Devon’s Amazon journey started with used books. The margin on used books is unbeatable. When you can walk into a library sale or thrift store and buy $30 worth of books that you are going to sell for $300+ online, you get hooked pretty quickly.

Devon has attended both of my events, Miami Sellers Conference and Books and Beyond, and his business has only been growing. I asked Devon to answer some questions so the community could learn from his journey. I love seeing people transition from one Amazon business model (books) to the next (wholesale, etc.)

Enjoy!

I realized how much I loved working for myself when COVID hit, and nowhere was hiring. I started with landscaping in my hometown, and in college, I gave DJing a shot. I went from playing at my fraternity to getting paid sets at clubs. Along the way, I picked up marketing and began managing the clubs' social media accounts. Working closely with these clubs at West Virginia University taught me a lot about business, and I loved watching how they handled the challenges and stress of running a nightlife operation. This experience helped me build the capital I needed to start my Amazon business.

All the chatter on social media about people growing their communities and highlighting the benefits of selling on Amazon really intrigued me. One day, I decided I was going to figure it out for myself, and like everyone else, I started by selling books.

Stay off Telegram—this is where the scammers and wannabes hang out. Even if they fulfill your first couple of orders, once they feel they’ve earned your trust, you’ll place an order one day and never hear back. It happens all the time.

Remember, you can’t rush a successful business. You’ve got time. Gary Vee was working in a wine cellar when he was 30—you’ve got time. Take the time to vet good suppliers and make sure their inventory comes directly from the source, meaning the brand itself. All it takes is one or two solid supplier relationships to grow your wholesale business to its first million in a year, and it’ll be well worth the wait.

Seller Amp ($20) & Keepa ($20) are the only two I use for Online Arbitrage

Books:

Books got me up and running, that's success enough but to be honest my best success story was making a relation with someone who had a whole house of books to get rid of.

OA:

I had a friend at dicks sporting goods who gave me access to buy all of their Camille limited edition stanley's last october of 2023 and those helped me do 80K in rev in one month. 

I leverage virtual assistants in my Amazon business, but I don’t use a 3PL—I handle all my own prep because I’m not ready to trust someone else with it. I do all the hands-on work myself, and until recently, I was also doing all my own sourcing.

Virtual assistants (VAs) can play a huge role in growing your Amazon business. They can help with product research, scouting profitable items, and keeping track of inventory levels. VAs can also handle administrative tasks like listing optimization, customer service, and managing your Amazon Seller Central account. They can even assist with monitoring competitors, adjusting pricing strategies, and managing shipments and returns. By delegating these tasks, you free up more time to focus on high-level strategies while still keeping your business running smoothly.

“You can do anything but you can't do everything” - Rob The Bank.

As you could imagine if you spread your focus too thin you can't get substantially good at 3 things so I hired help so that I can still have the ability to catch profit in all 3 of these models.

For books, I send in everything that’s profitable, honestly. Even if a book has a sales rank of 10 million, I’ll still send it, because as long as the profit is there, it will sell eventually, and I’m only risking $1 or $2. However, I wouldn’t recommend this approach for beginners. When you’re just starting out, you want every dollar to count and aim to recoup your capital as quickly as possible. I suggest not sending anything with a sales rank over 600,000, so you can recover your investment faster.

The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been deciding what I need to sacrifice to ensure my business prevails—whether it's relationships, hobbies, time with friends, spending habits, or even career paths. To be honest, I wouldn’t change a thing; I’d risk it all for the love of the game. You can’t put a price on your freedom, and all we want is to regain that freedom as quickly as possible, rather than waiting until we’re 65, all while achieving a level of success we can be proud of.

I’m not saying that selling on Amazon is your golden ticket to freedom; at the end of the day, it’s a real business. Building an Amazon FBA business requires focus, attention, and the ability to adapt to the ever-changing consumer market. It often means late nights, but we keep going because, like thousands of other sellers, we love what we do. Through it all, we remain motivated by the vision of what success will look like when we get there. While it may not initially feel like your ticket to freedom, if you do it right, it has the potential to be.

Have patience, and you can avoid mistakes by simply researching the business model. You can increase your chances of success in selling on Amazon to around 90% if you spend just 12 hours on YouTube watching all the free content and information available. Strike up a conversation or two with AI tools like ChatGPT to ask any questions you may have, especially if you don’t have a mentor.

It’s 2024, and it has never been easier to start working for yourself or more respected than it is now. I truly believe that Amazon FBA is the best business model to start this year.

I go back to the one thing that has always been there for me, had my back, kept me warm at night, provided a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and warm water. No, it's not a girlfriend or significant other; it's books. I return to books because there is an unsaturated supply of them floating around the economy, yet the demand remains high. You have sources like Goodwill, book sales, and online stores that keep the flow going.

Humbly, I want to express my gratitude for the success I’ve had and to pray for the success that is yet to come. Every day that you’re above ground, have an active Amazon account, and live in the best country in the world—one with limitless potential—is a great day to be alive and to rejoice with those around you. In the next few months, I aim to make the most of Q4 and continue to learn and grow as a person while helping others where I can.

Thank you for reading this far and for hearing my story. I wish everyone nothing but the best.

I like to stay busy and enjoy doing a lot of different things. To decompress, I love heading out to a nearby lake or the Potomac River to fish for largemouth or smallmouth bass. If my friends and I want to night fish, we’ll go after some huge catfish or carp.

Warm Regards,

Devon Wilmoth