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Laser Hair Removal St. Louis: An inside look at the BEST place for treatments and why. Plus a sneak peek at what just ONE visit did!

This post has been sponsored by Milan Laser Hair Removal, where I have also received services in exchange for this post. HOWEVER, all thoughts and opinions are my own… as always.

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Friends, I have been anxiously waiting to tell you about a new, life-changing service that I have started and have fallen in LOVE with, and has become one of my favorite beauty treatments!

Laser hair removal.

I know that some of you have considered laser hair removal or some of you WILL consider laser hair removal after reading this. Here’s an inside look at my first visit and why you’ll want to hear all about it!

Plus, keep reading to find out how you (yes, YOU!) can get 60% off of your own laser hair removal services, just for being a Fantabulosity reader!

For years I have thought about and have wanted to try laser hair removal.

I even went for a consultation years ago and decided to move forward with it, but the business closed shortly after and I was never able to take advantage of it.

Laser Hair Removal in St. Louis

Well if you’ve been around here for a while, you may know that I live in Missouri and close to the St. Louis area. I tend to find myself going to St. Louis for my hair appointments, shopping at the mall, and having a date night with my husband.

So when it came time to consider a company that specializes in laser hair removal, St. Louis was a no-brainer.

Milan Laser Hair Removal

Let me introduce you to my new friend… Milan Laser Hair Removal. I’m dead serious when I say “friend”. I have fallen in love with their team, their services and most importantly… their values.

Milan Laser Hair Removal has (at the time of this post) over 70 locations in the United States. So even if you’re not in the St. Louis area, odds are you may have one near you (or worth the trip) and they’re STILL growing and expanding into new markets.

Why do I love them so much already?

Because from the moment I talked to Stacey, at the Town and Country location here in Missouri, I felt so welcome and heard.

I told Stacey about my areas of interest, and she communicated with me in such a way that I was counting down the days until my consultation and first appointment.

Fast forward to the day of my first visit and I was greeted with the friendliest staff.

I was the only one in the foyer/lobby at the time (which I later found out that they try to do this on purpose… how cool is that?) and I immediately felt like I was home.

No nervousness and no awkward feelings like I didn’t belong. I felt like family.

First Laser Hair Removal Treatment

I mentioned earlier that I spoke with Stacey on the phone about my areas of interest for laser hair removal when setting up my first appointment.

Those areas of interest were the following:

• legs (half or full)
• Brazillian
• Bikini
• Armpits

They do offer more body areas, but those were the top picks for me on the day of my visit, I told the staff that I had decided to get the Brazillian treatment and let me tell you… if anyone would be anxious about getting laser hair removal, let alone a BRAZILLIAN… it would have been me.

But I never once felt awkward, scared, or out of place with Milan.

What to Expect at Milan Laser Hair Removal on Your First Visit

Upon walking in the door, Milan was CLEAN, bright and super welcoming.

Stacey took me on a tour of the clinic, explained the process and welcomed me into the consultation room where we chatted about how laser hair removal works, why it works, Milan’s background and payment options.

After the consultation, it was time for my first treatment!

Before and After Photos of Laser Hair Removal Treatment

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wish I could show you the before and after of my first treatment of the Brazillian, but let’s get real… anyone and everyone can come visit me here on Fantabulosity and showing that area off to anyone and everyone really isn’t my cup of tea.

HOWEVER, Stacey is a genius and she asked if I’d be willing to do a treatment on one armpit so I could see just how well it works for those, even after one visit.

I’m so glad she did this because now I can show you a before and after of my armpits.

Now, do know that Stacey said the armpits tend to show bigger results after the first treatment, more so than the Brazillian does.

So what are you looking at below?

I had my treatment on January 7, 2020. I did not shave either armpit until after I took these photos on January 24th, 2020. (Yes, my husband kept asking me when I was going to shave it, but I had to keep watching it because it amazed me with how much different it was than the other, haha!)

Honestly, in the armpit with less hair… was what my armpit used to look like a day or two after shaving, not 17 days after shaving.

What about the Brazillian area?

Well I can tell you that I do already notice a difference down there. It’s a little spotty, (some areas not growing back as much/as fast) and the hair that has regrown is MUCH softer. I can’t wait for the next treatment, so I can see how much more of a difference it has.

