After being cheated out of 150,000 yuan, they only learned how to distribute products. A large number of new sellers were harvested by training service providers...

Now, cross-border e-commerce is no longer a marginal niche industry, and cross-border e-commerce advertisements can be seen everywhere in Shenzhen. Outsiders want to know the wealth code of Amazon, and are even attracted by the "legends of getting rich overnight" on social platforms, but behind the "legends of getting rich overnight" is the routine of training service providers to harvest leeks.

The crazy training harvester has rumbled over ...

Service providers’ ads are everywhere, targeting newbies

Cross-border people who have stayed in Shenzhen for a long time will find that in many places in Shenzhen, such as subways and bus stops, there are a series of advertisements. Cross-border e-commerce is no longer a carnival for a small group of people, but a wealth secret that can cover more people . Now you can hear others talking about Amazon even when you are eating, and you can see Amazon group chats in other people’s group chats when you take the subway.

A seller said on a social platform that there have been training institutions, ERP, VAT, browsers, a long-established service provider, and even 1688 in Shenzhen subway cars , and the company being promoted was also very close to the subway station entrance.

"It has to be said that Amazon's cross-border e-commerce presence in Shenzhen is getting stronger and stronger. It used to be considered a marginal niche group, but now it is almost omnipresent, especially on public transportation. I also saw an advertisement for a training institution at a subway station. I guess the training industry will become more and more inward-looking. The employees of those training institutions in the early years probably left to start their own businesses, just like many Amazon operations or product developers. The institutions that cut the leeks have also changed one after another . "

The editor also found that in Guangzhou, which is not the base camp of cross-border e-commerce, advertisements for a certain browser were also found on the subway. Cross-border e-commerce is no longer a niche area. I believe that under the influence of various factors, a wave of new sellers who have learned about cross-border e-commerce from advertisements and success stories will enter the market one after another.

Behind the large number of newcomers entering the market: training service providers are making money on social platforms

People always say that Amazon has a lot of new sellers this year, so where do these new sellers come from? When I learned about several new sellers, I found some interesting examples.

Some people in the cross-border e-commerce industry suddenly became rich, and they started buying houses and looking for people to renovate them. A decorator in Shenzhen renovated a lot of houses for Amazon. He thought that Amazon must be making a lot of money in recent years, so he started asking his family to work with Amazon together.

It seems that from decoration to cross-border e-commerce, it only takes a few houses to go.

In addition, a domestic e-commerce seller who had been in business for more than ten years and had prepared one million yuan, wanted to start a side business, so he re-invested in the cross-border e-commerce industry. Although he also invested in an Amazon team last year, it did not work out and he lost some money. He said that his friends were also doing cross-border e-commerce and had made a lot of money, so he wanted to try it this year.

Another part was attracted by the "get-rich-quick legends" on social media , and many of these screenshots of hot orders were released by training institutions.

On a certain post, it is easy to see a group of people posting screenshots of the same order, and screenshots like this appear endlessly.

But what is interesting is that these screenshots are all more than 6,000 orders, 6,182 orders, or 6,256 orders, etc., and the numbers look very real. And these orders are displayed using simulated trading, which is a software that imitates the backend of Amazon. The software can achieve any transaction volume.

In addition to the numbers looking very real, the content on a certain post also looks more attractive, such as -

" Doing cross-border e-commerce, can you easily earn 100,000 yuan a month ? Is Amazon really a boon for newbies? "

"I have been doing Amazon e-commerce for three years. From the initial zero orders per day to more than ten orders per day, and now 6,000 orders per month, with a monthly income of more than 100,000 yuan , only I know the bitterness in the middle. Cross-border business can indeed make money, but you still need to persist ... I have been doing Amazon since 2018 and have my own methods and ideas. I also welcome everyone who wants to do Amazon to learn and communicate with us."

" My husband quit his job and started a cross-border e-commerce business at home. He can do it all by himself and is busy with orders every day. "

"Since joining Amazon's cross-border e-commerce, there is no need to stock up on goods. From zero basic knowledge to mastery, the threshold is low."

These are very attractive at first glance. Because of the support of big data, individuals constantly receive similar messages from promotional advertisements like these. It is easy for novices to become more and more attracted to them and slowly fall into the trap.

In addition to a certain post, there are also some videos on a certain audio platform that seem very clever but are actually nonsense. I don’t know what the intention of the people who posted them is.

One seller observed that some short videos said that cross-border e-commerce buyers buy goods for $5 and sell them for $20. They made a lot of sense and concluded that they sell them for $15. (So? Logistics costs and advertising costs don’t count?)

In addition, there is a short video talking about the process of cultivating high-quality products. The content of the mold factory is also mentioned at the beginning, and there are 200-300 orders every day . But in the end, it says that the product did not become popular because it had no brand and was ruined by low-price competition from copycats.

