17 Best Wholesale Websites for Buying Products to Resell
A successful business starts with a great product. Whether you manufacture your goods yourself or partner with a supplier, you need to offer a high-quality product if you want to gain a lot of customers.
While there are a variety of methods for sourcing products (private label, dropshipping, auction sites, etc.) many companies use a wholesale strategy to get products for their business. In this post, we will show you the best wholesale websites to source products for your eCommerce business.
Table of contents
How Does Wholesale Business Work?
The wholesale sourcing method is the process of buying products in bulk from a supplier (known as a wholesaler) before selling them on Amazon or other marketplaces. The best place to find wholesale suppliers is in a wholesale marketplace or directory. These platforms offer goods that are sold in large quantities typically to retailers.
Buying in bulk from wholesalers allows you to get your items at a cheaper price. You can then sell them with a markup to earn a profit on each sale.
How to Start Wholesale on Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is a logistics service offered by the Amazon marketplace. With it, Amazon stores and ships your products to customers. By using this fulfillment method, your products are Prime eligible, meaning buyers can get them with fast, free shipping.
Below are the steps to start selling your wholesale products with Amazon.
Perform product research to determine what products to sell
Find a good supplier to partner with
Negotiate with the supplier to agree on terms of your partnership
Buy the items in bulk from the supplier
Have the supplier ship the items directly to an Amazon fulfillment center. Alternatively, you can have them ship the goods to you and you can then prep them and send them to the Amazon warehouse yourself.
Start marketing your products to get your first customers
Find Products for Wholesale with AMZScout
Product research is an essential part of having success on Amazon. You need confidence that your products will perform well before you make the effort to start selling them. This is even more important for wholesale businesses as you need to spend more money upfront to get items in bulk.
The AMZScout Amazon research tools help you thoroughly vet any potential product to ensure it is a good option for an Amazon wholesale business. First of all, you should try the AMZScout Online Arbitrage, Dropshipping and Wholesale Extension.
Here is how it works:
Step 1. Install the Amazon Online Arbitrage, Dropshipping and Wholesale extension by following this link.
Step 2. Start your free trial. All you need to sign up is an email address.
Step 3. Search Amazon for product ideas. Open Amazon.com to look for a good niche. It can be:
Products from popular name brands
Niches you are passionate about
Items trending on other online markets or physical stores
Step 4. Determine which product ideas have the best potential. While scrolling through Amazon, look at the data underneath each product. The Online Arbitrage and Wholesale extension will show you:
Margins: Look for products with margins above 50%
Amazon fees: The costs associated with selling the product
Seller types: Look for items with both FBA and FBM sellers. Also try to avoid products that Amazon sells. It will be difficult to compete with them to win the Buy Box.
With the steps above, you can save the most promising products to take a closer look at them.
Step 5. Review the best products from your list. Each product page will have a panel with crucial details about the product. Check for items that are ungated and that are not private label or hazmat. You can learn more about these criteria here.
Step 6. Check the product’s historical data. After you narrow down your list of products, look at the Price History and Buy Box History. Knowing how prices fluctuate can help you create an effective repricing strategy.
Step 7. Check the item’s profit potential. The built-in calculator lets you enter your costs to determine net profit. Your costs will vary based on your business. They can include
Shipping costs: The amount you pay the supplier for sending your products
Advertising costs: How much you pay for Amazon Ads and other promotions
Other: This can include software subscription fees and the other costs of running your business
The app will use this data to instantly calculate your margins. It will automatically update new values in the Profit Margin, Minimum Net, and ROI fields. These will give you detailed insights into the product’s profit potential.
Another helpful way to simplify the product research process is to use the Product Database and PRO Extension. With them you can look up any existing Amazon item to review its sales history, profit margins, fees, and how it’s trending over time.
The PRO Extension also helps you analyze a product’s market to see how competitive it is. This is another vital step as selling wholesale items means you’ll likely have to compete with other sellers of the same product.
Once you leverage these tools to assess a product’s potential, you can begin looking for wholesalers to procure the product. Below, you will find a list of the best wholesale websites. We have segmented the list based on the physical location of the company operating the site.
