How to Wholesale Someone Else’s Brand by Providing Value (With Example Email!)

Wholesaling is one of the legitimate and profitable ways to sell on Amazon. Many 7, 8 and 9 figure sellers on Amazon are professional wholesalers who sell other people’s brands. You may have remembered a few years ago when Etailz sold for $75M. Or you might have heard of Pharmapacks who are one of the top 5 sellers on Amazon.com and just recently went public. Wholesaling can be great because you don’t need to do any of the hard work of creating a brand, advertising, writing copy, or taking images. Every brand you sell has done this already and you can input their already generated content and take advantage of the social capital they’ve built. Wholesaling is like OA (Online Arbitrage) on steroids and can be extremely lucrative if you are able to get an “exclusive” with a brand (their only seller on Amazon). Imagine getting being the only seller of LEGO? Pretty sweet!

But wholesale isn’t all roses – it’s a selling method that is plagued by thin margins and is extremely capital intense. Some Amazon sellers fight with margins in and around 10%. This becomes pretty dicey on your cashflow if problems occur with shipping, amazon inventory, or brand disagreements. Brands can also decide to stop selling to you at any time for any reason and all that money you were making can disappear instantly. Scary stuff aside – if we can build a relationship with a brand and start to sell their products on Amazon – it can be a great way to build a business.

So how do we get wholesale accounts, anyway? The main way that I have got wholesale accounts in the past is to provide value. More than ever brands have become inundated with sellers offering to sell their brand on Amazon. These sellers provide no value and are simply looking to make a quick buck. Because of this, many brands are instantly turned off when you even mention “Amazon” in your cold e-mail or phone call. Indeed, many brands have begun to sell their own stuff, and are actively kicking Amazon sellers off their listings through IP Claims or Law Firms that specialize in E-commerce security.

So how can we differentiate ourselves from the everyday Amazon Seller and provide real value and a lasting, meaningful relationship? Here are some ways to reach out – any and all of these may be the key to them making more money for their brand.

1. Listing Audit – If there are issues with the listing that are clearly hurting conversions, this is a way in. You may want to mention these things “pro-bono” (for free) as a way to provide them that value (do not expect anything in return). These could be anything, but you could offer help to brands in the following areas:

• Keywords
  • No need to go into a deep dive here on the keywords, but identify what you think might be the top 5 keywords of this brand’s product. Are they in their title? bullets?
  • In most categories, the first 1000 bytes of the bullets and 2000 bytes in description are indexed (a byte is basically a character). Is the brand filling this space with their best keywords? Or filling it at all?
  • Their brand should be at the beginning of their title.
  • Are they repeating the same keywords over and over again?
  • Add their listing to your inventory, and click edit. You will actually be able to see their back end-search terms. If it’s empty or lacking, mention that.
• Title, Bullets & Description
  • Do these flow nicely? Could you write better? Often brands simply list their stuff on and throw up a skeleton listing and never change anything. I will regularly see single sentence or even 3-4 word bullet points. Perhaps suggesting a new title, description, or bullets would intrigue them.
• Images
  • How many images do they have? They should have at least 6-7.
  • Are there lifestyle images?
  • Is the main image on a white background?
  • Are there better ways to take a photo of the product?
  • Do they have infographics, PR mentions, measurements, prominent keywords all within the main images?
• Video
  • Video is “relatively” new and is an effective way to increase conversions. These can be placed on the listing or used with PPC.

• Customer Questions & Answers
  • These aren’t indexed on Amazon searches but they are on Google. Head over to https://answerthepublic.com/ and type in the brand’s main keyword and see what the main questions that come up are. If those questions are asked on the listing, they’ll be indexed by Google and could lead to more conversions for the brand.
  • Example: “What is the best Canadian-Made Olive Oil?” Answer: “Smith’s Cold Pressed Olive Oil is the best – it never burns and tastes great.”
• Product Size
  • Is the product even measured correctly? Is there another way to package it to save on fulfillment fees?
  • Can the item be folded, vacuum sealed, in a smaller box or bag?
  • Are there likely a lot of returns due to damage or size issues?

