Buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon can be a profitable venture, but it requires careful planning and execution. The first step is finding the right supplier on Alibaba. It is important to determine whether the supplier is a manufacturing factory or a trader, and to assess whether the factory is legitimate or not.
Once a suitable supplier has been found, it is important to have import experience to ensure a smooth transaction. This article will provide guidelines on how to buy from Alibaba and sell on Amazon, as well as three tips for successful buying and selling. The article will also include a conclusion and a FAQ section to address common questions and concerns.
Key Takeaways
- Finding the right supplier on Alibaba is crucial for successful buying and selling on Amazon.
- Import experience is necessary for a smooth transaction.
- Following the guidelines and tips provided in this article can help ensure a profitable venture.
How to Buy from Alibaba and Sell on Amazon?
Selling private label products on Amazon can be a lucrative business, but it requires careful planning and execution. One of the essential steps is to find a reliable supplier who can provide quality products at a reasonable price. Alibaba is a popular platform that connects buyers with suppliers from around the world. Here are some of the steps you can follow to buy from Alibaba and sell on Amazon.
1. Research Trending Products
Before you start looking for suppliers on Alibaba, you need to research trending products that have good potential for sales on Amazon. It’s essential to choose products that are lightweight, durable, PPC-eligible, and fit inside a standard shoebox. You can use various methods to find the best products, such as checking Amazon’s best-seller lists, using product research tools, and analyzing your competitors’ products.
2. Take a Few Tips from the Competition
Once you have a list of potential products, you should analyze your competitors who sell the same products. You can check their selling price, marketing methods, reviews, and other factors. This step will help you find the right product with good potential and ensure that the market for that product is not overcrowded.
3. Recognize Your Target Audience and Do Product Research
Identifying your target audience is crucial before doing anything else. Conducting proper research will help you decide how to proceed with your brand and plan a better brand strategy. Once you have identified your target audience, you can conduct product research to find out what they need and want.
4. Choose a Branded Name for Your Store
Brand naming is of utmost importance. The brand name should be simple yet effective, relevant to your brand, and easy to remember. If you plan to expand your product range, it’s better to come up with something interesting that resonates with your brand.
5. Design Your Brand Identity
Designing your brand identity is important to create a unique brand that customers will associate with your goods. It should include a unique logo, an attractive color palette, and a powerful slogan that gives customers an idea of what your business is all about. You can hire a good designer or use a free logo generator to create a unique brand identity.
6. Register a Trademark
Trademarked items could be identified by either a ™ or ® symbol. Registering a trademark has many benefits, such as protecting your business from damages or forgers, enlisting multiple products into Amazon’s Brand Registry, and getting access to Amazon’s A+ Content feature. You can make an application on the EUIPO website or USPTO to register a trademark.
7. Use Custom Packaging
Using custom packaging is a crucial step in creating your brand or business. It can increase your brand’s recognition and make you look professional. You can use your logo to design packaging that showcases your brand. Ensure that you fulfill all the requirements of packaging and include all the necessary information, such as a GTIN, the country of origin, and any applicable certifications and legal warnings.
8. Start the Investigation
When you are ready for the pre-work, you can start searching for factories interested in cooperating with Alibaba. You can enter related keywords on Alibaba, such as laptop bag, and narrow down the search location. You can further check the supplier’s conditions and fill in the relevant information of these sellers in a form.
9. Create a Supplier List
After reading the product pages of some sellers, you need to fill in the relevant information of these sellers in a form, including the company name, company location, factory/trade company, number of employees, contact method, minimum order quantity, commodity price, delivery time, product page, and company website URL.
10. Reach Out to the Alibaba Suppliers
Now you may have a list of potential suppliers on Alibaba. You can contact the manufacturer directly through instant messaging function “Chat Now” (Ali Wangwang), or through email. You must let them understand your needs in the shortest possible time, using item numbers, numeric columns, blank lines, and your own contact information.
11. Select a Right Supplier on Alibaba
After reaching out to the Alibaba suppliers, you should select the right supplier based on their product quality, price, delivery time, and other factors. You can ask for samples, negotiate the price, and check their certifications and legal documents.
