Amazon product sourcing, without the guesswork.

Amazon product sourcing services are the step between a product idea and a shipment plan. Our product research work tells you what to sell; sourcing decides who makes it, what it costs to land and whether the paperwork will survive an Amazon review. Empowers Zone runs sourcing from Islamabad with the same team that manages the client’s Seller Central, which keeps the supplier choice tied to the fee maths rather than to a factory’s brochure.

Sourcing from China and Pakistan for Amazon

Most of our clients use one of two routes. Goods manufactured in China are labelled and packed at the factory and shipped by the forwarder directly to an Amazon fulfilment centre in the US or UK, so the stock never passes through Pakistan and never pays freight twice. Goods manufactured in Pakistan are packed and labelled locally, then exported by sea or air with export documentation handled by a Pakistani forwarder.

Pakistan is strongest where it already exports well: sports goods and leather from Sialkot, home textiles from Faisalabad and Karachi, and stainless-steel manicure, barber and surgical-style instruments. These categories give a Pakistan-based seller a manufacturing advantage that a China-sourced generic cannot match. For home, kitchen, pet and baby products, China remains the practical choice, and we source there through suppliers we have already placed orders with.

We quote both routes where a product allows it. The comparison is landed cost per unit, not factory price: a Sialkot supplier may be cheaper at the gate but dearer after freight, or the reverse, and the answer changes between a US and a UK destination. Our guide to selling on Amazon from Pakistan explains the two routes in more detail.

How we vet a supplier before you pay a deposit

A supplier is checked in roughly the order a problem would surface. First, does the business exist as described: registration documents, the trading name on the quotation and the name on the bank account should match. Second, does it export: an export licence, a record of shipments or a customer in your destination market. Third, does it make what it says it makes: factory photographs or a video walk-through, and for larger orders a third-party inspection before shipment.

• Registration and bank details that match the quotation and the invoice
• Evidence of export experience to the US or UK, not just domestic sales
• Factory evidence, by visit in Pakistan or by video call for China
• Packaging and labelling capability, including FNSKU barcodes, now that Amazon no longer labels inbound units in the US
• A written defect allowance and a replacement or credit process

Nothing here is exotic. The point is that it is done every time, in writing, before money moves. A supplier who cannot produce a matching invoice at the quotation stage will not produce one when Amazon asks for it eighteen months later.

Samples, negotiation and the first order

We order samples from every shortlisted supplier, not just the cheapest, and inspect them against the specification agreed at the research stage: materials, dimensions, weight (which drives the FBA size tier), finish and packaging. Samples are photographed together so you can see the differences rather than take our word for them.

Negotiation covers more than unit price. Payment terms, who applies the FNSKU label, who pays for a failed inspection, carton specifications and the lead time all go into the purchase agreement. We keep the first order deliberately small; it is the order that teaches you what freight, duties and defect rates actually are, and it should not be the order that ties up your working capital.

Wholesale sourcing: distributor accounts and getting ungated

For resellers running the wholesale model, sourcing means opening trade accounts with brands and authorised distributors rather than factories. We prepare the applications, which usually ask for your business registration and tax details, and we ask each distributor up front whether they permit Amazon resale and whether the brand is enrolled in Transparency.

The invoice is the product here. Sellers’ guides consistently describe the same approval pattern at the time of writing: an invoice for at least ten units, dated within the last 180 days (90 in some categories), showing the supplier’s name and address and your business name and address exactly as they appear in Seller Central. Retail receipts are rejected and Individual-plan accounts cannot apply. We check the first invoice from every new distributor against that list and request a corrected copy before anything is uploaded.

Branded stock and Transparency codes

Transparency is Amazon’s brand-owner serialisation programme. Codes cost $0.05 each for the first million a year (then $0.03 and $0.01), and enrolment requires a registered trademark and a GTIN. For a sourcing decision the consequence is simple: units of an enrolled brand must carry a code, and the only way to receive coded units is to buy from the brand or an authorised source. A pallet from an unauthorised liquidator arrives without codes and cannot be sent to FBA. We check enrolment status before you commit to a brand.

What we need from you

The research shortlist or your own product specification, your destination marketplace, the budget for the first order and read access to Seller Central so we can confirm category approvals and fee previews. If you are a private-label brand, we also need to know whether the trademark is filed, because packaging artwork and logo placement depend on it; see our brand registry page for the enrolment steps.

Sourcing is included in our Amazon account management and private-label programmes, and can be engaged on its own for a single product line. Either way it starts with a free consultation and a written plan, and ends with a handover to FBA prep and shipping. Contact us with the product you have in mind.