Does Laser Hair Removal Hurt?

I’ll admit… I was totally afraid that it was going to hurt like crazy, but I told myself,

“Jessica, you’ve had two babies… one being without an epidural. You can do this.”

But you know what? My first treatment wasn’t bad at ALL! And it didn’t last long enough to even complain about it! Here’s more about “Does laser hair removal hurt?”

What does it feel like?

The Milan staff told me before we started that it would feel like the snap of a rubber band. I agree with that, and I’d even go to say that it feels like a “small” rubber band snap.

But you know what else? Before we started, I thought it would feel like a rubber band snap on each little hair follicle at a time. This is probably why I thought it would take so much longer than it did, and I thought I’d be pretty tired of that feeling after getting each individual pore treated down there. BUT THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS!

The tool that they use covers an area about the size of a quarter, so it gets multiple hair follicles at one time! I was so excited about this, and it made such a difference.

How Often and How Many Treatments are Needed?

They told me at Milan to expect 7-10 treatments, and that each treatment would be about 5 weeks apart.

After the initial visit with the consultation, the appointments don’t take very long at all!

As a matter of fact, if I know I’m going to be in the St. Louis area, I could easily call and see if they have an opening for a treatment, and I could pop-in and go about my day, running my other errands.

It’s definitely not something that you have to plan your whole day around, and you could feel free to run errands before/after, or like me… do some shopping since there’s a HomeGoods and Target right next door to my location! Hallelujah!

Lifetime Guarantee + Unlimited Package

So if you’ve heard or have been to other laser hair removal companies, you may be familiar with the “packages” that some offer. For instance, you buy per session or say, buy a package of three treatments at a time.

Well, not with Milan.

With Milan, you pay one price for the body area that you want, and it’s an unlimited, lifetime guarantee on that body area.

So say a few years from now, your body goes through some changes (hormones, etc.) and you notice one little hair grow back where you had a treatment.

You can call Milan, let them know and they’ll be glad to bring you back in, (at any location) at NO additional charge, and treat the area again! (Opposed to other companies where you may pay for 3 treatments in one area, and have to pay AGAIN and again to be treated.)

60% OFF for YOU! Yes… YOU!!!

Friends, I don’t know HOW this is possible, and I honestly didn’t expect this kind of discount for you when I first started talking to them, but you may want to take advantage NOW in case they change their mind! Haha!

Milan has offered to give you 60% off of your laser hair removal service, for any body area of your choice…. at any Milan Laser Hair Removal location. So when you call to schedule your consultation, just make sure to give them the code: FANTABULOSITY60 so they know to put it in the system for you!

Stop Putting Yourself on the Backburner. I did, and it Feels Amazing Already.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been THIS excited to share something with you. You know when I believe in, or fall in love with something, I don’t want to keep it from you. Well, Milan is no exception, and I can’t WAIT for you to do laser hair removal along with me. With 60% off, I’m hoping it either gives you the push to finally do this for yourself if you’ve been kicking it around, or I hope it’s something new that you’ve found that you can do for YOURSELF.

I know what it’s like to put yourself on the backburner, saving the time and money for your kids and husband.

But I can’t tell you how refreshed and GOOD I felt even after my first treatment. It wasn’t just because of the thought that I’ll never have to shave again… but because I finally did something for myself again. I want this for you too.

This post has been sitting in my drafts since July of 2017 and I never published it because it didn’t feel right. I couldn’t explain why at the time, why I didn’t put it out for the world to see… but looking back now, in 2020, I totally get it. It kind of goes hand in hand with my “God, I’m exhausted and I’m done trying to fix it” post.

It wasn’t the right time because I wasn’t the same person back then as I am now and it would have been published for the wrong reasons.

It was written with a whole different mindset than I have now and I’m so incredibly thankful to be aware of this.

However, I felt it is appropriate to publish now because although it has the same words… it has a new meaning. I’ll explain more below.

So What Was the Wrong Reason for Writing This Letter in 2017?

I wrote this originally as an apology to my friends (or who I thought were my friends – but more to come on that later) in hopes that they’d forgive me for not being the Jessica that they were used to…a redeemed chronic people pleaser here.

