The allure of making money online has never been stronger than now. It is simply a more appealing option to work at home, be your own boss, and take home 100% of your earnings by setting up shop online.
Among the many platforms that help you generate a profitable passive income stream, arguably the most popular is Amazon. As you’ll read later, Amazon is not just a site where you can spend money to buy stuff. In fact, you can earn just as much from the site (if not more) by signing up for the Fulfillment by Amazon program.
To understand how Amazon FBA works, you need a trusted source of information to help you make sense of it all and guide you to make money off the platform. While there are many Amazon courses available online, one of the most controversial ones is the Amazing Selling Machine. It is designed to help you not only make money on Amazon but teaches you how to create physical products to sell on the platforms for greater profit.
While it sounds all peachy, there are people who think that the Amazing Selling Machine is a scam for a number of reasons. If you want to build a passive income stream and possibly into his or her livelihood, then you should hold off on signing up for the Amazing Selling Machine.
In this post, we will answer the following question about the product:
- How can you make money on Amazon?
- How does Amazing Selling Machine help in this regard?
- What’s included in the course program?
- What are the pros and cons of the Amazing Selling Machine?
- Why do people think it’s a scam?
- Should you buy the program? Or who is the right person to buy this course?
Amazing Selling Machine: Breaking the misconception once and for all
Why Amazon?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you’ve probably bought something or heard of Amazon before. It’s only the biggest online marketplace in the world for the good reason.
As much as Amazon is known as the place where you can purchase any product imaginable, it is also a platform for people like yourself to make money off it. In fact, from the net sales of $136 billion it generated in 2016, third-party vendors generated an impressive $22.36 billion sales for the same year. This goes to show that you can definitely make money on Amazon as long as you do things the right way.
There are different ways for you to get your lion’s shares from Amazon’s net sales. But for the purpose of this post, we will zero in on Fulfillment by Amazon – also known as Amazon FBA.
How does Amazon FBA work?
We’ve been talking about Amazon FBA for a while now but not delved deeper into the topic. Below is a primer video about Fulfillment by Amazon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AVOHlpA9Mg
In a nutshell, you send your physical products for sale to Amazon warehouses for storage. You must then create an Amazon listing for each product to help users find them in the marketplace when people use the search bar. Once a person places an order, Amazon will take care of packaging, shipping, and delivering your products to his or her doorstep. Once the transaction is complete, Amazon will send part of your payment from the sale.
The beauty with Fulfillment by Amazon is you hand Amazon the keys to your fulfillment need. They will take care of the rest as you focus on generating more sales for your products. You don’t have to set up shop and worry about where to store your items. Also, you can guarantee that Amazon will package all orders professionally and deliver them in a timely manner.
Not to mention, Amazon is the online marketplace in existence. Over billions of people flock the site every month. If you can get your listings featured prominently for its search phrase, more people will see your page and potentially purchase from you. Just by attracting a fraction of the total monthly visitors of Amazon to your page should help you make money in no time!
In a sense, it is Amazon’s version of dropshipping because you are moving goods and products from the manufacturers to the retailer without going to the regular channels for distribution.
However, you get from point A to B, you need to prepare all the things to set up your online business with Amazon. There are lots of variables and factors to make your Amazon FBA work. If you mess up even a variable, it might disrupt your ability to earn money from the platform. Therefore, getting it right from the very first time gives you more reason to pay for a course that will spoonfeed you the details so you can just focus on getting them done instead of worrying about the information.
Why choosing the right program is the best course of action
Amazon gives you a platform to promote its products and earn a commission for every successful transaction made on your site. There are lots of Amazon affiliates who turned this gig into a full-time job. Some of them even earned money beyond their wildest dreams because they did things the right way.
Due to the success of these people, lots of information about how to break out as an Amazon affiliate broke out. A quick search on Google will give you thousands of pages that shared information on how to make money on Amazon. Due to the wealth of information available online, it’s really difficult to determine which among them provides the right way of becoming an Amazon affiliate.
