5 Tips for Amazon Seller Sourcing in China

How to Choose the Right Product to Source From China and Sell On Amazon

eCommerce is only going one way and that’s up. It’s important to align your business strategy with today’s market conditions, where a continual increase in eCommerce transactions will occur over the next few years.

With this being said, now is the perfect time to source products from the best sourcing agent in China and sell them on Amazon. There is a great opportunity to make real money in a thriving industry, but you’re probably wondering how you should go about finding a reliable product to source from China?

Here are five smart tips for sourcing a reliable product that will sell on Amazon:

1.Will It Be Profitable?

When reviewing products you could realistically sell, it’s important to look at whether it’s financially viable to do so. You should determine whether the cost of sourcing and shipping the items in question is less than the selling price on current Amazon listings. If so, you’ll be poised to make some sort of profit if you’re selling that product.

To determine whether a product is profitable, you can utilize the rule of three. Sales proceeds can be split into three components: 

  • Fees 
  • Landed costs
  • Profit

Each of these should represent a third of the selling price of your product. For example, if you’re selling a product for $30, you should expect to make a $10 profit.

Landed costs refer to how much it costs to manufacture and ship your product to the warehouse. This covers things like inspection fees, shipping, cost of inventory, custom duties, Amazon commission, and taxes. Amazon typically charge 15% on the selling price of a product and $39.99 per month for professional Amazon sellers that sell more than 40 units a month.

If you’re selling via Amazon FBA, you’ll also need to pay a per-product fee that covers Amazon FBA packaging and shipping. This cost varies depending on the volume or weight of products in question, and you’ll also pay a storage fee to Amazon if they’re fulfilling multiple aspects of your transactions.

What’s a Good Retail Price Range to Make Profit?

According to many experienced Amazon sellers, you’ll benefit from selling a product with a retail price of $25 – $50. Selling a product within this price range means you’ll more easily recuperate costs like advertising and Amazon fees.

Products that cost more than $50 can ultimately lead to lower conversion rates, fewer customers viewing your product and less people buying it.

2. Is Your Product Easy to Ship?

When sourcing a product from China, you should pay close attention to whether it’s lightweight since smaller products are easier to ship, more cost-effective, and easier to send through air freight.

The smaller your product the quicker it will arrive and you can start selling. If you’re looking to ship larger quantities, ocean freight is a better solution for heavy or bulky orders. Choosing to sell heavier items can cause shipment delays and increase the risk of products getting damaged, which is why it’s often better to sell products that are easier to ship.

3. Is There Room for Improvement?

If you’re looking at how to find a manufacturer in China, you should take advantage of the wealth of knowledge available online.

When evaluating the market, you’ll want to find a product within a niche where there is clear room for improvement. Let’s imagine you source a product from China and end up receiving unfavourable reviews from customers, only to realise that your Chinese manufacturer cannot modify the product to meet evolving consumer expectations.

This is often the case when sellers focus on high value or complex products that can’t be modified over time. If it’s impossible to get your products modified, meeting evolving customer expectations can become a real challenge.

That’s why it’s best to choose products that are easy to improve, where you can collaborate with your manufacturer to improve your product solution progressively. If there isn’t existing flexibility to do so, you should consider selling another item. Research the products in your competitor’s niche to work out which ones are easy to improve upon and you’ll be one step closer to discovering the perfect product to sell.

4. Is the Product Easy to Produce?

Complex products like glass or electronics can be difficult to manufacture, which is why you’ll probably be better off selecting a product that doesn’t require a high level of expertise to produce. Otherwise, you could face all kinds of complexities, including manufacturing and quality control issues.

As a beginner in the Amazon marketplace, it’s best to avoid products that aren’t reliable and instead focus on those that are predictable and easy to manufacture.

5. Is There Demand For the Product?

When looking at which products you should source from China, you need to determine the level of demand there is for a product within your demographic. This is a key component of the selection process, since choosing a product that’s in high demand will ultimately help you secure a better ROI.

You should begin by looking at whether people are searching for a product on Amazon. Sales figures are a great way to understand which products are most sought after, which often fall into categories like:

  • Sports and outdoors
  • Home and kitchen
  • Toys and games
  • Babycare
  • Beauty and personal care products
  • Home improvement
  • Garden equipment
  • Tools
  • Clothing, jewellery, and shoes

5 Tips for Amazon Seller Sourcing in China

You can also capitalize on a wealth of search tools available online, which are designed to help you discover the most reliable, best-selling products on Amazon. Jungle Scout is a popular choice since it’s available on multiple platforms and provides a host of data that can be leveraged easily to make well-informed decisions on the right product for you.

You can even use tools like these to refine your keyword strategy, organize and track sales, expenses, revenue, and other Amazon FBA metrics. This will provide a comprehensive view of your historical performance over the last two years, including quarterly and monthly data to paint a perfect picture of how well a product is selling.

Though tools like these are great for offering an overview of how well products sell in China, they don’t offer insight into which products are best to source from China. That’s where companies like Easy Imex are extremely helpful, to provide the knowledge necessary to uncover the best Chinese sourcing company.

Work with Easy Imex today to bring your product to market with faster lead times, better pricing, improved product quality, and more. Whether you’re looking to source the ideal factories or learn how to maximize the efficiency of your collaborations, Easy Imex is a one-stop solution committed to meeting your bespoke business needs.

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    About the Author: Adam

    Adam Gilbourne is the Founder and Managing Director of Easy Imex. Since 2005, he has helped hundreds of companies worldwide to successfully import from China. He has a large expertise on product sourcing, quality assurance, and supply chain management.

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