How to compare wholesale suppliers for Amazon

Once you have more than one supplier, the question changes from “is this product worth buying?” to “which supplier deserves my money?”. The cheapest price list is not always the answer. Here is how to compare wholesale suppliers for Amazon on the numbers that decide your profit, and how to keep track as their price lists change.

Compare the landed cost, not the price

Two suppliers can quote the same product at different prices and still cost you the same, or the reverse. Add each supplier's freight, any duty and any handling or payment fees, and compare the landed cost per unit. A supplier 3 percent cheaper that ships from overseas can easily be the more expensive one.

Compare the whole list: the buy rate

Run each supplier's full price list through the same targets and count how many products come out as a buy. That share is the supplier's buy rate. A list of 3,000 products with 1 percent buys gives you 30 products; a list of 400 with 10 percent gives you 40, with far less work. The buy rate also tells you whether a supplier's pricing is built for Amazon resellers at all.

Compare what the money earns

• Average ROI of the products you would buy.
• Profit per month: ROI matters less than how fast the products sell. A supplier with a lower ROI on fast sellers can earn more in a year.
• Capital needed: how much it costs to buy all of that supplier's buys at sensible quantities.
• Risk: how many of the buys carry a high price war, dead stock or IP risk.

Compare the terms

• Minimum order and case packs: a high MOQ ties up cash and raises the dead stock risk.
• Lead time and reliability: late deliveries mean empty shelves on your best sellers.
• Payment terms: paying in 30 days instead of up front lets the stock sell before you pay for it.
• Authorisation and invoices: buying from the brand or an authorised distributor protects you against complaints. See how to vet wholesale suppliers.

When several suppliers sell the same product

Buy each product from the supplier with the lowest landed cost that you trust, but do not spread one order across too many suppliers: each extra account means another minimum, another shipment and more admin. Use the cheaper quote to negotiate with the supplier you prefer.

Track the changes in every new price list

Suppliers send new lists often, and prices rarely move all together. Compare each new list with the last one: which prices went up, which went down, which products are new and which were dropped. A product that was a BUY last month can turn into a REVIEW after a small price rise, and a dropped product may be one you were about to reorder.

Compare suppliers in Wholesale Analyzer

Give each scan its supplier's name, and the Suppliers page puts them side by side: products, buy rate, average ROI and profit per unit, high-risk products and the capital needed for the BUYs, with each supplier's history over time. Compare catalogs shows what changed between two price lists of the same supplier: prices up and down, new and removed products, and new and lost BUY opportunities. See compare supplier catalogs and track suppliers.