Wholesale Price Lists: How to Scan for Wholesale FBA
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When Amazon sellers open wholesale suppliers, they get wholesale supplier price lists containing thousands of products. However, only a fraction of them are worth reselling on Amazon.
Picking the right ones can mean the difference between a successful, scalable business and wasted inventory that doesn’t sell. So how do you find winning wholesale deals without spending hours manually checking each product?
In this post, we’ll break down what supplier price lists are, the key criteria for selecting profitable wholesale products, and how to use automation tools to quickly scan and identify the best opportunities.
What Are Supplier Price Lists?
A supplier price list (also known as a wholesale price list or wholesale supplier sheet) is a document provided by a brand or distributor that contains a catalog of products available for purchase in bulk. These lists typically include key product details such as Universal Product Codes (UPCs), European Article Numbers (EANs), wholesale pricing, additional data like minimum order quantities or case pack sizes, and sometimes other information.
When you open a supplier (a brand you want to source from), they provide you with a price list containing thousands of products. However, not all items are suitable for resale on Amazon. Your goal as an Amazon seller is to analyze this list and identify profitable deals on this massive list – those that meet your sourcing criteria and align with FBA business strategies.
What Is Wholesale List Analysis?
Wholesale list analysis is the process of evaluating a supplier’s price list to identify profitable, low-risk products for resale. It involves matching products to Amazon ASINs, assessing key metrics like demand, competition, and selling eligibility, restrictions, and potential risks, and using automation tools to streamline identifying deals you want to resell.
This analysis helps sellers filter out unprofitable or high-risk items, ensuring only the best wholesale products are considered for resale.
This analysis not only helps find best deals, but also to understand if your supplier is worth working with. A good supplier is one where at least 1 out of 100 products meets your deal criteria. If you find an essential quantity of potential winning products on their wholesale supplier sheet, you can move forward with negotiations.
But with such a vast inventory to sift through, manually checking each product isn’t practical. That’s why wholesale sellers use automated scanning tools that match supplier products to Amazon ASINs. These tools provide essential insights, including eligibility to sell, profitability, and hidden risks.
Tip. You can automate selecting a supplier (brand analysis) with Seller Assistant's Brand Analyzer. It provides you with all the necessary data to evaluate if a brand is resale-friendly and ensures that you focus on suppliers capable of delivering strong profit margins.
By entering a brand’s name, you gain access to a summary of essential metrics, including brand’s product count, your potential revenue, competition, Amazon in-stock rate, pricing, customer feedback, and other data, helping you make informed decisions quickly.
Note. Seller Assistant is all-in-one product-sourcing software offering 20+ tools that helps Amazon sellers quickly find profitable and low-risk deals. It provides you with effective solutions for bulk wholesale price list scanning and brand analysis alongside advanced product research extensions, tools, and features providing you with in-depth product research data.
It combines three extensions: Seller Assistant Browser Extension, and IP-Alert Chrome Extension by Seller Assistant, and VPN by Seller Assistant, Amazon seller tools: Price List Analyzer, Brand Analyzer, Seller Spy, Bulk Restrictions Checker, and API integrations, and features: Side Panel View, Storefront Widget, Quick View, FBM&FBA Profit Calculator, Sales Estimator, Offers, Variation Viewer, Stock Checker, and offers secure and efficient solutions for teamwork.
What to Look at When Analyzing Wholesale Deals?
To make money selling on Amazon, your wholesale deal must meet three key criteria: it must sell well, be profitable, and carry minimal risks. However, selecting a lead is not as simple as choosing a trending item and listing it.
A truly profitable product meets specific metrics – including demand, competition, and profit margins. You also need to assess your chances of winning the Buy Box. Below are the key factors you must evaluate when researching wholesale deals.
Check if you can sell the product
Before anything else, verify whether you are eligible to sell the product. On Amazon, you may not be allowed to sell specific products on your seller account, and your seller account status may not qualify. This can happen because you are not eligible as a new seller or your selling performance is insufficient.
If you’re not eligible to sell a product, Amazon won’t allow you to list it – even after purchasing inventory. Checking eligibility first ensures you don’t waste time or money on a product you can’t sell.
Analyze product profitability
To determine whether a product meets your profit expectations, you need to calculate its profitability. Amazon sellers use FBA and FBM calculators to quickly estimate expenses and compare fulfillment options. Since Amazon fees differ for FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) and FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant), analyzing both helps identify the most profitable option.
Profitability metrics
- Profit
The amount left after deducting all costs from the selling price.
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- ROI (Return on Investment)
Profitability of investment as a percentage, with a healthy Amazon ROI typically ranging from 20-30% or higher.
