We lost $6,000 in inventory because we didn't understand one requirement. And th
By Byoungsfl · November 10, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
We lost $6,000 in inventory because we didn't understand one requirement.
And the product was actually selling really well.
Back in 2016, when Jennifer and I first started selling on Amazon, one of the first products we launched was a waterproof Bluetooth speaker.
I think it was our third product.
We were selling a bunch of units.
We were making money.
And naturally, we thought we were doing everything right.
Until our next inventory order got seized at the port.
We had used the word Bluetooth on our packaging and paperwork without getting the proper authorization.
At the time, we didn't even realize that was something we needed.
We thought Bluetooth was just a generic term.
It wasn't.
And that mistake cost us the entire order.
$6,000.
Gone.
Now, $6,000 might not sound like a lot to someone running a large business today.
But when you're just starting out, that's a significant amount of money.
And what makes this story important is that we didn't lose money because customers didn't want our product.
We lost money because we didn't know what we didn't know.
That's something I see happen with new Amazon sellers all the time.
They spend months researching products.
They negotiate with suppliers.
They invest in inventory.
And then they discover a compliance issue, a certification requirement, or some other problem they never thought to check.
By that point, the money is already spent.
I've had hundreds, if not thousands, of students come to us after they've already tried selling on Amazon and failed.
And I think that's backwards.
Why should someone have to lose thousands of dollars before learning how to do something
properly?
It's one of the reasons we built the Seller Systems Academy Incubator Program.
I want people to understand the process before they start investing their money.
Because finding a product that sells is only one part of building a successful Amazon business.
Knowing how to protect that business is just as important.
What's one business lesson you learned the expensive way?
#AmazonFBA #AmazonSeller #Entrepreneurship #Ecommerce #BusinessLessons