How to Find Suppliers for Dropshipping on Amazon? ROADMAP

The Complete Guide on “How to Find Suppliers for Dropshipping on Amazon?” – Have you ever thought about starting an Amazon dropshipping business but don’t know where to find legitimate suppliers?

Well, that’s quite normal.

Dropshipping is an attractive business model that lets you sell products without handling inventory.

Suppliers ship directly to your customers for you. And what better place to sell than the e-commerce giant Amazon, with over 197 million monthly visitors?

However, with its strict policies around dropshipping, Amazon can seem frightening for beginners.

You need to find suppliers that follow Amazon’s requirements around branding, returns, etc. Otherwise, you risk getting your seller account suspended.

So how do you go about finding suppliers you can trust to fulfill orders reliably? And how do you set up a smooth dropshipping operation on Amazon?

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through:

• Understanding Amazon’s dropshipping policy and what it means for you.
• Vetting and selecting legitimate suppliers optimized for Amazon.
• Setting up your Amazon dropshipping business from scratch.
• Automating your workflows to save time as you scale.
• Best practices for inventory, shipping, and growing your business.
• Common challenges and solutions for Amazon dropshippers.

By the end, you’ll have all the knowledge needed to find the right suppliers and create a successful dropshipping business on Amazon.

Getting Started on Amazon as a Dropshipper

Before finding suppliers and listing products, you need to set up your Amazon seller account properly. Here are the key steps to take:

Sign Up for an Amazon Seller Central Account

This is the starting point for selling on Amazon. Go to Amazon Seller Central and sign up for a new account. You’ll need to provide identity details, tax information, and bank account details.

Choose Your Account Type

You can register as a Professional or Individual seller. With a Professional account ($39.99/month), you can sell unlimited products.

The Individual plan ($0.99 per item) has quantity limits. As a new dropshipper, start with the Individual plan while you learn the ropes.

Understand Account Requirements

To sell, you’ll need to provide:

• A valid credit card.
• Tax information.
• Proof of identity verification.

This is to ensure you comply with Amazon’s policies and applicable laws.

Get Any Required Licenses or Permits

Depending on the products you sell, certain states may require additional seller permits or licenses.

For example, you may need a sales tax permit, resale certificate, or garment manufacturer license. Check your state’s regulations.

List Your First Test Product

To understand the process, try creating a test listing for one product:

• Source a sample product from a supplier.
• Create the listing with a title, photos, description, etc.
• Set a competitive price.
• Submit the listing for Amazon’s review.

This will help you learn the listing process without fully launching your store.

Understand Amazon Selling Fees

When listing products, factor in Amazon’s selling fees:

• Referral fee – the percentage of each sale depending on the product category.
• Variable closing fee – for each sale in certain categories.
• FBA fees – if using Fulfillment by Amazon (storage, picking, shipping, etc.).

Optimizing your fees can impact profit margins.

Learn Amazon Selling Best Practices

Besides fees, learn other areas like:

• Optimizing listings for Amazon SEO.
• Managing inventory and avoiding overselling.
• Handling shipping cut-off times for FBA vs merchant fulfillment.
• Providing excellent customer service per Amazon’s standards.

This will help you succeed as an Amazon seller. Utilize Amazon’s Seller University resources to educate yourself.

The key is starting with the basics to understand how selling on Amazon works. Once your account is set up properly, you can move to finding suppliers and launching your dropshipping business.

Understanding Amazon’s Dropshipping Policy

Amazon has strict policies around selling practices, including dropshipping. As an Amazon seller, it’s crucial that you understand and comply with these policies. Otherwise, you risk your selling privileges being revoked.

Dropshipping Basics

First, a quick dropshipping refresher:

With dropshipping, you sell products to customers without keeping inventory. Instead, you purchase items from a supplier after receiving an order and have the supplier ship directly to the customer.

You earn a profit on the difference between the product’s wholesale and retail price. You also avoid investment in inventory storage and management.

Amazon’s Stance on Dropshipping

Amazon allows dropshipping but has rules around how it must be done:

• You must be the seller of record, not just a middleman.
• The supplier cannot put their branding on the packaging.
• You must handle all customer service, returns, etc.

This reduces customer confusion over who they are buying from.

Key Requirements for Amazon Dropshippers

Here are some key areas to understand:

Seller of Record

Amazon states you must be the seller of record. This means:

• You are the official seller making the sale to the customer.
• Your business name/details are on the shipping label, packing slips, etc.

Branding

Your supplier cannot put their branding on product packaging. Customers should see your business name only.

