Amazon Product Sourcing Tips: 5 Ideas on Product Sourcing for Amazon Sellers
Overview
The seller should understand the process of marketing, selling, and sourcing products sold on Amazon. As an e-commerce seller, you need to know your options in sourcing products. There are different ways and methods to sell and find items for Amazon.
Spotting profitable sales opportunities on Amazon is very important in your success as an online entrepreneur. There are many ways to start sorting out your products for Amazon. We’ve gathered the tools and resources to help you with that.
It’s nice to be familiar with multiple product sourcing options. They will be your aid in finding the right product to sell. Let us explore how to find profitable products to sell on Amazon.
Browse through your category
Identifying trending and hot selling items with a low competition rate should be your goal. There are many ways to see these products sell in good numbers and volumes but haven’t been discovered by top sellers on Amazon.
Think of Amazon’s best sellers’ lists and the ASIN Ranking. These are your guidelines on how to spot high-selling items on Amazon. As the market is very volatile, Amazon’s bestseller lists are updated hourly, as you can see on the Amazon Best Sellers rank for each ASIN. The product information section will tell you the Best Sellers Rank categorised for each product.
1. Retail Arbitrage
Retail Arbitrage is simply buying discounted retail products and reselling them on Amazon for a higher price. This kind of process does not require a lot of money to start.
There are many tools online that would help you seek a good selling item that you can sell on Amazon. These apps will help you decide if that product would give you a good profit or not.
2. Print-on-demand products on Amazon
A print-on-demand (POD) product is just a custom-made product distributed through dropshipping. Many suppliers are willing to take care of everything until the product reaches the buyers’ doorstep.
POD is the newest way to find a suitable product you can sell on Amazon. It allows the seller to build his brand and online empire with a shoe-string of budget. Sellers create their designs, submit them to their supplier, and print them if orders come in. Their supplier sends them once they are made and paid.
When you want to sell POD items, you need two things. First is the artwork you want to print on mugs, tees, and collectable items available to your POD vendors. Secondly, you need to have an Amazon-approved POD seller account that says you are authorised to sell those items widely on the online marketplace.
3. Handmade products and crafts
There are many artists who sell handmade products and crafts online. A great thing about it is they are crafted with a personal touch. Amazon has opened a category for handicraft sellers to use FBA to store their items or FBM if they want to fulfil their orders as sellers.
4. Wholesale products
The wholesale sourcing method is registering as a reseller of bigger companies. This is a method to find cheap products that you can sell on Amazon. There are many online marketplaces like Alibaba, Aliexpress, and Thomasnet where a reseller can find cheaper wholesale price items and resell on Amazon at a higher or twice of its price.
You can easily search wholesalers on Google and start selling products right away on Amazon. If you work with wholesale suppliers, you should buy goods in bulk or case packs. You can store them in your inventory or send them to the Amazon warehouse if you choose FBA as your fulfilment method.
If you want to scout an item to sell and you can’t find help, you may visit InventoryLab.com, Junglescout.com, AMZScout.net, Sellics.com, and Shopkeeper.com. They are great when you seek product scouting tools and will fine-tune your decision on wholesale purchasing.
5. Direct-source products
Direct-source products will give you a way to be profitable on Amazon. It is direct sourcing from the manufacturer sold on Amazon. It is the same as wholesale sourcing, except you can purchase less than the wholesale amount and directly sell items from the factory’s yard.
Research every best selling product
Amazon sells both used and new items. There are indications for you to know whether the product is a good one to sell or not. Some of these indications are:
- There should be at least a small number of competitors. If 20 people sell the same item, the competition may be a bit tough. The buyers would most likely pick the cheaper option with good product reviews.
- There is a low number of FBA sellers. It means that Amazon should not hold numerous products in their warehouse. Again, it isn’t about the number of competitors you may have on the particular product.
- Stay away from the giant manufacturers. They have their retail prices, and they already sell on establishments.
Having these on your mind, you now have the idea of how to detect items with a high number of competitors and selling volume on Amazon.
