Responsible Sourcing Guidelines and Best Practices
As a seller, you are responsible to ensure that the products you sell on Amazon comply with all applicable laws and regulations, are authorized for sale or re-sale, and do not violate intellectual property rights such as Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, and Rights of publicity.
Below are some important guidelines to consider when sourcing products to sell on Amazon.
- Validate your suppliers – If you are selling branded products, its best to source directly from the brand or from one of their direct distributors. If you are purchasing through a distributor or wholesaler, you should validate their relationship to the brand.
- Build relationship with Brands – Some brands may require explicit permission to sell their products.
- Retain Business Invoices – Amazon may request documentation for further review.
- Understand Amazon’s Drop Shipping policy – learn more about this here.
- Auctions or Auction style environments are not considered valid sources of supply.
It is important to ensure you have the proper sourcing documentation as Amazon may request copies of invoices, receipts or other similar documents that demonstrate where your products are produced or manufactured. Please se below for more information on these documents.
- These documents should reflect the sales volume of your product across all Amazon marketplaces in the last 365 days, should demonstrate your product’s full supply chain, and should include contact information for the supplier(s) and the original manufacturer. We may contact suppliers or manufacturers to verify the documents
- Your documents should be able to trace your products to the original manufacturer even if you did not purchase them directly from the original manufacturer. This may require requesting additional invoices or supply chain documentation from your supplier if you are not sourcing directly from the manufacturer.
- You may remove pricing information, but the rest of the document must be visible to enable adequate review of the documents you provide. For ease of our review, you may highlight or circle the ASIN(s) under review.
Please reference the below resources for more information on Sourcing and Invoice requirements.
Guidelines to source products to sell on Amazon
Responsible Sourcing Guidelines and Best Practices
As a seller, you are responsible to ensure that the products you sell on Amazon comply with all applicable laws and regulations, are authorized for sale or re-sale, and do not violate intellectual property rights such as Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, and Rights of publicity.
Below are some important guidelines to consider when sourcing products to sell on Amazon.
- Validate your suppliers – If you are selling branded products, its best to source directly from the brand or from one of their direct distributors. If you are purchasing through a distributor or wholesaler, you should validate their relationship to the brand.
- Build relationship with Brands – Some brands may require explicit permission to sell their products.
- Retain Business Invoices – Amazon may request documentation for further review.
- Understand Amazon’s Drop Shipping policy – learn more about this here.
- Auctions or Auction style environments are not considered valid sources of supply.
It is important to ensure you have the proper sourcing documentation as Amazon may request copies of invoices, receipts or other similar documents that demonstrate where your products are produced or manufactured. Please se below for more information on these documents.
- These documents should reflect the sales volume of your product across all Amazon marketplaces in the last 365 days, should demonstrate your product’s full supply chain, and should include contact information for the supplier(s) and the original manufacturer. We may contact suppliers or manufacturers to verify the documents
- Your documents should be able to trace your products to the original manufacturer even if you did not purchase them directly from the original manufacturer. This may require requesting additional invoices or supply chain documentation from your supplier if you are not sourcing directly from the manufacturer.
- You may remove pricing information, but the rest of the document must be visible to enable adequate review of the documents you provide. For ease of our review, you may highlight or circle the ASIN(s) under review.
Please reference the below resources for more information on Sourcing and Invoice requirements.
Guidelines to source products to sell on Amazon
3 replies
Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX
Everything that @Steve_Amazonsaid is absolutely true, but we need to go one step further. Where do you get the contacts?
Well, that answer was right in front of you all along. Two weeks ago the ASD trade show was held in Las Vegas. Look it up on line. Hundreds of Amazon sellers shop there, retail stores around the country shop there, and Amazon buyers can be found making purchases there for the site. The next show is August 4-7, 2024.
This is where the retail trade shops.
This is where you find the next biggest selling items for the upcoming holiday shopping season.
This is where you establish your accounts with the actual manufacturers from around the world.
This is where you find the manufacturers who will brand their products with your Brand name, for pennies per item.
This is where you can purchase last year's products at a great discount from the manufacturers. Or simply buy it all and be the sole seller of the product.
This is where you can present an idea for a product on Sunday, and have the manufacturer email the ideas to the factory. On Monday, they have 3D imager of the actual product they made.in your brand. The actual product is shipped over night and on Tuesday, you are holding the actual product in your hand.
This is where it costs nothing to gain admittance except showing your retail license at the door.
Think it over. Everything stated by @Steve_Amaxon is understood at the show. That is why successful sellers shop there. With over a thousand manufacturers displaying millions of products to sell, if you cannot find products to sell for large profit margins, the problem just may be with you.
Don't think that the manufacturers will not deal with you. Their job in setting up at the show it to attract new sellers, and most will accept a $100 order just to get you on their books.
Steve_Amazon
Thanks for the additional suggestions and advise @Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX!
I am linking the Drop Shipping policy here as I see the link didn't take in my original post.
Steve
Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX
Since this Post by @Steve_Amazonis for new sellers, all new sellers should know the pitfalls of actually using the Drop Shipping method of sales as it relates to Amazon's policy.
Thinking you can make a good profit using a Drop Shipping company to sell products, is a false belief.
1. Remember, you are not buying wholesale. The Drop Shipping company is buying wholesale and marking the product up to you for sale to the public.
2. You have no idea where the Drop Shipping company purchases their inventory to offer it to you. Auction, damaged merchandise, actual manufacturer, Amazon returns, fakes, knockoffs, are all part of where products come from.
3. You, the Amazon Seller, will take full responsibility for ANY COMPLAINT a buyer makes, true or not.
4. With the first complaint, Amazon will ask for your Manufacturer Invoice. Amazon will simply suspend your selling account until you can send the invoice in your defense. With NO actual invoice, your selling days are over.
5. While many sellers buy into this methos of sales, they find out they thy do not actually make any real profit.
When reading the hype presented by the Drop Shipping company, sellers focus on how they can make a good profit by doing nothing. They seem to forget that there are hundreds of other sellers doing the same thing.
When you go to set your selling price on Amazon, you find it has to be set so low there is no real profit after all the fees are deducted. All of your competitors are paying the same price as you from the same Drop Shipper.
6. This is when you realize that all the Drop Shipping company is doing is getting sellers to sell their products which they have made a good profit on right from the beginning.
7. When you realize the rouse being played, and decide to quit, another new Want-To-Get-Rich Quick seller will come along and take your place.
