In this article, let's learn from the journey of Dan or 1000 ASINS.
I’m excited to bring you this interview with someone I recently met at the Miami Sellers Conference, Dan or 1000asins. He does wholesale while working with someone else very closely with him, doing brand-direct deals. Which I think is another level of selling. I’m interested as I’m sure you also are, in his journey and what he can share about his experiences.
Suppose you’re curious as to what this successful Amazon seller can share about his experience in online selling and what he learned to become the successful entrepreneur that he is. In that case, this article is just for you.
Who is Dan or 1000 ASINS?
Dan is an Amazon seller that creates 8 figures a year in sales, but only started selling in the past 4 or 5 years. He started in late 2018, and he did most of his work at the time in his apartment, which developed over time into a minute warehouse, basically, every year since he started, he’d had to double the size of the space that houses his products.
At the Miami Sellers Conference, 1000 ASINS showed the progression of his business in a graph. In one of those years, they estimated that his business had grown 4 times its size. He attributed the drastic change and growth to his choice of leaving retail and going wholesale because he could buy more and sell more. But, it wasn’t entirely due to that switch. He had found a product that allowed him to sky-rocket his business to where it is today. It was at the start of the pandemic, he realized that it was the time that people were ‘panic-buying’. Being the brilliant entrepreneur that he was, 1000 ASINS knew there was a significant chance to make a lot of income from that. He noticed a need in the market, researched it thoroughly, experimented with it, and finally realized that he could take advantage of it.
What product?
It was yeast, the product that he found that helped him scale his business to the place where it is today was 1 pound bags of yeast. He found a grocery staple that has reached the top of the list but nobody had any supply for it, so he found a local bakery which he found out had a pre-existing relationship with big brands in the baking industry. Through his, he found a source and supplier for the product he knew would be a great hit, from his experiments he found that the stock he’d put up for sale would instantly be sold out. He found the crack in the market and he filled it out.
Because of the profit this has netted him, allowed his business to grow to unprecedented heights. He continues to say that from then on, he was able to enjoy purchasing more inventory because he had a much bigger bank capital. The business is so much a function of how much you spend; How much you make is completely proportional. The more you have to spend, the more profit it’ll make for you.
Why not stop with online arbitrage?
There are a couple of product lines that 1000 ASINS has been buying for years now that just remain really profitable. The sites he orders from can provide any quantity that he orders, they don’t limit him. It’s very easy to get large quantities of the items. One product line nets his business ably. It is a waste of business if he just abandons that. If he can order up to five hundred units at the time on the site and it all ships, and he has two arbitrage product lines, essentially that have been ‘grandfathered’ in, someday it may change and the numbers won’t be as good, but as long as it’s there, he’ll take advantage of the chance.
Why do 1000 ASINS go into private labeling?
1000 ASINS likes the idea of building an asset that can be sold at the end of the day. The wholesale business is great at generating cash, but in the future, he finds that he won’t be able to sell his business for a big multiple. The wholesale business is like an ATM machine, that just spits out a bunch of cash. Then he wants to use that cash to do other things. Invest in real estate, possibly other businesses.
Private label is one such investment, where he’d like to develop actual products and has greater control over the process. He wants to learn the skill set needed in launching products, and advertising, which is the missing puzzle for him on Amazon. A lot of the skills that are needed in different business models still have more overlaps in the knowledge needed than you may think.
A lot of the big sellers in the industry don’t just stick to one business model, they have multiple. Being able to diversify and open up your business to new revenue sources, will help you reach a height you wouldn’t have thought possible with your business. This is what he wants to implement in his own business and how he operates things. He wants to take his business to the moon, he wants to grow his skillset and business enough that he’d be able to reach the lengths that other selling giants are able to reach.
1000 ASINS’ operations
1000 ASINS is the sole owner of the company and then he has a buyer under him that does two things: He restocks the products and all the replenishable products and he also looks for new accounts. It’s half and half account outreach and re-stocking.
He recently hired a multi-channel manager, his catalog is at a number where he can comfortably sell on multiple marketplaces and channels, which prompted him to look for and hire an employee who can handle the tasks associated with selling on those e-commerce platforms.
Owning a warehouse, he also has a staff tasked with managing the items and keeping track of the inventory held inside. There are always 6 people found inside the warehouse, on top of that he has an Admin virtual assistant, and buyer VAs, which he plans to add onto, the number currently being at 9 to 10 employees.
Being that his business has been growing exponentially, he had recently opened up a new warehouse with currently 3 employees staffed inside, with him being the fourth. He finds that this team will grow rapidly as it is needed.
What were his topline revenues with a ‘lean’ operation?
Sales reached $4,000,000 with him one full-time employee and one part-time employee in a single warehouse and a lot of effort.
8 Things I learned About Reselling on Amazon from 1000 ASINS
From OA, private label, and to wholesale, Dan Boufford AKA @1000asins does it all. In our interview, we talk about his Amazon business that has made him an 8 figure seller, and how he's currently diversifying his businesses.
