REMINDER WE HAVE A COMMUNITY LIVESTREAM this Sunday and Monday 7pm If you're there live, you can shoot me as many questions as you want But im going to be using this thread as a base to answer questions. The livestream will be available to watch after, so ask your question here and get it answered live!

I am so confused as to how beginning sellers are selling FBM products at a profit. I use stallion and put in the regular description and nothing crazy but it still isn't profitable. Am I doing something wrong? Please let me know!

May Numbers : - Sales: $7,596.50 - Orders: 157 - Units: 160 - Gross profit: $940.24 - Indirect expenses (prep + software subscriptions): $390.25 - Net profit: $549 - Net margin: 7.24% - Refunds: 11 (6.88% refund rate) - Cash spent on inventory: $3,941.78 Last month I set a simple goal: have my first profitable month in May. Hitting that milestone feels really good, especially because it’s my first month fully on my own after finishing the mentorship cohort with @Anthony Mancini . The anxiety was definitely there, but the work I put in during those three months paid off. The buying decisions I made in April have started to show up this month in May. From a performance standpoint, I actually slowed my spending a bit this month. Life has been life-ing. Between my carpentry job and my commercial cleaning business, I’ve been working 60–70 hours a week, and that has definitely affected how much I can source. Even with that, I still managed to put in around 10–15 hours a week into sourcing. Some days just 1–2 hours, some days 4–5, and some days nothing because I was burnt out to be honest. One thing that’s becoming clear: if I want this to keep growing, I’ll need help. The goal is to get the business consistently profitable enough that it can pay for a VA to source while I’m at my day job or working my cleaning contracts. Realistically, a VA won’t be fully paying for themselves for the first month or two while they train and learn the software and techniques. If I can bring someone on in July or August, that should put me in a strong position heading into Q4. For June, my focus is to ramp up sourcing again and increase my spend, but be much more selective with what I buy. I want to push my net margins to at least 10% after all expenses. The last four months have shown me that this business really is learnable if you’re willing to put in the hours, make mistakes early, and keep refining your process. The first profitable month is a milestone, not the finish line but it’s a big one.

Most of the time, it walks down. I was looking at a Keepa chart on a call and the lesson was simple. Seller count had tripled. One FBM seller was sitting there with a lot of stock, willing to drop the buy box by about a dollar. That is the kind of thing beginners miss. They see 17% ROI and think, "not perfect, but maybe still fine." But the real question is not just ROI today. It is: Is competition growing? Is there a seller with too much stock? Is the price stair-stepping down? Is Amazon in or out? Are FBA sellers actually holding the price, or is one aggressive seller dragging everyone down? On Amazon Canada, this matters even more because volume is smaller. One seller with too much inventory can change the whole listing for a bit. So before you buy, do this: Open the offers. Check stock counts if you can. Look for the downward staircase. Compare FBA vs FBM. Then decide if the profit is real or if you are about to buy into a price war. ROI is not the full decision. The buy box tells you the story. What is one Keepa chart or buy box pattern that still confuses you when you are sourcing?

This is one of the easiest wins in this business and barely anyone does it properly. Every single purchase I make goes through a cashback stack. Not just one layer. Multiple. And it adds up to 4-6% back on every single buy. Here is how it works. LAYER 1: CREDIT CARD Get a card with solid cashback on online purchases. In Canada there are cards giving 2-4% back on online spending. That is free margin on every order you place. I use mine for every retailer purchase. Every single one. LAYER 2: CASHBACK PORTALS Before you go to any retailer site, check Rakuten or TopCashback first. Most major Canadian retailers are on there. Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire, Best Buy, Walmart. You click through the portal, shop normally, and get an extra 1-3% back depending on the retailer and the day. Some days they run boosted rates. I have seen Rakuten do 8-10% at certain retailers during promos. When that happens, I stock up on anything that is already on my buy list. LAYER 3: LOYALTY PROGRAMS PC Optimum if you shop Shoppers Drug Mart or Loblaws stores. Canadian Tire Triangle rewards. Scene+ for certain retailers. These all stack ON TOP of your credit card and cashback portal. Say you spend $5,000 a month on inventory. A conservative 4% stack gives you $200 back. That is $2,400 a year in pure profit you did literally nothing extra to earn. You just routed your purchases through the right channels. I know sellers doing $20-30K a month in purchases. Their cashback stack alone is paying their rent. THE SETUP TAKES 30 MINUTES Sign up for Rakuten and TopCashback (both free) TopCashBack 👉 https://www.topcashback.com/ref/mancinifba Rakuten 👉 https://www.rakuten.ca/referrer?referrerid=9/HJugg3cyo=&src=Link Install the browser extensions so you never forget Make sure your go-to credit card has the best online rate Sign up for loyalty programs at your top 3-5 retailers