Returns

You must accept and process returns. Your supplier should support this per Amazon’s policies.

Inventory

You need sufficient processes to avoid overselling out-of-stock items.

Customer Service

You must provide customer support as per Amazon’s standards. This cannot be outsourced to your supplier.

Why Following the Policies Matter

Ignoring Amazon’s dropshipping policies can get your account suspended. Customers may get confused seeing another business name on their packages. Or they may have a poor experience if you fail to handle returns properly.

That’s why finding suppliers who understand and support these requirements is crucial. We’ll cover how to vet suppliers in the next section.

By following the policies, you can avoid issues selling on Amazon.

How to Find Legitimate Suppliers for Dropshipping on Amazon?

Finding reliable suppliers is a make-or-break for running a successful Amazon dropshipping business. You need suppliers that follow Amazon’s strict policies and can consistently deliver quality products to customers.

Here are tips for identifying and scrutinizing top suppliers:

Supplier Sourcing Tips

Search supplier directories – Platforms like SaleHoo and Wholesale2B have pre-vetted suppliers. This saves you time.

Attend trade shows – You can meet potential suppliers in person and assess their capabilities.

Ask other sellers – Connect with experienced Amazon sellers to get referrals for suppliers they use and trust.

Search Alibaba – Its directory has thousands of manufacturers, but vet suppliers thoroughly.

Focus locally – Local suppliers can offer faster shipping to your customers.

Get authorizations – Require authorization letters from brands if suppliers sell name-brand goods.

Scrutinizing Suppliers

Once you’ve found potential suppliers, examine them thoroughly:

Product Quality

• Order samples to assess product quality firsthand.
• Check product listings for images, descriptions, reviews etc.
• Ask about quality control procedures and manufacturing processes.

Order Processing

• Test order fulfillment timelines and accuracy.
• Evaluate order management systems and inventory visibility.
• Assess ease of reordering out-of-stock items.

Amazon Compliance

• Confirm they comply with Amazon’s policies.
• Verify they will not add their own branding on the packaging.
• Check they have efficient returns processes.

Shipping Times

• Review delivery timelines for your target market.
• Assess courier relationships and tracking capabilities.
• Check if they integrate with FBA for fast Prime delivery.

Customer Service

• Evaluate support responsiveness and language abilities.
• Confirm they will not communicate directly with your customers.
• Review how issues and complaints are handled.

Pricing

• Compare product wholesale costs against competitors.
• Understand any additional fees like monthly minimums.
• Negotiate discounts for higher volume orders.

Examining thoroughly upfront saves headaches down the road.

Top Suppliers for Amazon Dropshipping

To help you get started, here is a list of top-rated suppliers optimized for Amazon:

Supplier	Location	Niche	Key Details
SaleHoo	Global	General	8,000+ suppliers & 2.5M+ products
Wholesale2B	US & China	General	1M+ products with fastest shipping
CJ Dropshipping	China	General	400k+ products across 13 categories
Modalfa	China	Fashion	300k+ clothing, shoes & accessory items
Pushy	US	Electronics	Top electronics brands with fast US shipping
Volusion	US	General	50k+ products with excellent support

Take time to research multiple options, order samples, and thoroughly examine suppliers before committing long-term.

Building relationships with the right suppliers is crucial – it can make or break your Amazon dropshipping success.

Setting Up Your Amazon Dropshipping Business

Once you’ve found suppliers that meet Amazon’s policies, it’s time to set up your dropshipping business.

Follow this step-by-step process:

Step 1: Set Up Your Seller Account

If you haven’t already, sign up for an Amazon Seller Central account. You’ll provide your business information, tax details, bank account info, and more.

Step 2: List Your Products

Now you’re ready to add product listings. Here’s how:

• Source product details and images from your supplier.
• Write compelling titles, features, descriptions, bullet points.
• Set a competitive price accounting for fees and margins.
• Submit listing for Amazon’s review.

Optimize listings for keywords so your products get found. Include high-quality images to build trust.

Step 3: Manage Inventory

Since you’re dropshipping, you don’t keep stock. But you need to avoid overselling:

• Only list quantities your suppliers confirm they have in stock.
• Keep inventory levels updated as items sell.
• Temporarily delist out-of-stock products until re-stocked.

Step 4: Enable Automation

automate repetitive tasks:

• Use repricing software to compete on price.
• Integrate with suppliers to sync inventory counts.
• Use multichannel solutions like Zendrop for centralized order management.

This saves massive time as your catalog grows.

