This is my another article about amazon selling business. However, unlike my other articles this is kindda long, but it has step by step instructions on what to do when you start (like a ‘desktop procedure’).

Looking back many many years ago, first month or two require lots of research and will be frustrating. You can spend money on ‘Wholesale’ trainings or use free resources – youtube, google, reddit, other 3rd party platforms. Personally, most of folks I know used free resources, as we could not afford $2-5K trainings. Also, this forces you to get used to constant research instead of someone spoon-feeding the solution.

Anyhow, here are the steps for you to find products for wholesale.

1. Find one or two areas where you have basic understanding. Why? Coz many products might look very similar, but they are not, and there is nothing worse than selling a product that is very similar (but not) realizing later after customer complains (and amazon shutting down your listing) that what you sent was not 100% match. Thus said, if you can’t tell a difference between a mineral motor oil and synthetic maybe ‘Automotive Category’ is not your cup of tea.

2. Learn more about that category and industry overall. I am sure there are many ways – here is just one of them. Open your amazon browser (recommend Chrome), go to Amazon and start looking at products and making a list of smaller sellers on listings with average BSRs. Why smaller sellers? How do you know? You want seller with less rankings I would say below a few hundred (with customer satisfaction > 95% - most likely FBAs). Bigger players that have been around the block have more purchasing power, can get better deals and most likely you won’t be able to win the buybox or compete on price. Now, make a list of those brands (while paying attention to the product lines). After reviewing 10-20 sellers, you will be able to see some patterns – common brands, similar products.

3. Take those brands and start contacting them (either to brand owner or brand itself). Please don’t send emails from PinkSharkTooth1234@gmail 😊. Create your business domain name with email. GoDaddy will do it for a $100-200 bucks per year. Now, you look professional. Then, ask them (a) if you can purchase in bulk from them directly or (b) if there is a distributor you can source their products from. If you don’t hear back from them – call them, email again. I would say from 10-20 brands you will get somewhere with just a few… this is a part of the process. Sometimes you would spend many weeks of following up to get somewhere. Sometimes it will be a waste. I would say the harder it is to ‘get through’ the more promising it might be as many of others would give up.

4. When you get in contact with a brand, now you need to start schmoozing and convincing the brand that they will benefit from allowing you resell them. There will be many that will tell “NO to Amazon” and there will be many who will say that they need Brick and Mortar store (“physical location”). Some of us give up in these cases, and some somehow manage opening or convincing that they/their partners have a brick/mortar store. However, if you don’t have brick and mortar – just move on.

5. If you get a list of distributors or even one distributor from that brand – this is awesome. Now, do some research – look at their requirements, look at what they have. Log that list into excel (or google) spreadsheet and systematically start contacting them and setting up accounts with them (use your professional email and promote yourself to “CEO” or “Director 😊). Set up accounts then…and don’t forget to show them your State Sales Certificate (so you are exempt from paying sales tax of resold items). Also, there are always different price tiers meaning that depending on your Purchase Order, or monthly commitments, or annual volume, you may get additional discounts.

Note: There are times when you spend a few weeks setting up an account with a vendor, then you schmooze them, then you research all their products just to realize they might not be the first (i.e. main) distributor, and therefore the prices are awful, and you feel down and want to give up. You should not! I am sure during this time you perfected your negotiations or learned some red flags. Word of advise: do several distributors at the same time – out of many there will be one that would work.

6. Once account is set up now it is time to do research. There are many methods, and these methods can bring you new products so you should try them all. Mix it up… you need to give yourself a few weeks of research per vendor…

a. Vendors List (UPC to ASIN match). Most of reputable distributors carry 100-500 different brand with 1000 to 50,000 products. Ask for the list for products in a ‘flat file’ (text, csv) or excel. Now, you need to use a tool to match UPCs to Amazon listings that will generate reports with matched products, calculated profitability, margins, shown BSR, and blah blah blah… (In theory, you can try to do it manually by copying-pasting into Amazon and collect information – but this is not very efficient and becomes frustrating experience).

Once you get these reports – start looking. Most likely, you will get many products with high BSR, or negative profitability – and that’s OK… this is part of the game… 95% (or even more) of products from our current distributors of different brands have either high BSR or negative profitability… and of whatever remaining most of them are out of stock 😊 … once again, this is part of the game – you don’t need thousands of listings from start. You just need a hand-full of products at first and increasE slowly to 100-200-300-1000 listings. However, with more listings you get additional headaches… But even 10 SKUs selling 1 per day over 30 days where you make $2-$3 will make you $600-$1000. It is a numbers game… Am I right or am I right? 😊 … You could stay at that level and operate out of you house… but most likely you will keep on digging and growing.

b. Brand focus. Once you get a list from vendors see which brands they seem to carry more products on, and target them. However, even before you get too deep into your analysis – put that brand name into amazon, and study first 2-3 pages (30-60 listings). If you see only one seller – then it must be a PL (private label) and I would stay away, or if you see only amazon on most of listings – also stay away – most likely that brand has some sort of agreement (even if it does not, you will not win a buybox from amazon). However, if you see a mix of Amazon, FBA, FBM – this maybe a good sign… Then, you can either go to step (a) above and just run bulk UPC investigator match, or bulk brand investigator pull, or pull manually into the spreadsheet and recalculate.

c. Occasionally you can study the brand and look for some ‘weird stuff’. Pictures from your distributors might match to amazon listing but UPC does not. Congrats! You might have found a hidden treasure – either your distributor did not put UPC, or UPC changed overtime and it was never updated on Amazon.

d. There are other techniques that I might share in the future… but since it became a large article I would stop at this point.

