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Jan 21, 2016 · 17m · top-founders

How to Make a Fortune Selling on Amazon with Scott Voelker of The Amazing Seller Podcast

Scott Voelker · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 7m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Scott Voelker of The Amazing Seller podcast to break down the mechanics of scaling a $307,000 Amazon FBA business and monetizing digital education.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 45.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.5 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 0.8 Nathan pushing back 2.2
05100:0010:000:27–4:09 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Tim Draper Episode Preview Nathan probes Scott on retail arbitrage and his first product, but Scott corrects Nathan's assumption about sourcing and refuses to reveal his specific private label items due to competition.4:09–6:57 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Reverse Engineering Demand with BSR and the 999 Trick Scott educates Nathan and the audience on the 999 cart trick to reverse-engineer competitor inventory sales and tie it back to Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR). Nathan tests the method live on Amazon.6:57–9:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Financial Performance, Reinvestment, and Brand Building Nathan breaks down Scott's gross revenue and margin numbers ($307k gross, $114k net), checking on legalities while Scott outlines his reinvestment and brand-building thesis.9:10–12:04 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 E-commerce Valuation Multiples vs Alternative Assets Nathan challenges Scott's inventory reinvestment strategy by comparing it to high-multiple SaaS assets like Teachable, prompting Scott to defend his multi-revenue stream timeline and clarify his income split.12:04–15:15 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Scaling The Amazing Seller Podcast and Creating Courses Nathan praises Scott for being an authentic practitioner compared to online 'gurus' and asks about his transition from photography digital downloads to podcasting and coaching.15:18–17:25 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan playfully teases Scott for forgetting the name of the Famous Five before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.0:27–4:09 · Guest teaching 4/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Tim Draper Episode Preview Nathan probes Scott on retail arbitrage and his first product, but Scott corrects Nathan's assumption about sourcing and refuses to reveal his specific private label items due to competition.4:09–6:57 · Guest teaching 6/10 Reverse Engineering Demand with BSR and the 999 Trick Scott educates Nathan and the audience on the 999 cart trick to reverse-engineer competitor inventory sales and tie it back to Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR). Nathan tests the method live on Amazon.6:57–9:10 · Guest teaching 3/10 Financial Performance, Reinvestment, and Brand Building Nathan breaks down Scott's gross revenue and margin numbers ($307k gross, $114k net), checking on legalities while Scott outlines his reinvestment and brand-building thesis.9:10–12:04 · Guest teaching 3/10 E-commerce Valuation Multiples vs Alternative Assets Nathan challenges Scott's inventory reinvestment strategy by comparing it to high-multiple SaaS assets like Teachable, prompting Scott to defend his multi-revenue stream timeline and clarify his income split.12:04–15:15 · Guest teaching 2/10 Scaling The Amazing Seller Podcast and Creating Courses Nathan praises Scott for being an authentic practitioner compared to online 'gurus' and asks about his transition from photography digital downloads to podcasting and coaching.15:18–17:25 · Guest teaching 0/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan playfully teases Scott for forgetting the name of the Famous Five before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.0:27–4:09 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Tim Draper Episode Preview Nathan probes Scott on retail arbitrage and his first product, but Scott corrects Nathan's assumption about sourcing and refuses to reveal his specific private label items due to competition.4:09–6:57 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Reverse Engineering Demand with BSR and the 999 Trick Scott educates Nathan and the audience on the 999 cart trick to reverse-engineer competitor inventory sales and tie it back to Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR). Nathan tests the method live on Amazon.6:57–9:10 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Financial Performance, Reinvestment, and Brand Building Nathan breaks down Scott's gross revenue and margin numbers ($307k gross, $114k net), checking on legalities while Scott outlines his reinvestment and brand-building thesis.9:10–12:04 · Guest disagreement 2/10 E-commerce Valuation Multiples vs Alternative Assets Nathan challenges Scott's inventory reinvestment strategy by comparing it to high-multiple SaaS assets like Teachable, prompting Scott to defend his multi-revenue stream timeline and clarify his income split.12:04–15:15 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Scaling The Amazing Seller Podcast and Creating Courses Nathan praises Scott for being an authentic practitioner compared to online 'gurus' and asks about his transition from photography digital downloads to podcasting and coaching.15:18–17:25 · Guest disagreement 1/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan playfully teases Scott for forgetting the name of the Famous Five before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.0:27–4:09 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Weekly Contest Winner and Tim Draper Episode Preview Nathan probes Scott on retail arbitrage and his first product, but Scott corrects Nathan's assumption about sourcing and refuses to reveal his specific private label items due to competition.4:09–6:57 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Reverse Engineering Demand with BSR and the 999 Trick Scott educates Nathan and the audience on the 999 cart trick to reverse-engineer competitor inventory sales and tie it back to Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR). Nathan tests the method live on Amazon.6:57–9:10 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Financial Performance, Reinvestment, and Brand Building Nathan breaks down Scott's gross revenue and margin numbers ($307k gross, $114k net), checking on legalities while Scott outlines his reinvestment and brand-building thesis.9:10–12:04 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 E-commerce Valuation Multiples vs Alternative Assets Nathan challenges Scott's inventory reinvestment strategy by comparing it to high-multiple SaaS assets like Teachable, prompting Scott to defend his multi-revenue stream timeline and clarify his income split.12:04–15:15 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Scaling The Amazing Seller Podcast and Creating Courses Nathan praises Scott for being an authentic practitioner compared to online 'gurus' and asks about his transition from photography digital downloads to podcasting and coaching.15:18–17:25 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions Nathan playfully teases Scott for forgetting the name of the Famous Five before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 60.7% · guest 39.3%0:00 · Nathan 60.7% · guest 39.3%3:00 · Nathan 19.3% · guest 80.7%3:00 · Nathan 19.3% · guest 80.7%6:00 · Nathan 28.7% · guest 71.3%6:00 · Nathan 28.7% · guest 71.3%9:00 · Nathan 57.5% · guest 42.5%9:00 · Nathan 57.5% · guest 42.5%12:00 · Nathan 42.3% · guest 57.7%12:00 · Nathan 42.3% · guest 57.7%15:00 · Nathan 67.2% · guest 32.8%15:00 · Nathan 67.2% · guest 32.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 3:12 Refusal to disclose private label product niche

