Owning and managing an Amazon Arbitrage business might sound like it’s a simple task. Yes, you look for profitable products, then, prep them and ship them to an Amazon Fulfillment Center. Simple as that.
Simple, yes but not easy!
Buying low and selling high is the general idea. However, there are tasks in between that can be tedious, even to seasoned sellers, and time consuming. One of those tasks is the prepping and shipping of your products. You see, prepping your products to be sent to Amazon is not as easy as putting your items within a box, seal it, then send it away. Do that and you’ll instantly get a rejection from Amazon if your goods are not prepped in line with their guidelines.
There are multiple requirements that you should follow and meet should you choose to prep and ship the items yourself. We’ve prepared a prep checklist to get you started with prepping within your Amazon Arbitrage business.
On the other hand, there are businesses that can take care of the logistics part of your Amazon business. These businesses are often called Prep Centres. The good news is, if you are still unsure whether you want to outsource this part of your biz or not, this article will provide you with the benefits of doing just that.
What Are Prep Centres?
As mentioned above, Prep Centres are businesses that offer prepping and shipping of your items to an Amazon Fulfilment Center. There are quite a number of Prep Centres that you can choose from. And, these businesses offer services, or perks, that differ from one another. There are prep centres where you can ship the items directly from the supplier. Then, there are some where you can send the items to them, and will prep your items according to Amazon’s requirements.
Personally, we use We Prep UK prep centre, and we haven't had any issues since we started partnering with them. If you want to check them out, use the code “GOVIP” and get the VIP fulfilment service for 1 whole month - FREE of charge! That’s £95 savings.
What Are The Benefits Of Outsourcing To A Prep Centre?
Now that we’ve already established what Prep Centres are, we now discuss what you get in return should you choose to outsource.
Work Quality
The most important part in an Amazon business is to sell your products. No matter how profitable your products are, if you are not able to sell it then you won’t get any profit from it.
With that said, how will you be able to sell your products if Amazon won’t accept your shipment?
Prep centres focus and specialise in prepping your items. These businesses know what Amazon requires within a shipment for it to be accepted without any penalties, or to be accepted altogether. You can be guaranteed that your products will arrive in an Amazon Fulfilment Center with the correct packaging, labels etc.
Cost Efficient
Prepping on your own will require you to purchase prepping materials such as packaging tapes, polybags, boxes and the like. These items may sound affordable individually. However, if you account for them altogether, you will realise that it’s not as cheap as you thought it was.
You also have to account for the cost of shipping your products to Amazon.
With prep centres, they offer service plans where you can choose the most suited one based on your business needs. Some prep centres offer monthly fees, some offer fees depending on the weight or count of your products, and some even offer free trials!
Once you’ve paid your fee, then they will do the rest for you.
Time Efficient
As you’re starting out, prepping your items can be sort of a fun activity that you can do at home. I’ve talked to some sellers who even said that they consider prepping quite therapeutic.
However, as your business grows, the number of products you source and purchase also increase. With that, the time it takes for you to prep your items will also increase. You might not immediately find it time consuming, but you will slowly realise it. You’ll start missing watching your favourite series, or might get late on some engagements etc.
Needless to say, prep centres will help you get your time back.
High-Valued Tasks
It has been mentioned that when you outsource the prepping of your products, then, you’d have more time in your hands. And, if you have more time, then, you’ll be able to focus on more important tasks within your business.
These are called high-valued tasks. If you have a VA or a team of VAs, then you’d be able to focus on their development which in turn will help your business. On the other hand, if you don’t have a VA yet, there’s that potential of hiring a Sourcing VA who could help you scale up your business faster. You’d also have time to look at your current processes, and see what’s working and which ones need improvement.
The bottom line is, you’d be able to focus more on tasks that are critical for your business development.
Risk Management
Hiring a prep centre will guarantee you that your items will arrive properly packaged within an Amazon Fulfilment Center. This is with minor to zero packaging defects at all. Prep Centres know how to pack a specific product that follows Amazon guidelines.
Apart from that, you can be sure that your customer will be delighted once the product arrives at their doorstep. This will provide a great customer experience, which in turn could help boost your legitimacy as a seller with great reviews and feedback.
Final Words
Prep Centres are your go to businesses if you’re at the stage wherein you already find prepping and shipping as costly, time-consuming and tiring. Also, if you're looking to partner with a legitimate prep centre, we highly suggest you check We Prep UK. They've been in the business for how many years now, and their service is top notch quality. If you want to check them out, use the code “GOVIP” and get the VIP fulfilment service for 1 whole month - FREE of charge! That’s £95 savings.
However, if you’re one of those sellers who still opt to prep and ship your items, then hats off to you. Prepping is not an easy task. Again, if you are just starting out and are self-prepping at the moment, check out our prepping checklist to help you with this task.
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Need More Help? Here Are Some Additional Resources
Get Coaching: Want our help growing your eCom business? Apply for our Arbitrage Experts Academy Programme Here.
Free Training: How to start, systemise and scale your online business. Register Here.
Book a FREE Strategy Call: Get 1-2-1 support from the OSC Team to devise a tailor made plan you can follow to achieve scale. Click Here.
Get Expert Virtual Assistants: Want to build your team of transformational VAs and free your time? Learn more here.
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