Because it involves making money, there’s a risk that the information you’re reading is incorrect and untrue. Not only will you have wasted your time following bad advice, but it also leaves a bad taste on your mouth. Your unfortunate experience with making money online only pushes the narrative that it is fool’s gold when it’s not.
Therefore, it’s much better to pony up for a proven course than to rely on Google for information about this topic. By putting all your eggs into a system guaranteed to help you generate money, you can reach your goals much faster. Also, a course keeps you accountable for your progress. You must follow a guide that you need to complete step by step before you can finally build your self-sustaining website using Amazon FBA.
What is the Amazing Selling Machine?
The Amazing Selling Machine is an Amazon FBA training program that teaches members how to launch an Amazon product that guarantees profits and returns. This eight-week, step-by-step program will guide you through the entire selling process even if you don’t have any experience with Amazon before.
Amazing Selling Machine founders Matt Clark and Jason Katzenback just wrapped up the ninth version of the program called ASM9 from April to May of this year. Every update the program undergoes accommodates the changes made on Amazon’s search algorithm as well as additional exclusive features and content for members. The next release will be the tenth iteration of the program called AMSX and is available hours from now as of writing.
The program is open to all but only accepts new members periodically. It opens the doors for sign-ups on a limited time which creates a sense of urgency for people to sign up now before it’s too late.
Now that you have a background of the Amazing Selling Machine, it’s time to take a closer look at how it works.
What will be discussed in the program
The Amazing Selling Machine breaks down Amazon’s business model and teaches members the best practices on how to proceed with each step. Below is an overview of what you must do to successfully make money on Amazon:
- Determine a product that is selling like pancakes on the platform
- Analyze the product reviews. Understand the reasons why people gave it a high rating so you can retain those features. For low ratings, find out the weaknesses of the product so you can improve it further
- Find a manufacturer who can help you source the product for you as well as make improvements over the best-selling product on Amazon
- Get a sample of the order and see if it’s high-quality. If possible, order the best-selling product to compare and contrast.
- White label the product by getting a designer to create the logo for your brand and slap it onto the product’s packaging
- Sign up as a seller on Amazon (if you haven’t yet). Get the product listed in the site and have it shipped from your manufacturer to the warehouse of Amazon.
- Learn how to promote and market your product once it’s available on Amazon
- Upon hitting your target sales per day, repeat the process above by adding another product on Amazon. Replicate the process until you have a catalog of items for your brand.
- Once you have exhausted product ideas for your brand, you can sign up an account on other Amazon marketplaces and list the product there so you can extend your reach and generate more sales
- Expand your brand’s reach further by setting up an e-commerce site using Shopify or WooCommerce on WordPress and sell the products from there. Doing so allows you to maximize your earnings.
The steps above are easier said than done. That’s why the Amazing Selling Machine will unravel each aspect above to help you understand what you need to do.
While you may find answers for all these steps online, you don’t have to search for them and stumble upon bad advice. With The Amazing Selling Machine, you will have trustworthy and actionable information at your fingertips.
Features of the Amazing Selling Machine
With all the Amazon FBA courses available online, there’s a reason or two why you should choose the Amazing Selling Machine over the others. With the upcoming ASMX, it’s best that you know what separates this program from the others before the limited time window for signing up closes. Below are some of the features that make the Amazing Selling Machine much better than the competition:
Eight-week online web class
The Amazing Selling Machine has over 120 hours worth of video to guide you on your way to becoming a profitable Amazon dropshipping entrepreneur even without experience. Also, every time Matt and Jason releases the program to the public every time, you can expect to learn something new as it updates the videos to reflect the most recent changes in the Amazon landscape.
More importantly, you are privy to weekly calls with Matt and Jason for the next eight weeks. The calls give members a chance to ask the founders questions about the video modules and your progress. They will be more than happy to assist you in that matter. Use the weekly calls to help push you to finish the program for the next eight weeks while the calls are available. This should make you more accountable for your progress and get inspiration from other members of the program.
