Overview:
Amazon is the world’s largest and most efficient shipping center. Because of their volume, Amazon also has the lowest shipping costs in the world. With FBA, you can leverage their shipping experience and low costs to work for you. Amazon fulfillment is like having your own personal drop shipper, but with one important distinction. Unlike a drop shipper, where you do not actually own the merchandise in the warehouse, with FBA the products they pick, pack and ship are all yours.

Amazon has a great 5-minute video overview tour of an Amazon Fulfillment Center here.

How it works:
Amazon fulfillment services, like all things Amazon are easy to implement. Each item that goes to Amazon gets a special adhesive label. These can be printed on your own printer with special Avery 5160 Address Labels, or with a dedicated Label printer like the Dymo 450 Turbo. You can ship to Amazon as many items as you want, and ship them at Amazon’s discounted shipping rate. This is about 20% the cost of retail. For example, I can send a 40 pound box from Salt Lake City where I live to the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Phoenix Amazon for under $8.00. Once items arrive, Amazon will add the items to your active inventory on the Amazon Marketplace. If they sell on Amazon, they will automatically ship, as well as handle all customer inquiries, returns etc. You can also have Amazon send the items anywhere in the world, although the fees are slightly higher than if you have them send the item to an Amazon buyer. If you want the item back or destroyed, then they can do that, too.

Amazon Fulfillment Centers in the US:
Arizona
Delaware
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Nevada
Pennsylvania
Texas
Virginia
To check for additional centers worldwide click here.

Amazon FBA Fees:*
Items selling on Amazon are charged the standard Amazon selling fees.
Shipping items to Amazon: Currently items can be ship to Amazon at Amazon’s low rates using UPS, or other providers based on weight and size.
Order handling fee: There is no handling fees for FBA items sold on Amazon. Amazon charges $1.90 and up depending on speed of the shipping service for items sold and shipped to third parties.
Pick & Pack fee: Amazon charges $0.50 and up for items sold on the Amazon Marketplace, and $0.60 for items shipped outside of Amazon.
Weight Handling: $0.40 per pound for Amazon sales, and $0.45 and up for items shipped outside the Amazon Marketplace.
Storage Fees: $0.45 per cubic foot per month. Storage fees do not change based on where you sell and ship the inventory.
Fees shown are based on media items; check on Amazon for FBA rates on other items.
Fees may change. For current Amazon fees, or non-media fees click here.

Amazon provides a handy rate calculator to find your profit and fees using FBA here.

Advantages of FBA:

• Access to the lowest shipping rates in the world.
• No additional cost based on distance in the US, including Alaska and Hawaii.
• Outsource your shipping time and fees to the most efficient shipper in the world.
• Amazon will handle all shipping, customer support, and returns.
• Items ship 24/7.
• Additional sales on the Amazon marketplace. Estimated 40-50% of all Amazon buyers only buy items fulfilled by Amazon.
• Eligible for Amazon Prime and Free standard shipping, 2 day shipping, and overnight shipping, at fixed prices.
• FBA items can be shipped to sales made off Amazon.

Disadvantages of Amazon Fulfillment:

• Item has to be in the Amazon catalog to be eligible.
• Requires a special label printer, or special label paper.
• Inventory is tied-up and unavailable for 3-4 days while it is shipped and processed.
• Unsold items accrue storage fees.

Conclusion:
While Fulfillment By Amazon may not work for all business, it should be considered, as it has many advantages for the seller in increased sales, and decreased storage, shipping & handling fees. Amazon buyers win, too, as they show a clear preference for items shipped from Amazon.

Skype is down today, but is it out?

Today, December 22nd and Skype has been completely down for over 8 hours.  Why?

Do you Skype? I do. I use it to communicate with people in the US, and with people overseas. Clients, and contract employees.

Want to Instant Message? Skype can do that.

Want to voice chat? Skype can do it.

Want to Video Conference, Skype can do that as well.

One of my favorite new uses of skype though is for screen sharing. For example, I make a new site for someone, and need to train them how to use it.  If we both have skype (or if they quickly setup a free skype account) then they can share their screen with me, and in just a few minutes I can watch as they interact with the new site, coaching them though it all the way.

