Affecting industries as diverse as cosmetics, food and beverage and pharmaceuticals, the exploding CBD (cannabidiol) market has generated considerable headlines, providing fodder to umpteenth analysis and forecasts. The latest one, by leading cannabis researchers BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research, projects that the collective market for CBD sales in the U.S. will surpass $20 billion by 2024. Interestingly, this figure is a slight increase from than the recent forecast made by New York-based investment bank Cowen & Co, which estimated that the market could pull in $15 billion by 2025.
The new forecast takes into account products sold through licensed dispensaries, pharmaceuticals and in general market retail, which includes cafes, smoke shops, grocery stores and pharmacies. However, BDS Analytics predicts that the majority of CBD product sales will soon occur in general retail stores instead of cannabis dispensaries. When you consider how cannabis has become increasingly integrated into mainstream society, as represented by the number of states that have legalized recreational or medical markets (33 and D.C for recreational use and 10 states plus D.C. for adult use), the BDS prognostication makes perfect sense.
But sales will continue from other distribution channels. In fact, BDS Analytics is predicting an compound annual growth rate of 49 percent by 2024 across all distribution channels. Also, they expect that the CBD market, combined with THC products, will create a total market of $45 billion for cannabinoids by 2024.
Other findings from the new study include:
CBD product sales in dispensaries since 2014 have grown at an even faster rate than overall sales in dispensaries;
66 percent of hemp-derived CBD consumers in the U.S. agree with full federal legalization of cannabis, with 90 percent believing that marijuana has medical benefits; and
CBD consumers are an average age of 40, have higher education, and are more likely than non-consumers to be employed full time.
Jessica Lukas, vice president of consumer insights at BDS Analytics, explained how the Boulder, Colorado-based firm cast this latest forecast. βWe had to look at the landscape today, and then assess and predict where the market will go,β she said. βTHC and CBD are very different with different functionality. Product forms that make sense and are very successful for THC do not necessarily transfer to CBD. Additionally, we had to strongly consider the interaction between the general market channels and the dispensary channel in assessing whether or not the availability of CBD products in the general market is incremental to purchases in dispensaries, will replace dispensary purchases, and/or will drive greater penetration and acceptance of legal cannabis.β
Estimating the size of the market by channel and category was a challenge in the data-gathering process. βMost products being sold in the general market today are in untracked channels of distribution,β said Lukas. Yet even with this problem, she is expecting many categories (food, candy, beverages, beauty, skin, etc.) will generate substantial volume across many channels of distribution. βWhile dispensaries and ecommerce drive the majority of cannabinoid sales today in the U.S, this shifts versus the next five years,β she added.
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Is Amazon FBA Still Worth It In 2020?
Whereas Amazon sells many of its own products, more than half of sales on the e-commerce platform come from third-party sellers. Many of these items are stored in Amazon warehouses and shipped by Amazon employees. This system is called Fulfillment by Amazon β or Amazon FBA. It simplifies the shipping process for sellers and provides the same service for customers as if they had purchased direct from Amazon. It also gives Amazon a greater share of the profits for every third-party sale.
The question is: for sellers, is Amazon FBA worth it?
How Does Amazon FBA Work?
Before we look at whether Amazon will be profitable for your business, you need to understand how Amazon FBA works.
Step 1: You send items to an Amazon fulfillment center. If you donβt produce your own products, the manufacturer can send them instead. There are around 100 warehouses in the U.S. Amazon will tell you where to send your items according to the type of products.
Step 2: Once Amazon has received your items, the warehouse employees will sort your merchandise and store it with a tracking code. Incidents of damage and loss are rare, but if something does happen to your products, Amazon will reimburse you.
Step 3: When a customer orders one of your items, Amazon will locate it and pack it. Your inventory will update automatically.
Step 4: Amazon will ship the item using the method the customer chooses.
Step 5: During shipment, both you and the customer will be able to track the item.
Step 6: Amazon will handle any additional customer support, such as customer questions and returns.
Step 7: You will receive payment for sales through Amazon FBA every two weeks.
Itβs important to note that you can also use Amazon FBA to fulfill orders from other e-commerce platforms, like eBay and Facebook, and even for your own website.