Step 5: Focus on Customer Experience

Deliver exceptional service and build loyalty:

• Provide accurate shipping estimates and proactive status updates.
• Resolve issues promptly – refund/replace items if needed.
• Follow up with customers and request reviews.
• Monitor metrics like return rates to improve processes.

Building a trusted brand drives long-term success. With the right foundations in place, you’re ready to start selling and growing your Amazon dropshipping business.

Managing Inventory as an Amazon Dropshipper

When dropshipping on Amazon, you don’t have to store any inventory. But you do need to carefully manage inventory counts to avoid overselling products. Here are some tips:

Maintain Accurate Counts

Work closely with your suppliers to maintain accurate inventory quantities in your Amazon listings. Some best practices:

• When listing a product, confirm its actual stock level with the supplier.
• Require suppliers to provide inventory feed updates as quantities change.
• Use tools to automate inventory syncing between Amazon and suppliers.
• Temporarily delist out-of-stock items until they can be re-stocked.

With accurate counts, you can confidently sell without going negative on quantity.

Monitor Stock Levels

Actively monitor your inventory levels across top-selling items. Watch for:

• Faster than expected depletion of certain products.
• Sudden spikes or drops in demand.
• Items approaching low quantities.

Adjust pricing and marketing as needed. Alert suppliers to re-stock popular products.

Forecast Demand

Use historical sales data to forecast demand. Factor in:

• Seasonal peaks – e.g. holiday periods.
• Sales trends – growth in certain product categories.
• External events – e.g. supply chain issues.

Order enough margin from suppliers to meet expected demand.

Use FBA Inventory Placement

If using Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), optimize your use of FBA warehouses:

• Spread inventory across centers close to your key markets.
• Rotate higher-velocity products to be nearer to customers.
• Let Amazon manage the allocation of units across warehouses.

This can reduce shipping times and costs.

Proper inventory management ensures you don’t miss sales opportunities or oversell what’s available. With some diligence, you can operate smoothly without holding any physical inventory.

Automating Your Amazon Dropshipping Workflow

As your Amazon business grows, order volumes can overwhelm if you handle everything manually. That’s where process automation comes in.

Here are some areas to automate for major time savings:

Inventory Management

Syncing inventory between Amazon and suppliers is crucial. Automate by:

• Using inventory management software like Zendrop, ecomdash etc.
• Integrating inventory feeds from suppliers into your system.
• Automating stock updates rather than manual entry.

This ensures you never oversell an out-of-stock item.

Order Management

Streamline order processing using:

• Multichannel solutions like Zendrop to get orders from all sales channels in one dashboard.
• Automated flows to forward orders to suppliers.
• Apps like Dropified to send orders to suppliers automatically.

Automation eliminates manual order entry and follow-up.

Repricing

Automated repricing ensures you stay competitive:

• Repricing software checks competitor prices 24/7.
• Instantly adjust pricing across the product catalog.
• Customize rules to set floor prices, max change % etc.

Maintaining optimal prices helps boost sales.

Feedback Requests

Automated review requests improve product ratings:

• Apps like Ryviu send customizable review requests to customers.
• Triggers like X days after delivery ensure timely reminders.
• Collect feedback while the purchase is still fresh.

Higher ratings build social proof.

Leveraging automation gives you time to focus on high-value tasks like finding new products, analyzing data, and optimizing listings for growth. The time savings are invaluable as your dropshipping business scales.

Tips for Growing Your Amazon Dropshipping Business

Once you’ve built a solid foundation, it’s time for the fun part – growth. Here are some proven tips:

Expand Your Product Catalog

• Continuously add new products in existing and complementary categories.
• Utilize your suppliers’ entire product ranges.
• Target search trends and seasonality with relevant items.
• Improve SEO with more content to rank for more keywords.

A wider selection attracts more customers.

Offer Bundles and Kits

• Strategically bundle related products to provide added value.
• Create themed kits around certain activities / interests.
• Offer tiered kits with premium/deluxe options.
• Use bundling to liquidate less popular inventory.

Bundling increases order value.

Advertise Outside Amazon

• Build an email list and create regular newsletters.
• Promote best sellers and new arrivals on social media.
• Run paid ads for your product listings on Google / Facebook.
• Cross-sell to existing customers through retargeting.

This expands your reach beyond just Amazon traffic.

Reinvest Profits

• Continuously re-invest a portion of profits into growth.
• Hire help for key tasks you don’t enjoy or aren’t skilled at.
• Pay for automation tools to increase efficiency.
• Improve branding, packaging, and content to elevate the business.

Re-investment fuels exponential growth.