But, today I can do none of it because of the Skype outage.

Will I give up on Skype. Nope. Hopefully by tomorrow they will be back n full force.

Looking to get skype for you business?
Download now:
Skype for Business

Recently a friend asked my opinion on projectors for giving presentations.  Here are a few things to consider:

• Bulb life: One of the biggest considerations besides cost is how long the bulb will live, and how much it will cost to replace it. Typical is about 2,000 hours per bulb. I would look for something with a longer life, since the bulbs can cost nearly as much as the projector.  Of course the new LED projectors never need new bulbs, but are not bright enough to use anywhere but in a very dark room.
• Replacement Bulb Availability:  Make sure to buy from a reputable manufacturer to ensure the bulbs will be available when you need them. A few good names in projectors are: Epson, Infocus, , Optoma, and Veiwsonic.
• Brightness: Look for 2,000 or more lumens if you plan to project in a room with some ambient light.
• Speakers: Many projectors have build in speakers. They may be very weak and ineffective for large audiences. If you are looking to use the built in speakers,the more watts the speakers are rated to the better. As an alternative buy computer speakers. The drawback of using the computer speakers is another piece to lug around, so may not be preferable for the traveler.  If you are showing in the same location every time, this may be the best option.
• Resolution: The more resolution the bigger you can project and still have it look good. Most will start at 800X600 which should be sufficient for smaller venues.
• Optical zoom: Some projectors are fixed size, so if you want the image to fit a certain screen size, your only option is to move the projector forward or back. But, projectors with optical zoom allow you to adjust the image size up or down without moving the projector. A handy feature if your unsure of the venue before hand.
• Price: These days, you can find a good projector with 5,000+ bulb life, 2,000+ lumens, decent built in speakers, and higher resolution, and optical zoom for under $1,000.

One of the best place to find projectors is on Amazon. Review the customer comments to make sure the item is popular and rated highly.

Here are a few recommendations on Amazon:

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 705 HD 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector

ViewSonic PJD5122 SVGA DLP Projector -120Hz/3D Ready, 2500 Lumens, 3000:1 DCR

Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)

eBay On Location September 1st & 2nd 2010  and 15th anniversary in San Jose.

eBay On Location San Jose 2010

Here are the 5 things I learned:

1. eBay on location VS eBay live: In 2007 and 2008 I went to eBay Live in Boston and then in Chicago. The events were amazing. Amazing to have 10,000 eBay freaks together. Amazon go have nearly every aspect of eBay's operation represented. Amazing top shelf speakers.eBay on location, and there were 4 of these events over the year, were easily 1/4 as amazing. To be totally honest, it felt a little like the difference between going to Costco and going to Roger's Market down he street here in Podunk McKinleyville, Ca. Authors Below were great and exception.
   

   Me with bestselling authors Mike Michalowicz & John Jantsch

2. Where's the love: Buyers, Sellers and investors always loved eBay. It was a great platform that was simple to buy or sell, fair, and made many people into full or part time successful entrepreneurs. But, in 2008 in Chicago the mood was sour, eBay had just announced that they were making some changes that most active sellers were not in favor of, including restrictions on feedback that sellers could leave for buyers, and a fee increase marketed as a few decrease. At one point while grilling the top eBay executives a group of PowerSellers were downright hostile and perhaps without merit. There was a lot of talk of people leaving eBay to go to... Maybe Amazon, maybe start their own web store, anywhere but eBay. So, how was the mood in 2010? Most of the negativity was gone, but a lot that early love  was lost as well. The people there talked about selling on Amazon, and on their own sites, and on eBay too.
   

   Me and Lorrie Norrington the President of eBay Marketplaces.

3. eBay on Location: Your in business. The tagline "Your in Business" was the key key here. eBay buyers, sellers and executives agree eBay is becoming more competitive, and more big business friendly. No longer can mom and pop sell something on eBay and be assured success and lack of competition. No, your competition may be the family living next to you, Best Buy, or the manufacturer in China making the items for Best Buy.
   