Scott flatly rejects Nathan's request to name his exact products, explaining it is taboo and cutthroat in the Amazon seller community.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:10 Challenging capital allocation against high-multiple SaaS models

Nathan pushes back against tying up cash in physical inventory by highlighting the superior valuation multiples of SaaS businesses like Teachable.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:46 The 999 inventory tracking masterclass

Scott delivers a clear step-by-step masterclass on how to manipulate the Amazon cart limit to calculate competitor daily sales volume.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:10 SaaS valuation comparative analysis

Nathan showcases his financial acumen by contrasting e-commerce monthly profit multiples against venture-backed software multiples.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Weekly Contest Winner and Tim Draper Episode Preview 3422 Nathan probes Scott on retail arbitrage and his first product, but Scott corrects Nathan's assumption about sourcing and refuses to reveal his specific private label items due to competition.
Reverse Engineering Demand with BSR and the 999 Trick 3601 Scott educates Nathan and the audience on the 999 cart trick to reverse-engineer competitor inventory sales and tie it back to Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR). Nathan tests the method live on Amazon.
Financial Performance, Reinvestment, and Brand Building 4302 Nathan breaks down Scott's gross revenue and margin numbers ($307k gross, $114k net), checking on legalities while Scott outlines his reinvestment and brand-building thesis.
E-commerce Valuation Multiples vs Alternative Assets 6325 Nathan challenges Scott's inventory reinvestment strategy by comparing it to high-multiple SaaS assets like Teachable, prompting Scott to defend his multi-revenue stream timeline and clarify his income split.
Scaling The Amazing Seller Podcast and Creating Courses 3201 Nathan praises Scott for being an authentic practitioner compared to online 'gurus' and asks about his transition from photography digital downloads to podcasting and coaching.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions 2012 Nathan playfully teases Scott for forgetting the name of the Famous Five before running through the standard rapid-fire questions.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Voelker says private label Amazon sellers never reveal their products
“We never disclose our Amazon private labelers. I don't know any private label that will.”
Scott Voelker Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 3:13
Opinion
Voelker: Selling supplements on Amazon is exceptionally cutthroat
“If you're selling supplements it, it's really it's really competitive and cutthroat.”
Scott Voelker Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 3:30
Insight
Voelker: Adding 999 units to Amazon cart tracks competitor daily sales
“The way that you do it is you can just do the nine, nine, nine trick. And what that is, is you go to that person's that, that competitor, you go to their page, you type in that you want to order 999 units. You can't say a thousand. It's gotta be 999. You do th…”
Scott Voelker Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 4:52
Disclosure
Voelker targets Amazon products selling at least 10 units daily
“I like to find products I can sell at least 10 units a day.”
Scott Voelker Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 6:33
Disclosure
Voelker: Amazon storefront generated $307k gross revenue at 38% margin
“Gross net revenue is 307,000, and I'm, right now I'm about averaging about 38% margin on that.”
Scott Voelker Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 7:09
Assertion Contradicted
Latka: Teachable generates around $150K monthly top-line revenue
“You know, they're doing like 150 K top line per month right now. So multiply that out for the year. You know, you're, they're doing about 1.7 million, you know, annually”
Nathan Latka Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 9:23
Disclosure
Voelker: Amazon sales comprise 25% of his total business revenue
“I mean, at this point, it's really, I guess, in its infancy, but I would say probably Well, I've got other businesses too. I'd say 25%.”
Scott Voelker Jan 21, 2016 ▶ 10:48
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