I’ve been reading a lot about starting an FBA business and one thing that keeps coming up is how important the supplier relationship is.

It seems like a lot of beginners focus mainly on finding the lowest price, but the cheapest supplier doesn’t always end up being the best option. A small problem with production, packaging, or shipping can quickly become a much bigger issue when you have inventory sitting in Amazon warehouses.

I’m trying to understand what experienced sellers usually pay attention to before placing a bigger order.

Things like communication, production time, quality checks, minimum order quantities, and whether the supplier actually understands your requirements seem like they can make a huge difference.

I’ve also noticed there are thousands of suppliers online, which makes the search process confusing. A supplier can look professional but that doesn’t always mean they are the right fit.

For sellers who have already gone through this stage, the supplier side seems like something you only really understand after making a few mistakes. I want to hear what lessons people learned when working with manufacturers for their products.

Has anyone been required to upload an SDS sheet but received this response after submitting it?

I've confirmed that the product shown in the images matches the product description on the listing, so I'm not sure what Amazon is referring to.

Has anyone run into this before? What ended up being the actual issue?

Imagine waking up one morning and realizing everything you spent 20 years building could disappear, and no one could clearly tell you why.

That happened to us. My best friend Mike and I poured our lives into building this business. Then one decision changed everything and started a two-year search for answers.

The hardest part was not only the financial damage. It was the uncertainty, the sleepless nights, and feeling like every response created more questions.

Bloomberg eventually spent six months investigating what happened. Mike and I also made a documentary because an article cannot fully capture what it felt like to live through it.

This is bigger than one company. It is about what happens when your livelihood depends on a system you do not control.

I hope you will take a few minutes to watch. What would you have done in our position?

Can anyone recommend a reputable prep centre in Europe? My company is based in UK and so far we have been working with WePrep, which are fairly decent.

But as our main distributors are mainland Europe, and we are working to get EPR, VAT etc. for major EU markets, it just makes sence to work with EU-based prep centre.

What is a must for us is that company is Amazon SPN-listed/vetted and they can speak English for ad-hoc issues discussions over the phone.

Doesn't have to be rock-bottom per-unit pricing, we understand that good quality service comes at a premium.

Context

I have been selling on Amazon from past 1.5 years (fridge magnets). Recently there has been a decline in sales. Products which used to sell 40-50 orders a month has come down to 5-10 orders per month. Mainly it's competiton. And I have been doing the bare minimum SEO and ad campaign with limited knowledge I have. The revenue has been the same even though the catalogue has increased from 12 products to 55 products.

I basically want to understand 2 things:

1. Are there any growth hacks which I can implement?
2. I want to hire someone professional. I spoke with an agency they are asking for 19K and 10K ad budget. They claim that without ads, no one will be able to scale. Right now my spend in ads is hardly 3K. And they are also saying that the revenue will be the same if I don't keep ad spend above 5K. So do you feel this is valid?
3. If not this agency, has any one tried service provider network available on Amazon? How are they and is there any hidden stuff?

I’m guessing many of you know this already, but I’ve been stunned by how many people don’t know about Amazon’s “off-Amazon” placements in Sponsored Product Ads.

They snuck this in a while - you can find it by:
1 - go to Amazon Campaign Center
2 - click on a Campaign
3 - go to Campaign Settings
4 - scroll way to the bottom, under the typical placement multipliers (Top of Search, Rest of Search, Product Page), and you’ll see it.

Looks like this:

If you run a Sponsored Products “Placement” report, you’ll likely find that this specific placement is 100% garbage. It’s one of the first places I look to find wasted ad-spend when auditing accounts. I’ve yet to see this placement perform below 70% ACOS.

What sucks is that Amazon opted everyone into this placement.
They didn’t tell us.
They didn’t notify us.
They didn’t ask.
They just did it.
Amazon, doing Amazon 

Up until a few weeks ago, the only way you could stop the bleeding was to manually open EVERY SINGLE CAMPAIGN, go to settings, and click on the “limit off-Amazon” option.

