Amazon Kindle Vs. Amazon Physical Products – Which Is A Better Opportunity?

In the past few years, several major opportunities have opened up for new entrepreneurs looking to create businesses based on either selling digital books or physical products through Amazon.

As a #1 bestselling kindle author, I took the route of publishing ebooks to generate extra income.  However, many big entrepreneurs and authorities are recommending selling physical products through Amazon which have a much bigger profit potential.

Which is the right choice for you?

Having explored both of these options, I’m going to lay out some of the pros and cons of each.

Kindle Pros

Low Barrier of Entry – This is what got me into kindle publishing since I was on a budget.  The cost to get started can be a matter of less than $20 for formatting and cover creation.  To be successful though, you’d ideally want to invest a few hundred dollars into book creation and marketing which is still chump change for creating your own business.

Speed – You can have a kindle book up and making money within a week.  You don’t have to wait for product shipment and fulfillment by Amazon.  The only downside is waiting two months to receive your royalties.

Potential For Hands Free Functionality – The kindle publishing business is simple (not easy), and this allows for you to outsource many parts of the process – including writing the book.  Outside of the initial learning curve, you don’t have to invest too much time except for the occasional promotions and writing if that’s what you choose to do.  Note that because you don’t have to doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.

Kindle Cons

Lower Profit Potential – The idea of making a fortune on kindle isn’t as easy as many people make it out to be.  It will likely take several books built up in a single niche to see four to five figure a month income.  The competition is becoming increasingly large.  The amount of money generated per book isn’t enough to typically warrant advertising outside of the fiction genre unless you use creative methods and have a library.  In a nutshell, there are a lot more people making six and seven figure income with physical products vs. ebooks.

High Competition – Because it’s relatively easy to publish a kindle book, a lot of people are competing for the same space.  The extra steps required for physical product sales weeds out the people looking for a quick buck making it a less saturated market.

Physical Product Pros

Higher Profit Potential – Far more people are making full time incomes within a matter of months through physical product sales.  The ability to advertise in a less saturated market with products that can be marked up sometimes 10x their cost to you makes it very lucrative.

Less Competition – The higher barrier of entry actually works in your favor in that if you’re willing to do the work, you won’t have nearly as many people fighting for the same market.  At the same time, there is enough competition that you can identify proven products.  Meaning if you see products that have the signs of a person who’s gone through the ASM training, you know those products have potential.  Remember, some competition is a good thing.  No competition usually means no demand.

Physical Product Cons

High Barrier of Entry – The investment to get the right type of training will be in the thousands.  It will then cost at least several hundred to 1k+ to purchase inventory and go through  the other steps.  While you can make your money back in a few months, this may make it unfeasible for some people just getting by financially.

Time – Expect to spend at least a couple months learning how to sell physical products, waiting for goods to be shipped (often from China), and getting product reviews.  Several months is far less than most businesses, and in reality can still be as quick as kindle.  However, it’s not quite the instant gratification of seeing sales come in within a few weeks.

Want To Explore The Topic Further?

You can check out the free ASM video series here.

You can also contact me at info@ebookbestsellersecrets.com if you have any questions on choosing the right business model for you.