Access to private resource vault
A big part of Amazon FBA and dropshipping is finding the right suppliers and manufacturers for creating your Amazon product. Normally, you must search for sites like AliExpress for vendors with high ratings to order your raw materials from. Even then, it’s a trial by error basis – not all suppliers with high ratings can deliver the materials the way you want to. Also, there are other variables you need to worry about and not just the material you’re buying from them, i.e. reliability, responsiveness, support, etc.
By signing up to the Amazing Selling Machine, you will receive a list of approved vendors and manufacturers by Matt and Jason. You no longer have to go out of your way to search far and wide for the right manufacturer. You also don’t have to burn a hole in your pocket for materials that aren’t up to par. By using the vendors in the approved list, you just have to reach out to them and get the materials you need without any hitch! The vendors in the list are tried and tested by the people in the program so you can be sure to get the right materials you’re looking for to build your product from your first order.
Lifetime access to ASM Alliance Platinum
As a member of the Amazing Selling Machine, you will receive access to an exclusive community of members like yourself. Arguably the best feature of the program in the long run, you can interact with people from the community forum within the site or the private Facebook group who are taking up the program as you or talk to others who have already finished the modules and are sharing their success stories.
It’s great to know that you’re taking the program along with other people so you have someone to talk to about the challenges and obstacles facing your way. At the same time, the community is open for people who bought the program even during its early version. You can direct questions to them for guidance and advice if you lose your way. You can also return the favor to new members of the program in the future and share your wisdom to those willing to listen.
Access to the Automation Tool Suite
Tools are necessary to help make the job of selling Amazon products easier for you. Make no mistake, you can do all tasks explained in the module manually with sheer willpower and some elbow grease. However, why would you spend hours or days researching a best-selling product to replicate on Amazon when you can do it in a matter of minutes?
The Amazing Selling Machine is aware of this, which is they launched the exclusive Automation Tool Suite for members to use and help automate their processes so they can focus on the big picture. The tool will be available to current and long-time members of the Amazing Selling Machine. If you sign up soon, you will gain access to the following:
- ASM business dashboard – The problems with measuring your progress as an Amazon seller is you need to open different tools on your browser to view the gathered data. With the ASM business dashboard, you can get all the information you need from a single window on your browser. No need for you to switch from window to window to cross-reference data from the different tools you’re using!
- 1-year access to ManageByStats – If you’re serious with your Amazon business, then you need ManageByStats by your side. It tracks key metrics to your progress as an Amazon seller such as traffic and conversion stats as well as your sales and profit. You can also stay on top of your keywords to see which ones your listing is ranking for and your inventory so you can replenish your stock before it runs out. Lastly, you can send email follow-ups or launch campaigns to encourage buyers to purchase from you again.
- 6-month access to Brand Launchpad and Continual Sales system – Developed by ASM, you can ensure immediate sales for your Amazon product by launching it properly using this tool. Even after launching the product, you can still generate orders from people thanks to the steady stream of traffic you will generate if you follow the steps indicated by the program to a tee.
- 90-day access to the BEST Amazon keyword research tool – Finding the right keywords to optimize your Amazon listing for is crucial if you want to drive consistent traffic to your product. AMS struck a deal with an unnamed keyword research tool for Amazon to help you automate the process. Using the tool, you can easily identify the products that are selling like crazy, find the ways on how to make the product even better for your sake, and more.
Receive bonus products to help you sell better
To add value to an already valued-filled program, ASM gives you additional resources and services as part of the program to help you get started correctly with your Amazon product. While there is no final list for which products you will receive as bonuses, you can expect to receive the following:
- Expert listing evaluation – Once you have your product listing set up, you can request any of the experts available in the program to review it for you. By getting actual feedback from the listing you created, you can apply the suggestions in the hopes of improving its performance so you can sell better
- Business Builder Challenge – This bonus should excite all members of the Amazing Selling Machine. If you can complete the specified milestones for the program within six months, you will receive a refund to your payment for the program. The program will reveal the milestones once you’re signed up as a member.