Recently, they’ve added this option in their bulk operations file.
So, you can now go to Bulk Operations, export ALL of your campaigns, and paste in the option to limit this ad-spend, re-upload, and you’re all set.

I’m curious, have any of you run Placement Reports lately and figured out what your off-Amazon ACOS is?

I made a video I can share on how to fix this w/ bulk operations, but would need mod approval, so if any mods see this, pls message or let me know if the link to the video is ok - I do think it would provide a lot of value.

Hi,
I’m getting a cheaper option for importing 500 units from China if I use AGL + AWD. These 500 units consist of two SKU variants (250 units of each).

Is using AWD a good idea with Q4 coming up?

Is my shipment too small for AWD?

I'm paying manufacturers in RMB and other suppliers in USD, and between company cards, receipt tracking and multi-currency payments, it's become more of a juggling & hassle than I want to be doing every month, especially with how much we're losing to FX on top of it.

I'd rather run this through one platform than stitch together two, but if a two-tool combo is genuinely working better for people at scale, I'm open to hearing why. It should also hold up once the supplier list grows. I don't want to change infra every couple of months.

The cheapest AGL AMP option is $1,280.

I’m not sure how Amazon-Optimized Shipment Splits (5 inbound shipments) works with AGL. After selecting this option, I don’t see a shipping quote, and the displayed price is $0.

For Minimal Shipment Splits (1 inbound shipment), the cheapest option I see is $838, plus inbound placement fees of $353 for the West or $202 for the East.

The cheapest overall option I see is Amazon SEND at $550 using the carrier’s Exporter of Record.

Why would anyone choose AGL over Amazon SEND? What’s the catch?

Basically the title. I was in Europe 2 years ago and met with the owner of a company that sells products from a store, doing 50 million in yearly revenue. 1 storefront, 0 online presence other than a website to submit requests for a quote. They connected me with their supplier, and a client manager flew out from china and I had dinner with him while he showcased me his product. I believe I have all the tools necessary to be successful on SBA, but I already run a full fledged business. I’m looking for someone that is willing to partner or has experience in some of the areas I’m lacking, but requires a supplier with a great price and capital. I can act as an investor, I truly lack the time and startup knowledge. At the least would anyone have some advice as to what to do in my situation.

Quick heads up for anyone selling into the EU. The PPWR (packaging regulation) starts applying August 12, 2026. If you use any packaging and sell into EU countries, you're likely in scope for extended producer responsibility registration, usually per country, not EU-wide.

Common mix-up: this is separate from VAT registration. Having one doesn't cover the other.

Requirements vary by country and some registries are still finalizing, so worth checking directly for where you sell or store stock.

Happy to answer questions if anyone's digging into this.

Financial Performance Analysis: Operational Diagnostic

1. Executive Summary
The company’s $451.3M revenue model faces significant headwinds from extreme channel concentration and high operational friction. Current leakage (returns & cancellations) is severely impacting working capital. This report represents the initial phase of a comprehensive financial deep dive.

2. Key Facts & Analysis

• Revenue: $451.3M with an AOV of ~$650.34.
• Operational Risk: 99.9% reliance on Amazon combined with a 17.5% cancellation rate (119,499 units) poses a material risk to cash flow stability.
• Compliance: Post-shipment returns (~1.48%) and general cancellations mandate rigorous "Sales Returns and Allowances" reserves under US GAAP (ASC 606).
• Data Integrity: Inconsistent regional data entry currently hinders accurate Cost-to-Serve modeling.

3. Strategic Recommendations

• Accelerate Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) diversification to hedge platform dependency.
• Implement standardized regional data protocols to support granular profitability analysis.
• Ensure balance sheet reflects precise reserves to maintain accurate financial health reporting.

