The process of finding the right wholesaler and supplier for your business can be an overwhelming task for many first-time sellers. What’s more, finding the right products at the right price to trade on Amazon is one of the most important safeguards, and is often one of the first challenges you’ll face when starting your first Amazon FBA business. This article will tell you how to find supplier for Amazon business, and what to look for before you place your first order with one.
How do I find supplier for Amazon business?
Types of Amazon suppliers
Popular types of suppliers: wholesale suppliers, manufacturers and dropshipping suppliers
– Wholesale suppliers
A wholesale supplier acts as an intermediary between manufacturers and sellers. Typically, a wholesaler does not sell directly to end consumers. Instead, a wholesaler license allows them to buy products in bulk from manufacturers at a discount and resell them to business owners at a small markup. You can then resell the products to customers at a profit.
Wholesalers give retailers the opportunity to buy large quantities of products at a much lower price. If you buy more items, chances are good that you’ll get a big discount on your order.
Think of Walmart, Target or even any of your local grocery stores. They don’t brand or manufacture these products; they buy them from another brand (or distributor), jack up the price, and offer these products to their customers.
Wholesale is one of the best strategies for Amazon sellers.
- because you can replenish your inventory month after month from a legitimate source without having to order from China or shop at local retailers.
- you will need a large sum to get started with wholesale vendors because you need to purchase multiple items at once.
Why should you buy in bulk for sale on Amazon?
- You can buy from a reputable wholesale source
With this method, you purchase directly from the brand/manufacturer or distributor and receive an invoice for your purchase. This is important because Amazon may ask you for an invoice before selling a particular brand, and a check from a retail store won’t work.
- You don’t have to order from China or overseas
A huge advantage of wholesale is that you can buy goods in your own country without having to go through the import process. For example, if you are in the United States, there are thousands of distributors from whom you can easily purchase products and have them shipped directly to you.
- You get a replenishable source of products
Retail or online arbitrage is a great way to sell and make money on Amazon, but you may have trouble finding the same products. Retailers can quickly run out of stock in-store and online.
Distributors or brands likely always have a large number of items in stock, making it easy to restock.
You don’t have to launch a new product
With wholesale resale, you don’t need to launch or create an entirely new product. You simply resell other brands’ products with their approval on Amazon or other marketplaces.
Drop-shipping suppliers
Dropshipping suppliers are the most popular choice of e-commerce sellers. These suppliers maintain your inventory and ship your products to customers.
The benefits of dropshipping sales are:
- No inventory.
Inventory management, along with the added effort of tracking the shipping process, can be very challenging. The dropshipping model will save you from this hassle.
- Low overhead costs.
You don’t have to pay for bulk shipments and you don’t have to restock. You only pay the supplier as products are sold. That means one thing: low overhead and financial risk.
- Diversity.
Dropshipping is quite adaptable. You can change your Amazon store according to customer demand. Based on customer requests and shopping trends, you can offer merchandise that will make a profit.
Disadvantages of dropshipping sales:
- Less control.
With dropshipping, you give the middleman control of the shipping process. If the supplier is reliable and trusted, this shouldn’t be a problem. However, mistakes are possible, and you’ll have less control over it than you would with in-house inventory.
- Inventory problems.
Since stock availability is under the supplier’s control, this can lead to out-of-stock items.
- Cost per item.
Because dropshipping is convenient and you’re not buying in bulk, the cost per item tends to be higher compared to other models. Therefore, it will be harder for you to offer competitive prices on Amazon and be profitable.
– Suppliers manufacturers
When you buy directly from the manufacturer, you get great deals on prices, but you have to purchase large minimum orders. This means that you will need more investment. Buying from manufacturers is more profitable for established sellers compared to newcomers.
Advantages of trading in goods from suppliers of manufacturers:
Like wholesalers, manufacturers can also offer you a low price for each item. However, they may be reluctant to negotiate prices.
You can ask the manufacturer to personalize the product to your specifications. This can definitely add to your advantages when selling on Amazon.
The disadvantages of manufacturers’ suppliers:
- Large minimum order
If you are going to buy from a manufacturer, you have to be prepared to pay them a large sum up front. That’s why a minimum order can be expensive.
- Unwillingness to work with small and medium-sized enterprises
In most cases, manufacturers are not very willing to work with small Amazon businesses. They are more open to working with big brands.
What do I need to consider when choosing a supplier?
As you search for a supplier for your Amazon FBA business, you need to find out and compare certain factors among suppliers.
Here’s a list of what you should ask suppliers for:
- Duration of product delivery
- How they track packages
- Shipping method (which shipping company they use)
- Return policy
- Certificate of liability insurance
- What happens if the product is not delivered?
- Standard documents and certificates for the item, if applicable
- Recommendations from other sellers who have used their services
5 tips on how to find supplier for Amazon business
- Search Query
A great tool for finding a reliable Amazon wholesale supplier is to use the advanced search feature available on many popular search engines.
If you know exactly what you’re looking for, you can use this feature to find specific suppliers that may not show up in a simple search. A few tips for professionals:
- Use quotation marks to include words in the query.
- The minus symbol can be used to remove words
- Asterisks can include random searches
- Trade shows
Trade shows are an incredible way to network with different people in your industry. In many cases, vendors, owners, and retailers are present at trade shows, which means you’ll have the opportunity to try products in person.
In addition to sampling products, you’ll get to meet people face-to-face.
Many vendors participating in trade shows will offer you wholesale prices.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn has 810 million members in more than 200 countries in 2022 and is the largest professional network in the world.
For a growing e-commerce business, LinkedIn is a great place to find key decision makers in potential wholesalers.
If you take the time to build your brand on this platform, it can greatly speed up the time-consuming process of sending cold emails to potential suppliers because they are more willing to respond.
- Jungle Scout
Over the past decade, Amazon’s supply chain management has become much easier with the introduction of Jungle Scout. This platform is by far the best for newcomers who are just starting out in the Amazon logistics world.
If you haven’t heard of it yet, Jungle Scout is an Amazon-centric platform that offers you a large database of wholesale suppliers. You can use it to find high-quality suppliers on Amazon by entering the product name, ASIN, supplier name, or company name.
- Facebook groups
There are now countless Amazon-focused Facebook groups. They often number in the hundreds, and they are designed for Amazon sellers to communicate, share tips and tricks, and ask questions.
Alibaba
Alibaba has over 150,000 registered Chinese wholesalers. It’s the world’s largest B2B marketplace with millions of product listings.
Alibaba is a great platform for researching products and finding profitable products to fill your Amazon supply chain. There are dozens of e-commerce businesses that use Alibaba as a source for their products.
Finding products on Alibaba is not difficult, but it is important to take your time and look for reputable sellers.
Final thoughts: How do I find supplier for Amazon business?
Selling effectively on Amazon is a complex task. The seller will have to juggle marketing efforts, logistics, case management, and more. It’s important to understand that you have to do everything as carefully as possible!
Wish you an amazing sales, guys!