirect with that.

But most private label sellers do put a template,

a little insert that has their website and then at that

website, as long as it's externally,

you're absolutely allowed to capture emails.

And that's how we built our email list with our brand.

It's not as effective as just getting it directly.

But again,

you're not really paying for that traffic,

so you don't get those emails quick yourself.

Yeah, you know,

I'm kind of thinking,

if I were doing something like this,

let's say I was making handmade scarves or something,

I'd love to have a pamphlet that shows different ways to

tie the scarves and then,

hey, if you have any questions,

feel free to reach out to me.

So it's not as promotional,

but they're still that linkage back to you.

Now, granted,

how many people are actually gonna do that?

Maybe 5%.

I mean,

it's still a small percent,

but you still get them.

Yeah, we see conversions of five to 10%,

like our best campaigns that we've seen with like insert cards

and gather about 10%.

Okay, well that's good.

Yeah, so one of the things that I love about Amazon

is if I don't like it,

I can return it and then make it super,

super easy for you.

I know right To Do.

I'm one of those customers.

If I'm buying something for travel,

I might buy three different things or my new puppy,

three different beds,

and then I return the ones I don't want.

Not nice,

I get it.

I'm doing that less.

But what happens in your situation than with returns?

Well, I mean,

any Amazon seller will tell you,

Sue, we don't like returns.

It's like an ugly stepchild we don't like to talk about.

Cuz they are high,

they are high.

You know,

Amazon makes it super easy to return stuff and Amazon does

side on the side of the buyer.

You know,

as long as we always tell our students if it's less

than like 5%,

you're good.

If you have higher than that,

you may have a defective product or like a really high

return category,

which we don't recommend.

Like electronics has super high returns on Amazon,

clothing has really high returns on Amazon.

Other categories have like super low returns like office products.

So we advise our students to be selective with the kind

of products they sell,

and then also to just ensure they're not selling something that's

like really prone to break or be very defective.

Because if you do go over that like three to 5%

threshold, Amazon does kind of slap you on the wrist.

And if it goes on really long-term,

you might not be able to sell that product anymore.

So Amazon handles all the returns.

That's what's really great about Amazon.

So you as an Amazon seller don't have to actually see

anything that comes back at all.

It just comes out of your account if they decide to

refund the customer and your goal is just to sell more.

Yeah, I mean,

I remember Amazon used to approach me at shows all the

time wanting to sell my product.

Mine is a high price product and the thing I,

you know,

a thousand $1,500

product. Oh wow.

What I had always heard,

and I'm just wondering if it's still like this today,

is they told me if anything is ever returned,

it just gets tossed.

Like it doesn't go back into inventory.

A lot of times it does get repackaged.

Someone actually assesses it when it comes back and it either

gets tossed or it gets repackaged and put back in the

inventory if it's a certain category might be marked as used

and then sold for discounted price on Amazon.

But no,

it just,

it doesn't get tossed automatically.

But you know,

Amazon sellers all have stories about items getting,

like getting returns and like,

wow, I can't believe Amazon considered this discarded,

but Amazon either puts it back on the shelf,

they will toss it and that is comes out of your

pocket as an Amazon seller,

or they'll repackage it and try to resell it.

Okay. But you know,

honestly, there's pros and cons with every platform,

even your own,

even when you're doing it just yourself.

So Right.

These are just things to know,

so, and is it true that if you are listing on

Amazon, you really need to throw some money behind it to

get seen?

Yes. Yes you do.

I mean,

that's probably a little different than Etsy or other websites.

You do need some more money to play.

I think I started private label with like $500.

So that's not gonna be doable for someone that wants to

launch bath bombs today.

It's very competitive.

You need more like $5,000

to go out there and get some good stuff together.

So we generally recommend Sue,

like if you wanna start your own natural brand on Amazon

to have at least five to $10,000

just to play around with,

to really get a good test on Amazon.

So it does involve some funds.

You don't have to have that much,

but it,

it just will take you more time to get results.

Well, and that makes sense.

I think we've all gotten a little bit spoiled when social

media first came out and you put things on Facebook and

you didn't have to pay a thing and everybody who followed

you saw your products.