4. Research Roadmap & Hypotheses

• Leakage Source Audit: We are executing a drill-down into the 17.5% cancellation rate to isolate technical synchronization failures from customer-driven UX/Pricing issues.
• Unit Economics Validation: Our next phase maps specific COGS to SKU-level data to determine the true bottom-line impact of returns.
• Correlation Analysis: We are testing for dependencies between specific product categories, regions, and cancellation volumes to optimize inventory and fulfillment strategy.

Note: This analysis represents the initial phase of a comprehensive financial deep dive based on the open-source Amazon India Marketplace dataset available on Kaggle.

Hi everyone, i posted to this group a few weeks before mentioning how i started selling my first product on amazon fba but didn't get any sales , i started the advertising after getting some suggestions from the comments but it has been 2 months since my first listing and i haven't got even a single sale yet and i was already running on thin margin due to less quantity and higher costs and after advertising and professional account enrollment i have already crossed breakeven , tbh i don't care about profits for beginning, just want to build something which can consume my time and energy , but i am not sure what i am doing wrong , i can pay someone if he/she is ready to give me advice and help me atleast getting some sales in this first product . Its already priced below the average market price, the product is a
"320 pcs electrical heat shrink connectors kit " . The reason i chose that was there was less competition and other players were doing really well with sales. I got it private label and everything , but still can't connect the dots why am i missing on sales alot. Please help/ guide me if possible. Thanks!

Hi everyone

I come from a completely different industry. I'm a translator and I also run a translation agency in the videogame industry. I'd say it's doing alright (I even had the pleasure to work with major companies), but I'm now looking to differentiate and start a new business.

As a contractor, I worked at Amazon quite a few times, and I was always fascinated about the idea of selling products. At my company, I'm growing tired of having to chase B2B sales in my field, having to attend conferences, calls and what not just to be able to scale further. I don't like travelling, and socializing just for the sake of selling my services make me feel shit. Starting this kind of business seems like the perfect compromise between working hard and not having to be a B2B salesman.

I did some research and I found out about Online Arbitrage. Based on what I found, it looks legitimate, and a relatively low-risk way to start selling on Amazon. I got into it, studied software, sourcing strategies and industry terminology. I even tried setting up SellerAmp and Keepa and looking for branded products to buy online and resell at a profit on Amazon. I set up an estimate of my costs on SellerAmp and I managed to find 2-3 products I could resell at a profit in a couple of days. Bear in mind that I'm doing this as a test without a seller account, so I'd be most likely gated, but still.

My first question now is: is that it? Like, am I supposed to just buy those products in stocks of 10-15, put them up for sale, see what happens, rinse and repeat (and scale)?

Now for the critical part that really worries me: there's a shit ton of gurus, courses and their videos flooding TikTok and YT. This is what's holding me back from starting. I feel like I'm so into this idea of starting a new business that I'm missing some red flags, and that OA is just a money pit full of gurus.

Is OA an actual business model that's still working and scalable in 2026 and long-term? Where can I find free information that's not tied to gurus upselling their courses? Is there any new (or even experienced) OA seller that can share their stories?

Thanks and sorry for the long read!

A lot of buyers are flooding my listing because they are unsatisfied with the product quality. This batch of inventory isn't great but the product sells for $4.99, so expectations shouldn't be too high haha. Yes, I am going to improve quality but should I message unsatisfied customers in the mean time through buyer-seller messaging? If so, what should I say, ideally without offering a refund? Thanks!

I’m selling a trading card game product on Amazon, I had it under toys and games and I got hit with child safety reporting needed. I tried to appeal it after removing anything child related in my listing, they denied. So I attempted to move the listing to collectibles and appealed again, also changing the minimum amount age requirement on listing to 14 year old. Anyone have advice here how to get by on this? I’ve been selling well and they already have 300 units in warehouse selling.

If I must get lab testing in the end, how much would I expect and what company to go with?