2. Selling Cross-Border – Brands sometimes won’t want to work with you on the main market they sell on because there’s a) too many other sellers already or b) they are currently selling it themselves. Why not offer to sell it in Canada or Mexico? (if in the USA) Or the reverse if in Canada or Mexico. Often  brands will be ecstatic about introducing their product to a new market at no cost to themselves. Keep in mind there are fees associated with cross-border shipping and brokerage so the COGS will likely rise. Also, there may be government rules and regulations regarding the type of product it is (think food, supplements, toys, etc.).

3. New Rules, Regulations & Amazon Platform Awareness –Brands don’t really care about Amazon, Walmart, or any other online selling platform. They only use them because they are a tool to convert more with their customers. You’re the expert, not them – so make sure to tell them that (in a nice way). I’ve used lines like “Let me help you build your online presence and get you focused back on what you’re good at. Making an amazing that is excellent at .” You’re already in the scene selling products or are learning how to – there is a good chance that even if you don’t feel like you know much, you know more than them. Help brands become aware of new rules, regulations, or pitfalls to avoid.

• Do they know they aren’t allowed to incentivize reviews?
• Are they aware that responding late or shipping late to customers can have an extremely negative impact on their selling account and may result in buybox supression at best or amazon suspension at worst.
• Do they even know what the buy box is and how to get it?
• What are the latest new rules regarding product launches?
• Do they know that business insurance is required to sell on Amazon?
• How can they get ungated in the category they sell?
• Can you help them with PPC or even creating an Amazon account?
• Are they willing to continue to be aware of the latest rules and regulations on Amazon going forward?

4. Brand Registry/Other Exciting Programs– Brand Registry is one of the best ways to increase conversions on Amazon. It opens access to a number of extremely helpful programs including:

• EBC/A+ Content (add more text & images to your listing);
• Video;
• Vine (Pay for honest reviews);
• Report a Violation Tool (someone stole your images, copy, etc., or other IP infringement claims);
• Access to additional PPC campaign types;
• Keyword and demographic research straight from Amazon;
• Power to control the content of your listings (correct brand representation – not from some random 3rd party seller who made the listing)
• Storefronts;
• Access to dedicated brand support team;
• Brand gating & Transparency Program;
• Virtual Bundles; and
• More and more every month…

Help a brand register on Amazon and it will give them access to all of these tools! Or perhaps they’d like to hire you to manage it for them? Brand registry is super easy to get. All they need is a) a Trademark, b) packaging with the brand name permanently affixed, c) and a contact person or authorized representative who has the ability to verify themselves the agent for the brand. After that it just takes a few weeks and the brand should be registered.

Simply put, do not be like all the other sellers out there who offer to sell brands without any value add. Show them the many ways in which you can help (or a few, meaningful, targeted ways) their brand grow their Amazon presence and increase their sales. Increased sales mean more capital for whatever their mission is. Make the offer so good they’d be stupid to pass it up! Keep in mind that increasing their conversions on Amazon also benefits you! Your success is tied to their success. Once a few brands are working with you, make sure to ask them for a testimonial or a reference. If you’ve built this relationship right and are truly providing value to them, they’ll be happy to do it.

Below is an example of an actual email I used which led to a relationship with a brand:

I am a Canadian Amazon Seller in Edmonton, Alberta. I have been selling on Amazon for 5 years. My job is to help small businesses and organizations improve their presence online. I was looking at your listing which has been live for over 4 years and I think we could definitely make some improvements.

– Main image improvements (one bottle is misleading since you’re selling a 2-pack)

– Lifestyle Images could be added –

– Better copy & keyword research

– Title needs rewriting

(Insert Amazon Link Here)

My full-time job to help small businesses continue to do what they do best (make amazing products) and then I help them with their online/amazon presence.

Happy to provide examples of work I’ve done.

Would be interested to hear from you! Best, Max