At the moment, the bonuses are still up in the air. The ones mentioned above may be subject to chance and another bonus may be added later on. For now, consider them as perks to an already established program.
Why do people call it a “scam?”
When searching for information about the Amazing Selling Machine, you’ll come across words like “scam” associated with the program. At first, it may surprise you that an established program with hundreds and thousands of members and glowing testimonials is considered as such. However, there are reasons why AMZ developed a reputation as a scam:
Price
While it’s not the real reason the Amazing Selling Machine is considered as a scam by some, you need to understand how the negative perception towards the program starts from its price.
The Amazing Selling Machine cost is at a whopping $4,997 as a one-time fee. If it’s too much, you can pay by installment at $997 for the next six months (total of $5,982). This is the price for the period upon opening the program to the public. Eventually, the price increases if you don’t sign up after some time until it closes.
Historically, ASM costs $3,995 on average. It only increased its price by $1,002 for this version of the program. To its credit, the Automation Tool Suite wasn’t available to members before until ASMX which explains the increase in pricing.
Upon paying for the program, you will get access to every new version even having to pay for it again. Consider this an investment – once you pay, you’ll get updated information on how to make money on Amazon especially if there are substantial changes in the business model or Amazon algorithm.
To offset the Amazing Selling Machine cost, it offers two guarantees. First, the 30-day money back guarantee allows you to refund your payment before 30 days if you feel that the program is not for you. This gives you enough time to browse through the modules, talk to members in the community, and try out the tools made available for you.
There’s also the 6-month Buy-Back Promise. After six months of implementing the lessons from each module and you’re unhappy with your progress, ASM will refund your payment in exchange for your Amazon business. They will also pay up to $10,000 worth of your inventory and stock left in the Amazon warehouse.
Lousy affiliates
The Amazing Selling Machine has an affiliate program that gives a 50% commission for every successful sale. That’s around $2,000 per transaction to your bank account.
However, due to how lucrative it is, ASM’s affiliate program attracted the attention of people who have no knowledge on selling online and simply wanted to make a buck. As a result, they resorted to spammy tactics when promoting the program. Almost all of these so-called affiliates haven’t joined the program so they have zero ideas on how to the program actually works in the first place.
Therefore, if you receive a spammy email or stumbled upon a poorly written blog post about the Amazing Selling Machine with an affiliate link, it’s the affiliate’s fault and not ASM.
So it is a scam or legit?
Before I give a definitive answer to the question above, below are the two reasons why some people would think that the Amazing Selling Machine is a scam:
- No online course about Amazon FBA costs this much
- An ASM affiliate reached out to them using shady tactics which tainted their perception towards the program
Having said the reasons above, I’m happy to report to you that the Amazing Selling Machine is not a scam. First, while the cost of the course is strangely higher than the norm, it does not and should not be indicative of the program being fraudulent. Also, how the affiliates promote the program is problematic, not the program itself.
It would be for the best if ASM opened the door to their affiliate program to its members only to keep spammy affiliates at bay. Regarding the price, it is what is it, and we’ll discuss it further later in the post. For now, you can breathe a sigh of relief because the Amazing Selling Machine is as legit as they come.
Pros and cons
Since we’ve discussed the contents of the program and whether it is a scam or legit (answer: legit), we might as well review the Amazing Selling Machine for its merits and determine its strengths and weaknesses.
Pros: Offers complete walkthrough on how to build an Amazon business
The Amazing Selling Machine is as comprehensive and thorough as they come as an Amazon course and program. With over eight modules spanning over 120+ hours of video content, you can guarantee that the program covers everything you need to know to sell on Amazon. It covers not only the exact processes from creating your product to marketing your product listing for increased traffic, but also the mindset needed to get through to the end where you’re making thousands of dollars in a day.
