If you want to know how to source products for Amazon, the short answer is that you choose between 3 main paths, retail or online arbitrage, wholesale from distributors, and private label manufacturing through platforms like Alibaba, and then apply the same professional rules to whichever you pick: multiple quotes, samples before bulk orders, verified suppliers, and staged payments. Your margin is decided at sourcing, long before the first sale. Here is how each path works, the rules that protect you, and answers on arbitrage and Alibaba.
Key takeaways
- To source products for Amazon, first pick the path that matches your capital and goals.
- To source products for Amazon FBA, apply 5 non-negotiable rules regardless of path.
- To source products for Amazon FBA in the UK, the playbook is the same with 3 local additions.
How to Source Products for Amazon
To source products for Amazon, first pick the path that matches your capital and goals:
- - Arbitrage (retail or online). Buy discounted products from retailers and resell them on Amazon. Lowest startup cost and fastest first sale, but every purchase is a one-off hunt, so it is hard to scale and you never own the listing or the brand.
- - Wholesale. Buy established branded products in bulk from authorized distributors. Steadier and repeatable, with real invoices that help with account health, but you share the listing with other sellers and compete for the Buy Box mostly on price.
- - Private label (Alibaba and manufacturers). Have a manufacturer produce a product under your brand. Highest margin potential and full control of the listing, but you carry quality, compliance, and inventory risk yourself.
Most serious brands end up in private label or a wholesale-plus-private-label mix, because that is where margin and defensibility live.
How to Source Products for Amazon FBA
To source products for Amazon FBA, apply 5 non-negotiable rules regardless of path:
1. Get 3 quotes minimum. Prices for the same spec commonly vary 20 to 40% between suppliers. One quote is not a price, it is an opening offer. 2. Sample before you commit. Pay for samples from your top 2 or 3 suppliers and stress-test them. A $100 sample round routinely prevents a $10,000 inventory mistake. 3. Verify manufacturer vs middleman. Trading companies stack margin on factory prices. Ask for factory audits, certifications, and production photos or video calls. 4. Stage your payments. A common structure is 30% deposit and 70% after inspection, before shipment. Never pay 100% upfront to a new supplier. 5. Inspect before it ships. Third-party inspection services check quality at the factory for roughly $100 to $300 per order, far cheaper than a wave of returns and 1-star reviews at FBA.
FBA amplifies sourcing quality in both directions: good products compound reviews, and bad ones generate returns and complaints at a scale you cannot manually contain.
How to Source Products for Amazon FBA UK
To source products for Amazon FBA in the UK, the playbook is the same with 3 local additions:
| Area | What changes in the UK | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| VAT | Import VAT and sales VAT apply | Register for VAT when required and price it into margin from day 1 |
| Compliance | UKCA marking alongside or instead of CE for many categories | Confirm certification per category before ordering |
| Logistics | Imports clear UK customs post-Brexit | Use a freight forwarder familiar with UK entry and EORI numbers |
UK sellers can also source domestically: UK and EU wholesalers shorten lead times from weeks to days, which lowers the inventory risk that makes new FBA sellers overbuy.
Ready to source like an operator, not a shopper?
Sourcing is where margins are made and where new sellers get hurt. Shaazford has managed more than $50M in client revenue across 130+ brands, and our beauty case study grew +187% in 6 months on the back of disciplined sourcing and listings. If you want senior Amazon agency directors handling supplier strategy, quality, and launch under one roof, talk to Shaazford. *Publish with all 5 schema blocks: Article, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Person, and Organization.*