BI 356: The Business of Buying And Selling Amazon FBA Brands (Ft Mark Lewyn)

On the show with me today is Mark Lewyn, President and co-Founder of Sorfeo; an ecommerce company focused on acquiring Amazon private label brands. Previously, he was was Managing Director of JEM Partners, which used data analysis to create popular consumer products and then distribute them via a global network of inter-connected e-commerce platforms. Mark is also the author of "The $500 Start-up on Amazon: How a dad of three launched a business on Amazon and escaped the hamster wheel of 9-5." Please join me in welcoming Mark to the show Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/356

Episode Highlights

[02:28] — Who is Mark Lewyn?

Mark co-founded Sorfeo — an eCommerce company that acquires Amazon private label brands.
Mark was the managing director of JEM Partners. They used data analysis to create and distribute popular consumer products through a global network of eCommerce platforms.
Mark is also the owner of his private label brand that he created from scratch.
Finally, he is the author of a book called The $500 Start-up on Amazon: How a dad of three launched a business on Amazon and escaped the hamster wheel of nine to five.

[03:35] — Coming up with new product ideas that have something to do with the patent office

Mark recalls when he came across a product that costs $80 on Amazon but only $5 on Alibaba.
Out of curiosity, he started researching the product and found out that the patent has recently expired.
He realized that he can compete by charging a lower price and still be making a very nice profit.

[6:08] — Sorting through products on the Patent and Trademark Office website

Like most websites, the Patent and Trademark Office website has a search function you can dig through to find products with expired patents.
Utility patents typically last for 20 years.
Meanwhile, design patents usually last about 15 years.

[7:35] — What’s next after finding an opportunity?

Once you find a product you’re interested in, begin the standard product research.
Nine out of ten times, you’ll see that they are charging a premium for that product.
Check out Mark’s book to know more about how he sells these products on Amazon.

[12:04] — Mark’s advice in starting a business

Get over the analysis paralysis problem — take the first step!
You don't have to spend much money to start a business. You can usually start with a small amount and get the real product going.
Don’t be afraid of failure; flops provide valuable lessons to learn.
Go through a whole bunch of different ideas. It’s a process of going through good and bad ideas.
Mark settled on the Amazon private label model because of the low cost. He saw it as an exciting opportunity.

[17:00] — Amazon FBA brands

Amazon’s private-label ecosystem has been booming recently.
About eight or ten companies are in the business of buying existing Amazon FBA brands.
This is a massive opportunity for people who want to sell their businesses.

[21:04] — Want to sell to a roll-up company, but you don’t want to start from scratch?

One strategy is to buy a couple of microbrands and pool them together. Then streamline operations and grow sales. In 18 months, sell it to a roll-up company.
The research process in finding microbrands can be systematized and handled by a VA.