The former high ticket course “Amazing Selling Machine” has closed its doors, but Amazing.com now offers a membership site that is open to anybody. With a 30 day free trial and $39 per month after, it’s way more affordable than the former $3,500 Amazing Selling Machine course.
But the main question is if the courses available within the site are worth the $39 monthly price tag – I’ve taken the time to dive into the site to provide you with a more in depth review of Amazing.com so you can decide if it’s something for you.
What is Amazing.com – what do they offer?
Amazing.com specializes in courses that teach selling on Amazon, specifically with their FBA program (fufillment by Amazon). This is a type of retail arbitrage in which the seller buys products and resells them using Amazon for a profit. Amazon takes care of all the shipping and handling, but you get the profit (minus the fees Amazon takes out).
You probably notice this when you go buy products on Amazon and you see the “additional seller” category. Much of those are businesses using Amazon’s FBA program.
It may sound relatively simple, but obviously the trick is knowing where (and how) to buy items cheaper so you can make a profit. There’s also the issue of over-saturation and getting your products to stand out.
This is where many of these courses offered come into play – they can teach you the steps you need to take to start out using the Amazon FBA business model.
Well over 50% of the courses at Amazing are directed to Amazon sellers.
There are also courses covering:
Facebook/social media marketing
E-commerce (additional platforms like Etsy, etc)
App creation
PPC, SEo
…and more
Still, those seem to be in the minority. Amazon selling definitely seems to be the most extensively covered topic within the courses offered at Amazing.
I would think Amazing would have to continually put out new courses each month to justify anyone staying a member at the $39 rate.
My First Impressions
Honestly the impression I get from the membership site is that there doesn’t appear to be any structure, at least for people who are looking for some type of guide on how to get started.
While the courses themselves seem to be pretty good quality and easy to understand, there really isn’t any “step by step” guide to follow along with, nor is there really a good outline of the courses provided within their membership. This makes it very difficult for a beginner (or even someone with experience online) to navigate the site and find what they are looking for.
Also, the community seems to be pretty inactive. It is set up as a basic forum, but many posts go unanswered or have very few replies.
Pricing
At $39 per month and the first 30 days free, it is definitely affordable. However, considering the price tag only gives you access to courses and the membership forum (which isn’t very active) it is a bit steep.
You are going to need to invest in additional costs for your business, especially in the category of arbitrage since it requires first purchasing the products to sell (unlike other business models like affiliate marketing).
With Amazon’s FBA program, you will also need a pro merchant account to sell which is an additional $40 per month.
In addition, consider costs for advertising expenses, more products, and even for your own website and hosting.
It really is good they have a free trial, though, so you can take full advantage of the courses for 30 days and cancel before they bill you (you will have to give them your credit card details for the free trial). You just have to email their support team for cancellation requests.
Conclusion – would I recommend the Amazing courses and community?
Perhaps you may find the community and courses at Amazing a good fit for you and your educational needs, but, I think most beginners would have a difficult time starting out there and navigating their way through to find success.
With no structure, no tools and little support one could argue this membership site to be not worth it considering much information available in these videos can be found elsewhere for free. That is not to say the information provided within the courses is not good (it is) but rather they could do a much better job of structuring the membership so each course is laid out based on what direction the member wants to take.
Part of the reason people want to pay for courses like this is to give them a structured environment with support to help them along the way, but with the current set-up of Amazing’s membership site that is not really the case at all.
In all honestly, retail arbitrage is a difficult field to crack into, especially in this day and age for those who are just starting out in online business. Most people will need a more structured training guide and support to get them through.
If you are really interested in online retail arbitrage and Amazing FBA selling, feel free to sign up for the 30 day free trial. However, I’d highly recommend finding a more structured type course on the subject -Amazon Bootcamp by the Selling Family is one that comes to mind.
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If anyone has any experience with Amazing (or the Amazing Selling Machine course), or Amazon FBA selling in general, feel free to drop a comment down below. I’d love to hear about it!
Hi,
Thanks for covering the “there isn’t really a step-by-step guide” This is exactly what I was looking for. I think its nice to have a step-by-step guide at difficult courses. Not because I’m really a beginner, but it is just easier to learn when they are teaching step by step.
Kind regards,
Levi
Yeah, it definitely would be helpful!
Nice article Wendy. I have heard of Amazing, but have not used their services. Your review gave me good insight. It is important to factor in as many costs as possible when starting a business, and the cost of training is often neglected. Thanks for the reminder that there is a cost for training as well, no matter which direction or service you choose to use.
Jeannie
Hi there,
I have just looked at your article on Amazing Selling Machine and I am also familiar with this business,. I remember buying an $5 eBook that gives an overview of this business as I was considering joining. However I did’nt join as the thought of purchasing goods from another country on the far side of the world, having those goods shipped to the US and then to begin promoting same. It sounded like a lot of work and also I thought there was a large element of risk involved.
Best wishes to you, nevertheless.
Cheers…..Phil Browne.
Hello. I also think it would be a good idea to try the free trial offered by Amazing if you want to go into this subject. If not for the quality of the content, than just to get an idea where to start the online search. Of course, there is plenty of free resources on the internet than can be found, but sometimes a little bit of guidance goes a long way and I guess Amazing can give that for free 🙂
This was a solid breakdown of this program. The fees for taking on this type of business endeavor gets steep, quickly, taking into account the added business fees needed to run your business monthly, in addition to the program’s monthly training requirement. It definitely sounds like this would be a hard business to do well in if you are starting out online as a newbie.
It’s important to understand the costs of any business endeavor before you get involved. A lot of times people look at the price tag attached to training programs and think that is all they will need, but soon come to realize there are tons of additional costs as well. Amazon’s FBA program isn’t the most expensive business model in the world, but it definitely will cost way more than the $39 monthly cost of an Amazing membership.
Yeah it would be a hard business to get involved with, but not necessarily any harder than any other business online. I think the key is having the proper training and support to get started in any program and unfortunately Amazing falls flat in that respect.
Hi Wendy,
I have heard about Amazing Selling Machine before and even contacted them the possibility to sell their product as their affiliate. But their response was so unclear. They didn’t answer me with yes or no type. They only asked me to enroll as a member, if my memory holds me true. Now reading through your article, I come to know that they are closing down and instead become a training platform. Anyway, I am not the kind of people taking a risk and invest big money buying and reselling products on Amazon. I would rather be true to my belief on affiliate marketing. Thanks for sharing your knowledge about this ASM. It cleared my mind now. I would ignore them totally. And you mentioned that their training courses have no proper structure. Uh. Poor ASM. They should have studied the Wealthy Affiliate training courses and emulate it:) Just my two pence.
Cheers,
Kipps
I think with the Amazing Selling Machine program you would need to be a paying member in order to be an affiliate and that is probably why you got the unclear response. They should have given you a better answer though.
Everyone just has to pick what works for them, really. Affiliate marketing is great for many people, others would rather develop or sell their own products, and others would rather sell in an arbitrage type model. The most important part is having the proper training that will help you become successful in whatever area of business you choose!
Hi Wendy
Thanks for the great info, I had never heard of either amazing or FBA. I really appreciated such an in depth review of amazing, I think based on your info it wont be a good fit for me, but I may do a little more research into FBA.
Yeah it isn’t for everybody, but doing some more research couldn’t hurt!