What’s more important than the coverage of the program is how it presents the lessons. Aside from the already-comprehensive and detailed videos, there are also supplementary PDFs you can use to track your progress to help you become more accountable with the program.
Con: The price
The price is honestly the biggest caveat of the Amazing Selling Machine. As good as the program is, most people may not have enough money to pay for the initial price of almost $5,000. You can pay monthly for the next six months but the price becomes much higher if you add them all up. Considering that the course is geared towards beginners who probably don’t have enough money in their account which is why they want to sell Amazon products instead, the price point is just a hard pill to swallow. If the program was geared towards advanced Amazon sellers who want to ratch their earnings up, then the price could work.
It can be argued that those complaining about the price are not the target audience of the program. It’s probably geared towards entrepreneurs who already have existing streams of income and want to diversify further with Amazon FBA. $5,000 to them is just peanuts, so it probably makes sense in this regard. However, as a counterpoint and without naming names, there are other Amazon FBA programs there that are just as insightful and exhaustive as ASM without burning a hole in your pocket.
The guarantee and promise should help get rid of the bad taste in your mouth. The program will refund your payment if you’re not happy with the Amazing Selling Machine before 30 days. And ASM is willing to buy your business after six months of implementing all its teachings if you want. But unless it’s willing to compromise with its price in some way or form, then it’s arguably the biggest obstacle you need to overcome before you can use the program.
Pro: Access to lifetime updates and bonuses
Amazon FBA is always a developing industry. Since it comprises of moving and dynamics parts, you can’t stick to the same strategy forever. There’s a chance that the strategy that’s effective now will no longer work months from now. As a business owner, you need to be agile and receptive to change if you want to sustain your streams of income.
Thankfully, the Amazing Selling Machine offers lifetime updates to current members. Once ASM releases an updated version of the program, you can log in to your account and run through the modules for any changes you need to know to sustain the income from your Amazon business. You will also get your hands on their AMS tool to help you manage your business from the membership site so you don’t have to deal with other tools as well.
Cons: Only for action-takers
As mentioned, ASM teaches you the right mindset on how to tackle to program. A big part of that mindset is being proactive and taking action at every opportunity you can get. A program like the Amazing Selling Machine requires commitment and actual work considering that you have to browse through hours of video content to help you stay on course.
However, and the problem with most courses of this kind is, it doesn’t really do anything for you if you don’t want to participate and do the modules. The information provided on each module is easy to understand and has supplementary files to help aid in explaining the concepts for you. But the program doesn’t hold you accountable to what you do with the program. No one will be screaming in your ear if you don’t log in to your account and watch the videos for a long time. If you can’t join the weekly calls for the next eight weeks upon purchase or even join the community to chime in with your thoughts (whether it’s against your will or not) then nothing will happen to you.
Pro: Up close and personal with coaches and other members
As part of the program’s dedication to help you succeed with your Amazon business, both founders are available in weekly Q&A calls for the next eight weeks upon buying it. You will join other members in the call so everybody can ask their questions about the program and how they fared so far. The calls help clear your path from roadblocks that are keeping you from progressing through the modules. To greatly benefit from the calls, you need to focus on getting the modules done within the first eight weeks so you can ask all your questions about the program and leave no stone unturned.
Also, thanks to the ASM Alliance Platinum Access, you can mingle with other members and find accountability partners to help you stay focused on the program and finish on time. Use this opportunity to also learn from old members who have previously taken the course and ask them tips on how to move forward with your Amazon business after going through the program.
The vibrant community and direction the founders and trainers have taken add immense value to the Amazing Selling Machine. It’s not always about the things you’ll learn from an online course. Sometimes, it has to do with the people you meet along the way and the personal connections you build with the coaches and members. ASM gives you a chance to take your training on a different level with the help of like-minded people.
