Source products for Amazon FBA
Do you want to start your FBA business or do you already have a business but are looking to diversify from a single supplier?
Regardless of how you got here, you can always negotiate a better deal. And we at IndiaDirectSourcing think sourcing from India right now is the best time, as this competitive export market is often ignored by many international sellers.
Stay tuned for a secret tip that will guarantee the rock bottom prices for your business and learn to source products for Amazon FBA.
With even a small experience in the online retail business, anyone could tell you the markup is at least 3x. This means, for every dollar that you buy, you have to sell it at 3 times the price. So, getting a supplier in a more competitive product like cotton apparel and genuine leather will help you get more for less.
And cutting even a dollar off the price means you can sell it at $3 cheaper in your store.
What exactly is Amazon FBA & Why is India gaining so much popularity?
Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) is an Amazon service, that allows you to sell any product on Amazon and leave the burden of storage, packaging, and shipping each individual order, to Amazon Fulfillment Centers.
You can tap into the distribution network of Amazon, reducing your worries to just finding customers, marketing, and sourcing the product.
Selling on Amazon associates your product with the Amazon name. People are more likely to buy from someone they trust especially if you’re just starting out and don’t have a store identity. You don’t have to worry about shipping or renting a storage facility for your products.
You’re probably aware of Amazon Prime and the millions of sales that come under its name. You can access the prime market as a seller and reach even more customers.
So now you have a market and a customer base.
Where should you source products For Amazon FBA from?
Many sellers are starting to work with Indian suppliers and negotiate better deals than Alibaba and to be honest, I’m not surprised. Recently there have been many product categories, where sourcing from India is cheaper than China. Labor intensive and handmade goods are a prime example. That’s because overall labor costs are lower in India.
Plus, labor and production costs have been increasing in China. In the past, we’ve seen many brands move their low-end production out of China into India and Vietnam.
China is also starting to become a little volatile in terms of policy and tariffs. We saw their effects during the Covid era and trade war. Indian private labels are like the best-kept secret for FBA sellers.
Not many people know about them and their products are high value which means higher profits for you. For FBA sellers, here’s my list of the best Indian suppliers you can find, that will benefit you more than Chinese sellers in many products.
1- IndiaMart
India Mart is the best way you can contact suppliers in thousands of categories from the comfort of your office.
Most export-oriented wholesale sellers are already on this site and you can find store ratings, customer reviews, and seller availability along with minimum orders in real-time.
India mart connects buyers with sellers. There are over 2.2 million sellers on the platform and generally, you can find suppliers in a range of prices often cheaper than competing websites.
Most suppliers speak English and have no problem quoting prices on custom orders.
2- GlobaLSources
Global Sources is the biggest alternative to Alibaba and often higher quality suppliers are found here.
Global Sources is based in Hong Kong but they provide access to the Indian supplier directory. You can find Indian sellers for jewelry, electronics, and textile fairly easily on Global Sources and it is quite similar to India Mart.
The sellers here are old and work with buyers who buy in bulk. We totally recommend sourcing for Amazon through Global Sources, if you have a large store or work with bulk orders.
One-way Global Sources is better than India Mart is their logistics and insight into market research. All accessible by being a customer.
3- Sourcing in Person
For most Amazon sellers, the general safer practice has remained to work with a sourcing agent in India, that oversees the operations on the other side.
This is a common practice for finding factories by using already established communication and trust of a sourcing agent to quickly get your orders shipped.
If you’re interested to work with sourcing agents that act on your behalf for a fair price, take a look at ActonaSourcing. They provide great communication and sort your orders, quickly with no hidden payments or extra demands.
For people who like to take a little bit of risk, the best thing you can do to maximize profits and secure the best deal is to visit Indian marketplaces, where you can examine the product, talk to sellers and get the rock bottom prices as other local Indian buyers.
Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair
Most Indian Products are sought after because they are handmade.
Hand labor is cheap and valuable at the same time.
Indian Handicraft & Gifts Delhi Fair is a commodity fair in the capital city of India, where you can meet sellers in home furnishings, fashion, jewelry, and accessories and source products for Amazon FBA business.
The fair has thousands of companies and multiple halls. You can easily check their directory of products and exhibition dates from here.
