Find online sources.

Here are some alternatives sites for your product research. Compare your targated markets.

https://alibaba.com
https://www.1688.com 

https://www.aliexpress.com

https://amzscout.net/blog/best-sites-like-alibaba/

The fist step is to determine what line of products you want to sell. That is a whole other conversation and it is a matter of using tools to look at what is selling on Amazon or Walmart.com as examples. You want to look at the amount of units sold for a particular item, the competition and estimated profit. You also want to get a feel for where the product is in it's life cycle. You want to get it in the upswing and not the downside of the life cycle if possible. The bottom line is you want to figure what the potential short term and long term profit is.  

Many times you will find a product that is hot, but also has a lot of competition and it is a race to the bottom as they say to see who will sell it at the least margin.

It is best to try and stay in a general verticle, though. The reason is a supplier is going to be pretty narrow. You are going to find a soft good supplier is going to sell t-shits and sweatshirts but not toys. The more you can sell from one supplier, the more favorable rates and service you should expect. You still want to be careful though to not put all of your eggs in one basket because if that supplier runs dry temporarily, you shoot yourself in the foot. 

Now that you have selected your verticle, I would first try and see if there is a wholesale firm in my local area.  You will most likely need to ship your order to your house, then schedule a pick up with Amazon if that is what you are using to sell your products. The closer the wholesaler is to you, the less your shipping costs are going to be. if they are close by, it would be good to schedule a face to face. That develops a relationship and you get get a feel for customer service. Just keep in mind that everybody these days has an idea to sell on amazon and drop ship small quantities. So the wholesalers are getting a lot of these people and probably don't want to deal with them. If you are going into soft goods and can do an initial order of 3 months supply and a plan to order monthly to fill in and turn over your inventory, you will be way ahead of everybody else just trying to make a quick dollar with no effort.

There is nothing wrong with dealing with alibaba or aliexpress. Keep in mind the delivery time table. Also, watch if the products are FOB (Free on Board) destination or shipping point. FOB shipping point means you buy and take possession as is and if something happens in shipping to your products, it is on you. You may pay a little more for a local supplier, but you have better control of the quality and potentially the item label is what it says it is. 

In summary, there is no hard answer to your question as is. You first need to determine the verticle you are going after and then research suppliers for that vertical. 

You may still hear about people drop shipping retail arbitrage, but this goes against the terms of most online selling sites and is also against the law to resell retail when you paid retail. If you get caught from Amazon, from what I have seen you get three trikes. The third time you are banned from selling.  An example of retail arbitrage

is selling a large carton of bounty paper towels on Amazon for $xx after buying them from Freds local grocery store for $xx * .7. And what many people were doing is finding a retailer like target or home depot that will ship out directly. You get caught because you pay for it in your name, ship to somebody else and that person thinks they bought from Amazon, calls Amazon to complain and you get dinged. 

Hi,

If you plan to order container qty I would recommend to have a contact that will check the shipment for you.
Also use the service from import/export company, this will help you to know all the fees and documentations.

For smaller quantity, then you can use any place and sell items only when you received it, this way you see the quality and your clients won't have long delay.

You can use dropship method if you have your own store / own website.

Another way is to buy returned items, so this is possible to buy pallet from Amazon returned item.

In any case, if you don't have experience do not invest all your money, take the time to do your research, make test and find a mentor.

The best way to find good and reliable sources for getting items to sell online is to do research and look for reviews from other customers. Researching the product or supplier can help you decide if they are trustworthy and have a good reputation. You can also look for reputable wholesale websites or directories that offer a wide selection of products. Additionally, you can use online marketplaces to find suppliers and compare prices, as well as connect with other sellers. Networking with other online sellers is also a great way to find out about new sources.

Hi,

What is your opinion about sites like this?

https://amzprep.com/17-ways-to-find-suppliers-for-your-amazon-fba-wholesale-business/

Thanks

Another suggestion, would be to create your own products (physical or digital).

The profit for digital is excellent, you create once and sell many times, nothing to ship...

In any case this will require business plan to analyse the market.

Thank you experts!

Hi Experts,
Does someone know of a site that you list a product, qty needed and max price, and they will find a provider?
Or better yet, they will list you cheapest vendors for this item.
something similar to these sites for flights...
https://www.cheapflights.com/book-flights-online/
https://www.momondo.com/
Thanks

Many distributors these days also offer to deliver from 3rd parties. for example Newegg shows whether they are the deliverer, or others, an you can also filter the output for cheapest first etc.

You want to avoid using drop shipping for Amazon, though. That can get you in trouble. Amazon wants you to send directly from you or send your goods to their distribution centers. While it costs more to send to their distribution centers, you can get more sales because people with Prime will get quick shipping. if you drop ship and there are complaints, you can get kicked out of the system.

Does someone know of a site that you list a product, qty needed and max price, and they will find a provider?

I don't think you will find a legit provider this way, though it would be nice. If that was available, then the wholesaler justs becomes a retail operation and they don't need you. Part of the profit you earn selling retail comes from the work you put in to find and establish your own supplier/distribution network. if it was as easy as finding sources this way, you are back to a race to the bottom as far as margin. If 1000 sellers all have the same easy information at the same time, what would that do to your margins? There is always somebody that will undercut you, perhaps even if that means them losing some money.

This is why it is more important to get a product in front of the life cycle curve instead of the tail end.