Research the suppliers and manufacturers
If you are ready for negotiation, find the supplier or the manufacturer of the hot selling items. You may search the brand on Google, and if you can’t find it, search the product name and look for the manufacturer or brand. There are many ways to dig the supplier of the product you want to sell.
Contact the supplier via email or any contact details that they have posted. Tell them that you are eager to buy their items. If you have the chance to speak to them on the phone, the better it will be. Most of the best negotiations happen on phone calls. Be sure that you both agree on a suitable arrangement convenient for you.
Always ask for a distribution agreement from your supplier. You will be certified that the supplier gave you rights to market and advertise their items from that supplier from Amazon.
Start Selling
Business is a trial and error process. Give yourself 60 days to see if the product is truly profitable or not. If it is selling well, you could see changes on the ASIN and optimise your product to help move its ranking to the top of Amazon search results. You can also use PPC campaigns and social media marketing to help you increase engagement with your buyers.
Five ways to tell the seller is successfully selling on Amazon
Million new sellers are joining Amazon, but few of them have made it to the top-earning and reached $100,000 annually. How can you tell whether a seller succeeds or not in selling on Amazon? Do you know the parameters to tell that these sellers are doing well in selling their products on Amazon?
Aside from all other factors, choose the products that will suit your business goals and your interest. Here are some guides on finding the products you will sell on Amazon:
1. Discover and research the top-selling categories on Amazon and dig deeper into what these items are.
You have to understand the market is volatile and very unstable when it comes to products and demands. Take a look at when the pandemic came. Many sellers venture into buying masks and face shields and make their store visible online, and there are many buyers in a panic to get themselves protected from the virus.
2. Comparing product ideas
If you are certain about the niche and category you want to focus on, narrow it down to a few products and compare them. Take a look at the market on the rise of the demand. You can also use Google Trends – a tool that will help you effectively compare the trends and demands on this item through the number of people searching for the same product on Google.
3. Check on product margins
This will tell you the impact profitability of the items. Computing on the retail amount of your item adding all the expenses, you should get a good selling price for you to have a significant profit.
4. Availability of your item
Will tell you how accessible it is to order from your supplier in case you have a bulk order.
5. Seasonal products
Stay away from selling seasonal products such as Halloween costumes, Christmas decorations, and other holiday decors.
Product Sourcing for Amazon Sellers: Tools to Help You
Since you are new to Amazon and you only have limited knowledge of product sourcing, you may use the help of online tools to see the trends of these products, especially on Google. Here are some online scouting tools to help your online selling account be profitable.
1. Jungle Scout
2. Camelcamelcamel.com
3. InventoryLab
4. Amazon Scanner App
5. Amazon FB Calculator
6. SupplySpy
You might also be interested in getting agents to help you source products on Amazon. You can read more here: How to Find Product Sourcing Agents in China.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which product sourcing method is profitable to start up as an Amazon seller?
If you are a start-up Amazon seller and want to build your name on the online market and have a limited start-up budget, you can try direct source product scouting. It is specially designed for all beginners who want to do business with Amazon but have a little money in their pocket. There are lots of growing business owners on Amazon who started as direct sellers and with the right strategy on business, you will have a big chance to grow.
2. How to sort items to sell on Amazon?
You can follow simple steps on how you can find the right product to sell on Amazon:
1. Research Amazon and check how many times it was sold on Amazon. You can also search if you have a low percentage of competitors selling the items on Amazon.
2. Find a gap in the market means – proper monitoring of how it’s working. It is also possible to elicit feedback from the buyers and users.
3. Find low-competition products.
4. Copy the strategy that successful business owners have. Research the tips on how to do digital marketing.
5. Sort for a category with at least three results in BSR
3. What are the top 5 selling niches in 2022 on Amazon?
1. Shapewear like gym equipment, slimming products
2. Travel accessories like pillow and blankets
3. Health and beauty products such as masks, cosmetics, and supplements
4. Gadgets
5. Health Care like vitamins and food supplements
Conclusion
Exploring something new and slowly leaving your comfort zone and box as an Amazon seller are just a few things you have to do to upgrade your business. In this way, you’ll surely expand your reach and earn more money.