I even had an editor look over the blog post back in 2017 to make sure it was written “ok” and that it wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings when I published it.

Now don’t get me wrong… I’m all about doing things for your friends and being there for them and being a kind person… and not being someone to hurt others.

But that’s not what this letter was about. This post that I wrote was about making sure I still looked “good” to them and so they (hopefully) wouldn’t talk bad about me behind my back anymore… since I had supposedly “changed”.

So with that said, let’s dive in to my 2017 post and then at the end, I’ll share more about what I’ve discovered since and I’d LOVE to hear from you how you can relate.

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2017 – Post/Letter to my Friends

You could put my face on a milk carton.  When it comes to describing my current stage of life in regards to my friendships with even my closest of gal pals… you can say “I’ve gone missing.” I promise it’s not an act of being unkind. It’s a season.

This Season of Life is Full

I’m in my thirties, a mom of two littles, and my oldest is getting ready to start kindergarten.  The closer it gets to August. The pit in my stomach gets bigger and bigger, thinking about how our days are limited of when we can come and go as we please on any day of the week. I find myself spending countless hours each day, trying to diminish the pit by squeezing in as much play, and laid back activities as we can before the next stage of life hits.

For the last year or so, my husband and I have been so incredibly dedicated, focusing on reaching a level of connection that some marriages unfortunately never reach.  We attend marriage counseling once a week to set aside dedicated time to discuss important topics and to build a state of love and respect for one another that we never realized we could reach.

I’m a working momma, running my own business at home.  Emails, deadlines, hand-on creative projects for brands, and dreams of my own that I’m working towards fulfilling.

I’m a major advocate of spending time with friends.  The connections, closeness, and relatability that can come from girl time is so good for the soul.

But lately, I’ve been silent with texts and checking in. I’ve missed birthday parties. I’ve fallen short on planning that girls dinner that I’ve been saying I want to have for weeks now. I’ve slacked on planning the annual girls night party in my home. (And other ridiculous things we women tell ourselves that defines “being a good friend.” But more on that at a later date.)

Owning the Season

So if I feel so strongly about the importance of girl time, why do my friends probably think I’ve gone missing?

Because I’ve decided to take the reigns of my current season of life and control how I fill each and every day:

— I’m being intentional about spending time at home with my “babies” before sending them out the door with a backpack.

— I’m taking advantage of every moment to nurture my marriage.

— I’m wrapping my arms around every incredible opportunity coming my way, to grow and improve my business.

After being able to put my current state of mind in to words, I couldn’t help but journal my feelings about my absence, in a letter to my friends…

A Letter To My Friends:

Dear Friends,

I’m so sorry I’ve gone missing.  It’s not anything you’ve done.  It’s something I have done.  You’d be so proud of me, really. I’ve taken the reigns on items in my life that are priceless and that long for my attention.

Unscheduled days of fun with my kids before school starts; Intentional time to work on my marriage to reach a deep connection that I never knew could exist; and capturing a turning point in my business that could be something incredible for my family.

This doesn’t mean that you’re not important to me. You’re so very important to me. I cherish our friendship, deep heartfelt chats, and hilarious stories when we spend time together.  So please don’t take my absence as a hidden message of some horrible meaning or change of heart.  Please understand that this is good.  When I spend time focusing on the items that can benefit from my dedicated attention, you’ll see the love overflow in to the other areas of my life and flourish beyond measure. Know that I adore pollinating our friendship when I’m fueled on this end.

It’s a season, and I can’t wait to be there for you when you go through a season.

Signed,

Your friend that’s still here…”

Who’s There on the Flipside

So although my friends are incredibly important to me, it’s a season. It’s a season in life that I’ve chosen to be intentional about and focus on the items that are super important to me. This doesn’t mean that my friends aren’t important. This doesn’t mean that “I’m putting my friends on the back burner.”  But it does mean that it’s a time in my life that I’m going to be intentional about, that may leave my friends saying,

What in the world is going on with her?

During times like this, it’s so incredible to see who’s there after a season we have in life. Who’s there to say “Hey I’ve missed you. Tell me all about it.” And most importantly “I understand, and don’t judge you one bit.” Those are the little golden nuggets in life that can make a friendship something to cherish.

