Check out my list to figure out which course is the best for Amazon FBA in 2019. Whether you’re a noob or someone with a little experience under your belt.
First things first, all of these courses can lead you to success. They’re all very professional, in-depth courses. They all offer devised plans to launch you to your first successful business online.
The important thing to remember is that all of these have the tools to make you successful with Amazon FBA. The difference between them is the personality that runs through their respective communities.
This is where you need to do your research to figure out which one you mesh with the best. That’s important.
Amazon FBA can be a great way for aspiring entrepreneurs to begin making money online. Entrepreneurship has increased in popularity due to the idea of working from home or anywhere across the country and world.
The internet and computers/laptops have given us the ability to do business wherever we want. Amazon FBA falls right in line with this thought process.
Full disclosure, Amazon FBA was not the first success that I personally saw in online business.
I already had a reliable stream of income coming in from my local lead generation business before I explored Amazon FBA as a way to diversify my income portfolio.
In local lead biz I get paid to deliver leads to small business owners using free traffic. I really liked Amazon FBA but I realized that my local business fit more with what I wanted in my life and it’s how I make the majority of my money online.
But let’s get to the reason you’re here. Without further ado, here’s my list of the top five Amazon FBA courses in 2019.
#5 Philip Covington’s Ultimate Amazon Seller
Philip isn’t the most flashy and in your face online mentor but his course is as solid as they come.
He doesn’t leave anything left uncovered when it comes to the Amazon business. He goes into crazy detail about everything including branding, shipping labels, taxes, etc.
He has a couple different things about his background that make him a good coach. He has an extensive background in engineering which is a good explanation for how detailed his course is.
He’s been a business owner for well over twenty years so you know that he isn’t a social media phenom that’s seen success for like two or three years.
His experience level in business is very important to note because he’s been through and seen a lot of things in his business life. Both ups and downs and he knows how to overcome them.
Also, it’s extremely important to know that the coach is still in the industry that he teaches because you don’t want to be learning from somebody who is no longer doing what they’re teaching you.
He’s not just making money off of the course when you buy it. It’s just another source of his income on top of his ability to run a successful business in the industry.
Philip covers everything in great detail. Everything from dealing with suppliers and private labeling to doing your taxes and establishing an LLC. Even selling the course.
If you’re intent on getting into Amazon FBA then you can’t go wrong with Phil.
I think the course community is extremely important. In the case of this course, the community is on the smaller side and that doesn’t fit what I like. I like being around a lot of people who are doing exactly what I do. For the support.
That’s the reason his course is at 5 and not higher up.
But hey, a smaller group might be for you and if that’s the case then you can’t go wrong here.
Cost: $497
Phil does have a steeper price for his course but IMO it is worth it. For how detailed he is and his experience level. He also includes something call “hot picks.” These are products that he’s actually been involved with and he’s done the research personally.
This doesn’t guarantee success but it does allow beginners to hit the ground running.
I think it’s worth it even if you take out the value of the hot picks.
#4 Jim Cockrum’s Proven Amazon Course
Jim has been in the eCommerce world for quite a while now. He’s very seasoned and a great mentor when it comes to Amazon FBA.
They make some wild claims saying they have 10x the success stories of any other Amazon courses out there. I don’t know how true that is because it’s almost impossible to track.
But I will say that they have a lot of active members that are a part of this course. Yes, some of that is because the course has been in existence longer than others.
It was launched in 2009 and the cost is a very reasonable $399.
They give you a valuable tool which is a software that assists students with product research, which is pretty nice.
I did slot them fourth on the list because I felt there was a little bit of disorganization. I noticed there were times there was information I was after and I had to sift through webinars and a series of videos just to find it.
Overall, I would say that Jim’s level of experience having coached a course for the last 10 years makes the program worth the price.
#3 Dan Vas’ Amazon Freedom Course
Dan absolutely fits the sterotypical “young entrepreneur” that you find on social media these days. But don’t underestimate the valuable knowledge that this guy has.
IMO he offers the best course among the young successes that get depicted on your news feeds.
There are many courses out there that leave out information or just don’t do a good job of explaining everything you need to know to operate an Amazon FBA business on a daily basis.
Not his course though.
It won’t take you long to see that Dan is a very detail-oriented guy and he almost comes off as a perfectionist. He does a very good job of covering his course material in depth, making sure to not leave anything out or skip something that would lead to confusion.
Dan talks very fast too which means he can get his point across very quickly without leaving out details. It turns long, grueling sessions into short and sweet lessons.
You can see this if you’ve ever watched one of his videos. They’re extremely short but once you watch it you feel like you understand exactly the message he’s trying to convey.
That’s actually what drew me to Dan. I know how valuable my time is in business so I don’t like to feel like people are wasting it.
The use of Youtube has launched many coaching careers in online business in recent years and Amazon FBA coaching is no different.
Video is so powerful and coaches exude a ton of confidence and do a good job of representing their lifestyle that comes with a successful business.
But when you get into some of these courses and explore their content, sometimes it doesn’t take long to realize that it lacks meat. Meaning the content just sucks.
Dan’s course has the meat. He runs a legitimate Amazon business himself and you can tell that he’s been highly successful doing so.
Don’t let his age fool you. This guy gets it.
Price $497
#2 Beau Crabill’s Online Retail Mastery
Beau looks even younger than Dan (mentioned above). Yes he’s young but after you understand this guy’s experience level you’ll be blown away.
He has over 10 years of experience running eCommerce businesses!
Wow.
According to him he’s been an entrepreneur since birth and with over 10 years at such a young age, it’s not hard to believe him.
He was a college student. Division 1 athletic scholarship. 4.24 minute mile as a runner.
And he left it all behind.
Beau was already at the forefront of an Amazon business. And a 7 figure one at that.