Best Wholesale Websites in the USA
To start, let’s look at the top wholesale sites in the United States. Working with an American vendor instead of an Asian-based supplier comes with the advantage of shorter shipping times and the potential for less communication issues.
Faire.com
Faire is an online wholesale website that connects resellers with independent brands. Founded recently in 2017, the site already has over 85,000 reputable brands to choose from and over 600,000 companies buying wholesale products from the marketplace. It offers products in a wide range of categories including fashion, home decor, and jewelry. Plus, many of the site’s brands do not have a minimum order requirement.
WorldwideBrands
WorlwideBrands is a more established wholesale website. Founded over 20 years ago, the site boasts an extensive database of over 16 million certified wholesale items from thousands of reliable suppliers. You can find quality products in a variety of niches including pet supplies, toys, clothing, travel, and more. To access the database you need to pay a one-time fee. After that, you can view all of the products the site has to offer and you can begin communicating directly with potential suppliers.
Thomasnet.com
Thomasnet is a wholesale website that connects buyers with legit wholesale suppliers based in North America. It’s one of the most robust directories out there, with thousands of suppliers in all sorts of product categories. With the platform, you can communicate directly with potential suppliers, receive quotes, and make secure payments with their Transaction Assurance. Thomasnet is free to use once you sign up for an account.
Wholesale Central
Wholesale Central is a B2B (business-to-business) wholesale directory with over 350,000 unique products from over 1,000 trusted online wholesale stores. The website’s design is pretty basic but it is easy to use, simplifying the process of finding good products for your small business. There are products in a variety of categories including sporting goods, electronics, office supplies, and more.
Bargain Wholesale
Bargain Wholesale is a wholesale website full of popular name-brand products. The catalog focuses primarily on trendy dollar store-type items such as low-cost food products, household goods, and cheap apparel like a basic t-shirt.
Costco
Costco is a globally recognized wholesale retailer known for its membership-based warehouse clubs. What sets Costco apart is its focus on selling bulk quantities of merchandise at deeply discounted prices. Additionally, it offers a diverse product range from groceries to electronics, and is known for high-quality products and a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction.
goWholesale
goWholesale is an online wholesale marketplace catering specifically to small and medium-sized businesses. A key feature is its emphasis on trendy, fast-moving consumer goods. The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with various retail systems, helping businesses efficiently stock up on in-demand products with minimal investment.
Best Wholesale Websites in China
Next, we’ll look at the best Chinese wholesale sites. These sites may have longer delivery times but they often offer lower prices while still providing safe, quality products. While Below are the top wholesale websites based in China:
Alibaba.com
Alibaba is a wholesale website with millions of suppliers and billions of users shopping on the platform each month to find products for their business. It is one of the world's largest online commerce companies, especially known for its wholesale and manufacturing marketplaces. The platform is over 20 years old and there are products in every eCommerce category.
Alibaba accepts a wide range of payment methods including credit cards, PayPal, and wire transfer. There are several other tools to help buyers including an easy-to-use request quote system, a chat interface to communicate directly with supplier, and an intuitive order and shipment tracker built right into the platform.
Additionally, some of the distributors on Alibaba also offer dropshipping services. This allows you to list and test out some of the items with your customers before committing to buying them in bulk.
Made-in-China.com
Made-in-China is an online wholesale directory that connects eCommerce buyers with Chinese suppliers. It doesn’t offer nearly as many suppliers as a site like Alibaba, but you can still use it to find high-quality products in a wide range of categories. There are detailed seller profiles so you can learn important details about who you’re buying from and many products can be customized.
Global Sources
Global Sources is a popular B2B marketplace for finding low-cost suppliers in Asia. It has over one million buyers, some of them are top Amazon sellers as well as other large retail companies. Suppliers are verified with detailed profiles and you can chat with them directly on the platform.
1688.com
1688 is a wholesale site that is similar to Alibaba and Made-in-China. While it may be smaller than these sites, it offers many suppliers that are not present on the other marketplaces. One challenge with 1688 is that the site is only available in Chinese. So, if you plan to use it you’ll want a good website translator and you should be prepared for more difficult communication.