End of Letter – Now Present Day 2020

The words in the letter that I wrote are still true. I still believe them and feel like they have merit.

But you see, when I wrote that letter, those words were meant to be “excuses” in hopes that my friends would still like me, even though I chose my family over them in that moment. I’d even go so far to say that I felt “bad” that I was choosing my family over them. It’s like you could almost feel me saying,

“Please don’t forget about me and forgive me. Please still be my friend when I’m done putting my family first.”

Today, I’m ashamed I felt that way.

After going through such a difficult time these last 3 years (more to come on that later, as soon as I can figure out how to tell the long story) I’ve realized what’s important:

God, my husband, my kids, and my family.

Don’t hear what I’m not saying (my favorite quote by my favorite pastor, Bryan Mills) friends are important. In fact,

“God has created us to need people.”

Erwin Mcmanus

But real, true, genuine friends are important.

I encourage you today to really look at those you’re investing your time with… and what priorities you have set for yourself.

Now, today, I could write the same letter and send it out to my friends… but it would be to the friends that would read it and think:

“We get it. You’re going through a season and doing what’s important right now. We’ll be here on the flipside and during it if you need me.”

And you know what? I have those friends now. I’m so thankful for those friends and will NEVER ever let that go unappreciated.

It is my mission to also be that friend for them and to be understanding even when it doesn’t make sense.

How to be a good wife: Lessons learned over the years from wives all around, with tips and tricks that make their marriage work!

Am I the perfect wife? No.

Do I know a perfect wife? No.

But I do believe I am a good wife, and that I know a lot of good wives out there.

How to Be a Good Wife

I also know that we can definitely screw up and have flaws (we all do) and still be a good wife. (You’ll also love reading “How to Improve Your Relationship in 30 Seconds Each Day!”)

A good wife can also be defined in many different ways, by different people.

For instance, my husband may say there are different characteristics that make up a good wife, then what Billy, John, and David who live down the street say. (I have no idea if a Billy, John or David live down the street… so don’t be offended if you think I’m talking about your husband.)

You may also love our other marriage posts like: “How to Respect Your Husband” and How to Make Your Husband Want to Come Home

I have also learned a LOT in my marriage, and I’ve polled those of you in the “Fab Society” group on what lessons you have learned while being a wife, so I’m hoping what we have to share with you today, will help in some way.

Now, even if you’re not visiting this post for help… and just happened across this post, I truly hope something still resonates with you.

I know there were some things that others suggested that made me more aware and intrigued with what would happen if I would incorporate them into my marriage.

What are the Tips to be a Good Wife?

So again, although you may not agree with all of them, these are lessons we’ve learned and things that we’ve noticed in our (the Fantabulosity community) marriages, so we hope that something will speak to you today and help!

Do you have to do all or any of these to be a good wife? Absolutely not. They’re just great lessons we’ve learned that work in our marriages and we’re hoping one or all will help you in some way.

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Below, I’ve compiled real-life answers from other wives, so you’ll notice some will look just like Facebook comments… because they are!

Be sure to let us know below or in the Creating Your Happy group if this helps!

28 Tips to Be a Good Wife

1. God first. There’s a reason this is #1. It never fails. When God is put first in our marriage, everything else flows a lot easier. Even if only one of you is putting God first, it’s amazing what He (God) can do.

2. During a really difficult time in our marriage, I felt like I gave, gave and gave some more, even when I didn’t want to, because I wasn’t feeling loved in return. I didn’t walk away easily, and I’m thankful for that, because I believe our marriage is stronger now because of it.

But listen… I’ll be honest, there was a time when I couldn’t give anymore. I stopped trying and I was done. But more to come on that later.
Also, don’t get me wrong…My husband has never physically abused me. So I’m not saying that if you are being abused, that you should stay. If you are being abused, get help immediately.

3. We marry our dads. Not really, but we tend to carry over any behaviors we grew up with … and unintentionally live like our husbands have the same traits as our fathers, or live like they SHOULD have the same traits.

4. It’s hard. Can I just leave it at that? Because it is. It’s just hard. It takes work and no two people are the same, so when we come together as one, it may take some changing and reshaping to fit the pieces together.

