The Benefits of Joining Amazon Seller Mastermind Groups

July 27, 2021

Ian Sells

Founder and CEO of Million Dollar Sellers (MDS)

Listen to the podcast

Ian Sells is the Founder and CEO of Million Dollar Sellers (MDS), a network of entrepreneurs with specific e-commerce knowledge and verified annual revenue of over $1 million. With more than 400 members, MDS represents over $4 billion a year in sales, much of it through the Amazon Marketplace.

Ian is also the CMO of Elite Seller, an all-in-one Amazon seller software suite, and the CEO of RebateKey, a rebate and coupon site that helps savvy online shoppers save hundreds of dollars a month.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

What differentiates Ian Sells’ mastermind, Million Dollar Sellers (MDS), from other Amazon seller groups?
Ian talks about the increased interest in private label brands and his predictions for the future of the marketplace
The current questions and concerns of MDS members
Ian’s thoughts on “opportunity cost” and why many entrepreneurs have multiple businesses
The benefits of documenting your operating procedures and preparing your financial records before selling your brand
How new MDS members have been building their businesses compared to older members
What large FBA sellers should do to prepare, sell, and exit their businesses
How Ian’s role as the Founder and CEO of his mastermind has changed over the last 14-18 months
Ian shares the unexpected lessons he’s learned from MDS members who have sold their businesses
How FBA investors can drive growth and get added value from the portfolio companies they acquire

In this episode…

What is one of the best decisions that entrepreneurs can make when building a business on Amazon? According to Ian Sells, it is to join a mastermind group that gives business owners a place to share their knowledge and ideas. Through such groups, entrepreneurs can learn what works — and what doesn’t — when growing an Amazon business and preparing for a successful exit.

Many members of Ian’s mastermind have successfully sold and exited their businesses. As he says, they have learned that brand owners can effectively negotiate with FBA aggregators about an offer. They have also learned that timing is critical when selling an e-commerce business. Now, Ian is here to discuss these valuable lessons and share his advice for current Amazon sellers looking to exit their businesses.

Ian Sells, the Founder and CEO of Million Dollar Sellers (MDS), joins James Thomson on this episode of the Buy Box Experts podcast to discuss the value of joining an Amazon seller mastermind group. Ian explains how members who have sold and exited their businesses can effectively help new entrepreneurs prepare for successful exits. He also talks about the benefits of creating and documenting standard operating procedures and negotiating with aggregators for better offers. Stay tuned.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

Sponsor for this episode…

Buy Box Experts applies decades of e-commerce experience to successfully manage their clients’ marketplace accounts. The Buy Box account managers specialize in combining an understanding of their clients’ business fundamentals and their in-depth expertise in the Amazon Marketplace.

The team works with marketplace technicians using a system of processes, proprietary software, and extensive channel experience to ensure your Amazon presence captures the opportunity in the marketplace – not only producing greater revenue and profits but also reducing or eliminating your business’ workload.

Buy Box Experts prides itself on being one of the few agencies with an SMB (small to medium-sized business) division and an Enterprise division. Buy Box does not commingle clients among divisions as each has unique needs and requirements for proper account management.

Learn more about Buy Box Experts at BuyBoxExperts.com.

Podcast Episode Transcripts:

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

Intro 0:09

Welcome to the Buy Box Experts Podcast. We bring to light the unique opportunities brands face in today’s e-commerce world.

James Thomson 0:18

A couple months ago, we did a special series of podcast episodes featuring FBA aggregators, investors, brokers, bankers and some sellers that had recently sold their businesses to these investors. It was one of the most successful podcast series we’ve ever done at Buy Box Experts. And now we’re adding a new sequence. We’re going to be talking to a number of mastermind leaders, talking to them about what their members are saying, what they’re thinking about, as they look at all this investment money now flowing into the space. Hope you enjoy our series over the coming weeks. I want to thank the folks at GETIDA, our sponsor for this series. GETIDA is a global leader in Amazon FBA auditing, reimbursements, analyzing Amazon data and reconciling FBA inventory, and filing claims for reimbursement on the behalf of sellers. Check out getida.com to learn more. Enjoy our series.

Hi, I’m James Thomson, one of the hosts of the Buy Box Experts Podcast. I’m a partner with Buy Box Experts and the former business head of the selling on Amazon team at Amazon, as well as the first account manager for the Fulfillment by Amazon program. I’m the co-author of a couple of books on Amazon, including the recent book, Controlling your Brand in the Age of Amazon. Today’s episode is brought to you by Buy Box Experts. Buy Box Experts takes ambitious brands and makes them unbeatable. When you hire Buy Box Experts, you receive the strategy optimization and marketing performance to succeed on Amazon. We also help investors with due diligence services. Go to buyboxexperts.com to learn more.

Before I introduce our guest today, I want to send a big shout out to the team at GETIDA, a global leader in Amazon FBA auditing and reimbursements. GETIDA analyzes your Amazon data, reconciles your FBA inventory, and files claims for reimbursements on your behalf. To learn more, check out getida.com. Today on the Buy Box Experts Podcast we welcome Ian Sells, Founder and CEO of Million Dollar Sellers, a network of entrepreneurs with specific e-commerce knowledge and verified revenue of over $1 million a year each. With over 400 members, Million Dollar Sellers members drive more than 4 million, excuse me, $4 billion a year in sales, much of it through the Amazon Marketplace. Ian is also the CMO of Elite Seller, an all in one amazon seller software suite as well as CEO of RebateKey, a rebate and coupon site to drive product sales and help savvy online shoppers save hundreds of dollars a month. Ian, welcome. And thank you for joining us today on the Buy Box Experts Podcast.

Ian Sells 3:00

Thank you for having me.

James Thomson 3:02

You know, I want to start by asking you to run a mastermind of private label sellers that leverage the Amazon channel. Please tell us a little bit more about your group and what differentiates your mastermind from other groups of Amazon sellers.

Ian Sells 3:15

Yeah, so Million Dollar Sellers is basically a group of Amazon sellers. Mostly, that’s how it started. I’ll do over $1 million a year each in revenue, it transitions from doing $50,000 a month to 100,000 an event. Finally, we made it to a million dollars as people’s businesses grew over time, we were probably the first ones to ever do the verified revenue. And started many years ago, I think four or five years ago, and slowly grew the group over time helping people build connections and build meaningful relationships within the online community. And so therefore, we don’t have a ton of members, but we have very good members, right. So that’s really what makes us different. And then we throw events to bring people together all over the world. We just had an event in part of our tour where we had 100 plus of the members actually come and mix and mingle and share ideas and stories and tips to be able to get on a plane and travel.

James Thomson 4:03

It sounds wonderful. It sounds glorious right now itching for it.