   New Eco friendly Boxes With Tracking. Do you know where your box has been?

4. Going mobile: One group that got a lot of attention was the eBay mobile team. I saw an iPhone list a product in under a minute. That is faster than I can do normally. And one of the new apps will allow you to pull some clothes for sale, and superimpose it over a picture of anything on your smart phone camera. You, your girlfriend, your dog. And, a number of sellers talked about how they travel with their smart phone and research items while they go to tag sales, department stores, etc.  So, if you have a tag sale, don't be surprised to see people checking the value of your stuff with their smart phone, instead of buying first, and researching later.
   

   At eBay HQ: The Whitman Center in San Jose.

5. A proper shopping cart: As a seller I have having my items sell, and then never getting paid and never hearing from the buyer. It's rare, but it happens. And, meanwhile you cannot relist the item until you have confirmed that the buyer isn't going to pay for it. A process that take about 10 days at least. Within the next year, I would expect to see eBay launch some kind of cart system for non auction items that will eliminate the unpaid item.

eBay sellers may no longer be in love like back in they early days. But, they need eBay, and eBay needs them too.

Like this article?

Have a comment?

Let me know.

travis at folkseller dot com!

Let's watch as he builds his own Online Empire, thanks to your "Friends."

So, where is the darn download link for the great looking squeeze page templates.

If you want the best squeeze pages on the internet don't wait: Click Here!

Stay tuned for more information on Anik Singal's launch..

Travis

Selling on eBay is expensive. There is a fee when you list an item, another fee when your item (hopefully) sells, and fees to collect money with PayPal.

But, it's all part of the cost of selling on with eBay. If you are like a lot of people, you are looking to cut costs anywhere you can. I believe the #1 place to save time and money for most small to medium sized sellers is in shipping eBay items.  Here are a few of the things I do and recommend to save time and money on eBay shipping.

3 Tips to save time & Money Shipping eBay items:

1. If you do nothing else, please do this: Purchase and print your USPS or UPS shipping labels online with eBay and PayPal. This tip alone will save you a ton of time and money. First, it saves time because you are not waiting in line at the Post Office or UPS . Just print at home, and drop 'em off. Personally, I would rather be doing almost anything other than waiting in line.  Second, eBay and PayPal will automatically notify your buyers so you won't have to answer the question coming from so many otherwise uninformed buyers: "Did you ship yet?" and, "What's my tracking number?". By purchasing online I can see exactly how the size and weight of my items effect the shipping costs. Sometime slimming down one or two ounces, or even fractions of ounces, I can save a few dollars, something that may be to late to change once you are finally at the front of the line at the Post Office with everything packed and ready to go. Even if you valued your time at zero, something I don't do or recommend, printing labels this way saves money in that the USPS will give you free tracking with your priority mail package when purchased this way, and UPS will give a discount to all eBay sellers, and an even bigger discount if you are an eBay PowerSellers, up to 31%! Here is the link for UPS discount for eBay sellers.  While you can print these labels with your own standard printer and 8.5 X 11 paper, or cheap or free (See tip #2 below) self adhesive labels, there is one small caveat though. You will need to get a digital postal scale, to weigh your items, available and cheap on eBay!
   
2. Get free shipping supplies! Many shippers including the USPS, UPS, and the Fedex provide free shipping supplies of one kind or another. The USPS offers free boxes and mailers for Priority and Express mail. UPS also give free supplies if you create an account online. Fedex provides free supplies to anyone with an account. As a green and thrifty alternative, it is very easy to keep and collect boxes and packing materials from anything you or your family receives in the mail, and get clean reusable boxes from local stores. Many grocery or department stores are more than happy for someone to take away their boxes. As a little bit of insurance against unhappy buyers I have it stated in my policy that the packing may be clean but reused. In all my years selling on eBay I have never had anyone complain about or even question this. Use a little judgment and thrift and you can have free and green shipping, and happy buyers too!
3. Scheduled pickups. No need to head down to the post office or shipping place everyday. USPS carrier Pickup is always free, provided the item is ready to go when the postal worker comes around for the normal rounds. You can also pay for Pickup on Demand Service for $15.30 per pickup regardless of the number of packages. You can learn more about both options at the US Postal Service Website. UPS also has on demand pickup. Call 1-800-PICK-UPS^® (1-800-742-5877) or visit UPS Online for additional information. No matter what carrier you use, stop driving around to drop off packages, let them come to you!

