Want to know how to steal your competitors suppliers? Greg Mercer has the answer.
He is the Founder and CEO of Jungle Scout, an Amazon keyword research software that helps sellers find and analyze profitable products to sell on Amazon.
I have used Greg's software in my own Amazon business and have experienced massive success as a result.
Amazon product research can be an overwhelming process. However, with the right tools in place, you can accelerate your progress.
Ready to discover Greg Mercer's crazy hack for how to steal your competitors suppliers? Keep reading!
Watch the video below:
(Click here to watch on YouTube)
Do you want to become Amazon's next best seller? CLICK HERE to get 30% off JungleScout!
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Greg Mercer helps sellers get results on Amazon.
A lot of people tend to underestimate the Amazon product research process. It may sound easy, but conducting Amazon research can be quite time-consuming and complex if you don't know what you're doing. This is where Greg Mercer comes in. In our interview, Greg talks about his new feature, The Supplier Database, which helps sellers find verified suppliers and match products to factories in a fast and effective way. In effect, it shows you how to steal your competitors suppliers. Let's dive in!
What is the process for finding a supplier and manufacturer, and how can someone use that as a model to sell a product on Amazon?
When I first started selling on Amazon I was selling other people's products. I quickly found that the margins were much better on products that I was ordering directly from the factory. I would put my private label on the products and sell them through Amazon. The benefit of doing this is that it was factory direct, meaning that there was less mark-up. As a result, I was able to get better margins, have more control over products, and have my own brand.
What are the steps involved in finding a supplier online?
I remember when I looked for my first supplier… it was a scary thing. However, it's important for you to know that they are very used to working with people who don't have a lot of experience. There's no need to be intimidated. Up until one year ago, I was finding my factories using online marketplaces, like Alibaba.
One of the best things about using this marketplace is that there are tons of suppliers.
However, in my experience, a lot of factories have poor communication. In the past, when I asked for samples to be shipped to me, the quality would always vary. This is the biggest problem with Alibaba. It's hard to gauge how legitimate the factories are and how well they can make an entire production run. I had enough bad experiences that I thought, “There has to be a better way to do this.”
What would you do to make sure that a supplier is legitimate?
Before they ship the goods from their factory overseas to wherever you are located in the world, have a third party do an inspection. This reduces a lot of risks. However, keep in mind that if they find any major mistakes, it's usually tough to get the factory to fix it. I did some research and found something called Trade Data.
When you import something into the US, you or your freight forwarder will fill out paperwork and this gets submitted and goes through a number of different government agencies. There is a law in the US called, The Freedom of information Act.
Through this law, you can get government data and documents.
This means that you can get access to all of these important records for everything that gets imported into the US. With this data, we can determine how often factories import into the US, how long they've been importing into the US, who their customers are, and other valuable information to better vet the factory. Using this data is how I go about finding the best factory for my product.
Do you mind explaining the process for how people would go through the supplier database?
We've downloaded all of the government data into Jungle Scout's tool called The Supplier Database. I have two favorite ways to search through it. One is to search by the product and see who the top factories are for that particular product. This works pretty well, especially if you are trying to find factories outside of China.
My second favorite way is to search by the brand name for the top-rated product on Amazon. Let's pretend that I'm trying to find a new product for my marshmallow sticks. Instead of contacting 100 suppliers on Amazon, see who has the best rating, plug them into our database and you will see who their factory is. Instead of trying to contact a lot of different factories, you will know that the one you've chosen is high-quality.
This is how to steal your competitor's suppliers.
Click on the link above where Greg Mercer does a screenshare of his computer and walks you through how to use the supplier database in detail! My fiancée, Tatiana and I both use Jungle Scout, as do almost all of the people whom we help build Amazon businesses.
I'm confident that his tool will allow you to find a credible supplier that you can trust so that you can create profitable products faster, thereby improving your chances of success on Amazon.
Do you want to become Amazon's next best seller? CLICK HERE to get 30% off JungleScout!