One of the things I like most about him is the importance that he places on building a long term business. He doesn’t push private labeling for that reason.
What makes his training unique is that it’s all about finding quality suppliers and selling big-time brands through Amazon.
When I say big brands I’m talking about those you find at big box retailers.
Selling big brands can be great because you know those products usually aren’t going anywhere but there are some additional things to keep in mind when doing this. You need to be qualified to do it as well.
Also, I think it’s a mistake to completely disregard private labeling because I do like some of the opportunities that come with it.
Price $997
#1 Matt Clark & Jason Katzenback – Amazon Selling Machine
Amazon Selling Machine was the course that I first invested in a few years back. It’s had a handful of course updates since that time and I would put it up there with the most popular Amazon FBA courses today.
Paid advertising campaigns are a large part of that. These guys do a great job of promoting their course using the FB and Youtube platforms.
They really push the use of private labeling unlike Beau (which we discussed above). Private labeling is when you create a brand yourself for a product.
A more in-depth explanation of private labeling would be rebranding a product and putting right back on Amazon. Let’s look at an example.
If you find a protein supplement that sells well on Amazon, then you find one just like it from a manufacturer and you re brand the product. Simply by putting a new label on the product.
What makes this course great is that they take this approach a little bit further. They have a teaching that they call product tuning.
This is when you find a product or products that aren’t doing well, read the reviews, and see if there is anything you can tweak about it to turn it into a winner. It’s important to note that you aren’t changing the actual product.
Some changes you could make may be repackaging the product or including directions that are simpler or more detailed.
When you read reviews on Amazon, many times the complaints are about poor directions or the product came damaged which is a result of poor packaging.
These are both things that you could change yourself to increase the success of selling the given product.
It’s evident that these guys are extremely knowledgeable because they have big community that continues to grow. If you decide to join the course you have access to the community.
You’ll quickly see that it works if you choose to ride with these guys.
Jason and Matt have a fantastic partnership and they do a good job of refreshing the course. This may be as simple as bringing in other coaches or successful sellers that have gone through their course.
It’s an interesting and inspiring way to do case studies. Very motivating as well to see others accomplishing great success after going through the same course as you.
Price $3,997
Amazon FBA Business Model – Pros and Cons
I’ve had some success when it comes to the Amazon FBA model. Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely works. But I think it’s important to discuss the pros and cons of every model because they all have them.
Also, going over these will help me to better convey why I still prefer my local lead gen business model that still pays me the most today.
We’ll start with the Pros
- this is probably the most obvious reason but Amazon FBA takes care of packaging, shipping, returns, etc. which is a huge plus. These things can absolutely keep you from scaling your business rapidly
- listen, Amazon is a massive company. The biggest in the world as a matter of fact. Their revenue grows year in and year out so this model isn’t going anywhere
- the massive customer base that visits Amazon every single month (200 million people per month)
- the ability to duplicate the process
- passive income – you can use free, organic traffic to drive your sales once your listing gets ranked
- if you are skilled with paid ads and email marketing you can have a leg up on the competition
The cons
- your competition can copy your product idea
- negative reviews are inevitable and out of your control
- rankings aren’t easy to control because customer reviews drive them
- profit margins can vary. Amazon FBA fees can be as high as 25% of the price of the product you’re selling. That on top of ad fees, shipping fees and more.
- more and more people are starting Amazon FBA businesses every single year which only leads to increased competition. It will only take longer to rank products
- preparation – it can take quite a while to get listings up. You have to find a quality supplier, try out the samples and wait for shipment from overseas at times
- since you’re working on the Amazon platform, if they ban your account you can lose your income instantly
I Still Prefer Local Lead Gen in 2019
It’s important to note that running an Amazon FBA business is a lot like running a brick and mortar physical product business. You still have to deal with some of the same things.
Competition can sell similar products as you.
Customer service.
Product returns.
A big thing for me is profit margins. I want to keep as much of my earned money as I possibly can.
The high level of competition on Amazon drives profit margins down as well as the fees that have to be paid to the platform. This means that you’ll have to sell more to make more.
Easy right? Well, that also means handling more customer complaints, reviews, returns, etc.
There is very little room for error with this model because there is so much going on and a single mistake can cost you a ton of money. Like a ton.
That’s why it’s so important to find the right program and especially mentor. That’s why it was so important for me to review the best courses out there.
At the end of the day, I think it comes down to personality. You have to mesh well with the coach and community that you align with.
Like I said before, I was already running a very successful lead gen biz before I ventured into Amazon FBA. The whole point was for me to generate another stream of income.
I did it and I had success but I got to a point where I wanted to refocus all of that attention back to my lead gen biz.
The question is why?
Well, it was really simple for me. Scalability.
When you’re trying to scale a business it’s a lot easier to do it with a business that offers digital products and/or services.
I don’t want to spend my days answering customer complaints or worrying about the next poor review that comes in.
Once I mastered a single skill with lead generation I could crank out more and more sites (like the one below that pays me every single month on auto-pilot) and continue to increase my income without having to worry about these things.
It’s important to note that in my business the profit margins I see are usually north of 90%. That’s incredibly rare to find in business.
I get to keep my money instead of dishing it out.
Just Amazon’s fees alone are enough to keep me away from it. You’d have to sell $100k a month just to come away with $15k in profits.
No thanks.
Just for reference, in my lead gen biz when I land a couple of higher paying clients I can increase my monthly by 15k/mo. And I put that on auto-pilot. No nagging customers.
When I began my lead gen business a few years back I was still working my 9 to 5. After a few short months I committed to it and went full time. I had absolutely no experience with running a business or doing sales.
I’m now a very successful business owner. I can take as many vacations as I want and most importantly when I want.
Not only that but I can have a positive effect on the lives of business owners.