More and more sellers are turning to Amazon wholesale suppliers and distributors for their stock now that Retail Arbitrage is getting so competitive.
If you are serious about making money online and selling on the Amazon FBA Marketplace, you should definitely consider Amazon wholesaling.
Selling wholesale on Amazon will open up more product opportunities and diversify your supply chain.
We will look at how to open accounts with Amazon wholesalers, the advantages of Amazon wholesaling, reveal a list of Amazon authorized suppliers, and show you how you can start selling wholesale on Amazon.
So, let’s dive in and look at how to get started with Amazon wholesale…
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Want to take a shortcut?
We use Tactical Arbitrage for analyzing stock and pricing spreadsheets. Most Amazon wholesalers and distributors will be able to provide these files.
😍 You can quickly upload these files and Tactical Arbitrage will highlight profitable products to sell with Amazon wholesaling.
Tactical Arbitrage offer a free trial and can save hours of your time trawling through data.
Finding Wholesalers for Amazon FBA
Do you want to find wholesale products to sell on Amazon? The first step is to identify good quality wholesalers and distributors for Amazon sellers.
The best way to do this is to first write down a list of the brands you are interested in. Each brand will normally have a list of its authorized wholesalers and distributors on their website.
If they don’t have a list on the website, then you will need to contact them directly. Tell them you want to sell their products and need a list of its best wholesalers.
If you are targeting a particular category of products, then find some popular brands which best represent that category. For example, if you are interested in selling in the electronics category, search for Epson printers or Sony cameras.
You can then find the wholesalers for those brands who will probably have a wide selection of similar products.
PRO TIP: Another good option is to visit trade shows. Wholesalers will be really trying to push their products so you can often negotiate better pricing. There is also the opportunity to spot new wholesale products to sell on Amazon.
How to Get Wholesale Accounts for Amazon and eBay
Some of the smaller wholesalers may let you walk in off the street and buy from them. This is normally a bad sign, as their pricing is probably not that competitive.
The serious Amazon wholesalers and distributors will require you to be a registered company and there will usually be an application process to complete.
Before applying for a wholesale account, it is worth buying a domain name and building a simple professional looking website. Try to also have an email address that matches your domain and company name.
You can also set up a LinkedIn account and a LinkedIn page for your business and include them in your email signature. This all helps to make you look like a serious prospect and the wholesaler is more likely to open an account for you.
The wholesaler or distributor will probably take a quick look at your website. You just need it to look professional and have the correct address and company details on it. You do not need to create a full-blown e-commerce site, so just keep it simple.
How To Set Up A Professional Website
1. First, you need to buy a domain and site hosting. We use Siteground for all our sites as they offer great support and have always resolved any issues quickly. Visit Siteground to get started.
2. Then you need to install WordPress. Luckily on Siteground, this is incredibly simple and also free. You just click a button and fill in some information and it’s done.
3. WordPress comes with some pre-installed themes which look okay. For a more professional and customizable website, we like to install our own themes and plugins and we recommend MyThemeShop or the Astra theme.
4. You now just need to add a contact form, logo, and your company details to your WordPress site. You can then put the site live and you are done.
PRO TIP: This is a great opportunity to take your online selling to the next level. You will feel more focused and professional once you have a Limited company or LLC in place and a professional website and email. Not only will the distributors take you more seriously, but so will Amazon and your future customers.
How to Open Amazon Wholesale Accounts
Some suppliers may require an initial order to open the account. If the wholesaler has unique brands and stock, then this might be worth doing. It will mean there is a barrier in place and not many other sellers will have access to these products. This, in turn, means there will be less competition when reselling them on Amazon. Think of it like paying a fee for your exclusive access.
Suppliers are generally happy to open accounts for new customers if you look professional. They may be slightly wary because each dormant account costs them time and money.
If the Amazon suppliers are strict and make you jump through hoops, then see this as a positive. The more barriers there are then the harder it will be for your competitors to open accounts and sell the same products.
Will the Wholesaler or Distributor Care If I Sell on Amazon or eBay?
Should you tell your supplier you will be selling on Amazon?
Things have changed a lot in the last few years and most wholesalers are aware that people will be reselling on eBay and Amazon. Some wholesalers are even selling on Amazon themselves under a different company name.
We have wholesalers and distributors who actively encourage us to resell on Amazon. They will even email opportunities they have spotted where we can buy their products and make a profit on Amazon.
In some cases, the brand owner may insist the wholesaler does not supply Amazon sellers as they feel it devalues their products.
We recommend you focus on other sales channels when initially setting up wholesaling accounts and try to avoid explicitly mentioning Amazon. For example, you could tell them you will be selling their products to schools or business customers.
Retail vs Wholesale Amazon Sourcing
Do not presume that the Amazon wholesaler pricing will be significantly below the current retail prices you are paying. In fact, the opposite is often true.
“…still buy 70% of your stock from retailers.”
This is normally because larger retailers like Amazon have more buying power than the distributors and can get huge discounts arranged with the manufacturer.
Retailers will also often have loss-leading sales and promotions to entice customers. The selling price can, therefore, be below what most people are paying at the wholesalers.
Once you have accounts with wholesalers or distributors, you should keep checking the retail prices before you purchase your stock. Even after opening accounts at several Amazon wholesalers, you may still find you buy 70% of your stock from retailers.
Even if you still buy most of your stock from retailers, when they have sales and promotions on, there are still important advantages to Amazon wholesaling.