Hopefully you liked this article.
If you did, didn't or have any questions on how I can help you with eBay, contact me today.

Travis
travis@folkseller.com

If you are currently a successful affiliate marketer, or looking to get into the affiliate marketing game, we want to hear from you!

Top 11 Reasons to be an Affiliate Marketing Beta Tester:

1. Zero competition. This is a brand new store that has never been marketed outside of eBay, Amazon and Etsy.
2. Unique handcrafted USA made products allow you to tap into the growing Made in the USA, local & handmade/handcrafted markets.
3. High payout, up to 10% commission per sale.
4. 6.26% conversion rate from organic traffic since launch.
5. Active web designer.
6. New products being added.
7. Tons of affiliate support during beta phase.
8. Custom landing pages available for your traffic/campaigns.
9. Seller has over 3 year success on eBay and is an eBay "Top Rated" PowerSeller.
10. Access to eBay traffic reports, including all 698+ converting keywords.
11. Additional unique stores coming soon.

If you are interested:

1. Check out the new store: www.NakedPineFurniture.com.
2. Email me directly at travis@folkseller.com with affiliate market beta tester in the subject line and a briefly description why you think you should be our affiliate marketing beta tester.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Travis

AffiliateDotCom ~ Costs: $1997 ~ Launch Date: August 24th.

Video 2 Will Launch Shortly. See "6 Better Things" Below.

6 Better Things To Do With Nearly $2000.00!

1. Provided I had a site worth promoting, I would get some Facebook Ads! Facebook is hot right now with a number of Gurus promoting it... Ryan Deiss has some great information on Facebook advertising. Or, if you think anything by Ryan Deiss is a scam, try Jonathan Volk's Course. If you get really into adverting with Facebook there is an inexpensive Firefox plugin that lets you manage and split test ads. Split testing good.  I would then use the rest of the money to actually advertise on Facebook. That would get e a lot of clicks!
2. I would read a lot of great books. And not just cheesy Internet Marketing E-Books, or video marketing courses, that are more hype and "I made one million before breakfast and you can too." than reality. But real books on doing real business online.  If you are into Facebook Marketing thank consider: Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day. I also recommended Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions by Tim Ash. Dollar for dollar this book helped me more than anything else I have purchased so far. The 2 things I love about this book- 1: There is not one single line of code in it. 2: The whole part about the ugly Baby. You just have to read that for a small slap of reality.
3. Outsourcing. Do not let the fact that  is in the middle of the stack fool you, this is probably more valuable than anything else I have done in terms of making things happen with my business. $1997 would get me about 4 months of FULL TIME work from my coder/designer/secretary/SEO guy Ivan. He has been working with me for over a year now and well due for a raise. Pretty much nothing happens without him. I could use Elance, and hire project by project, but about 18 months ago I discovered John Jonas's Replace Myself course, and I took a huge step forward in my business. Things really started to happen then. I guess if you are eager to spend $2K as quick as possible for you business, you could hire 4 full time people for one month and split test them...
4. I would get Traffic Geyser. But, that is only if I had a site already up and running and had, or didn't mind creating or "borrowing" some videos. Traffic Geyser takes your video breaks it into 4 separate complete video files, and uploads them into like 100 video and social sites. I have heard Traffic Geyser called the "make it go" button. Worth checking out.
5. I have a very hard time focusing on the computer for hours. The 2 best things I have ever done for my own personal productivity are 1: Work in time blocks. This includes taking breaks in "chunks" as well. 2: Designate a time to plan each day and do it away from the computer. Both of these things I learned from one of Eben Pagan's courses- "Wake Up Productive" I believe. That one came out a few years back, and is no longer available.  I have not seen his latest course Get altitude, and it is no longer available on Eben's site. It is not on Amazon either. I did see exactly 2 copies of it on eBay just now.
6. Take a vacation. Seriously. OK, sure you can go to some marketing convention or something... But I mean a real vacation. Like going to the desert, or skiing in Utah this winter. If you do go to Utah- look for me at Brighton Resort.

