Are you planning to launch an FBA business? Have you found some good products to launch doing deep FBA product research? Also, have you found the suppliers for the product?
After finding the best product, the second phase is finding a supplier to stock the products for starting Amazon FBA. But, the question is how to find it. Don’t worry, I will explain to you all the best possible methods to source a supplier for your product.
Before proceeding, it is necessary to understand the types of suppliers.
Manufacturer
A manufacturer is a company/person who produces the goods for sale. They have the manpower, machinery, and license to produce goods.
Pros:
A) Product customization
B) Private label
C) Low purchasing cost.
D) Mass availability.
Cons:
A) High MOQ.
B) Some manufacturers never deal directly with the retailers.
Wholesaler/Distributor
A wholesaler is a mediator between retailers and manufacturers who purchase the goods from the manufacturer and resell them to retailers adding it’s the profit margin.
Pros:
A) Easy management
B) Low MOQ
C) Fast Delivery
Cons:
A) Product price Expensive than the manufacturer
B) Limited stock product availability
Best methods to find a supplier/manufacturer for Amazon FBA:
Global Sourcing Marketplaces
Alibaba
Alibaba is the world’s largest marketplace of suppliers that ship to Amazon worldwide. Most of the FBA business sellers use Alibaba to source their products.
This eCommerce wholesale business platform is connected to millions of suppliers and manufacturers. Type your product name, find it and request an RFQ (Request for quotation). Alibaba will forward your query to all relevant suppliers for the product and you will start receiving quotations for comparison and decision making.
Also, you can directly contact a specific supplier and manufacturer using Alibaba chat.
Pros:
- Millions of suppliers.
- Cheap quotations
- Most of the suppliers know how Amazon FBA works
- Alibaba Assurance
- High profit
- Low/moderate MOQ
- Easy Private Label
Cons:
- Product inspection needs to be done by a third-party.
- Cargo shipment makes shipping costly.
- The estimated time of shipment via sea took around 15-30 days.
Local/National wholesale supplier
The other best method to find a supplier is finding suppliers in the nearby area. The best method to find suppliers is Google search.
Type “your product name+supplier+country/city” in the Google search. It will show you related Google businesses, websites, and supplier directories in your country or region. You can explore their services and find a supplier for your desired product.
Pros:
- Fast shipping
- Manual inspection in the supplier’s factory/warehouse.
Cons:
- Expensive
- Less/negligible profit
- Limited suppliers
- Low chances of Private Label
Google Reverse Image Search
If you are not getting the desired supplier for your product to launch an Amazon FBA business, do not worry. i am sharing an exciting way of finding a supplier for a particular product.
Open the Amazon listing image, click on “Search image on Google”. Add words like suppliers, manufacturer, wholesale after the image and search. Google will make your task easier to find the supplier for the desired product.
Sourcing Trade Show exhibitions
Sourcing trade shows are another best alternative to find suppliers and source products. You can visit the exhibition and interact with thousands of manufacturers, suppliers and their products. The best part, you can do negotiation face-to-face. Also, the suppliers look for making more retailers and vendors for their business during that time. You will catch an exciting deal that you can’t get on their official website and global marketplaces.
To stay connected with the trade show events, news and dates, do join sites like 10times.com, tradefairdates.com, etc.
Buy Liquidate goods
Liquidate product stocking is also a good idea to source products for Amazon FBA. Retailers, suppliers and vendor list non-selling inventories on liquidation websites. You can find and source your inventory from such places. You can get it up to 70-85% discounted margins on the manufacturer’s recommended retail price.
Hire a sourcing agent or virtual assistant
Online product sourcing and supplier research could be a tough job for new FBA sellers. If you are not getting a right supplier lead, you can hire a virtual assistant or a sourcing agent. They will help you find right supplier and negotiate with them to stock your inventory.