Simple Businesses to Start

[MrMan]

Do you think starting an Amazon Box is a good business idea? People can start an Amazon Box and people subscribe to it. One of the more popular boxes is a snack box from Japan with Japanese snacks. Do you think an Expat could have a successful time creating an Amazon Box Subscription for subscribers in the United States?

I know what Amazon is and I know what a box is, but this is the first time I have ever read about an 'Amazon Box.' I'm assuming it's a gift box or box of goodies. Would you target Japanese in the US?

My impression is that the competition on Amazon is really tough and you would not want to compete on price unless you were a really big player who, like Amazon, can carve out more profits by reducing costs through negotiating contracts and bringing down costs through constantly improving efficiency. This is not good for the small-time player. But if Japanese boxes are a really unique thing and are profitable, you may be able to earn good money at it until the market fills up and then you start earning 'normal profits.' That's fine. A lot of business survive off normal profits. I think the key is to offer a product that has, or is perceived to have, a unique value proposition that other products cannot offer. It would not be ideal to offer the exact same products others do, who can compete with you on price. There may be someone with old inventory willing to take a loss, so with goods that expire, it is hard to compete on price. At least, if you have your own brand that no other vendors have, it is not exactly the same product, but you would have to convince buyers that you brand is better.

What I suspect is a lot more profitable is funnel advertising that follows proven patterns based on sales psychology, and attracts customers with targeted video or print ads. It works best if you can get them to make a small purchase from you and get them to trust you and work them up a value ladder.

[Light]

Do you think starting an Amazon Box is a good business idea? People can start an Amazon Box and people subscribe to it. One of the more popular boxes is a snack box from Japan with Japanese snacks. Do you think an Expat could have a successful time creating an Amazon Box Subscription for subscribers in the United States?

I know what Amazon is and I know what a box is, but this is the first time I have ever read about an 'Amazon Box.' I'm assuming it's a gift box or box of goodies. Would you target Japanese in the US?

My impression is that the competition on Amazon is really tough and you would not want to compete on price unless you were a really big player who, like Amazon, can carve out more profits by reducing costs through negotiating contracts and bringing down costs through constantly improving efficiency. This is not good for the small-time player. But if Japanese boxes are a really unique thing and are profitable, you may be able to earn good money at it until the market fills up and then you start earning 'normal profits.' That's fine. A lot of business survive off normal profits. I think the key is to offer a product that has, or is perceived to have, a unique value proposition that other products cannot offer. It would not be ideal to offer the exact same products others do, who can compete with you on price. There may be someone with old inventory willing to take a loss, so with goods that expire, it is hard to compete on price. At least, if you have your own brand that no other vendors have, it is not exactly the same product, but you would have to convince buyers that you brand is better.

What I suspect is a lot more profitable is funnel advertising that follows proven patterns based on sales psychology, and attracts customers with targeted video or print ads. It works best if you can get them to make a small purchase from you and get them to trust you and work them up a value ladder.

https://sell.amazon.com/programs/subscr ... boxes.html

I was thinking a box containing international food items would be easiest.

Here are some examples of some boxes in the Food category.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MGJZ2MH/ (Japanese Snacks)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VXJR1PF/ (Indian Tea)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086K2ZS32/ (Peruvian Snacks)

[MrMan]

Do you think starting an Amazon Box is a good business idea? People can start an Amazon Box and people subscribe to it. One of the more popular boxes is a snack box from Japan with Japanese snacks. Do you think an Expat could have a successful time creating an Amazon Box Subscription for subscribers in the United States?

I know what Amazon is and I know what a box is, but this is the first time I have ever read about an 'Amazon Box.' I'm assuming it's a gift box or box of goodies. Would you target Japanese in the US?

My impression is that the competition on Amazon is really tough and you would not want to compete on price unless you were a really big player who, like Amazon, can carve out more profits by reducing costs through negotiating contracts and bringing down costs through constantly improving efficiency. This is not good for the small-time player. But if Japanese boxes are a really unique thing and are profitable, you may be able to earn good money at it until the market fills up and then you start earning 'normal profits.' That's fine. A lot of business survive off normal profits. I think the key is to offer a product that has, or is perceived to have, a unique value proposition that other products cannot offer. It would not be ideal to offer the exact same products others do, who can compete with you on price. There may be someone with old inventory willing to take a loss, so with goods that expire, it is hard to compete on price. At least, if you have your own brand that no other vendors have, it is not exactly the same product, but you would have to convince buyers that you brand is better.

What I suspect is a lot more profitable is funnel advertising that follows proven patterns based on sales psychology, and attracts customers with targeted video or print ads. It works best if you can get them to make a small purchase from you and get them to trust you and work them up a value ladder.

https://sell.amazon.com/programs/subscr ... boxes.html

I was thinking a box containing international food items would be easiest.

Here are some examples of some boxes in the Food category.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MGJZ2MH/ (Japanese Snacks)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VXJR1PF/ (Indian Tea)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086K2ZS32/ (Peruvian Snacks)

It would be good if you could keep increasing the number of subscribers. Of course, someone else could come in and do up their own ethnic food box and you would have competition. But that doesn't mean you couldn't earn a decent profit or even earn a living from it if you built it up.

There are other weaknesses strategically are if you depend on one channel-- Amazon-- to sell, which could raise the cut they take ,theoretically, if they chose to, or just decide you broke some rule, or even take your customers or funnel their eyes elsewhere. Subscribers may not care about competitors. Also, if you lost a supplier, you may need to renegotiate with your subscriber who might do some shopping with competitors, maybe. If you could get their email addresses and get permission to email them and upsell them on related products, along with putting Amazon-listed products at the same price point on your website, that could be a way of increasing revenue and decreasing dependence on Amazon.