And now we know that it's maybe one or 3% if

you post,

we'll even see it if you're lucky.

But before that,

if you were going into business,

you were doing ads,

you were doing radio spots,

you were going into your local newspaper.

So you have to be in that mindset if you wanna

get exposure and get people to see you.

So I just don't want people to be like shocked with

the dollars numbers you're throwing out.

Because remember,

that's just also not money that's being wasted.

That's money to create sales with money coming back to you

so it just doesn't go out and not come back.

Yeah, I mean we start pay per click with the littlest

$10 a day.

You know,

we see products,

that's all the need to get clicks on Amazon.

So it's not like thousand dollars to start advertising on Amazon.

You can literally start with five or $10 a day.

Perfect. I love hearing that.

That's good.

That's wonderful.

All right,

share with us a little bit about your book and your

podcast where people can learn more if they're interested.

Sure. I have a free copy of my book at my

website. It's called ashley kincaid.com/welcome.

You can download my book for free.

It's actually the whole story of my bath bombs business.

I mean,

I share the products,

I share the pictures,

I share the brands.

I'm super open and transparent about what I started.

That's my book.

And I also have a podcast called the Private Label Mastery

Podcast. We are one of the top ranked podcasts for Amazon

private label sellers.

There's about 150 episodes and lots of interviews,

lots of guests,

mostly private label focused.

So people who wanna learn what I just talked about,

like making your own private label brand on amazon.com.

That's really what we focus on.

You go to iTunes,

Spotify, just search the Private Label Mastery podcast.

We are up there.

Perfect. Wonderful.

And for someone who has now been intrigued by our conversation,

what would you say to them about,

you know,

your optimism of the future of Amazon as a platform and

as a new creator going on to that platform?

Well, gosh,

I am super excited for anyone who wants to get started

on Amazon today.

I mean,

the next 10 years are,

if you think e-commerce is big now,

believe it or not,

most people still don't even shop on Amazon according to Amazon's

own report.

So there is so much opportunity to create something new.

We see people in our program doing it every single day,

like products that aren't even on Amazon and they're bringing new

items to Amazon.

So there's a lot of opportunity.

You just gotta work a little bit harder than everyone else.

And we think of a little bit of a different idea,

like I talked about with my bath bobs,

and you'll do really,

really well.

And like I said,

stick with it.

Get some kind of mentoring.

It could be with me or with somebody else.

Just get some kind of help to get started on Amazon,

but stick with it and just be persistent.

Wonderful. Thank you so much,

Ashley. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing all this

goodness about Amazon.

Some of it that I didn't even know I've learned here

today as well.

Appreciate you being,

being on the show.

Thank you.

Sue. Have we got you thinking about Amazon in a different

way? Maybe you'd even wanna consider a combination of your current

handmade business with an Amazon option.

Remember, you are in control and steer your business in whichever

way you like.

One thing Ashley emphasizes several times that I'd like to underscore

is the concept of making your product different in some way.

If you've been with me for a while,

you recognize this as your unique special power concept,

you can achieve this with traditional handmade products or with an

amazon.com model as discussed in this show.

Seriously, I want you to think about it.

And if you're enjoying the podcast and would like to show

support, a rating and review is always fabulous because it helps

get the show seen by more makers.

It's a great way to pay it forward.

And there's another way where you can get something tangible in

return for your support too.

Visit my merch shop for a wide variety of inspirational items

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and more featuring logos,

images, and quotes to inspire you throughout your day.

Makes a great gift too.

And we've just added some new products for the season to

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Turnaround is quick and the quality is top notch,

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Take a look at all the options@giftbizunwrapped.com

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And now be safe and well and I'll see you again

next time on the Gift Biz Unwrapped podcast.

I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group

called Gift Biz Breeze.

It's a place where we all gather and are a community

to support each other.

I got a really fun post in there that's my favorite

of the week,

I have to say,

where I invite all of you to share what you're doing

to show pictures of your product,

to show what you're working on for the week,

to get reaction from other people.

And just for fun,

because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody

in the community is making.

My favorite post every single week.

Without doubt.

Wait, what?

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If not,

make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

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Don't delay.