There is also a very interesting short video. In the early stage, it said that all the friends around him bought houses in Shenzhen Bay because of cross-border e-commerce. With such a bonus, how should ordinary people do cross-border e-commerce? And because the threshold of Amazon and eBay is getting higher and higher, it is suggested that ordinary people can use the gameplay of a certain audio plus an independent station, with free traffic and extremely low cost of opening a store...

Training service providers are making crazy profits, and sellers only learn how to distribute products after spending 150,000 yuan

In the above examples, I don’t know if it was the training institutions that were causing trouble, but some newbies added the contact information because of these promotional advertisements. Some sellers felt the same way. They wanted to do cross-border e-commerce as a sideline, and they also saw related content recommendations on a certain post. After adding the person, they found out that it was a training institution. They chatted for a long time just to make them pay, so they deleted the person.

This familiar routine, this familiar feeling, and this "sickle" has been swung towards the fifth-tier small city, and even the harvesters have been rumbling, waiting to cut a piece of green.

These marketing campaigns attracted many newbies to join the market, but they never talked about the real situation that sellers are facing this year. Even if they were not attracted by these marketing campaigns, the training institutions did not really impart any useful content to the newcomers.

A seller once complained to me that his friend paid more than 2,000 yuan for training, but only received a few teaching videos. Some online trainings are also very "special". After paying the money and taking a few online classes, after the group was created, the instructor didn't talk much, and only the newbies were left asking questions in the group.

A friend of mine who is a seller paid 150,000 yuan for two training sessions and also bought an ERP, but in the end he still had to distribute products.

However, if some newbies believed in this "get-rich-quick" myth and started out with nothing, without understanding the risks of Amazon, they would invest hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, only to lose all their money and eventually flee.

A seller who has been paying attention to industry training said: "It feels like there are a lot of new sellers entering the market this year, including mothers, college students, and so on. But it's always like this, a large number of people enter, and a large number of people leave, and the turnover is very fast."

The truth is: there is always a deficit in the account, and one pitfall can cost you three BMWs ...

Is it really as easy to make money in the cross-border e-commerce industry as portrayed in the above videos and advertisements?

The reality is not so. On the contrary, they keep falling into traps, their accounts are always in deficit, and they are tortured by freight forwarders, buyers, and platforms ... This is the real situation for sellers in it.

In order to help those who are preparing to enter the market or new sellers who have just entered the market have a correct understanding of cross-border e-commerce, the editor has compiled the following points:

1. There are traps everywhere. One step can cost you the money of three BMWs.

There is a saying in the cross-border circle: "If you haven't stepped into one or two pitfalls, you are embarrassed to say that you are doing cross-border business."

Logistics, registration, product selection, operation ... There may be pitfalls everywhere. For example, product selection: patent infringement is very common. For operation: fake orders, promotion loopholes, malicious competition ... Any of them may bring huge losses.

Even some mature sellers who have been in business for a while may suffer huge losses due to poor risk control and failure to pay attention to details.

A few days ago, a seller told a story about a seller friend of his who sells tripods and other photography-related products. When exploring some new opportunities, he chose a ring light. As it sold so well, he was eager to ship it out and neglected quality control. After selling it for a month, he received feedback on various after-sales issues, which exposed almost all the quality problems of this product. As a result, he lost the money he paid for three BMWs.

Not to mention the nightmare of cross-border traders: infringement. If you fall into this trap, your listing may be removed at best , or your store may be closed at worst, and all your investments will be lost.

For sellers who fall into this trap, the serious consequences may be: their products are complained of infringement and they have to pay 1 million yuan in compensation overnight . Or they may end up with more than 1 million products becoming inventory due to infringement.

2. Suppressing funds, there is always a deficit in the account

I believe that many new sellers entering the cross-border e-commerce industry will choose Amazon as their first choice. However, Amazon is very capital-intensive.

Recently, a seller lamented: "People who haven't tried Amazon think it's like picking up money, but only after trying it do you realize that once you enter Amazon, it's like a deep sea, and cash is no longer a thing."

Sellers all know how slow the collection of flax payments is. At the same time, Amazon is still an asset-heavy platform.

How many assets does Amazon have ? A seller said: "Except for fixed expenses, according to sales targets, for a hot-selling product, the FBA warehouse needs to have one month's worth of goods in stock, the overseas warehouse needs to have one month's worth of goods in stock, and the factory needs to have one to three months' worth of goods running. "

This is just the investment before the product is put on sale, and there are also advertising fees, evaluation fees, etc. But before the money is even warm, another new product has to be developed, and the cycle repeats, and there is always a deficit in the account.