You may also like my article on Side Door Selection.

Comments, Questions?

Leave a comment below or email me!

Travis.

Why Mike Filsaime and Chris Ferrel Don't Want You to Succeed At Affiliate Marketing.

You just watched the Affiliate Marketing 2.0 video and are ready to go, right? Chomping at the bit for the next video, correct? And that is exactly where Mike and Chris want you to be...
And, if you notice, they are doing acactly what they show in the video for us to do... Didn't you need to sign up for their mailing list prior to getting the "FREE" videos. And, as soon as the 4 videos are all released, they are going to put a related offer in your face, right? And, because they have built up your "trust" with all these free videos aren't about 3% or more of us going to buy. And the people that do buy the most will be optimistic newbies unfamiliar with the ways Jeff Walker and the mighty Product Launch Formula. And, as soon as this promotion is done, you better watch your inbox for Mike Filsaime stacking the cool by promoting every other affiliate marketers FREE videos all released ahead of the the next Gurus product launch.

And, all of that is good, I think. Us non-gurus learn, and the gurus continue to get richer doing exactly what they are teaching us to do...

But, what if you want to play the big money affiliate game right now with the Affiliate Marketing 2.0 Launch?

After all, you are into this course, and want to spread the word right?
And what if you want to drop an affiliate link for this course on your Facebook linked blog? LINK.
Here's your product review: LINK.
Here is your blog comment: LINK.
Here is your PPC ad: Link.
Here is your SEOd blog post: LINK.
Here is your YouTube video: LINK.
Ummn yeah, lets not forget Twitter: LINK.
But you can't and I will show you why in just a minute, but first...

Know what's better than a FREE REPORT? A FREE VIDEO OR 4!

Any time now Mike Filsaime and  Chris Farrell should release a video on generating traffic for your "Side Door Selection" niche. And then you will have even more ideas of where to drop that big dollar LINK to promote Affiliate Marketing 2.0 as an affiliate...

But, even though Mike says they will teach you to be an affiliate with AffiliateDotCom.com techniques,  in truth, unless you are established, he doesn't want anything to do with you unless you buy the product. Of course he is happy for you to provide "social proof" by leaving a comment on his blog, and on your Facebook Wall. Both of which should also add traffic and income to him, not you.
Want to promote this and get a piece of the action? You can't. Check out his site http://affiliatedotcom.com/affagreement.html, or look at the image below taken from this page:

5,000 People on your list or they don't want to hear from you about promote the "Online Business Repair System".
It's kind of the way they protect their own exclusive insiders club and keep out the rest of us out.

So here is what I am going to do:

I Recommend:
Don't Buy The Affiliate Marketing 2.0 Course.

Jeff Walker, AKA MR. Product Launch Formula, advocates giving away all the best stuff in the course away for free anyway. If you really want to see how the game works for these guys, just study that.
And you better believe this is a Jeff Walker Style Product Launch. And, since you are now on Mike's List, and he will partner with all the big boys- but not you- you are going to get a LOT of offers and lots of free content. Because you and I my friends, are consumers in one of the best, most lucrative (for them) "niches" of all: How to get rich (online).
So don't buy it. Just get and study the free stuff they give you. Heck they make more of it every day. And a lot of the work is outsourced to India or the Philippines anyways making it really cheap and affordable for them to churn up new content to dice into "FREE" and paid version  every few days...

UPDATED August 14th:
I got an email from someone thanking me for the honesty of this post, and asking for recommendations. I gave 2. The first was any kind of productivity training program by Eben Pagan (No affiliate link, just go find a torrent or something.), and the second was a book: Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions. Eben's courses cost a few thousand when they launch, the book costs $20 bucks or so. I especially liked the part in the book about "Your baby is ugly."