What is Epic Prep?
1000 ASINS’ main business is in Massachusetts, US, a little north of Austin. He decided to buy a warehouse over the border in New Hampshire, US, because of the sale tax-free status. The main selling point of Epic Prep is that arbitrage sellers send their items tax-free and Epic Prep can drop ship for them, which is the biggest appeal to online arbitrage sellers, saving money on sales tax.
His prep center is currently closed off from customers, they have their fair share of customers currently in which they want to make sure that they can handle more before actually letting things get over their heads.
Obstacles 1000 ASINS faces with brands
Brands are always bombarded a lot by a lot of sellers contacting them. A lot of these brands will get multiple inquiries every single day from Amazon sellers, so most of them just end up banning it, no more Amazon. That’s the default response. It’s a numbers game, 3 out of 4 of them would say no to making a deal with his company, but then they’ll just move on and find a different brand. If they don’t explicitly give a hard no, 1000 ASINS will still try to weed his way into it, however way he can.
Fortunately, 1000 ASINS can legitimately prop themselves up now, saying “We have not only one warehouse, but two in two different states”, and “We can do logistics for you as well”. So, that's a new thing he added to his business pitch. If there comes a time when a brand doesn’t want to sell to his business, that's fine. They can still offer to import the brand’s container with their product, here and 1000 ASINS’ business will do just the logistics on that. It takes the brand’s mind off the mentality that his business is an Amazon seller’s business, and more a company. Make the business look more legitimate and diversified as possible without completely lying.
Partnership with 1000 ASINS
1000 ASINS says he’s very fortunate to go on his journey with a very good friend of his from their hometown. He started on his own, by his first year, and had some success, and he, the partner, saw what 1000 ASINS were doing and he was between careers, kind of lost. He didn't know what he wanted to do, so he was like, “This looks pretty cool, let me try it too”.
So, he started his own seller account and bought a lot of the same products, he just like sharing all my products. We actually are each other's biggest competitors, but we don't view it that way. They share a lot of the Buy Boxes.
The partner is his friend. He has his own storefront, doing great numbers, and they both used that as an advantage because generally, two heads are better than one. Two people tackling a problem will arrive at a better conclusion than if only one person tackled the problem. Their decision-making is better.
What about purchasing?
Secondly, for purchasing, it’s a huge help. They can hit larger and higher order minimums if they split it between two storefronts. If a brand needs a $100,000 order minimum, that may be too much for one storefront to do, because it goes ‘too deep’ into stock, maybe 6 months of stock. But if two storefronts split the stock, then each can take 3 months' worth of stock and by then the stock won’t be too much.
Bear in mind that relationships with brands are very important to keep and maintain, in light of this, if one storefront is in great relations with a specific brand, then 1000 ASINS can use that relationship to bolster its other storefront with the brand.
A business partnership that doesn’t have the possibility to fight. Because a lot of business partnerships can ruin friendships and family relationships, and they don't have that possibility, because the businesses are each their own.
Comment to people against naysayers
1000 ASINS states that he won’t do this type of business and partnership just with anyone. He would rather make half of the money and do it with a great friend than make All of it myself. The best moments that he’s had it was shared with somebody else. If he had been doing this alone, he wouldn’t have been having half as much fun.
In business, you are your own worst enemy, by working with someone else you can overcome those problems. If you work hard on your own, you may still reach your goal, but you would go farther and faster if you work with people alongside you helping you out.
1000 ASINS plan for 1 year
1000 ASINS’ goal is to have a thriving prep center, hit its capacity, or close to it. Put into place solid systems and people into a place where the business runs itself. Install a general manager, and the business run knows how to run without 1000 ASINS having to overlook every step.
His goal for his Amazon business is to reach a total sales of $20,000,000. He had already achieved $12,000,000 in sales last year. That's why he’s hiring a person to really put his whole catalog on the other channels, which will allow him to reach that goal. His margins are 20% gross and 13-14% net income, which is really good for wholesale. Growth on Amazon and also grown on different channels are his goals.
A course or mentorship program is also in his sights, taking his social media presence more seriously. Which is a lot of work, so if he were to do something else, it would most likely be that.
Grow your Amazon business like 1000 ASINS!
The best way would be to direct message him on Instagram.
Currently, with his prep center being closed off, there is a waitlist for people who do want to become customers, if you or any person or organization is interested in becoming a customer by joining that waitlist, you can message him directly on his Instagram with your e-mail address and he will respond when he is capable.
If you still want to learn more from other Amazon sellers. We got you! Check out our previous articles about Romer the Roamer, Raiken Profit, The Gravy Train, Scott Needham, Checkmate Flips, Fields of Profit, Gavin Sweeney, Jonny Smith, Soros, Flips4Miles, Clear The Shelf, Oliver Flips and lastly, Taylor Jones to know more about online arbitrage and their Amazon journey.