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- Margin
The percentage of the selling price that remains as profit. A strong Amazon margin is 15% and up.
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Evaluate sales performance
Understanding how well a product sells helps determine whether it will move quickly or sit in storage, accumulating fees.
Key performance indicators
Indicates how well a product sells compared to others in its category. Lower BSR means higher sales.
- BSR trend
Tracks sales performance over time.
- BSR drops
Shows how frequently the product sells over a given period.
- Sales velocity
Measures how quickly the product sells. A sales velocity greater than 1% is considered slow-moving, increasing financial risk. Fast-selling products ensure quicker returns on investment and help avoid unnecessary FBA storage fees.
Assess competition intensity
If a product has too much competition, price wars may drive down the Buy Box price, lowering profit margins.
Competition indicators
- FBA and FBM seller count
Ideally, a “good” FBA seller count ranges from 3 to 15. More than 3 sellers indicate a product is not a private-label item (which cannot be resold).
- Amazon as a seller
If Amazon sells the product and dominates the Buy Box, competing can be extremely difficult.
Determine your chances of winning the Buy Box
The Buy Box (Featured Offer) is where 80% of Amazon sales happen. To evaluate your chances of winning it, check:
- Buy Box %
Shows how sellers split Buy Box ownership over time. If a single seller dominates, competing is difficult. If multiple sellers share the Buy Box at comparable percentages, the product is a good reselling opportunity.
- Amazon in the Buy Box
If Amazon holds the Buy Box, your chances of winning decrease significantly.
Estimate potential sales volume
To ensure your investment pays off, estimate how many units you can sell per month. This helps you determine:
- How much inventory to purchase initially.
- Your expected monthly revenue based on projected sales volume.
- Having an accurate sales estimate ensures you don’t over-invest or under-stock your inventory.
Check for product restrictions
Amazon has gated products, categories, and brands that require approval before selling. If a product is restricted, you must ungate it (request approval) before listing. Checking restrictions before purchasing prevents unnecessary delays and financial losses.
Ungating options
- You may submit a form and get immediate approval through Amazon’s system.
- Amazon requires you to submit invoices, or other documents for verification.
Watch for Intellectual Property (IP) complaints
An IP complaint occurs when a brand owner reports unauthorized sellers for reselling their products. This can result in account health damage.
To avoid issues:
- Check for IP Alerts before sourcing a product.
- Avoid brands known for aggressive distribution control.
- If a brand has a history of filing IP complaints, If they file IP complaints against resellers, this may mean they already have a rigid distribution network or sell on Amazon themselves. In both cases the brand is unlikely to cooperate with you.
Identify hidden risks
Some products come with hidden risks that impact profitability, storage, or fulfillment costs.
Key risk factors
- Amazon as a seller
Hard to compete with.
Involves higher FBA fees and slower fulfillment times.
Requires special packaging and has a higher return rate.
Can only be sold between October 16 and April 14.
- Hazmat (dangerous goods)
Requires special approval, packaging, is processed in special fulfillment centers.
Must be sold under strict guidelines and often require Amazon approval.
Some unbranded products cannot be added to existing listings. You must create new listings for such products.
Analyze product pricing trends
Competitive pricing is crucial to winning the Buy Box and maximizing sales. Buy Box price behaviour helps understand how much the price goes up and down over time. It helps see if you can price a product at the average Buy Box price level. If Buy Box prices fluctuate frequently, the product may be subject to price wars, making it a risky investment.
Key price history indicators
- Average Buy Box price
Helps set your offer price.
- Buy Box price trends
Shows price fluctuations over time.
- Buy Box price behavior
Helps assess competition intensity and pricing stability.
Check for best-selling variations
Amazon products often have variations (size, color, style, etc.), but not all variations sell equally well. Since BSR applies to the entire product family, you must analyze rating distribution per variation to identify the best-selling option.
Choosing the right variation ensures you stock high-demand versions of the product.
Verify if a product is a set or package
If a product is sold as a set or package, consider:
- Profit calculations
Ensure you're accounting for multi-unit pricing.
- Buying multiples
If a product is sold in sets of 2 or 3, you must purchase quantities accordingly to avoid leftover inventory.
How to Scan a Wholesale Price List?
Wholesale sellers and their team typically use automated tools to scan price lists, matching supplier products to Amazon ASINs. These tools provide essential data, including eligibility to sell, profitability, and potential risks, helping sellers quickly determine whether a deal is worth pursuing.