Advantages of Using Wholesalers for Amazon FBA
Here are the 5 main advantages of using wholesalers and distributors for Amazon:
✅ 1. If you use wholesalers for Amazon FBA, you can backorder popular products that are in short supply. This means when new stock arrives, you might be the only seller on Amazon for a particular product so you can make better margins.
✅ 2. The wholesaler may offer credit which can be anything from $1000 to $25,000 and more. This can be a huge help with cash flow. The wholesaler or distributor will do credit checks first, and you may find the more you spend, the more they increase your credit limit.
✅ 3. Amazon wholesale suppliers usually run their own unique promotions and discounts which are often better than the retail deals.
Some sellers make a full-time income from just buying deals and promos from distributors. If you buy stock when these promotions are running, you can easily undercut your competition.
✅ 4. A lot of US wholesale suppliers and distributors will drop ship direct to your customers. This means you never touch the product. It is not as relevant for Amazon FBA sellers, but if you are also selling on eBay or a website, it can be a great advantage.
Some suppliers may also ship stock directly to the Amazon FBA warehouse for you. I would be slightly wary of allowing smaller wholesalers to do this as it may give them ideas to sell directly on Amazon themselves.
✅ 5. You can use the invoices from authorized wholesalers and distributors to get ungated in Amazon restricted categories and also particular gated brands. This is a huge advantage and we recommend you do this as soon as possible.
You will also find you have more protection against Copyright or Intellectual Property Policy Warnings and infringement claims when doing Amazon wholesaling. You can usually reach out to your wholesale account manager and they can help get in touch with the manufacturer to get any complaints removed.
PRO TIP: Remember once you have accounts with wholesalers, you can still buy from retailers if you spot a good deal. You should use both.
List of Amazon Wholesalers & Suppliers
US Wholesalers and Distributors
Here are some US Wholesale Suppliers for Amazon FBA you can try:
- Dollardays.com – electronics, office, food, and more
- Liquidation.com – well respected and a variety of product conditions
- Big Lots – US and Canada – closeout deals
- Tuesday Morning – luggage, electronics, toys, home, and garden categories.
- Gabes -branded closeout stock
- SaleHoo – membership
- World Wide Brands – paid directory
- Price Master – lots of different categories
- Lotus Light – health, beauty, and other categories
UK Wholesalers and Distributors
Here are some UK Wholesale Suppliers for Amazon:
- esources – directory – free and paid options
- The Wholesaler – directory
- Gem Wholesale – stockist
- The Wholesale Forums
Your Next Steps to Start Selling Wholesale on Amazon
Our advice would be to start setting up wholesale accounts and testing the water.
When we originally started selling, we only sourced from Amazon distributors, but then our prices started to be undercut by sellers who were still buying stock from retailers.
As brand owners and Amazon clamp down on arbitrage and restrict more products, it means the opportunities to buy from distributors and make a profit are increasing again.
We always recommend diversifying, opening up more opportunities, and also giving your business more solid foundations and long-term prospects.
Take an Amazon Wholesale Course
If you are still finding selling wholesale on Amazon overwhelming, then it might be time to look at taking a wholesaling course. This will jump-start the process, and remove a lot of the guesswork, so you are more likely to be successful.
We recommend you take a look at the MPSH Accelerate training. They teach their popular, and highly rated ‘Accelerated Wholesale Model’ in the course.
👩🎓 Click here to see what they can offer: Marketplace Superheroes Accelerate.
Use Tools to Find Profitable Wholesale Products
We use Tactical Arbitrage for analyzing stock and pricing spreadsheets. Most Amazon wholesalers and distributors will be able to provide these files.
You can quickly upload the files into Tactical Arbitrage and it will highlight profitable products to sell on Amazon.
Tactical Arbitrage offer a free trial and it is awesome software that can save hours of your time trawling through data.
What has been your experience with Amazon wholesalers and distributors? Have you had problems setting up accounts with Amazon wholesale suppliers? Are you struggling to find wholesale products to sell on Amazon? Please share your experiences in the comments below :).
You are very welcome to join our Amazon Facebook Groups, where we discuss topics like this:
Amazon Selling for Beginners – if you are just getting started with Amazon FBA.
Amazon FBA Masters – if you are a more experienced Amazon seller.
You can also subscribe below to get free help and advice and to make sure you never miss out on the latest Amazon FBA wholesale developments.
Good Luck & Happy Selling
James 👨
Useful Resources
Check out our list of the best Amazon FBA courses available.
Read our full review of MPSH Accelerate – MPSH Accelerate Review
Get started building your professional company website with Siteground
Get ungated in Amazon restricted categories: How to get Ungated in Amazon restricted categories
Take a look at our guide to finding great products to sell on Amazon: How to Find the Best Products to Sell on Amazon
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Article By James Percival
Founder and Lead Editor of The Selling GuysJames is an experienced ecommerce entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience selling online. He has a wealth of knowledge in selling on Amazon, eBay, and building ecommerce websites.
Despite running a successful business, James has decided to share his expertise with others by offering guidance through his website, “The Selling Guys,” and his “Amazon Selling for Beginners” Facebook group.
James now has three children, two dogs, and a cat.
Thanks you for this great article! I often shop from BigLots stores. The biggest problem is that they don’t restock often or there has been times when the product never came back on shelves. Their website also doesn’t include all the products they carry in store. I’m curious to know how sellers use Big Lots as a distributor? Do I have to call them and give them the UPCs I’m looking for? How does their pricing vary from their actual stores?!
Thanks for this guide 🙂 Picked up a few gems from it.
This is a great article, it includes strategic information related to buying from wholesalers and distributors and how this impact the business. Thank you.