Now, I am still going to drop an affiliate link in front of you. But not for any gurus course. But, it is for a tool I use to look at the amount of $ in a niche. It offers more transparency for seeing exactly how much money is in a market than you are going to find anywhere else. It is called Terapeak.
>>>> Terapeak eBay Research

What does eBay have to do with Side Door selection when looking for an Affiliate Niche?
Simple- see how much total dollars are in a niche and by using the keyword function and you can deduce exactly what markets, products and keywords bring in the money.
And, because it's bases in actual real sales of products, and not some made up "formula", it's based on facts you can analyze for yourself, not opinions and secret formulas from the Gurus.

Side Door Selection?
Great techniques. Now if only Mike, Chris, and Joe Jablonski at jv@AffiliateDotCom.com would let me play with the big dogs... Then you would see a link to there page right about: HERE.

Question for you all: See the picture below? I see these exit popups everywhere. How do you do that?

You may also like my article on AffiliateDotCom Lauch Fees and Dates

Comments or questions on this article?
Leave a comment below or email me!
Travis@folkseller.com

Is Russell Brunson Qualified To Teach The Underachiever Formula?

Who is the Real Underachiever:

"Not $2,995, Not $1,995..." Russell Brunson?

Or, "I Got The ADD." Frank Kern?

Earlier today I got an email from Russell Brunson that he had purchased Frank Kern and Ed Dale's Underachiever Formula course, and that his staff had gone through it, updated it, and were re-releasing it.  Being a Kern fan, and a bit of an underachiever myself I thought I might catch the video and see how it turned out. I always wish I had started doing IM with Frank Kern when he first released that course...

Anyway, I had been online for most of the day and decided to go out surfing, up here in Humboldt County in Northern California, the original underachiever homeland. It was out there that it hit me. RUSSELL BRUNSON IS NO UNDERACHIEVER! The dude releases like a bazillion courses a year. His staff up in Boise Idaho must work like 80 hours a week just to keep pumping out all the products he releases. In fact, click on any one of the images above and you will see just a small sample of different courses these guys have made. And isn't he supposed to be training for the Olympics at the same time? Compare that with Good ol' Franky Kern that does like one release a year. And that is mostly just a bunch of  videos of him driving around, going surfing and hanging around in big houses on the beach in So-Cal. Frank is a true underachiever. Waiting between surf sets I decided to I would go home catch the video where Russell Pitches his "Underachiever" Formula, and then right up this post totally knocking down his underachiever street cred.

Anyways, by the time I got back home and showered from my own pathetic attempts to surf I had missed the begging of the video. And the darn thing just would not load. It did load for just a few minutes near the end. Right about the time Russell was talking about the 57 free things he was including in his version of the Underachiever Formula course. Something like 9 hours of videos and a 452 page PDF report. Honestly, no self righteous underachiever wants to work that hard. Throttle it back Russell.

But,t he not loading thing kind of got to me. Did Russell slack off? Did his dream team go out for a long weekend leaving him hanging? Maybe Russell really is an underachiever after all. Or, maybe he just wants us to THINK he is an underachiever, and now has a great excuse to invoke a little scarcity and reason to repeat and re-email everyi9ne. I can almost see the email now. (He probably had it written even before the seminar started...) "Hi Everyone Russell Brunson here, we had like 5,132 people try to sign up for our course, so we are going to relaunch it and half price..."

UPDATE 8-12-2010: Just a day later an email, almost exactly like the one I predicted came back in saying that they were rebroadcasting it 3 more times. Now the video is permanently posted on the site...

OK it's playing again and just finished. Wow, 10 minutes only to subscribe for "Save" $500 and pay $2,497 now. How predictable. Well, I bet that next "Apology" email will be coming out soon saying how all the servers fried and how he is relaunching... So I better refresh my email for like the 100th time today.

Anyway, the whole point of this post was supposed to just be a bunch of images of Russell Brunson VS Frank Kern and then leave comments about if you think Russell is really qualified as an underachiever.

Is Russell Qualified To Teach the "Underachiever Formula?"

Leave your comments Below.