I almost went bankrupt.
True story.
This happened in 2017, two years before I sold my entire Amazon business.
I found myself getting a little to cocky and presumptuous,
Business was good and I was crushing it on Amazon. I had a $80 outdoor kid’s toy product that had become a money printer for me. Three colors.
So, why not add seven more colors? Done deal right?
WRONG
I sent the $500,000 wire off to China to get them made.
Three months later my inventory hits Amazon FBA and boom, sales are slow.
A month later, ads never take off.
My soul is crushed. In that moment I knew I made a critical error.
I made a big bet and got screwed. At this point, long term storage fees are kicking in and I’m bleeding badly. It’s so bad that I had to stop paying myself so I could pay my employees.
The only thing that saved my butt was selling all the stale inventory for 50% off.
Man, it was painful!
So, learn from me and never assume anything! Most definitely never assume that just because you have a solid product selling on Amazon it doesn’t mean that new color variations will sell as well.
I try to share my L’s on here as often as my wins. The reality is that you learn more from these stories than anything else.