12. Receive the Shipment
Once you have selected the right supplier, you can place an order and receive the shipment. Ensure that the products meet your quality standards and comply with Amazon’s policies and guidelines. You can then send the goods to Amazon FBA directly and start selling your private label products on Amazon.
3 Buying from Alibaba and Selling on Amazon Tips
1. Popular Products
Many inexperienced sellers make the mistake of blindly following popular products without considering potential safety hazards. It’s important to note that popular products are at high risk of infringing on trademarks or brands. Amazon has new regulations for popular products, where it captures product performance, ranking, and sales to determine whether the product has a competitive advantage. Sellers who do not have a competitive advantage may have their sales of popular products restricted, and the specific recovery time is unclear.
To avoid infringing on trademarks or brands, sellers should research and register for trademarks or brands before selling popular products. It’s also recommended that sellers diversify their product offerings and not solely rely on popular products.
2. Product Quality
Product quality is a crucial factor that sellers must consider. Poor product quality can lead to negative reviews and higher return rates, which can damage a seller’s reputation. Sellers should avoid products with complex functions, high product iteration capabilities, and after-sales requirements if they do not have a professional product development and after-sales service team. It’s recommended that sellers start with products with relatively simple functions to ensure high-quality products and positive reviews.
3. Product Purchase Price
Sellers should not solely focus on lowering the purchase price when purchasing products. Both the seller and supplier need to ensure their reasonable profits, and suppliers may not lower their prices if they are unsure whether the seller can run the goods. It’s recommended that sellers join professional source channel groups and purchasing groups to learn more about product costs and prices to negotiate with suppliers more professionally. This will help suppliers feel confident that the seller can do their products well and may offer discounts accordingly.
4. Product Delivery Time
Sellers must carefully choose suppliers with stable delivery dates. If a seller purchases hot-selling products with small quantities, there may be no advantage in the supplier’s ordering and delivery, leading to longer delivery times than other sellers. To avoid this, sellers can consider choosing both hot-selling and less competitive products. Early investment is necessary, and sellers can establish a trusting cooperative relationship with suppliers by pushing products with low competitiveness. This will help suppliers prioritize the seller’s orders and improve product delivery times.
In summary, sellers must consider potential safety hazards, product quality, reasonable product purchase prices, and stable product delivery times when buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon. Diversifying product offerings and establishing a trusting cooperative relationship with suppliers can help sellers succeed in the competitive Amazon marketplace.
Buy from Alibaba and Sell on Amazon Conclusion
In conclusion, buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon can be a profitable business venture. To determine which products to sell, one can look at popular products on Amazon or Shopee and resell them for a profit. However, it is important to note that e-commerce is not a get-rich-quick scheme and requires effort and time to see significant rewards. The success of this business model also depends on finding unique and high-quality products that stand out from competitors. If assistance is needed, Amazon sourcing agents are available to help navigate the process. Overall, with proper research, planning, and execution, buying from Alibaba and selling on Amazon can be a lucrative business opportunity.
How to Buy from Alibaba and Sell on Amazon FAQ
Private labeling is a simple concept where a product is purchased from a local market or manufacturer, but with the buyer’s own labeling to make it their own. Amazon Basics is a great example of a private label product. Amazon sources their products from other manufacturers and uses their own labeling to make it their own.
To promote a private label product, it is important to keep the buyer on the product detail page (PDP) after pay-per-click (PPC) or promotions on Amazon and other social media platforms. This can be achieved by getting customers to the page where they can compare similar products with better reviews, quick shipping, and badges, etc.
The best way to find a product to private label is by checking online marketplaces such as Alibaba. The product is all around us, we just need to have an eye to find it. It is recommended to look within your chosen niche and contact the supplier directly.
Private labeling can be very profitable, more so than wholesale products. This is because the cost remains low, whereas wholesalers can expect 10-15% profit margins. Private labels, on the other hand, can see up to 40% profit margins.
It is not necessary to have your own brand to sell on Amazon, but having Brand Registry Approval can offer various benefits that help protect your interests. This is especially important when selling on Amazon.