5. When he’s upset and we can’t seem to get along, I’ve realized that sometimes it’s not about me or even something specific that happened with us. There could be something going on that I don’t understand or that I don’t even know about. I was so thankful when my husband helped me write “What to do when your husband doesn’t come home” because it helps explain a lot of things that I didn’t realize as his wife.

6. We all have a love language and learning what his is, is crucial and a game-changer. When we speak our spouse’s love language, he will feel more loved than when we show it in other ways. Plus, sometimes we tend to show love in our own love language, rather than his. So what’s a love language? I went in to more on this in The Secret Weapon in our Marriage.

7. Although I feel better when I “throw up” on him (vent, complain, and be negative about the unimportant things in life) he then feels it, and then I feel bad about that.

It’s like I have a temporary relief but regret minutes later. So unless it’s an important matter or I’m really struggling with something, I try to work through it instead of dumping it off on to him.

8. Pray about it before spouting about it. When something is bothering me, or in the heat of the moment, it is MUCH easier said than done, but taking a minute to pray about it does two things:
a. helps me think through things while giving me a breather
b. God will sometimes speak to me in those moments, and I’ll have a better way to approach a tough conversation with my husband.

9. “Don’t have big conversations on midnight week” – Facebook reader
This can also be explained as “don’t have big conversations when one has had a stressful/long week/day. Timing can mean everything! Which leads to the next recommendation from a Facebook reader that made me chuckle…

10. “We have a rule-no important chats when hungry, horny, or tired.” – Facebook Reader
This made me laugh out loud. I love it! But I’m not sure if there are moments in the day that one of us isn’t feeling one of these. Haha!

11. “That I take him for granted way too often. If I were to slow down every once in a while I would see that he is always by my side.” – Facebook Reader

12. “We are a team. Our marriage comes first then the kids. I was doing so much that I felt like he was an intruder so to speak.” – Facebook Reader

13. “Small stuff doesn’t matter. If something is bothering you (ie: dishes, laundry, etc.) just do them because it’s not affecting your partner. In ten minutes after they’re done, it’s not going to matter anymore.” – Facebook Reader

14. “If you have expectations for how an event or procedure is going to go in regards to your husband – make them known beforehand. He then has the opportunity to live up to the expectations you have set rather than fail your unsaid threshold.” – Facebook Reader

15. “Just celebrated our 18th wedding Anniversary and I have learned many lessons over the years. I think the most important is not giving up during the bad/hard times and compromise!” – Facebook Reader

16. “People always say you will have good years and bad and we have experienced both but have never given up on each other or our marriage in the bad years! Statistics of interracial marriage is higher than the average divorce rate due to culture differences especially when raising children. We have to compromise often and meet in the middle with a solution!” – Facebook Reader

17. “A couple of things… When you are frustrated or upset with your spouse, sometimes you have to look deep down inside and realize that it might be your thought process or you could really be the cause of your own frustration, then communication is the key.
It is all a give and take, but you and your spouse have to put your marriage first before kids, jobs, etc… (well besides God) It is SO hard to do that, but the family starts with husband and wife….. AND realize that there is a difference between joy and happiness. You won’t always be happy every day but you can still be unhappy or face hard times, and have joy.” – Facebook Reader

18. “I’ve learned to not take everything personal. It’s hard because when he is going thru stuff and lashes out at me then it’s easy to think many negative thoughts. Sometimes you have to step back and redirect your thoughts to something positive on purpose.” – Facebook Reader

19. “LOVE this! We are constantly changing as people. We change jobs, locations, friends, family, new people enter your life, and some people exit out of your life–all of this changes you and your spouse. You have to be willing to change together.
We never go to bed angry, we always talk it out no matter what. Never say the word divorce, ever. We disagree on irrelevant things at times, which can get heated because we both want to be right and don’t back down from wanting to be right and have decided to agree to disagree and let the little stuff go. We are a team and we work toward our goals together.” – Facebook Reader

20. “Pick your battles! I remember a lady complaining that her husband put the roll of toilet paper on the wrong way for 25 years! The other person said to her-“so he is finally doing it right”? She answered and said “NO, but after 25 years I decided to stop complaining about it!” – Facebook Reader