Is Amazon FBA Still Worth Doing?
When Amazon first released its FBA service, sellers leaped at the chance to simplify the shipping process. Since then, Amazon has become much more popular, resulting in more competition and higher fees. This has led some people to question whether Amazon FBA is worth it in 2020.
To determine if Amazon FBA is worth it for you, there are few factors to consider.
1. Amazon FBA Fees
Amazon frequently updates its rates. Unfortunately, fees almost always become higher. Monthly storage fees are now at $0.75 per cubic foot from January to September and $2.40 per cubic foot from October to December.
In addition, you need to pay a minimum of $2.50 in fulfillment fees (these are instead of shipping fees) for each unit you sell. This rate is for the smallest size: no more than 10 ounces of shipping weight and 4 ounces of packaging weight. The fee for large items is $5.42 for up to 3 pounds and then $0.38 for every additional pound.
If you have oversize items (whether small, medium, large, or what Amazon calls βspecial oversizeβ), youβll pay even more. A large oversize item, for instance, is $75.78 for the first 90 pounds and $0.79 for every additional pound.
Furthermore, certain categories of items have higher fees, such as clothing. For example, a small size item of clothing has a fulfillment fee of $2.92 rather than $2.50. The good news is Amazon eliminated its $0.40 surcharge for clothing, meaning it actually became slightly cheaper to sell clothing this year compared to last year.
Dangerous goods also have higher fees, as they require special storage and handling.
You can check out the list of fulfillment fees (which also explains what dimensions make an item oversize) to figure out how much youβll pay for your items.
In addition, itβs important to note that you may incur other fees, such as FBA removal order fees, FBA disposal order fees, and for the FBA Label Service. There are also long-term storage fees for items that have been in storage for more than 365 days (up from the six months it was previously).
2. Your Product Range
Amazon FBA is better suited to some types of products than others. To avoid hefty storage fees, itβs best to have small items that will sell fast. Large, low-cost products may be too expensive in fees to be worthwhile.
3. Your Workload
Selling online can be a big commitment. Handing fulfillment over to Amazon may free up some of your time β after all, shipping will be one less thing to worry about.
All the same, using Amazon FBA will add a few tasks to your schedule. First, youβll need to calculate how many items to send. Itβs important to strike a balance between running out of stock and spending more than necessary on storage fees. Second, youβll need to prepare items to meet Amazonβs requirements. This involves using the correct packaging β otherwise, you can expect to incur another fee.
4. Lower Shipping Rates for Your Customers
As one of the largest companies in the world, itβs easy for Amazon to negotiate better shipping rates with delivery services than your business ever could. Plus, Amazon Prime customers even receive free two-day shipping on all FBA orders. This makes your products far more appealing to customers. In fact, if you lack free shipping, Prime customers may buy from one of your competitors instead.
5. Customer Service
Fast shipping is just one benefit for customers. Another is a better return policy than your business would likely be able to offer. Unfortunately, the policy is great for customers, but less so for sellers: youβll need to pay a returns processing fee whenever a customer returns an item. Still, it does mean you donβt need to deal with reverse logistics nor the messaging of customers to figure out if they qualify for a return.
6. Storage Space
If you lack space to store all your inventory, relying on an Amazon warehouse could be an excellent solution. If your products sell fast, Amazon may even offer you unlimited storage β which is never an option when paying for your own warehouse.
7. Quality Control
If youβre selling identical products to another business, you never know if Amazon will ship your customers the items you sent to the fulfillment center. This is because Amazon looks at the bar codes of items, which donβt differ according to seller. There is always the chance that a customer will receive a lower-quality product than one you sent.
Whereas you can opt out of this practice (itβs called merchandise commingling), this will likely slow down your delivery times. For instance, if a customer is on the other side of the country, Amazon will be unable to ship from the closest warehouse.
You also need to consider that you are handing over a major function of your business to another company. Whereas Amazon usually has excellent customer service, the sheer number of orders means there will always be some mistakes. If Amazon makes a shipping mistake on your behalf, your reputation could be at stake. You may receive a negative review or even lose a customer.