Seller Assistant's Price List Analyzer is one of the best wholesale price list scanner tools designed for Amazon sellers. The tool automatically matches your supplier products to Amazon, enriches your wholesale supplier sheet with valuable data, calculates profitability for each product, and shows other essential product information. You can filter the results by key metrics, product warnings, and flags, and see which deals are profitable, and which have hidden risks or alerts.
Price List Analyzer functionality
- The tool automatically matches your supplier products to Amazon, calculates profitability for each product, and shows other essential metrics
- You can filter the results by key metrics, and see which deals are profitable, and which have hidden risks or alerts
- Price List Analyzer helps detect high-margin leads by showing product profitability and ROI, saving you countless hours of manual work
- It enriches data of your wholesale product sheet with all metrics you need to select the best Amazon deals
- You can quickly process bulk supplier price lists and apply advanced data filters to refine your product searches for smart bulk sourcing
- It provides accurate profitability and product performance insights, including the profit, ROI, and margin you will get, how well the product sells, its potential sales volume, and how fast it sells.
- Price List Analyzer automatically detects and flags potential issues with products, alerting sellers to important factors that require attention. These flags include oversize, HazMat, meltable, fragile products, and those with IP complaints, variations, or sets/bundles. Warnings include "No FBA Fees," "No Buy Box Price," "No COGs," "ASIN Not Found," "Set or Bundle," "Approval Required," "Too Low FBA ROI," and "Too High FBA ROI."
Price List Analyzer data
Price List Analyzer streamlines the wholesale sourcing process by automatically matching supplier products to Amazon ASINs, calculating profitability, and displaying key product metrics.
With advanced filtering options, sellers can refine search results based on any metric – quickly identifying profitable deals while flagging potential risks and alerts.
Product details
Product identification
- ASIN
Amazon Standard Identification Number for the product
- Link
Direct link to the product listing on Amazon
Visual representation of the product
- Title
Product name or title as it appears on Amazon
- Brand
Manufacturer or brand of the product
The product’s category on Amazon
- Model, manufacturer, part number
Specific details related to the product's manufacturing necessary to match the product to supplier catalog
Sales performance metrics
Indicator of the product's sales ranking within its category. Shows how well the product sells
- Top BSR
Top helps understand the product’s sales velocity as a percentage. If the Top equals 0.5% or less, the product sells well. If the Top equals 1% or more, a product is a slow-mover
- Sales Estimate (pcs/month)
Estimated number of units sold per month. Helps understand average product sales to estimate how many units to order
- Sales Estimate ($/month)
Estimated revenue per month from product sales. Helps understand how much money you can potentially earn from product sales/month
Pricing and profitability
- COG (Cost of Goods)
Cost of goods before tax. Product price at the supplier
- Cost of Goods incl. VAT
Total cost including VAT
- Buy Box price
Current price of the product winning the Buy Box on Amazon
- Break-Even price (FBA/FBM)
The minimum product price with 0% profit for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM). If you go below break-even threshold, you lose money on the product
- Profit (FBA/FBM)
Estimated profit per unit using FBA or FBM fulfillment methods. Shows how much money you earn on the product
- ROI (FBA/FBM, %)
Return on investment for FBA or FBM orders, as a percentage
- Margin (FBA/FBM, %)
Profit margin after costs, expressed as a percentage
Fulfillment costs
- Total FBA/FBM fees
Overall fees associated with FBA or FBM services
Fulfillment by Amazon fees
- Referral fee
Amazon's percentage-based fee on the sale
Cost to store the product in Amazon’s warehouse
- Variable Closing Fee
A fee applied for books, music, video, blu-ray, and DVDs (BMVD) on top of other fees
Cost of shipping the product to an Amazon warehouse (for FBA)
- Prepare/labeling cost (FBA/FBM)
Cost for preparing or labeling the product for shipment
- Fragile/bubble wrapping (FBA/FBM)
Additional cost if, the product requires special packaging for fragility
Tax and compliance
Value-Added Tax applied to fees. Applicable if you sell internationally
- Sales tax rate (%)
Applicable sales tax rate
Total sales tax applied to the transaction
- Apply sales tax
Option to apply sales tax to the product or not
- VAT on fees rate (%)
Percentage of VAT applied to fees
Product restrictions and flags
- Restrictions and selling eligibility
Shows if you can sell a product on your Amazon account and whether it’s restricted and requires Amazon approval to sell
- Warning
Shown if the product has any alerts, for example: no FBA Fees, no Buy Box price, no COGs, ASIN not found, set or bundle, approval required, too low FBA ROI, too high FBA ROI. For such products, more detailed research is required
Marks if the product is considered oversize by Amazon
Indicates if the product is classified as hazardous material
Alerts for products that can melt in certain conditions
Marks fragile products requiring special handling
Indicates the risk of intellectual property complaints
- Variation flag
Denotes if the product has multiple variations (size, color, etc.)