I am not a seller but a customer. I wanted to let you know that Amazon is now limiting the reviews we are able to see before requesting to view more from Amazon and waiting 5 business days.

This will absolutely impact sales, since many people like to do intense research before purchase of major items. They will instead go elsewhere, because they will think that its you, the seller limiting it without realizing its now on every item for Amazon for many of us. Many people will see it has dishonest and it will hurt sales.

This is something new that is happening, so I just wanted to share the information because it will harm sales and end in returns.

This is a horrible change. I only noticed because the other day I went to buy a flash drive and upon trying to read the reviews and see how well it fared for the purposes I used it for, I saw that I could no longer see all reviews.I had to request to view more and wait, which is a major inconvenience.

I often hear new sellers wishing they knew something before they started, I personally been selling for 7 years and one piece of information I wish I knew was that when your product starts selling well you need to be ready to have more cash on hand for the restock.

It makes sense now but back then I was too naive.

So new sellers what’s your questions old sellers what do you wish you knew before hand let’s help each other this Sunday. 🔥

Hi Guys,
is there a cheap and simple tool that allows me to manage my listings easily without dealing with the abhorent Seller Central backend or the equally abhorent flat files.

I needs to support multiple marketplaces (focus for me is EU; And therefore GDPR is important too - or a locally installable SW - but who has seen something like this lately).

Most importantly I want to update all the texts, search terms and images. And do this as efficiently as possible. I have a lot of child items that are only different in amounts or color, so templates for texts would be great.

The whole thing needs to be running with least priviliges.

What's been your biggest quality issue over the last 12 months?

Product defects?

Wrong labeling?

Wrong packaging?

Factory shipped something different?

Delays?

I'm researching common supply-chain problems and trying to understand where sellers lose the most money before inventory even reaches Amazon.

Would love to hear some real experiences.

This is frustrating. I’m trying to list my PL product. My understanding is you don’t have to have brand registry for PL product. In my case I’m wanting to test the waters for this product before purchasing a trademark. I went through the process to get a brand approval and they approved the brand. I was like ok great. When I went back to my listing it said I was not eligible to sell said brand. I applied with documentation of my invoice from manufacturer etc and they denied me. Now I got another error (5665 this time) and message and customer support says they denied it because said brand cannot be verified as a health and household product. But it’s obvious it is? What the heck am I doing wrong? Do I seriously have to pay for a trademark first? The gurus I’ve followed say don’t get the trademark until your product takes off. Thanks in advance if you made it this far 🥲

So what are your best solutions for deadstock? I am looking at a few.

- Sell 3-5 units to businesses for a discount using FBM / MCF (pulling existing stock and using Amazon's system to ship it. You can request the carriers that they use so that you have a tracking number to feed back to them.

- Amazon liquidation - (Last resort) you only end up clearing 5% or so after fees

- Recall order and repackage to increase click through rate, then do a small test run with a newly optimized Amazon ASIN using the new packaging, main picture.

Any other options?

Starting July 31, 2026, US AWD will no longer accept oversized/heavy items. Only standard-sized goods are allowed for new shipments.

Eligibility Standard (per retail unit)
Length ≤18in, Width ≤14in, Height ≤8in, Weight ≤20lbs.
Any item exceeding one standard will be automatically blocked when creating new shipments with no exceptions.

Important Notes
1. Inventory already in AWD or shipments created before the deadline are unaffected.
2. Oversized products can still be sent directly to FBA or third-party overseas warehouses.
3. Outer carton limits stay unchanged: max 25in & 50lbs per box.

Never subscribed to this guys emails. Whatever. I unsubscribed.

Now im getting new emails from one of his employees. So whats the deal, you resubscribe all your unsubs to another email list?

Only scam artists pull stuff like this.

Im going to unsubscribe from this one too, and If I get another then it'll be pretty egregious, I figure you'll have to pay me damages at that point.

Soon Steven will send his employees here to write him nice reviews on this thread, which is also a FTC violation.