P.S. Please let me know your thoughts...

Update as of 9/8/22: There have been some unsolicited 'hate comments'... initially was not intending to do it... but here is a screenshot...

When I first dipped my toes into wholesale, I had no clue what I was doing. No fancy courses, no expensive coaches — just me, Google, and a whole lot of trial and error.

This post is for the people who are in the same spot I was in: ready to get into wholesale, but overwhelmed by all the noise. My goal is to lay out the process in a way that’s practical, honest, and beginner-friendly — without all the fluff. Think of this as your startup checklist, strategy guide, and reality check all rolled into one.

Step 1: Choose a Niche You Actually Understand

Start by picking a category you're at least somewhat familiar with. Why? Because in wholesale, you’re not inventing a product — you're reselling existing ones. And if you don’t know the difference between two similar-looking items (e.g., synthetic vs. conventional motor oil), you could end up selling the wrong thing and having your listing shut down by Amazon after a return or complaint.

Stick with what you know, or at least what you're curious enough to learn.

Step 2: Analyze the Market (the DIY Way)

Open up Amazon in a browser (Chrome is fine), and start looking at listings in your niche. Don’t just chase best sellers — look for brands that are doing okay (middle-of-the-pack BSRs), and sellers that aren't Amazon or massive resellers with 10,000 reviews.

Focus on:

• Smaller 3P sellers

• FBA sellers with >95% feedback

• Listings with solid but not insane rankings

Make a list of the brands that pop up more than once. Patterns will emerge. That’s your first batch of potential targets.

Step 3: Reach Out to Brands Like a Pro (Not a Random Gmailer)

Once you’ve got a shortlist of brands, go to their official websites. You’re looking for either a wholesale application or a way to contact them directly.

When you email, don't use something like [email protected]. Spend a few bucks and get a real domain name and email — something like [email protected]. You can set this up for under $20 using GoDaddy or Namecheap.

Your email should be short and direct

Don’t get discouraged if only a few reply. Wholesale is a numbers game — and following up is half the battle.

If you are stuggling finds suppliers you can always buy a lead list. When doing this it's best to use one that has a members limit like: oasource.com

Step 4: Expect Pushback — and Be Ready to Pivot

Many brands will say things like:

• “We don’t allow Amazon sellers”

• “You need a physical storefront”

• “We only work with established accounts”

That’s normal. Some sellers go as far as renting space or partnering with a local store just to get in the door. But honestly? If you're just starting out and don’t have a retail location, it's okay to walk away. Move on to the next lead — there are thousands of brands out there.

Step 5: Score a Distributor List — Then Go to Work

If a brand shares a list of authorized distributors (or just one), that's gold. Now your job is to:

1. Research each distributor

2. Reach out with your reseller cert and professional contact info

3. Start applying for accounts

Pro tip: Keep track of everything in a spreadsheet — who you contacted, what they said, and whether they offer price tiers, MOQ, and shipping to FBA.

Ask questions like:

• “Do you have a minimum order quantity?”

• “Are Amazon sellers allowed?”

• “Can you ship directly to an FBA warehouse?”

This shows you’re serious and saves time down the road.

Step 6: Product Research (Now the Real Work Begins)

Once you’re approved, request their product list — preferably as a flat file, CSV, or Excel sheet. Many will send you a massive spreadsheet with thousands of SKUs.

Now comes the grind. You’ll need to match UPCs to ASINs (you can use software or tools like , Tactical Arbitrage, etc.). Most products won’t be profitable — that's totally normal.

You're not looking for thousands of winners — just a few solid ones to start.

Bonus: Brand Analysis Tactics

Here are a few extra strategies to help you dig deeper:

• Brand Saturation Check: Look up the brand on Amazon. If you only see one seller or just Amazon itself — skip it. But if there are a mix of 3P sellers and FBA listings, it’s probably a green light.

• UPC Anomalies: Sometimes your distributor’s photo matches the Amazon listing but the UPC doesn’t. That might mean the listing was created manually — and it could be a niche opportunity other sellers missed.

• Focus on Brands, Not Just Products: Look at which brands appear most often in your distributor’s catalog and prioritize those for analysis.

What About Ungating?

Here’s the good news: if a brand or distributor sends you a proper invoice (with your business name, item details, and quantities), you can use it to request ungating in certain Amazon categories or brands. Just make sure you order 10+ units and that the invoice matches Amazon’s format. That one order could open up an entire category for you.