21. “True forgiveness.” – Facebook Reader

22. “RESPECT. I believe is truly what has kept my husband & I together through good and bad times. We can agree to disagree by respecting each other’s views and coming together to work as a team. That can mean taking a break to come back together and discuss further & let emotions settle so we can mutually agree (compromise).
Along with all the above great comments. TEAMWORK. that necessarily doesn’t always mean 50/50.. I have my low days & he picks it up or vice versa. TIME. Making time to spend with each other. COMMUNICATION. Always talking & really listen to each other. Not making Assumptions… SELF CARE. this is so important in order to make my relationship healthy. We need to take care of ourselves spiritually, mind & body.” – Facebook Reader

23. “We’re still newlyweds I suppose so I have a lot to learn but I’ve learned a lot about truly being open with someone else, especially about the things that cause me anxiety – like sharing finances with someone has been great mostly but also it’s such a mindset change to be open about talking about money. That’s just one example but there are a ton of things I’ve learned to really share that I would have kept to myself before.” – Facebook Reader

24. “Oh Gosh where do I start! After 37 years I probably could write a book … It’s ok to be wrong, it’s not important to be right, he is my biggest supporter & best friend… Respect Respect Respect. 
Don’t nag, he may or may not get projects or chores done but our relationship is more important than any silly ole project. 
Food really does make him happy! 
Don’t go to bed mad, you won’t be able to sleep anyway. 
I’m not his employee so I ask to not be treated like one and Life is great.” – Facebook Reader

25. “It gets easy to nag so try not to do that and show some interest in things that he loves.” – Instagram Reader

26. “Always be encouraging and give praise for the things he does. That is what keeps a guy going.” – Instagram Reader

27. “Treat your spouse the way you want to be treated.” – Instagram Reader

28. “Never EVER put down your spouse in front of other people!” – Instagram Reader

29. “Listen to husband instead of railroading him into thinking what you want him to think.” – Facebook Reader

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I am BEYOND thankful for all of you who have shared your favorite tips for being a good wife. Thank you so much!

If you’ve loved reading this or if you’d love to add something to our list, be sure to let us know in the comments! Share the love and help a fellow wife!

You May Also Love:

• 5 Ways to Prepare for a Romantic Weekend Getaway
• When Your Husband’s Not Affectionate Anymore
• When Your Husband Cheats and How to Make it Through

How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners: A work from home or side hustle that’s easier than you think, selling products online with these tools!

How to Sell on Amazon for Beginners

I am BEYOND honored to have a friend here today, sharing her knowledge and tips with us about how her family got started selling on Amazon and still to this day, sells products on Amazon!

Let me build the scene for you (You know my inner Sophia from Golden Girls has to come out every now and then… “Picture it, 1922… Sicily…” )

Listening to Pat Flynn’s podcast a couple of months ago, I happened across an episode that had a couple being interviewed, chatting about their success with selling on Amazon, and the dreams they’ve achieved while doing so.

I was so impressed with them and fell in love with their story.
So much so, that I got up the courage to reach out to them and ask if I could help share their story/products here on Fantabulosity with those of you who have dreamed of selling on Amazon too!

More Articles I Think You’ll Love:

• How to Make Money Online: 7 REAL Ways that are AUTHENTIC to you!
• How to Start a Blog
• 5 Ways You Can Outsource Your Business

The Selling Family – Selling on Amazon

Would you believe that Jessica from The Selling Family, emailed me back within no time?
I couldn’t believe it… someone that I had decided that was pretty much a celebrity, answered my email and responded to it in a flash!

I knew in that instant, that she and her husband were something special.

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After chatting through email a few times, Jessica said that she would love to share with Fantabulosity readers, some of her story and tips for those of you who are considering selling products on Amazon!

So without further ado, I am honored to have Jessica here, answering some of the questions I thought you all might like the answers too when it comes to selling on Amazon.

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Hi Jessica! Thank you SO much for joining us. Here are some of the top questions that I have for you, that I think Fantabulosity readers will want to get the scoop on…

“Why did you start selling on Amazon?”

I started selling on Amazon shortly after losing my full-time job in 2008. I was working for a company in the housing industry and there was major downsizing because of the recession. It was actually my husband, who was a manager at the same company, who had to let me go!

We were not in a place to live on one income so I knew I needed to find work right away. Luckily, I had been selling on eBay on the side so I had some experience there.

