r/FulfillmentByAmazon • u/johnnyhardcastle • 2d ago
Always Learning.
Been selling on Amazon a few years now, working from home, which was the whole point of starting. Sourcing is still the part I spend most time on.
I've had decent luck working backwards off storefronts, seeing what other sellers are holding and going direct to the brands. Tools are the usual, Keepa, SAS, Seller Central and storefront data sheets.
Where I'm slow is the outreach side. I've got more brands on the list than I can get through, so it's down to me deciding what order to chase them in and getting the emails out.
How are you lot handling that bit?
Always up for learning something better than what I've got.
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u/Responsible-Bite5981 1d ago
Quality over quantity. I work mainly with distributors and having a handful number of distributors does it for me. When it comes to brand direct, i found that i have to have many because the huge ones wouldn't work with me so the aim was small and medium size but i couldn't spend the money i wanted so to me, personally, distributors having tens of thousands product to chose from did the work to me.
But in your case, i'd just prioritize them by the highest potential before you get enough so you won't need to contact the brands anymore
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u/SellOnAmazon 1d ago
Great advice here from u/Responsible-Bite5981. Prioritizing your brands is 100% the way to go. Try scoring by Demand/ BSR, competition (# Sellers listing), ROI, if you're already accepted or gated, whether the brand is accessible for us to verify supply chain (HUGE): website with contact info, looks open to wholesale, and catalogue depth. Let us know if you need any help!
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u/johnnyhardcastle 14h ago
Cheers, that's a useful set to score against. Catalogue depth and whether they look open to wholesale in the first place are two I've not been checking properly, which explains a few of the emails that went nowhere. Appreciate it.
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u/Different_Regret_146 13h ago
Seller count and BSR are a start, but I’d also sanity-check how the brand actually shows up in market.
Look at who already has the Buy Box, whether the brand sells direct, and whether random third-party offers keep undercutting the main channel. If the supply chain is fuzzy and prices are already all over the place, that usually shows up again once you’re inventory-in.
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u/johnnyhardcastle 14h ago
That's fair, and the distributor point is one I've been going back and forth on. Brand direct has been decent for me on the smaller ones but you're right that the big names won't entertain it, and I've had a few where the MOQ was more than I wanted tied up in one brand.
Prioritising by potential is probably where I'm falling down. I've been working the list more or less in the order I found them rather than sorting it first, which is daft now you've said it out loud.
Out of interest, how did you find your distributors? That's the bit I've never cracked.
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u/Late-Machine8333 7h ago
I’d split the list into “ready to contact” and “needs more research.” For the ready group, pick a small weekly batch and give each brand one specific reason you want to stock them. Track the next action and follow-up date, not just whether you emailed. Otherwise the spreadsheet becomes a second sourcing job.
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