8. Accounting and Taxes
Accounting can be extra difficult when you use Amazon FBA. There is no way of automatically connecting Amazon FBA to your QuickBooks account, unless you pay for a tool that will do it for you. The other option to manually record fees in a spreadsheet. Depending on your sales, this could take up hours of your time.
And thatβs just the start. You also need to think about sales tax compliance. Amazon can decide to move your items to a fulfillment center in a different state at any time β and you are not privy to this information. However, although sellers have voiced concerns that they could be at risk of liability issues, there have never been any problems to date.
Is selling on Amazon FBA worth it? That depends on your business. The benefits of Amazon FBA are that your customers will receive an excellent service (which may well encourage them to buy from your company again) and youβll eliminate some tasks from your schedule, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.
The main downside of Amazon FBA is its cost. Furthermore, it wonβt guarantee perfect customer service nor eliminate monotonous tasks. After all, youβll still need to keep track of your inventory, ensure Amazon always has enough of every item, and provide some customer support.
Amazon FBA is definitely worth it in 2020 β for some sellers. Before you determine if it will be a profitable solution for your business, you need to calculate how much youβre likely to spend. You may even like to try Amazon FBA with just a few types of products to see if it works for your business. Then you can decide if you want to commit to the service for the long term.
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Forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible. We sometimes view it merely as a therapeutic way of detaching ourselves from those who have harmed us. Yet the heart of true forgiveness is so much richer than we may realize.
Jesus underlined the amazing nature of forgiveness in Luke 17:4: βEven if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, βI repent,β you must forgive them.β Jesusβs followers are to imitate the grace of God that pursues us in the midst of our sinfulness.
Forgiveness is not earned but given. It means to release the desire to get even or the βrightβ to require the offender to pay for what he has done. To forgive is to say, βYou are free. Your debt is paid.β It is not engaging in willful amnesia, but it is choosing not to treat someone on the basis of what they have done, even though we remember it.
Forgiveness isnβt the same as reconciliation. Reconciliation is earned. Forgiveness clears the ledger; it does not instantly rebuild trust. Forgiveness cancels debts; it does not eliminate all consequences.
Consider these thoughts about forgiveness:
Face the Facts
Authentic forgiveness requires that we identify what has happened and understand its significance.
Feel the Feelings
Thereβs a danger of both βquick forgivenessββa hasty verbal declaration that keeps us from processing the violationβand βslow forgiveness,β an ongoing βI donβt feel ready yet.β Thereβs an appropriate time to grieve the loss of what might have been.
A Decision and a Declaration
Forgiveness is a matter of obedience, an inward choice that declares, βI forgive you.β These words declare that the issue is dead and buried. When it comes to mind, we take it to the Lord.
So, I wanted give you guys a little more detail about the scammer, and a little bit of update about what is going. You don’t think that they will just happy walking away with my $1600, right? She (I assumed it’s a she, but it’s a fake profile, so who knows? I could be talking to a hairy, 4 feet 10 inches midget who has a Facebook profile under the name Clara J Woodard. Pretty picture, showing off the mining machine set up, picture perfect lady, gorgeous. Of course I was thinking about her when I was talking to her via Messenger. Hey, I am only human, don’t judge me, O.K? After awhile we switch to WhatsApp and communicated thru there. For whatever reason, people like WhatsApp better, maybe you guys can tell me the reasons. And all the chat we had on Messenger will deleted, at least her part was all disappeared. Again, I don’t know why, you go ahead and tell me already. And after a little while, she had to change her phone number connected with the WhatsApp, and she was kind enough to tell me that, because, you guess it. They are still waiting for me to “upgrade” my plan, the $1100 they haven’t get yet. Here come the juicy ending, she came calling again yesterday, saying that “she” was willing to put up half of the “transaction fee”, so that I could withdraw my “profit”. Wow, just wow, how dumb they think I am. Well, pretty dumb, I did get scammed. Anyway, that might not be the end of it, who knows. I will definitely keep you guys undated if anything comes up. And just as I began tried to write this blog, I think another allege scammer might be onto me (thru Facebook, again). Let’s wait and see how this one goes, you just have to wait and see. Cheers!
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