I took my last corporate paycheck and spent all of it at yard sales.
I sold all of the yard sale finds on eBay and that’s how I ended up in the business of online reselling.

Replacing A Corporate Income

It only took me a few months on eBay to replace my old corporate income! By using my profits to buy more inventory, I was able to quickly grow the business. But it was also starting to take a lot of my time.

That’s the thing about eBay. Each time you want to sell an item, you have to take a photo of it, create a listing, pack it up when it sells, drive it to the post office, and wait to see if there are any customer complaints or returns.

You’re really limited by the number of hours you have each day. Especially since you also need time to go out and look for more inventory to sell.

In the summer of 2010, I started chatting with a group of eBay sellers who were trying their hand at selling on Amazon.

Now this might sound crazy to you now, but back then Amazon really was just a place for books. So sellers were going to thrift stores and library sales, picking out used books, and reselling them on Amazon. They’d make maybe $1 per book so they’d do this all day long.

I wasn’t all that interested in selling books. I tried it, but it just wasn’t for me. But what did interest me about Amazon was their fulfillment program for third-party sellers called Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA). I had a feeling that with FBA, I’d be able to grow and scale my business that much faster.

I was right about my hunch. By 2011, I was making enough money that I was able to help my husband Cliff retire from his corporate job. We’ve been running an Amazon business together as a family ever since.

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“How does it work? Do you buy things at the store and ship them to Amazon or to each customer?”

Here’s the big difference between Amazon FBA and basically everything else out there for reselling.

With FBA, you don’t ship directly to the customer. Instead, you buy your inventory and you ship it in bulk to an Amazon Fulfillment Center. They have these all over the country.

Once Amazon has your inventory at one of their warehouses, they handle most of the work.

• They store your inventory in their warehouses
• They pack the items and ship them to customers (usually with free 1-day Prime shipping!)
• And they even handle returns and customer service issues.

This is great because it means you can run a reselling business without looking like a hoarder! With eBay, I always had inventory and packages scattered all over the house.

But the real benefit is how much time it saves. Instead of packing up individual shipments and driving to the post office, I just create one or two big boxes at a time and send them to Amazon. It means that I get to spend more time buying inventory and less time doing busy work.

Now there are a lot of ways to buy inventory for reselling on Amazon FBA. But the primary ways that I find inventory are through Retail Arbitrage and Online Arbitrage.

Retail Arbitrage and Online Arbitrage

With Retail Arbitrage, I am driving to local retail stores, looking at inventory, and then buying items that I can resell for a profit on Amazon. Technology has made this process so much easier because there are smartphone apps that tell you which products are winners and which ones aren’t worth selling.

And unlike shopping at yard sales, when I’m doing Retail Arbitrage, I have the ability to get 5-10 of an item at any given store. If it’s a hot seller, I drive across town hitting different locations to buy more. Given the choice, I’d rather sell 25 of the same item than 25 different items.

When I do Online Arbitrage, it’s really similar, but I’m shopping at retail websites instead of retail stores. So maybe I spend an afternoon browsing barnesandnoble.com looking for profitable inventory.

I keep shopping for inventory until I have enough to create a shipment to send off to an Amazon warehouse.

Free 7-Day Email Course

If you want to learn more about how this all works, I have a free 7-day email course that covers the basics. This will introduce you to Retail Arbitrage and show you how to find profitable inventory. If you’re having a hard time believing that someone would pay more for an item on Amazon than they would at Walmart, this is the course for you!

“Do you have to be super tech-advanced to be successful or start an Amazon business?”

Amazon requires less technical skill than blogging (this is based on my experience with both). You don’t have to create a website because you get to use Amazon.com to sell your inventory.
So you don’t need the design, SEO, and hosting tech skills that are standard in the blogging world.

But, of course, you need some tech basics. You’ll need to sign in to Amazon’s Seller Central dashboard daily to check your sales and your pricing. You may have to occasionally download a report into a spreadsheet to check on something. You should definitely be very comfortable with a laptop or desktop computer, your smartphone, and a printer.

And, as I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of apps and extensions that make Amazon selling a lot easier. If you’re comfortable downloading and using apps on your phone and Chrome extensions on your computer, then you’re off to a good start.

“Can you do it part-time? Or does it take a full-time workload to make it work?”