Con: Not transparent on total costs
As expensive as the Amazing Selling Machine is, it’s not the only expense you’ll have to pay for your Amazon FBA business. As if the initial cost of the program is expensive enough, you’ll have to deal with other processes that require you to pony up. For example, signing up for an Amazon Seller account costs money. So does shipping your stock to Amazon Fulfillment centers, monthly storage fee, logo printing, and more. Again, the other fees for setting up your Amazon business is not included in the payment for the program.
While the Amazing Selling Machine offers tools to help automate data gathering as part of your research, you are only using them on borrowed time. After a year of using ManageByStat for your Amazon business, you’ll eventually have to pay for a monthly or annual subscription to keep using it. The same goes for the keyword research tool and the Brand Launchpad and Continual Sales system albeit at a shorter time.
It all boils down to cost. I guess the logic behind the limited time period for the tools is that you’ll be able to pay for the subscription without problems once your Amazon business takes off. ASM explains the Amazon fees in the modules so it’s not like you’re being blindsided by the program. Again, if you’re complaining about the price, it’s because you’re not the target audience.
On the other side of the coin, it’s just disheartening for some people to see how much the program costs on top of the fees and tools you have to pay where there are more affordable and equally effective programs out here as well.
Pro: Limited time for signing up
The Amazing Selling Machine accepts new members only twice a year. Even then, people only have a couple of days for signing up until the window closes. If they weren’t able to join this time, they’ll have to wait for half a year to join the program.
Some would consider this facet of the program as a negative. Why would a program keep people who want to learn how to sell Amazon products and make money off them from joining any time?
There are two good reasons I can think of why the Amazing Selling Machine implements this strategy for their program. The first reason is exclusivity. By limiting the period when people can sign up, they help increase the product’s perceived value. And while the extremely high price can be seen as a detriment to the program’s effectiveness, it nonetheless helps elevate the program over the others. Both the limited time for accepting new members and the price help make ASM appear more valuable than it is. As a result, it helps attract more sign-ups and members in the long run.
The second and more important reason is it controls the number of new members to teach in the program. Since ASM offers weekly calls with its founders and coaches, it is difficult to manage the calls if they keep accepting new members all year long. The group calls get too big and make it more difficult to answer everyone’s questions about the program.
Therefore, by limiting the number of new program members, the coaches can focus on helping all of them during the duration. As a result, it helps maintain the program’s high standard of quality. Since they paid good money to get the program and all its perks, it’s only fair for them to receive the full attention of the coaches if they have questions about it. The same can’t be said with other programs that keep accepting new members all year long.
Conclusion: Is the Amazing Selling Machine for you?
There is no doubt that ASM is a legitimate Amazon FBA program to help you jumpstart your business. It covers a lot of vital information to get your Amazon products out in the market using the best practices to maximize your earnings. The exclusive support and community offer value on your journey with setting up your Amazing dropshipping business. Finally, it provides you with the necessary tools to automate the research process so you can focus on making decisions and growing your business.
On the other hand, the exorbitant price sticks out like a sore thumb no matter how hard you ignore it. On top of the price, you’ll have to worry about the Amazon fees and the monthly subscription for the tools once they expire. As mentioned, the program is probably marketed towards entrepreneurs with deep pockets who want to expand their revenue streams. If that’s the case, then the Amazing Selling Machine is just like candy to them. However, the price alone should give most people reason to find a much cheaper and equally compelling alternative to this.
To recap, the Amazing Selling is for you if:
- You have more than enough money to burn not only for the program but also for the added costs in setting up your business (around $6,000-8,000 total when you factor in the tools and Amazon fees)
- You are self-motivated and don’t need to be reminded all the time to follow through with the program
- You have the passion to set up an online business and develop a brand from the Amazon products you will be creating – the program will keep you busy for at least six months
If you see yourself being all of the above, then you should check out their website and see if they still have a slot for you. Keep in mind that they have a limited time offer for their program every time they launch the latest version. Hopefully, this post provided you with all the details so you come up with an informed decision.