Technotex
There are many sellers finding huge profits in technical wear.
If you’re all about selling technical clothing, Technotex might have something for you.
There are hundreds of manufacturers that cater to a small but highly profitable market. Technical clothing and textile include flame retardant clothing, Industrial textiles, Tents or sportswear and an ever-expanding list.
You can also connect with other businessmen through this fair and develop connections in India for quality control of your product or handling shipment.
Local Bazaars (Markets)
Bazaars or local Markets are one of the best places to get local prices and meet wholesale sellers that cater to Indian market.
The product quality is high and usually, only local bulk buyers go there. If you plan a visit to India for any sourcing deal or exhibition, we totally recommend visiting the Bazaars.
There are different wholesale bazaars for different commodities, but the popular destinations are Mumbai and Delhi.
Here you can find the market for almost all products and get in touch with owners of factories and local distributors.
The minimum order quantity is low, but you are responsible for shipping and negotiating with the suppliers.
Some of the local bazaars or markets in India are
#Chor Bazaar Delhi In and around for Jewelry
#Lamington Road Mumbai for Electronics
#Manish Market Mumbai for Electronics
#Surat Textile Market Gujarat for Textile
#Chandni Chowk Delhi for a Range of products
Which are the product niches India specializes in?
It’s not possible to buy everything in India. There are other manufacturing hubs that specialize in different things and here are just a few popular items that can be best sourced from India and are guaranteed to sell in your store.
Let’s see which are those products that you can source products for Amazon FBA in the next section.
TEXTILE
The textile Industry in India is huge. The domestic market is larger than some countries and their traditional designs have made it into party wear.
With an annual export business amounting to $44 billion there’s something these suppliers are doing right.
Indian exports enjoy large subsidies from the government and you can get a low-price quote as their production costs are fairly low.
You can start different online stores that just sell textiles like cotton-based apparel and a home furnishings store.
COSTUME JEWELRY
Costume Jewelry is a low-value high-profit product.
They can be made in bulk and from cheap materials. The real cost, however, is the design, and Indian designs are extremely popular.
Traditional costume jewelry has a market of its own, but most Indian wholesale sellers also make Designer jewelry, Zen Jewelry, and Western-style jewelry.
The good thing about Indian manufacturers is that you can work with a small capital, as little as $200, and expect great quality.
Most of the jewelry is handmade and you can market it as a labor-intensive product for a much higher price.
The manufacturers are open all year round and carry a low dollar value.
Think of something like a dollar store where you can get earring, or necklaces.
ELECTRONIC & ACCESSORIES
One of the most profitable items on Amazon is electronics. It’s not because they are cheaper to source, but rather because Amazon takes a smaller percentage on them.
With most consumer electronics falling below 8% referral fee, sourcing cheaper electronics from India can result in an instant price advantage.
Just be careful to buy only quality electronics which you can back by warranty.
Fashion Accessories like backpacks and bags have an even smaller referral fee and these products can be sourced fairly easily with a small order from India.
Gym bags with your own brand name, nylon bags, or printable tote bags as fashion statements are all very popular with Indian manufacturers
Tip
As promised, here’s a simple tip that’ll help you jumpstart your store and source products more effectively.
Most suppliers like to hear big numbers. If you take a small order like 100 pieces, that might seem pretty big for your store, but for a factory running 24/7, it’s a few hours work.
The best thing you can do is sell products in bundles. This increases your sale and also your orders.
For example, if you’re selling socks, you can sell them one pair at a time or in a bundle of 5 with different colors and less packaging. This reduces your cost and drives your sales.
Conclusion
The point of this article is to help you get started on sourcing products from India.
China and Alibaba are great, but they’ve become mainstream and everyone uses them.
By taking our advice and finding suppliers in a totally different location you can negotiate different deals and gain a competitive advantage.
There’s much more than that and a few reasons, you should source from India are Everyone speaks English.
They are old and established, they specialize in textile and jewelry
They already have logistical support from Western companies like DHL and FedEx
The Export Promotion Council in India, a government organization, provides many discounts and incentives to exporters as well.
That wraps up our video on how to source products from India, if you’re interested in brand building and ABCs of quality control and purchase orders after finding suppliers check out the video link in the description and I’ll see you there.