This is my favorite thing about doing Retail Arbitrage with Amazon FBA: you can do it 8 hours a week or 80. It’s like you get to choose how much money you want to make and act accordingly.

It’s the kind of business model where the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. So if you want to make an extra $500 a month to put towards savings, you could do this super part-time.

But I know plenty of people who support their families doing Retail Arbitrage full-time. When Cliff and I were fully focused on our Amazon business, we were profiting over $100,000 per year. And that was with about 20-hour workweeks.

There are a lot of ways to scale this business for growth if that’s your big vision. But I have plenty of students who are thrilled to make a part-time income “just” by shopping at Target on the weekends 🙂

“Could you get in to creating your own product and then drop-ship? Or is that more advanced?”

On Amazon, creating your own product is called Private Label. This is a popular business model, but it’s not one that I recommend to new sellers. And, personally, it’s not a business model that I’m interested in exploring.

One great thing about Retail Arbitrage, besides the flexibility, is that you can get started for less than $1,000. But if you need to find a supplier in China to Private Label a product for you, it’s going to take a bigger investment up front.

Private Label vs. Retail Arbitrage

When I’m buying inventory at Big Lots or Walmart, I can buy just one or two of an item to test how it sells on Amazon. But with a Private Label supplier, you’re going to need to buy a large quantity upfront. Plus, you’ll have to pay for shipping overseas.

The other big unknown with Private Label is you don’t know if your item will sell. You need to plan on paying for PPC Advertising to get Amazon customers to find your products. That’s not something I have to worry about because I know that Amazon shoppers are already looking for items like Clorox toilet wands and Betty Crocker brownie mix.

All that being said, a lot of people do start with Retail Arbitrage and then add Private Label selling once they are more comfortable with the Amazon platform.

As for dropshipping, you never have to worry about that if you use FBA. Dropshipping can be pretty risky (and is usually against the rules on Amazon). So with FBA, just ship your items to Amazon and they’ll handle shipping to the customer. If you’re really someone who never wants to touch inventory, there are ways to do this with Online Arbitrage that don’t involve dropshipping.

“What is one thing you wish you would have known when you started?”

It’s funny, because people get jealous when they find out I’ve been selling on Amazon for 10 years. They say, “it must have been so easy!” because there were fewer sellers online.

It’s true that there were fewer sellers, but there were also fewer buyers. And it was basically the technological dark ages! Now there are so many amazing tools and apps that make Amazon selling easier and more profitable.

So it’s hard for me to even compare Amazon then and now. But there is one thing I wish I could have done differently. I wish I could have reinvested more of my profits back into the business.

I had to take money out of every Amazon payment to pay myself. That was just the reality of getting our personal bills paid each month. But now I encourage my students to try to reinvest all of their profits back into the business for the first three months. That’s how you can really grow your business quickly.

I really felt like I was just winging it back then because there weren’t any systems to follow. Amazon was still the untested new thing, especially outside of books, so I just had to figure it out as I went.

Which is exactly why I started blogging about Amazon FBA. I just wanted people to know about this amazing business opportunity (especially since most of my IRL friends thought it sounded crazy!).

A lot of people probably think that online reselling is just a hobby, but I want to make sure that people know that this is a real, legitimate business.

Work at Home Mom Dream…

Amazon is such a wonderful business model for moms because of the flexibility and freedom that it allows. Cliff and I get to work together, homeschool our son, and travel as a family all because of Amazon FBA. If you’re looking for a more flexible way to make money while working from home, FBA could be a great fit.

Ready to Start Selling on Amazon?

If you’re ready to get started, I have an online course that walks you step-by-step through the process of starting and growing your business. Amazon FBA is a whole lot easier if you have a tested system to follow, and that’s what I teach in my Amazon Boot Camp.

It amazes me how many people could benefit from an Amazon FBA business and they just don’t know that it exists. So thanks for giving me the opportunity to share more about it 🙂

Thank you Jessica!

Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us Jessica. I had NO idea about so much of this, but have been super curious. I’m not going to lie… I’m REALLY considering selling on Amazon myself because I would love to be able to have “shopping” as a staple part of my business!

Have more questions for Jessica? Drop them in the comments below! I’d love to hear them too!

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