DHgate
Founded in 2004, DHgate is another well-established wholesale marketplace. The site features over two million Chinese suppliers with tens of millions of products. It is a great platform for finding low-cost, bulk items for any eCommerce niche.
Best Wholesale Websites in India
Lastly, we’ll look at the best Wholesale Websites in India. These sites are a great option for people looking for low-cost items, not from China. They are also popular for Indian sellers as well as those from nearby countries including the Turkish markets:
Indiamart.com
Founded in 1996, Indiamart is India’s largest B2B wholesale marketplace. The platform offers a variety of tools to improve the buying process including a payment protection program and an easy-to-use Indiamart payment system. There are over seven million suppliers, many of them verified, and there are over 86 million products spanning dozens of categories.
Tradeindia.com
TradeIndia is an online wholesale market similar to Indiamart. It was also founded in 1996 and the site gets over 20 million shoppers every month. There are products in a variety of niches including health and beauty, electronics, fashion, home appliances, and more. With the request a quote feature, you can quickly post a request to get offers from multiple suppliers.
Flipkartwholesale.com
Flipkart Wholesale is an online wholesale site with products in a wide range of niches including fashion, grocery, and general merchandise, among others. These items have some of the lowest prices of all Indian wholesale sites. To buy from Flipkart Wholesale you need to sign up for an account and provide your business information. Once you’re verified, you can begin shopping for items to resell.
Wholesalebox
Wholesalebox is an Indian wholesaler that focuses primarily on items in the fashion niche. You can find a variety of men’s and women’s clothing items including ethnic wear, footwear, kidswear, dress material, and boutique clothing. Some of the site’s suppliers also offer dropshipping services to complement their wholesale offering.
ExportersIndia
ExportersIndia is a B2B wholesale marketplace built to connect buyers, sellers, and exporters. The website has a similar user interface when compared to other Indian wholesale markets. Additionally, like the other markets, you can find items in a wide array of categories and you can post a Buy Requirement to get quotes from various suppliers.
Tips for Working with Wholesalers
Now that you know where to find the best wholesale suppliers for selling on Amazon, let’s take a look at how to approach working with suppliers. There are certain things you should check for before partnering with a supplier and there are ways to communicate with suppliers to ensure a successful partnership. Here are some tips for improving your supplier relationships:
1. Conduct Thorough Research
While most of the directories on our list vet and verify suppliers, it’s important to do your own research. You want to make sure everyone you work with is both reputable and reliable. Start by looking at the on-site reviews. Check the overall feedback rating and what past buyers are saying about the supplier. Do they communicate well and are others happy with the product quality? You also want to see if they are reliable and that they deliver products on time.
2. Check for Programs for Amazon sellers
The next tip for working with wholesale suppliers is to check and see if they have offers designed specifically for Amazon sellers. Many vendors will have special prices for companies reselling their items on Amazon. Others will services to help with the FBA logistics process. These suppliers can prep your products according to Amazon’s requirements and then send your goods directly to the FBA fulfillment center.
3. Negotiate the Terms of Your Partnership
When you work with a wholesale supplier, it’s important that both buyers and sellers have clear expectations. Before you buy from a wholesaler, you both need to agree on the terms of your partnership. Here are the key areas to finalize:
Price: Beyond the prices, you’ll pay for your first order, you also want to establish agreed-upon prices for future orders. This will help you plan your business more effectively.
Shipping details: You need to know exactly how long it will take to prepare and ship your goods. You should also agree on the exact shipping method as it will impact tracking and whether the delivery arrives on time.
Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ): MOQ is a major factor in how you can run your business. Many suppliers will have specified MOQs on their product pages but you can often negotiate with them to get a lower number if they believe you’ll become a long-term customer.
Conclusion
Buying wholesale products is a great way to start selling on Amazon. It allows you to offer high-quality goods without having to create your own brand. Check out some of the sites on this list to find reliable wholesale suppliers. And remember to research your products to set your business up for success from the start.