- Set/bundle flag
Marks if the product is part of a set or bundle
Dimensions and packaging
- Height, width, length, weight (in/cm/lbs/kg)
Physical dimensions and weight of the product, useful for calculating shipping costs
- Product volume (cu ft/cu cm)
The product's volume, helpful for storage and shipping calculations
- Package quantity
Number of units in a package
Additional identifiers
- UPC, EAN, GTIN
Global Trade Item Numbers used for identifying the product in various marketplaces
- Parent ASIN
The parent ASIN, if the product has multiple variations
Filters
You can filter results by essential metrics and export the filtered results. You can switch between FBA and FBM, and filter by:
- Category
- Brand
- Warning
- Alerts and flags
- Listing restrictions
- Average Buy Box, 30 days
- Amazon Buy Box share, 90 days
- BSR
- Sales Estimate, pcs/month
- FBA/FBM profit
- FBA/FBM ROI
- FBA/FBM margin.
How Does Price List Analyzer Work?
Price List Analyzer automates the process of evaluating bulk wholesale price lists, helping Amazon sellers quickly identify profitable deals and avoid risky investments. The tool matches supplier products to Amazon ASINs, calculates profitability metrics, and highlights key warnings and alerts that sellers need to consider before making a purchase decision.
By applying custom filters, sellers can refine search results based on essential product data allowing them to focus on high-margin leads while filtering out restricted, low-profit, or high-risk items.
Steps to scan supplier lists
Step 1. Access Price List Analyzer
Log in to your Seller Assistant account and navigate to the Price List Analyzer tool.
Step 2. Upload your wholesale price list
- Click the “Upload” button.
- Select your marketplace.
- Drag and drop your prepared Excel file containing the wholesale price list.
- Add a file name to easily track your processed data.
Step 3. Set up your price list for processing
To ensure accurate analysis, you must correctly map your data fields:
- Select the Excel Sheet
- Define the starting row
- Map key data fields
Once everything is mapped, click “Analyze Price List” to begin the evaluation.
Step 4. Review Price List Analyzer results
Once processing is complete, the tool generates a detailed report with all the essential data needed to assess each product. You can download an .XLS file containing the report for further analysis.
Step 5. Apply filters to identify the best deals
Filtering your results ensures you quickly pinpoint the most profitable and low-risk opportunities.
- Click the “Filters” option to expand filtering settings.
- Customize your filters
Step 6. Download and finalize your sourcing list
- Click “Apply Filters” to refine the displayed results.
- Download the filtered list by clicking “Download” and save the updated file for final review.
FAQ
Does Amazon offer wholesale pricing?
No, Amazon does not offer traditional wholesale pricing for sellers. However, Amazon Business provides bulk discounts for business customers, but these are not the same as wholesale supplier prices.
How much does it cost to start Amazon wholesale?
Starting an Amazon wholesale business typically requires at least $2,000 to $5,000 for inventory, plus additional costs for an Amazon Professional Seller account ($39.99/month), FBA fees, and software tools. Your total investment will depend on supplier minimum order quantities and operational expenses.
Can I buy wholesale and sell on Amazon?
Yes, you can purchase products from wholesale suppliers and resell them on Amazon under the wholesale business model. However, you must ensure that you have permission from brands or distributors and comply with Amazon’s category and brand restrictions.
How to buy on Amazon in bulk?
To buy in bulk on Amazon, you can use Amazon Business, which offers bulk pricing and quantity discounts for registered business buyers. Alternatively, you can purchase from third-party wholesale suppliers or manufacturers and sell those products on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
Finding profitable wholesale deals on Amazon requires analyzing thousands of products, evaluating key metrics, and filtering out risky investments. Doing this manually is time-consuming and inefficient – but with Seller Assistant's Price List Analyzer, you can automate the entire process, saving hours of work while ensuring you only source high-margin, low-risk products.
Seller Assistant is an all-in-one product sourcing software offering all the features vital for product sourcing. It combines three extensions: Seller Assistant Extension, IP Alert, and VPN by Seller Assistant, tools: Price List Analyzer, Seller Spy, Bulk Restrictions Checker, and API integrations, and features: Side Panel View, FBM&FBA Profit Calculator, Quick View, ASIN Grabber, UPC/EAN to ASIN converter, Stock Checker, and other features that help quickly find high-profit deals. Seller Assistant also offers integration with Zapier allowing to create custom product sourcing workflows.