" Unless you don't launch new products, you can just keep your small piece of land. But will your competitors let you be so comfortable? " The seller said: " Everyone wants to make a hit product, but what is needed behind it is far more than just an excellent product. In my category, a mature hit product requires about three to five million in cash flow. "

Another seller also said that he has always invested whatever he earned on Amazon, but he still has no spare money, all of it is inventory.

3. Involution is serious, and being spoofed by peers is common

Amazon sellers’ listings being spoofed is not new to everyone. This spoof method has actually existed for a long time . This year, with a large number of new sellers entering the market and more intense competition, this phenomenon has become more serious.

Recently, a seller complained: "It's like doing business on Amazon right now. The internal competition is too serious. My listing has gone downhill three times, and this time is the worst. Yesterday, I made a net loss of 700,000 on a single product."

There are also sellers who have been attacked repeatedly, resulting in their listings being unable to be appealed back ! Recently, a seller appealed to put the listing back on the shelves, but not long after , the listing was turned into a dog again. After checking the email, it was found that it was the same store. However, this time the appeal was rejected many times and the appeal entrance was closed. After communicating with the other party many times without success, the seller even called the police to intervene, but in the end there was no result.

4. Too many uncertainties such as exchange rates and logistics

In addition to these pranks and the heavy financial pressure, sellers also have to face the challenges of uncertain factors such as exchange rates and logistics at any time.

Since last year, due to the crazy money printing by the United States, the exchange rate of the US dollar to the RMB has been falling, and the sellers' profits have been continuously compressed. At the same time, this year's logistics prices have also been soaring. Although it was the off-season some time ago, the logistics prices did not cool down. After the air freight prices rose, the sea freight prices rose, and even the air freight prices and sea freight prices rose together.

A few days ago, a seller complained that his profits suffered a double blow from the 25% increase in shipping prices in half a month and the exchange rate.

In addition, some sellers concluded that in addition to the decline in exchange rates and rising shipping prices, raw materials are also rising. The entry of domestic Taobao sellers into cross-border transactions has also led to price slashing, and salaries for operations and other positions are being continuously driven up.

Under the influence of these uncertainties, how difficult is it to do cross-border e-commerce this year?

A seller once lamented: "Don't even think about maintaining high growth these days. It's good enough if you can stabilize your profits and profit margins."

5. Frequent policy changes

Amazon, where a large number of Chinese sellers are concentrated , has a consensus that its policies will only become increasingly strict. However, this year Amazon has tightened its policies at a much faster pace.

In just less than 4 months since the beginning of the year , sellers have suffered a series of policy blows from Amazon: liability insurance, video verification, postcard address verification, etc.

Recently, several big-selling accounts were blocked one after another, causing panic among other sellers.

In conclusion:

Cross-border e-commerce was the only trading mode that maintained positive growth in the first half of last year . Its future prospects are also very broad. It is understandable that a large number of people who are optimistic about this industry have entered the market.

But you must have a clear understanding of this industry before entering .

At the same time, you must have a clear positioning for yourself . If you just want to do a small business and earn some pocket money as a part-time worker, you can come in and play around, but if you want to become bigger and stronger, you must consider whether your funds and supply chain can withstand the challenges.

As one seller said, those who were fooled by the policy and started to do cross-border e-commerce in 2021, basically 11 out of 10 died. Because it is easy to persuade friends to start a business, others who have a good job will also quit, and end up falling into a big pit. It is very difficult for novices to get started, unless you want to differentiate clearly, don't start without 300,000 to 500,000 yuan in startup capital .

After all, cross-border e-commerce is no longer the era of making money everywhere. Some of the sellers who are in the game have already started to think about quitting. Some of them have lost all the startup funds they have worked hard to save for many years and have to quit in tears, while others have found a new track and are slowly turning Amazon into their sideline.

A few days ago, a seller said that he had found a new area of ​​monetization and had now moved away from Amazon . He also expressed the hope that Amazon would become his sideline business as soon as possible . "I will definitely continue to do Amazon, after all, it has a lot of money."

Therefore, don’t dream of using 100,000 yuan to do a business worth 1 million yuan. Putting aside the issue of whether those cases that are exaggerated in promotional videos are true or not, even if they are true, they are typical survivor bias.

In addition, how to plan a reasonable product line and target sales volume based on your own financial budget, as well as formulate accurate stocking plans and operation plans is also a crucial step in entering this industry.

In general, cross-border e-commerce, especially Amazon, is an industry that requires both soft and hard power.

As for those training service providers who promote this industry as a place where you can make money, believe me, they just want to collect training fees and make money. If new sellers are ready to enter the cross-border e-commerce market, they can participate in the training provided by the official platform, which is not only free but also reliable.