Getting Burnt when Stocking Up
Hello, fairly new around here (from May 21) and although only lurking so far, have found the forums very helpful - many thanks to those who help others with their knowledge and experience.
My question is - is it worth the risk to maintain ‘back-up’ stock at my premises? I am an FBA seller.
I figured (maybe wrongly) that Amazon want to encourage you to do this, so you can quickly replenish rather than overload their fulfilment centres.
Space is not a problem, but committing cash to stock a listing only to find Amazon jumping on it (when they were seemingly uninterested) and selling at a price that you’d have to make a loss to compete with IS. I get that you have to compete with other sellers, but Amazon is in a class of it’s own.
Anyone with advice they can share on this issue would be much appreciated. I’m torn between only ordering from wholesalers/distributors when stuff is almost sold out, or keeping stuff in stock here so I can get it into Amazon ‘just in time’. (Ha ha, am beginning to realise that strategy doesn’t always work with the variability of UPS collection/Receiving/FC Transfer times.)
Thanks for your time 
0 replies
Seller_AeSYBToQ271lM
This is a total judgement call! Personally the things that I know will and are selling quickly I will keep in stock. Things that are slower sellers but I know I can get from my suppliers relatively quickly I don’t so much. It also can change for different times of the year as you have to try and factor in the time it takes Amazon to check items in which can range from anything to 24-48hours to weeks as you’ve found out. Personally I try and keep a month’s worth in FBA at all times and then I work backwards to ensure that I have the stock ready to send in to top up in FBA.
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
The only real answer that anyone can give you is “It depends”…
If your only selling on Amazon FBA, then there is no real need to store stock elsewhere. Unless it is particularly fast selling and supplies cannot be got, particularly quickly.
I have storage space, but it is only ever used for incoming goods, to be processed and then sent out to Amazon. Other than the small amount that I sell by other means.
However, if you are running your own website, selling on Ebay, Onbuy etc and you want to fulfil the orders yourself, your going to need some stock on hand.
But the main trick, is to keep about a month or so’s worth of stock actually at Amazon. Replenish well before your due to run out.
Seller_dLnqRmr6MQQeP
Thanks Katie and Neil for your replies. I have been wary of sending a month’s worth at a time because I’m a bit anxious about storage limits/fees - especially if a product suddenly stops selling. This hasn’t happened often, but I seem to have had a little spate of it and am maybe being a little reactionary!
I’ll take your advice and go for what looks to be a month’s worth of stock - it does seem to be very disruptive for a longer time than I thought when things run out of stock at Amazon.
Thanks again for taking the time.
Seller_AeSYBToQ271lM
Something else I normally do but has been pretty much impossible this year for me due to last years crazy high sales I had…
I look back three months so for example Jun-Aug and look at quantity sold of something, then compare it to the same period the year before. If Jun-Aug this year had 100 sales (as an example) and last year Jun-Aug had similar, then I can say with some “certainty” (I use " "!) that whatever the sales were last year for Sept-Dec should be the same for this Sept-Dec. Sometimes it doesn’t work out but most of the time it’s about right. I also apply a bit of logic, like if last year had loads of snow and therefore sold loads of sledges etc then it doesn’t mean this year I will.
Hope that helps
Seller_MT8rt0A2OpbCx
If you keep some stock, then if Amazon suddenly sell out / delay adding your new stock, or anything else, you can do FBM and keep the sales going. It’s obviously more efficient, especially with cash flow, if you can replenish as frequently as possible, but the delay is out of your hands. Having little stock also enables you to react quicker, so, if Amazon pricing makes your product unviable, you can drop that and get something profitable.
Also, Amazon is a fragile basket to keep all your eggs in. Other eBaskets and your own website to build your brand elsewhere dilute the risk considerably, and maybe make more profit.
Seller_6sxtIS0RbZ5k7
Once you know roughly how many you are selling during the time it takes to restock (allow for getting new stock from supplier and the time waiting to get it into receiving at Amazon) you could make sure you always have that amount on hand. So, say you are selling 50 a month and it takes a week to get new stock and another week until it goes on sale, you would need to have 25 on hand to send in to cover you for that 2 weeks.
Seller_MKi6wqe68YZuu
Step back and rethink the concept of FBA.
Amazon gets your stock without paying for it, charges you to store it and charges you to get it back if it doesn’t sell. Who takes all the risk?
