Sourcing products for Amazon, with the paperwork to prove it

Product sourcing is where an Amazon business is won or lost before the first listing. Every seller has to answer the same questions: where the products come from, what they cost per unit landed, and whether the supply can be proven and reordered.

Amazon sellers use four main sourcing models. Wholesale buys established brands in bulk from the brand or its authorized distributors. Arbitrage, online or retail, buys discounted products from stores and resells them. Private label contracts a manufacturer to make products under your own brand. Dropshipping has a supplier ship orders to your customers, within Amazon's policy.

Amazon's guide to reselling describes a natural path between them: arbitrage needs minimal initial investment, and working directly with manufacturers or distributors typically needs a larger upfront investment but can offer better margins and more consistent inventory. Private label sits further along, with product development and a brand of your own.

Whichever model you choose, Amazon holds sellers responsible for selling authentic products. For branded goods, Amazon says products should be sourced directly from the brand or one of its direct distributors or wholesalers, and it suggests validating a wholesaler with its business license and a brand authorization letter.

Two sources are ruled out entirely. Amazon's sourcing guidance says drop shipping from one retailer to another is prohibited, and that auctions and liquidation are not valid sources of supply for the Amazon store. Many beginner sourcing lists still recommend both.

Finding suppliers is the practical work. Amazon points to trade shows, referrals and professional networks for wholesalers, to wholesalers' catalogs and Amazon Best Sellers for product ideas, and to its Service Provider Network for supply and service companies. Private label sellers usually work with contract manufacturers, and Amazon notes many of them also produce national brand products.

Product research runs alongside supplier research. Amazon suggests Best Sellers, Best Sellers Rank and Product Opportunity Explorer to find products with demand, and the Revenue Calculator to check the margin after fees. A supplier price means little until it is compared with the Amazon price minus the referral fee, fulfillment and shipping costs.

Ask every supplier the questions Amazon's wholesale guide lists: minimum order quantities, cost per unit, and other expenses such as membership fees. Amazon adds lead times, how quickly orders ship, and the returns process. Then place a small first order to test quality and shipping speed.

Then there is the paper trail. Invoices decide whether you can sell a product at all: gated categories and brands need a purchase invoice from a manufacturer or distributor, or a brand authorization letter. Amazon's invoice checklist asks for supplier information, an itemized list, a date within the last 180 days, your matching name and address, and at least 10 units.

Retail receipts often fail that test. Amazon's Renewed program says retail receipts are not accepted as proof, and beauty approval asks for invoices from authorized distributors, not retail stores. That is the single biggest difference between arbitrage and wholesale in practice.

Sourcing cost also sets what Amazon pays back when it loses or damages your FBA inventory: since March 2025, Amazon reimburses those units at your sourcing cost, the cost to buy or make the product. Keeping clean cost records protects both your approvals and your reimbursements.

Profitable products share a few traits whatever the model. Sales are steady rather than seasonal spikes, the price leaves healthy profit margins after Amazon fees, the items are small and light enough to keep fulfillment and storage costs down, and returns are rare. Research tools can surface candidates quickly; the step that decides is still the margin math on each one.

Inventory is the last part of sourcing. Buy enough to earn the supplier's price break but not so much that stock sits in storage, which Amazon's wholesale guide puts plainly: enough to benefit from the discount, not more than you can sell. For private labeling, where minimum orders are larger, that balance matters even more.

The guides in this section take each model in turn, with the rules, the math and the mistakes, all from Amazon's own pages.