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Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

theatlantic.com

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Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#71

Post by hopler »

southerndrift wrote: post #58
joshstrange wrote: post #3

> They’re frustrated with Amazon, which they say is making money off the failures of people like them. Wait what... I can't even. It's not Amazon's fault you bought something no one wanted then tried to sell it. You wanted easy money and it doesn't exist. You CHOSE to ship directly to Amazon so you didn't have to handle shipping, you CHOSE a quality item that kept breaking, they CHOSE to use Amazon, any they CHOSE to…

> it takes more research, time, and effort all of which they decided was beneath them Or it's above them and they fell victim to a Dunning-Kruger situation?

That's not what Dunning-Kruger is about, so, no. D-K doesn't say ignorant people consider themselves experts.

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#72

Post by hopler »

achillesheels wrote: post #69
Johnny555 wrote: post #18

People forget that history repeats itself -- the ones that got richest during the California Gold Rush were the ones selling tools, unless you were lucky enough to hit a motherlode. So if someone is selling you an expensive tool that will help make you rich, ask yourself why they aren't using that same tool themselves. (and if the answer is "I have all the money I need, I just want to help other people... then ask wh…

+1 but to be honest, I wouldn’t consider Levi Strauss jeans to be a luxury good.

If I'm going prospecting, it's obvious I need jeans and pickaxes, and obvious that Levi can make more of those than he could use in prospecting himself. Levi isn't telling you you'll get rich from his jeans, he's just selling you what you know you need if you are prospecting. It's not obvious why I need your How to Mine for Gold and Riches book and why you can't use that information to get rich youdser, if it's good information.

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#73

Post by hopler »

nixpulvis wrote: post #54
Johnny555 wrote: post #18

People forget that history repeats itself -- the ones that got richest during the California Gold Rush were the ones selling tools, unless you were lucky enough to hit a motherlode. So if someone is selling you an expensive tool that will help make you rich, ask yourself why they aren't using that same tool themselves. (and if the answer is "I have all the money I need, I just want to help other people... then ask wh…

Just for the sake of argument, should all computer makers really be solving all problems computers can be used for? No, of course not. Companies (and individuals) must specialize at some level. And I personally feel some of our largest companies have overstepped that line.

Computer makers are selling tools, not secrets. It's up to you to decide if you need a computer.

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#74

Post by ada1981 »

>> A Maryland woman, Allyson Pippin, who sells slime, said she was about ready to scrap her product and start all over. I love how the author mentions this casually without any further context on why someone would think selling SLIME was a good idea in the first place.

SLIME!

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#75

Post by Johnny555 »

achillesheels wrote: post #69
Johnny555 wrote: post #18

People forget that history repeats itself -- the ones that got richest during the California Gold Rush were the ones selling tools, unless you were lucky enough to hit a motherlode. So if someone is selling you an expensive tool that will help make you rich, ask yourself why they aren't using that same tool themselves. (and if the answer is "I have all the money I need, I just want to help other people... then ask wh…

+1 but to be honest, I wouldn’t consider Levi Strauss jeans to be a luxury good.

but what if I sold you a $4000 gold panning machine that I said made me a fortune and now it can make you a fortune too?

The best thing is that if you come back to me later and say you didn't find any gold at all, I can just tell you that you just need to give it more time... or that you didn't read all of the instructions and use it properly.

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#76

Post by theothermkn »

joshstrange wrote: post #3

> They’re frustrated with Amazon, which they say is making money off the failures of people like them. Wait what... I can't even. It's not Amazon's fault you bought something no one wanted then tried to sell it. You wanted easy money and it doesn't exist. You CHOSE to ship directly to Amazon so you didn't have to handle shipping, you CHOSE a quality item that kept breaking, they CHOSE to use Amazon, any they CHOSE to…

It seems like this comment was anticipated in the article:

> One of the constant themes is the silent sucker—the person who was taken in but doesn’t want anyone to know,” Balleisen told me. Today’s America is very pro-entrepreneur, anti–big government; many Americans don’t have sympathy for people who lose their money to these kinds of schemes, he said. We celebrate the self-made man who starts a successful business from scratch, but mock the people who get duped trying to do the same thing. No one wants to admit that they’re the only one who can’t make it work.

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#77

Post by jjoonathan »

jaggederest wrote: post #48
blunte wrote: post #34

I don't know why people still believe that someone with a winning (money making) system is going to share that with others. If a system works that well, nobody is going to sell instructions on how to do it. Maybe they'll share the knowledge with a few friends or family, but they sure won't sell it. To sell "how to get rich" information clearly implies that the seller is not getting rich. If they were, and even if the…

Renaissance Technologies (the hedge fund) is the classic example of someone who "has a winning system". Funnily enough, they don't share it, indeed, they guard it zealously.

Aren't those the guys running the meta-ponzi, where they juice the PR / founder funds with returns from sucker funds, but they do the transfers entirely through clever trading that has so far been sufficient to hide from regulatory action?

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#78

Post by ericabiz »

ada1981 wrote: post #74

>> A Maryland woman, Allyson Pippin, who sells slime , said she was about ready to scrap her product and start all over. I love how the author mentions this casually without any further context on why someone would think selling SLIME was a good idea in the first place. SLIME!

I am guessing you don’t have kids? :)

Slime has been one of the most popular fads over the last few years. It even got to the point a while back that stores ran out of glue.

I’d say now the fad has mostly run its course, though I still see kits for sale at Walmart.

https://www.npr.org/2017/10/01/552422040/the-rise-of-the-sli...

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#79

Post by mlevental »

coralreef wrote: post #62
Retra wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't substitute a meme for thinking. The real story is as follows: Two economists are sitting at home. One says "Lets go out and look for $100 bills in the street." The other says "There are better ways to make money."

The other meme is about efficient markets. What is yours about?

competitive advantage

Re: Peddling the ‘Secrets’ to Getting Rich on Amazon

#80

Post by csa »

astura wrote: post #55
joshstrange wrote: post #3

> They’re frustrated with Amazon, which they say is making money off the failures of people like them. Wait what... I can't even. It's not Amazon's fault you bought something no one wanted then tried to sell it. You wanted easy money and it doesn't exist. You CHOSE to ship directly to Amazon so you didn't have to handle shipping, you CHOSE a quality item that kept breaking, they CHOSE to use Amazon, any they CHOSE to…

Is there really any money left to be made? Reselling from China on Amazon such a crowded space I don't know if it's possible to get in the game at this point without employing shady tactics. Especially now that the Chinese are selling direct on Amazon.

Yes, but it’s not easy, and its not conducive to a “passive income” model:

1. Find, maintaining, and keeping a high quality manufacturer in China is hard but doable.

2. Building a brand and audience is hard but doable.

3. Creating intellectual property and protecting it is hard but doable.

The folks I know who sell a lot on Amazon do all of these three things decently, and one (often more) extremely well.

From the sound of it, the folks in the article made a lame attempt at #1 and maybe a token attempt at #2 via Amazon ads.

This low level of effort simply will not cut it for most products.

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