Seller got burned by the 'easy money' myth on Amazon

Some Amazon sellers learn things the hard way.

It starts with excitement, a promising product, and a dream of easy money. But what happens when reality hits harder than expected?

This seller's story is a cautionary tale—with a surprising twist at the end.

• Burned by the 'easy money' myth 🔥
• Experts roast real Amazon listings 🎯
• Thought of the Day 🍴

SELLER CONFESSIONS

An Amazon seller (OP) confessed: My first Amazon FBA business failed because I fell for the hype.

It started with optimism. OP was lured in by what many new sellers hear—“just find a trending product, throw it on Amazon, and rake in passive income.” So they picked a fitness product with solid demand and what looked like juicy margins. But within months, it all unraveled. 🔻

😔 What went wrong?

• Oversaturated. The niche exploded with competitors.
• Price war. The fight for the Buy Box turned into a daily war of cents. A
• Fee frenzy. Amazon’s referral fees, storage fees, and FBA costs ate into every sale. 💸

Worse, they had no real differentiation. (Yep, OP fell into the trap! 🪤)

Same supplier as everyone else, same logo-slap strategy, and a listing that looked like a dozen others. Generic branding, zero value-adds, and poor visibility, despite burning through ad spend.

Break-even became the goal, until even that slipped away. 

🫂 And OP’s not alone

Dozens of other sellers shared similar experiences:

• “The market is oversaturated. Everyone thinks it’s passive income. It’s not.”
• “I spent over $10K and failed because I thought I knew everything. Ego killed it.”
• “I just didn’t believe in myself. The sales came, but I quit too early.”

Others pointed to rookie mistakes: picking the wrong product, ignoring profit margins, spending blindly on PPC, and not doing the research.

But here’s the twist: OP’s still selling on Amazon—he’s actually thriving. ❤️‍🔥

💡 What changed?

OP didn’t give up, but pivoted.

• No more trend-chasing. He now focuses on evergreen products with low competition and consistent demand. No more trend-chasing!
• New strategy. Instead of wrestling with Alibaba and poor margins, he partners with fulfillment platforms like Why Unified to leverage brand-name, marketplace-ready products and fulfillment to skip sourcing headaches and focus on growth.

True enough, FBA can still work. But only if you stop treating it like a shortcut and start treating it like a business.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

In FBA, doing “everything right” still isn’t enough if you’re in the wrong niche with the wrong plan.

 Profit isn’t what you make, it’s what you keep after the chaos.

TOGETHER WITH SELLER ALLIANCE

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• Amazon Sellers Summit Report: You can now download the Amazon Sellers Summit Report 2025, packed with expert insights and strategies.