Amazon sellers are a dime a dozen these days. There’s countless Amazon FBA courses, each with hundreds or even thousands of students, and every day you see some new YouTuber or Instagram influencer saying how they’re doing six or seven or sometimes even eight figures a year through their Amazon store, right? But what’s realistic? Like how much is the average Amazon seller making? Answering that accurately’s like trying to put together an IKEA dresser, but here goes.
So first things first. Most people are just gonna read articles like this and go down the YouTube rabbit hole, maybe buy, I dunno, Tom Wang’s course, go through a few modules, ask some questions in the Facebook group, almost call a supplier, and then quit, right? Why? Because things that are new and scary and hard are just that: new and scary and hard. And so it’s too easy to binge-watch Ozark Season 4 instead. Which, A) the plot got way too weird, and B) dude, why can’t Ruth act in other shows? Like, it’s bad.
Anyways, the disclaimer I’m getting at is, if we’re talking average average? I’d say the average Amazon seller’s gonna self-sabotage and not make anything. Maybe even lose some money, like I said, on a course, software, tools, all the getting ready to get ready stuff. Now. If we graduate beyond that, to like the people who’re actually gonna order some product and have it shipped to one of Amazon’s warehouses, and complete their listing, and actually make an attempt to market it? Different story.
One with a much better outlook. Although, still maybe not that great compared to other online businesses. But here’s the deal. Most Amazon FBA experts agree that you shouldn’t expect to be profitable in the first few months, maybe even the first six months. After that, Jungle Scout, one of the top Amazon seller tools, ran some surveys. Keep in mind, the success of their company hinges on you believing Amazon’s a viable business for the everyday person, right? So I’d imagine their numbers are inflated a bit.
That said, what did they find? Apparently, the average monthly sales for half of all active Amazon sellers was between one thousand and twenty-five thousand dollars a month. Which, if held steady for an entire year, would mean anywhere from twelve to three hundred K. Now, couple things. One, that’s a huge range. But it does make me more confident in the numbers because there’s so many variables at play. Two, and even more important, that’s revenue. Not profit. The real question: How much of that’s take-home?
Depends on who you ask. The guy on TikTok, who’s always in Dubai, because he’s supposedly so rich off his Amazon store, will probably tell you forty percent of that would be your profit. So best best case, for the average guy or gal, would be approximately a hundred and twenty K in annual profit. But a lot of in-the-trenches Amazon sellers (who aren’t trying to get you to buy a seven thousand dollar coaching program) might say margins are more like ten percent. Which’d mean, what, thirty K, profit, on the year? Meh.
But you see why it’s complicated? It not only depends on you and your mindset and decision-making and follow-through, but the product and market conditions and competition and whatever else, right? And then, yeah, you have those outliers who’re in the top one percent of Amazon sellers, making yep-I’ve-got-a-BAYC-for-my-profile-pic money. Odds are, you won’t. And so, taking it all in, I guess I’m surprised so many people are willing to give Amazon a shot. It’s a lot of work and capital and risk and patience just to maybe one day make not-enough-to-quit-your-day-job money.