Monitor Performance

• Track key metrics in real-time like sales, costs, margins, and refunds.
• Monitor changes after testing new products, ads, and promotions.
• Identify top-performing categories, SKUs, and supplier relationships.
• Use data to eliminate underperformers and replicate success.

Data-driven decisions facilitate growth. With some strategic efforts, there’s no limit to scaling your Amazon dropshipping business.

You may also like to read:

• How to Find Dropshipping Competitors
• Is Dropshipping Oversaturated

Handling Shipping as an Amazon Dropshipper

Shipping management is crucial for dropshippers. Slow or botched deliveries result in unhappy customers. Here’s how to handle shipping properly:

Set Accurate Expectations

• Provide expected delivery timelines when customers order.
• Factor in origin, courier speed, and destination.
• Under-promise and over-deliver on shipping estimates.
• Notify customers immediately of any delays.

This avoids disappointing customers with late arrivals.

Share Tracking Information

• Send tracking numbers to customers once available.
• Give clear guidance on tracking their package.
• Set up automatic tracking status emails to customers.
• Proactively notify customers when out for delivery.

Tracking visibility improves the post-purchase experience.

Monitor Delivery Progress

• Stay on top of all shipments from your suppliers.
• Follow up if packages miss estimated delivery dates.
• Resolve any issues with couriers immediately.
• Keep customers updated on your progress.

Don’t leave customers in the dark if delays occur.

Offer Premium Shipping

• Provide faster shipping options for customers willing to pay.
• Negotiate expedited courier contracts with your suppliers.
• Factor premium shipping costs into your pricing.
• Recommend express shipping on product pages.

Faster shipping can increase conversion rates.

Learn from Issues

• Track shipments with exceptions – damaged, lost, late items.
• Identify problematic suppliers and product types.
• Switch suppliers or couriers if persistent problems.
• Fine-tune delivery time estimates.

Continuous improvement ensures smoother deliveries.

Managing shipping diligently improves the customer journey and your reputation.

Common Dropshipping Challenges and Solutions

Even seasoned dropshippers encounter hiccups. Being aware of potential issues and having workarounds ready helps you tackle them smoothly.

Long Shipping Times

Challenge: Slow deliveries from distant suppliers lead to poor customer experiences.

Solutions:

• Source locally for faster shipping to your market.
• Offer premium expedited shipping options.
• Underpromise and overdeliver on estimated timelines.
• Proactively communicate delays and progress.

Low Profit Margins

Challenge: Wholesale costs and fees squeeze margins.

Solutions:

• Order higher volumes from suppliers to negotiate better rates.
• Switch to lower-cost suppliers or manufacture private label goods.
• Bundle products or offer add-ons to increase order value.
• Reduce costs by automating processes.

Poor Quality Products

Challenge: Customers receive defective or inferior items.

Solutions:

• Thoroughly vet suppliers and procure samples before listing.
• Inspect shipments for damage before dispatch.
• Drop problematic suppliers immediately.
• Remain accountable – replace or refund promptly.

Inventory Stock-Outs

Challenge: Running out of stock due to spikes in demand or supply issues.

Solutions:

• Maintain safety stock for popular products using historical data.
• Temporarily remove out-of-stock listings until re-supplied.
• Feature alternate or bundle deals to provide options.
• Set customer expectations around possible stock issues.

Being proactive and planning ahead helps you tackle common dropshipping pitfalls. Reach out for help from other sellers or experts if needed.

Conclusion – How to Find Suppliers for Dropshipping on Amazon?

Starting an Amazon dropshipping business offers an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity. However, finding legitimate suppliers and navigating Amazon’s policies can seem daunting initially.

By now, you should feel equipped with the knowledge needed to set up a compliant and successful dropshipping operation on Amazon.

The keys are finding high-quality suppliers aligned with Amazon’s requirements, properly establishing your seller account, automating workflows, and diligently managing inventory and logistics.

Be proactive about optimizing your listings, providing excellent customer service, and reinvesting to grow. Learn from challenges as they arise.

Most importantly, keep your focus on delivering exceptional shopping experiences powered by your behind-the-scenes efforts. This will steadily build your brand’s reputation.

With the right foundation and systems in place, you can run a smooth, scalable e-commerce business. Feel free to revisit this guide anytime you need a quick refresher on “How to find suppliers for dropshipping on Amazon?”.

Let’s wrap up with answers to some common questions about “How to find suppliers for dropshipping on Amazon?”.

FAQs – How to find suppliers for dropshipping on Amazon?

That concludes the article “How to find suppliers for dropshipping on Amazon?”. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for visiting.